Matthew 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-10
[5] When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came and pleaded with Him, [6] “Lord, my servant lies at home, paralyzed and in terrible agony.” [7] “I will go and heal him,” Jesus replied. [8] The centurion answered, “Lord, I am not worthy to have You come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed…
[10] When Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those following Him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith…[13] Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! As you have believed, so will it be done for you.” And his servant was healed at that very hour.
From this great reading, there are three lessons to understand.
1. Understanding Contradictions.
Matthew and Luke give different accounts of who went to Jesus. Matthew says that the Centurion went to him and Luke says he sent the elders to Jesus on his behalf. Skeptics read these two accounts and say the Bible has contradictions. Always remember this truth. A contradiction is only a contradiction when two different statements cannot both be true. Blending Matthew and Luke’s accounts, it is possible that the centurion initially sent elders and then communicated directly with Jesus through friends or messengers, as Luke says.
2. Understanding Faith
Faith is only faith when it changes how one acts. The centurion believed and asked Jesus to heal his servant. To simply say I have faith is not enough. Because of what he believed, he acted upon it and sent for Jesus. To test whether you have faith, ask yourself, what does my faith lead me to do?
3. Understanding God and Boxes
Never put God in a box. He can do things that you cannot imagine. Everyone would have imagined that Jesus would go to the home of the centurion’s house, walk up to the sickbed, and lay hands to heal the man. Instead, he just said it, and it was done. In our story, only the centurion had faith enough to imagine this. We are better off to simply ask God for what we need and then leave it to God to answer as he wills.
Lonnie Davis