The miracles of Jesus amaze us.
I often wonder what it would have felt like to be there and witness Jesus’ miraculous healing first hand – and for the people who saw Jesus in the flesh during his ministry they must have felt utter amazement; little wonder that during the time of our reading today, news of Jesus’ ministry and works were spreading wherever he went.
And yet, the miracle we hear about in our reading does not take centre stage today, astonishing though it is – it is almost secondary in our cause for reflection.
Something else happens – something that caused Jesus to be amazed. I searched long and hard for examples of Jesus being amazed and could only find two that used the word – the other one is not very positive and talks of Jesus being amazed by people’s lack of faith; but in this one – Jesus is amazed by the faith of the centurion – there’s a lot to be learnt by looking not at the miracle, but the attitude of the one who seeks the healing and his response to the authority and ministry of Jesus.
The centurion had amazing faith.
There are three major characteristics that make his attitude and his faith amazing and I’d like to look at each of them.
The first characteristic of amazing faith is that it caused him to love across barriers.
A centurion was a gentile, a man of position and authority in an occupying force. He was in charge of 100 soldiers and would be the equivalent of a modern day army Captain. The Jewish people despised the Romans for their oppression. As with any long occupation, there are happy collaborators and the Romans themselves saw no harm in letting the locals worship their own gods rather than forcing them to worship Roman ones – however there would always be an undercurrent of resentment from those who were oppressed.
This is a man who, we are told, loved his slave. It’s hard to imagine just how out of character this was for a Roman; to a Roman a slave was a thing to be owned; and like anything else to be discarded when it stopped being useful – a slave was a living tool – something you would take stock of along with your best knives and hammer - if it stopped working, Romans were encouraged to get rid of them.
And yet here we have a gentile, a foreign invader showing regard and love toward those whom his culture told him he should despise and control. Matthews’s gospel says that the servant was sick and ready to die; it’s easy to imagine him feeling helpless as the servant fought a slow and losing battle.
We are told that this man loved Israel, even though it was not the land of his birth – he was prepared to cross racial and cultural barriers when he, as a gentile, reached out to the Jews for help.
How easy do we find it to love those that our culture considers unlovable?
The second characteristic of his amazing faith was that it caused him to become excited and active in the service of God.
The centurion sent the local Jewish elders to Jesus to beg him to come and heal his servant. Now bearing in mind how little affection the Jews had for the Romans, it’s quite a revelation as to how earnest they are in how they plead his case. They say that he deserves help and that he has built them a synagogue. They are arguing that he was a man of integrity and they vouch for him – he must have been a very special man indeed.
The local synagogue was a very important place to the community, it was even a place where a gentile could go and hear about the word of God; to have built one must have taken a great deal of influence, money and effort – he took the talents he had been given and put them to the service of God and helping God’s word to be heard and celebrated within the community.
The divide between the centurion and the Jews would not have been overcome easily, how long did it take him I wonder, to convince them that he was a man of integrity and true spirituality? It would have taken a long time I think, having to show his mettle and his sincerity through his works and his devotion. But clearly, he had convinced them, since it is the community leaders who go on his behalf to appeal to Jesus.
The leaders convince Jesus to come and help. The Centurion remained humble in his request for help; there was nothing showy about the way he asked; he could so easily have been boastful about the way he approached Jesus, saying 'Look what I’ve done for your God and your people'. Instead his actions speak for him – and so the Jewish leaders entreat Jesus on his behalf.
When we approach God in prayer, how humble are we?
The third characteristic of his amazing faith is that he was willing to trust in Christ alone.
“But say the word, and my servant will be healed” for I am a man placed under authority, having my soldiers under me. And I say to one “Go” and he goes and to another and “come” and he comes, and to my servant “do this” and he does it”
The centurion realised that if Jesus had power over life and death then he must be divine. Word of Jesus had spread throughout the area as he had continued to preach and change people’s lives. The Centurion had heard of Jesus’ ministry and approaches him with respect and humility; all Jesus has to do is say the word and it is as good as done; Jesus doesn’t even have to be with, or touch, the servant. He made this request after he had heard of Jesus. In the sermon on the mount, Jesus promised special blessings for those who had heard but not seen; however amazing it must have been to witness Jesus perform a miracle – how great the faith to believe that Jesus can perform such things without having witnessed them. This is why Jesus promised him and us that special blessing.
Jesus' reaction to the things he hears is to turn around and say to the crowd, “ I say to you I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel”. Jesus commendation is for a gentile, one who was seen to be outside the law. And once again we see Jesus showing love for the outsider – someone whose circumstances would have made it difficult for him to have such faith - whose culture told him to worship different gods, whose culture told him to worship different values, and yet here is Jesus holding him up as a striking example of faith.
What startled and impressed Jesus were characteristics that anyone today can have. Our world tells us that we should embrace other ideals such as fame, money and status – to think of our self-interest; but Jesus is impressed when we put our faith in him. Our world tells us that there are barriers to who can receive God’s love and favour; but faith calls us to respond otherwise. And when we respond to the blessing that God has placed on our lives for having believed without seeing, then we too can respond as the Centurion did, by helping to build God’s church, and by living our lives with such integrity that regardless of division, our creed, our colour, our society, people will know we are Christians not because we tell them we are – they will know we are Christians by our love.
Amen.
(Dan Joseph)
This sermon was first preached in the Metropolitan Community Church of Manchester. Click here for further information.