Lovers of God

Jesus heals a centurion's paralyzed servant in Capernaum

Mt 8:5-13 5 And when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, imploring Him, 6 and saying, "Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented." 7 Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him." 8 But the centurion said, "Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 "For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, 'Go!' and he goes, and to another, 'Come!' and he comes, and to my slave, 'Do this!' and he does it." 10 Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who were following, "Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel. 11 "I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; 12 but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." 13 And Jesus said to the centurion, "Go; it shall be done for you as you have believed." And the servant was healed that very moment.

Lk 7:1-10 1 When He had completed all His discourse in the hearing of the people, He went to Capernaum. 2 And a centurion's slave, who was highly regarded by him, was sick and about to die. 3 When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders asking Him to come and save the life of his slave. 4 When they came to Jesus, they earnestly implored Him, saying, "He is worthy for You to grant this to him; 5 for he loves our nation and it was he who built us our synagogue." 6 Now Jesus started on His way with them; and when He was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to Him, "Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not worthy for You to come under my roof; 7 for this reason I did not even consider myself worthy to come to You, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 8 "For I also am a man placed under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, 'Go!' and he goes, and to another, 'Come!' and he comes, and to my slave, 'Do this!' and he does it." 9 Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled at him, and turned and said to the crowd that was following Him, "I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith." 10 When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.

The two accounts differ slightly. One says that the centurion sent friends and the other says that the centurion himself came. Also, one account relates two interactions, and the other relates only one. How do we resolve these things? The accounts are too similar to be different incidents, but they could be different, as in one the slave was sick whereas in the other he was paralyzed and fearfully tormented. Further, in one, the Jewish elders tell Jesus that this centurion was a good man, whereas in the other that is not mentioned. The way I look at it is to consider the account in Matthew to be a summary of the account in Luke.

The centurion was a part of the conquering kingdom, and he had a hundred men under him. Yet he was not arrogant, but was humble enough to come to Jesus, who was part of the conquered kingdom. He could have ordered that Jesus be brought to him, and ordered Jesus to heal his servant, but he came as a humble requestor, even addressing Jesus as ‘Lord’. Further, he was a man who was concerned about his slave, and he was willing to humble himself to ask for a favor on the behalf of his slave. That is so remarkable, and something we can learn from.

Even more, the man was also so humble that he didn’t think his home was worthy of Jesus. We don’t think of ourselves to be such great sinners that our body is not worthy of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus marveled at the faith of the man, who recognized the power Jesus had over sickness and demons, and who recognized that Jesus had angels at His behest. After all, Jesus didn’t know the man or his slave, so for Him to heal the slave from a distance, He would have to have angels work on His behalf to find the slave, and to heal him. Today, we have cellphone technology to communicate remotely from almost anywhere to almost anywhere on the earth. The centurion realized that Jesus had such ‘technology’ too and could tell His angels to get the job done, almost without saying a word to them. That’s why he made the comment about being under authority and commanding those under him to get a job done.

Further, the centurion could have thought, "Why would Jesus want to heal my slave?" but he didn't. What prevents you from having such faith in God? When was the last time you asked God to bless you with more godliness, or with more spiritual gifts so that you can serve Him better? We don’t have because we don’t ask. Why can’t you ask daily that God fill you with His Spirit so that you can fulfill His plan for you for the day? Make it a habit to do so, and keep asking, and at the end of a few years, you’ll be surprised as to what God does for you. I know because that’s what I did, and I was very pleased with the result.

Jesus said that the sons of the kingdom will be cast in the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Let’s ponder on that for a moment… can you be a son of the kingdom and not be saved? Of course not! ‘The kingdom’ refers to ‘the kingdom of God’ and a son (not merely a child, but a son) of the kingdom is one who is solidly a member of that kingdom i.e. a person who is saved. Yet such a person can end up in the outer darkness, where there will be much suffering, thus indicating that a person who was chosen for salvation can forfeit it and lose their salvation. Paul alludes to the same thing too in Rom 11:22-23.

Rom 11:22-23 22 Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God's kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off. 23 And they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.

There is an outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. The picture tallies with the picture in Revelation (Rev 22:15) where the lost are ‘outside’.

Rev 22:15 Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.