Lessons in Faith and Worth
For the week of March 4-10th then material to study was Matthew 8-9, Mark 2-5. I read though this twice before what I wanted to study hit me. This is the story in Matthew 8: 5-13 that I have heard mentioned but never really covered. And again I have pulled out the verse numbers to make it read more like the story of a miracle that it is.
Matthew 8:5-13
And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy,grievously tormented.
And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.
The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only,and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.
When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no,not in Israel. And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.
Both before and after this story we see other stories of Jesus healing, the man with the withered hand, the woman who touched His hem and was healed. They are all miracles and worthy of study, but I find this one remarkable for what the centurion said to Jesus.
His servant is very sick with palsy - that is a paralysis, especially that which is accompanied by involuntary tremors (thank you Google Dictionary). He asks Jesus to come and heal his servant and Jesus agrees. So far very normal, then the centurion says, "Lord I am not worthy for you to come into my home: but speak the word only, and my servant will be healed" (converted from KJV language for clarity). He then goes on to explain that he is a leader of men. When Jesus heard the He "marvelled" I don't think He was marveling at the centurions leadership position. I believe He was impressed by the mans faith, awareness, and assessment of his standing.
This centurion had enough faith to ask for healing, and enough awareness of his own life to essential say- I am not worth for you to come into my home, but please heal my servant. I have faith that you can do this from here by saying so. Jesus then tells him that He has not found anyone with such great faith, He talks about the outer darkness which is a topic we will have to get to later - I have not received understanding about this yet. Some knowledge, but no understanding :)
Finally, Jesus tells him that as he believes so it will be done; and the servant was healed in the same hour.
The centurion knew and admitted that there were things about his life and his home that made him and it not worthy for the Lord to be in his home. He also had great faith - what does that mean for us?
We can have faith, and still do wrong. We can take action to fix our sins and wrong choice through the atonement. But how about this...are we making sure we are worthy when we go into the Lords house as well? By worthy are we praying and repenting of sins before taking the communion and doing our duties in the church? Are we praying, repenting and assessing before going to the Temple? This centurion knew there were wrong things in his life, admitted them and still had the faith to ask for a miracle of the Lord. Wrong things in our life don't keep us from prayer, that's when we should be speaking to our Father the most.
The Bible doesn't tell us what happened to the centurion, but I like to think that this meeting with the Jesus and this miracle encouraged him to change what he need to change in his life, he certainly possessed the faith to do so.
