Mt 8:5-7   When Jesus had entered Capernaum , a centurion came to him, asking for help. "Lord," he said, "my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering." Jesus said to him, "I will go and heal him."

One of the things that comes out, when we start looking at the people who came to Jesus, is that quickly we realise that they are people in need. Here we find the Centurion came “asking for help.” The reality is that we all need the Lord's help but sometimes it needs a crisis for us to realise it. Most of the time we seem to be able to cope in our day to day living and in our folly we ignore the Lord and just get by in our own strength. The leper in the previous meditation was very obviously in constant need of help; that was the nature of his illness – he was stuck with it. We may be wrong but it seems in the case of the Centurion it is a problem that has just occurred. We assume there has been an accident and it has left the Centurion's servant paralyzed and in great pain. He would never have had this servant if he had had this affliction for a long time. No, it is more likely that it is something that has only recently happened.

Yes, physical afflictions can be illnesses (which may or may not be long-term) and they can be injuries that occur as a result of an accident. In the later case they may similarly be something that will heal up quickly, or possibly remain a long-term affliction. Whichever they are, we want to be rid of them. When we are not ill or not afflicted, we can sound very spiritual about such things, but when we are on the receiving end of such things, we just want to be rid of them. We show that by taking medicines or by going to a doctor or even by asking for prayer. In each case we want to be rid of this thing. Such things spoil or mar our lives and it is natural to want to be rid of them. What is incredible about Jesus' ministry is that whenever people came to him to be healed – he healed them! Now that may sound obvious but it isn't. Many of us today don't believe he still heals and yet the New Testament clearly teaches that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Heb 13:8) Why do we see so little healing? Perhaps, before we can see more healing, we need to see more of the characteristics of this Centurion appearing in the church.

The story seems to start out simply enough, as our verses above indicate but the wonder of the story is yet to come: “The centurion replied, "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, `Go,' and he goes; and that one, `Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, `Do this,' and he does it.” (v.8,9) There is within this, first of all, a remarkable humility: “I do not deserve…” This Centurion is a Roman, part of the conquering forces in the land. He could have held a very superior attitude, but he doesn't!

But not only is there a remarkable humility in this man, there is also a remarkable strength of belief and understanding. This man has heard about Jesus, but hearing isn't enough. This man believes what he has heard. When he has heard that Jesus has the power to heal people, he believes it. But there is more to it than that. He understands that Jesus is motivated by compassion and that compassion means that when anyone comes in need, he will meet that need (but of course we have to come). Thus he explains to Jesus that his servant is in ‘terrible suffering.' That will be enough to motivate Jesus – and it does – and that triggers off even greater faith in this man. Jesus has expressed his willingness and so now all that is needed is for it to be done.

It is at this point that the depth of faith and understanding of this man is revealed. He has understood that Jesus doesn't have to go through any ritual or performance or particular actions, he doesn't need to come to the house. Oh no, he knows that Jesus has the power and authority simply to speak a word and it will be done. This man already understood more than most of us understand today.

That this is remarkable is evidenced by Jesus' response: “When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, "I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.” (v.10) This is a not very subtle commendation of this man, and a challenge to the rest of the community of God's people! Jesus then simply speaks the word and the healing takes place: “Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go! It will be done just as you believed it would." And his servant was healed at that very hour.” (v.13)

There are clearly levels of belief (and unbelief) revealed in Scripture. In terms of unbelief, Paul was to one day write to the Corinthians, “anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.” (1 Cor 11:29 ,30) i.e. sin in the church can bring illness and even death. That is a terrible extreme we really want to avoid. When it comes to faith we will see in these studies, differing levels of faith, the height of faith, perhaps, being seen in this Centurion. To recap: he heard about Jesus, he believed Jesus could heal, he believed Jesus wanted to heal because of his compassion, and he believed Jesus has the power and authority to heal simply by speaking a word.

Notice in conclusion that there is no penance required, no weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth over repentance; it is all very much more straight-forward. The very act of coming to Jesus indicates a person willing to submit themselves to him. When we come to him, we recognise that he may require us to put issues right in our lives, but we are willing for that. James laid it out as follows: “Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.” (Jas 5:13-16) Those verses deserve some serious consideration and they are extremely challenging. Why not work through them slowly and allow the Lord to speak to you through them. In trouble – you pray. In sickness – call others to pray. If there is sin, confess it and open the way for healing. Wow! Challenging stuff!