What Does Great Faith Look Like? - Matthew 8

The Faith of the Centurion

5 When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. 6 “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.” 7 Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?” 8 The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. 11 I say to you that many will come from the east and the west,and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment.

In Matthew 8, Jesus moves from his Sermon on the Mount in chapters 5-7 to showing what the kingdom of God looks like.  In the first story Jesus heals a leper. A leper was a outcast in society and there were rules about how close one could get to a leper in public.  The leper asks Jesus is if he is "Willing to make him clean." And Jesus says, "I am willing".  

In the next story Jesus is met by a Roman centurion.  A Roman centurion oversaw 100 Roman soldiers, and thus had authority.  But this Roman centurion had a problem, his servant was paralyzed and suffering greatly.  Remember the Jews were also not supposed to "fraternize' with Gentiles, let alone a commander of the same army that oppressed them.  But Jesus sees something in this man.  

First, he sees the compassion the centurion has for his servant.  He wasn't asking for himself, but for his servant though he had authority over him. Next, the Centurion recognizes Jesus' authority.  He had some exposure to Jesus' teaching and healing which apparently made him realize Jesus' authority.  In humility he acknowledges that he is not worthy to have Jesus come into his home.  Finally, we hear the great faith of the centurion in Jesus.  He says to Jesus, "Just say the word and he will be healed!"  We can see why Jesus says, "I have not seen such faith in all of Israel." 

Then, Jesus says something amazing. He says that those who have faith like the centurion will sit down at the banquet table with Abraham, Issac and Jacob, the patriarchs of the Jewish faith.  They were men of great faith who God used to set apart a people for himself, whose descendants led to the birth of Jesus.  Jesus teaches us that these heroes of faith in the Old Testament will be in heaven.  

So what does this story teach us? God's kingdom is open to all people Jews and Gentiles (non-Jews).  Jesus show us that Gentiles who believe in Jesus will be included in the heavenly banquet. On the other hand Jews who reject Jesus will not enter God's kingdom.  Their destiny is described as outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.  A place of regret that they did not believe in God's Messiah Jesus.  

What strikes me most about the passage is when the Centurion says, "Just say the word and my servant will be healed."  He recognized the power and authority of Jesus which came through his word. He could heal just as easily with word as his touch.  (Guzik)

What word do you need to hear from Jesus today?  A word of healing. A word of peace.  A word of encouragement.  A word of assurance. A word of salvation.  As you seek the word you need to hear from Jesus today, remember to have the faith of the centurion who trusted in Jesus by saying, "Just say the word and my servant will be healed."