OUR FATHER WHOSE KINGDOM IS ONE OF AUTHORITY AND FAITH

5 Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him,         6 saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.”

7 And Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”

8 The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

10 When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! 11 And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.        12 But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that same hour.

The Lord Jesus, upon entering the northern town of Capernaum, was approached by a Roman soldier of the rank of centurion ( this rank is  a commanding officer in the Roman army over roughly 100 men ).

The centurion, begging Jesus, told Him about a servant who was at home paralysed and in agony. Jesus, hearing this, proposed that they go to the centurion's house to heal the sick servant.

The centurion then counter-proposed with his understanding of what was possible in the situation.

He explained that it would be innappropriate for someone of such great rank as Jesus to enter his humble house but instead, all that Jesus would need to do was say the command of healing and the servant would be healed remotely.

Being in the Roman army made the centurion familar with the mechanics of authority and from what he had heard of Jesus, had inferred that Jesus's power was a function of authority and therefore, in the same way that he could issue a command to his unit and that command would be carried out at a distance, Jesus could issue a command and that command could be fulfilled even without immediate proximity.

Jesus was astonished at the incisive perception of the Roman soldier and informed those who were with Him that the Roman soldier's faith was the greatest deposit of faith He had ever encountered on earth and that included all those who operated in faith in Israel.

The Lord Jesus then opened a glimpse into a reality of the kingdom of God that had just made itself manifest at that moment: The kingdom God was going to include people from every direction, race and tribe who would, by faith, gain seats in the kingdom of God while others who were born into the kingdom would be disqualified from authority in the kingdom (with intense regret) by their lack of faith.

The Lord Jesus then released the Roman soldier to go and said to him that what he had believed would happen, would indeed happen.

The sick servant was healed.

Amen.

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