Matthew 8-10

It took me nearly 20 minutes, with a number of interruptions, to read this passage.  The Roman Centurion in Capernaum is hardly someone we would consider a model of faith.  They acted as prosecutor, defender, judge, jury, and executioner all with the wave of their hand.  In the field it was their “rule” that was final.  We might even accuse them of having a “god complex” feeling that they had complete control over the lives of many people.  The Centurion whom Matthew writes about in 8:5-13 certainly sounds like that type of man.  He is used to the orders given to the soldiers under his command and the slaves he owned acted upon immediately.  But he also indicates that he lives his life in the same way; when he receives an order from his superior he acts upon it immediately.  So it was not a big theological leap for this man to take one step up the ladder from Caesar; he too had faith in the God of Israel.  Whether he understood that Jesus was God or only that Jesus had access to God’s ear this Centurion took his request to the highest authority in the world.  He knew that if his request to the almighty was acceptable then it would be acted upon, immediately.  Jesus praised his faith, and answered his request.  This Centurion teaches us that faith is much more than intellectual acknowledgement of who God  is.  Faith is expressed in the response of obedience to God’s command.

Stuart