After Jesus had finished all this sayings in the hearing of the people,
he entered Capernaum. A centurion there had a slave whom he valued highly and
who was ill and close to death. When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish
elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave. When they came to Jesus,
they appealed to him earnestly saying, “He is worthy of having you do this for
him, for he loves our people and it is he who build our synagogue for us.”
In addition, Jesus went with them but when he was not far from the house,
the centurion sent friends to say to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I
am not worthy to have you come under my roof; therefore I did not presume to
come to you. Only speak the word, and let my servant be healed. For I am also a
man set under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one “Go” and he
goes to another “Come” and he comes, and
to my slave “Do this” and the slave does it. When Jesus heard this, he was
amazed at him and turning to the crowd that followed him, he said, “I tell you,
not even in Israel have I found such faith.” When those who had been sent
returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.
Father
Michael Busch said that the gospel is the story about the Roman soldier, a
pagan who occupied Israel. He revealed his own character as a soldier who knew his
authority. He knew Jesus had the power to heal his servants. The centurion was
aware of the chain of command and Jesus’ power to heal which came from God. In
the present times, why is it hard to have that kind of faith? Why can’t we accept
the weakness of each other? Why can’t we trust God? The problem is two-fold:
there is a power greater than our own. There are some who are reluctant to obey
the discipline of obedience or to put a trust in the chain, which could
maintain an empire. Thus, we should understand that the chain of command begins
with God. For all of us and those who exercise their authority, we should have
strong link in the chain of command and pledge our obedience to Him.
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