Matthew 8:5-13
When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment.
Tag: Faith - Recognizing Christ's Authority.
In the above passage the centurion is commended and rewarded for his faith. The key in the passage is to understand the character of his faith. His expression to Jesus about his own authority and his recognition of Jesus' obvious authority over the sickness of his servant, caused an unusual reaction in Jesus. Seeing the man's faith, Jesus states, "Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith." The lesson we need to learn here must consider what we learn about faith. The centurion did not have faith in Jesus' doctrine, although he could have. The faith act here is that the man "recognized Jesus authority." When Satan tempted Jesus he offered Jesus authority over all the kingdom Satan showed him. Jesus casts Satan away. The reason? Because Jesus knew all the kingdoms of the world were already under his authority. The centurion recognizes that. No one in Israel did. The speaks directly to the nations rejecting Jesus as their Messiah; their King with all authority. When we pray, in faith, we need to recognized Jesus authority to command sickness, pain, suffering, etc. That prayer is an act of faith recognizing Jesus' authority.
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