What Would Jesus Say?

If you have a red letter Bible, you can easily distinguish the words of Jesus, I’d say those are some of the most powerful words in the Bible.  We read in Matthew 8, some of the miracles Jesus performed.  His conversation with the Centurion is below. ​

​When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. 6 “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.”
7 Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”

8 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. 9 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.”

10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. 11 I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

​13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment.

In those times a Centurion was the leader of 100 soldiers in the Roman army.  Their years of faithful service was what promoted them to this rank.  Their servants, however, had no legal rights, they were property.  This Centurion, however, had great comparison for his suffering servant and he believed Jesus had the power and authority to heal.  He didn’t even believe Jesus’s physical presence was necessary.  He said, “if Jesus would, just say the word, and his servant would be healed.”  We read in v.10, that Jesus was amazed, and remarked on the Centurion’s great faith. 

​This amazed me.  We read in Matthew 5:48, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”  I know I’m not perfect.  I know that I am not even close.  I know that my actions are much closer to perfection than my internal thoughts and dialogue.  But I also know He knows my thoughts and motivations, so I am back to imperfect.  To know that Jesus was impressed by the Centurion’s faith is a challenge to me.  I wonder what Jesus would say about me!  Would He be impressed by any aspect of my faith?  This idea challenges me to examine myself, my attitude towards others, my attitude towards my sin.  The previous chapters of Matthew contain Jesus’s words in the Sermon on the Mount.  He teaches us how to live - not just how to behave, but how to think, the proper attitude we should take, how to pray, and what a repentant heart really is.  He knows we will never be perfect, but challenges us to live as He demonstrated.  How are you living?  What would Jesus say about you? 


Amen.  Thank you for reading. 
Kim  

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