Matthew 8:5-10
When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, appealing to him and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, in terrible distress.” And he said to him, “I will come and cure him.” The centurion answered, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only speak the word, and my servant will be healed. For I also 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 slave, ‘Do this,’ and the slave does it.” 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.”
Here is another story of faith understood as profound trust. On the surface, the centurion in this encounter and the leper who beseeched Jesus in the last couldn’t be more different. The leper is powerless while the centurion is a man of authority, and the leper is Jewish, while the centurion is a Roman.
But two things tie them together. The first is need. Both are in distress. The leper because he has been plagued by a skin condition that not only was painful but also had distinct and profound social costs as well. The centurion is also distressed, but on behalf of a servant of his who is suffering. Both of them are therefore driven to Jesus by their need.
And both of them trust. The leper trusts Jesus can heal him and so asks, “Lord, if you choose….” The centurion doesn’t even expect Jesus to come to his house – that is, the house of a Gentile Roman – and instead trusts that if Jesus merely utters the command his servant will be healed.
Again, noting that Matthew places these two stories immediately after the Sermon on the Mount, I think the Evangelist wants us not only to hear Jesus talk about discipleship and the kingdom of God but also to see it. After all, there’s nothing quite like a good story to bring a point to life and to help us see and imagine it more fully. And so Matthew shares two stories of very, very different people who each model discipleship faith as active trust in Jesus.
But note as well that in the diversity of these two characters – literally from two different worlds – Matthew invites us to recognize and imagine that such faith is available to all. To the sick and the healthy, to the powerful and the vulnerable, to the Jew and Gentile, to anyone, finally, who recognizes their need and comes to Jesus in faith, trust, and hope.
And that includes each of us.
Prayer: Dear God, let us recognize our need and that of those around us and come together as those who trust your will and your mercy as we know them both through your Son. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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