Matthew 8:5-11
When Jesus 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. I tell you, many will come from east and west and will eat with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.”
As I read this passage, I began to wonder, “Why did this centurion have such faith?” So I began to read the passage again and again. Then it struck me. The centurion had such faith because he was “…a man under authority.” In our society, there are only some people that know what that means. Persons serving in the military or the police forces would know what it means to be under authority. Most of us as everyday citizens don’t understand what it means for someone to say to us, “Do this” or “Do that” and for that person to expect us to DO IT. We don’t have such a structured life.
Then again, as Christians, maybe we do.
We say that at the name of Jesus every knee shall one day bow. We call him King of Kings. We talk in hierarchical and authoritarian language all the time. However, few of us have ever really put him or herself completely under the authority of Jesus. Sure we play at it every now and then, but, when push comes to shove, most of us still like to do things our way.
Could this be the reason that we see so few miracles? Could our lack of trust in the one that made us, be the reason that our faith is so weak? Think about it.
