Matthew 8:10
When Jesus heard him, he was amazed and said to those who followed him, “Truly I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith.”
Just one more thing on this rather intriguing first part of the story of Jesus’ encounter with the centurion. Notice that the man making a request of Jesus is not Jewish. Matthew doesn’t tell us that directly because it’s assumed. Simply because he is a Roman centurion, that is, we can conclude that his is not Jewish but rather is a Gentile. This, in and of itself, isn’t that remarkable, as there are many Gentile characters in Matthew’s Gospel.
But what strikes me is that while Jesus grants his request and praises the man for great faith, Jesus does not ask him to follow him. One way to read this is that Jesus is simply using this man as an example for his audience – “Truly I tell you, in no one in Israel….” That’s certainly a possibility – here, in this Gentile, Jesus finds an example of great faith. But of course there are many great examples of faith among Israelites as well. What I find interesting is that Jesus is content to honor his request and praise his faith but makes no demand upon him to follow him or become his disciple. Jesus seems content, that is, to leave this man as he is, at least in terms of his occupation and beliefs, and simply respond to his need.
Living in a highly pluralistic world – much more like Matthew’s world, by the way, than the world the Church has known in recent centuries – I think we might wonder if evangelism is not always Jesus’ highest priority. Don’t get me wrong, this is the Gospel that ends with the great commission. Jesus clearly wants us to share the good news of God’s love with any and all we meet. But sometimes I fear the Christian life is reduced to evangelism when there are plenty of examples of Jesus healing and feeding and simply caring for people apart from the issue of whether they are followers of his or not.
So when we are in relationship with persons of other faiths or no faiths, perhaps there will be an opportunity to share why our faith matters to us and how we have experienced God’s love in and through our Christian faith and community. And perhaps there will simply be opportunities to care for them as members of the human family and fellow children of God. In those moments, know that your care and love is enough. Indeed, it is doing what Jesus did.
Prayer: Dear God, remind us that all people are your children and encourage us therefore to care for all people as our brothers and sisters. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Recent Comments