The Gospel of Matthew, chapter 8:
The faith of the centurion has always puzzled me. Was his faith so great because he knew Jesus could heal his servant from afar, recognizing Jesus's authority to make that happen? Or was it because he was so humble he proclaimed he didn't deserve to have Jesus come to his home?
As I write this (and these things can always change), I believe it was the first. All of us, when faced with Jesus, will recognize our depravity and unworthiness. However, when the centurion made the comparison about authority he says, "I tell soldiers to 'do this' and they obey" (paraphrasing. can't you tell?)- he was assuming that Jesus could make similar proclamations- to say "heal" from afar, and his commands are obeyed.
Even more so I think most of us know that God indeed has that authority, but when it comes to Him using that authority on our behalf, we waver in our certainty. That is where the humility and unworthiness bleeds over into the faith, where it doesn't belong: faith isn't based on who WE are, but on who HE is. Therefore our faith shouldn't be tied to our unworthiness, but only to a recognition of His greatness.
1 comment:
Hey Maggie! It's funny you should post this today, since the Centurion's faith was the subject of our church's VBS lesson today. The catchphrase: "step out on faith" like the centurion. I think you've hit the nail on the head -- the centurion, though a Roman soldier and not from a Jewish background, recognized Jesus' authority. And even that was given to him. Like you said, "faith is based on who God is" -- being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. "And all these things were promised yet they did not receive them...yet they are commended for their faith." Our Sunday school class is just finishing up Hebrews and it is a nice tie-in.
(BTW, I'm enjoying your blog and glad to be part of your captive audience! I'm not lurking anymore!) :)
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