When Jesus entered the city of Capernaum, an army officer came to him, begging for help.
The officer said, “Lord, my servant is at home in bed. He can’t move his body and is in much pain.”
Jesus said to the officer, “I will go and heal him.”
The officer answered, “Lord, I am not worthy for you to come into my house. You only need to command it, and my servant will be healed. I, too, am a man under the authority of others, and I have soldiers under my command. I tell one soldier, ‘Go,’ and he goes. I tell another soldier, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and my servant does it.
When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. He said to those who were following him, “I tell you the truth, this is the greatest faith I have found, even in Israel. Many people will come from the east and from the west and will sit and eat with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But those people who should be in the kingdom will be thrown outside into the darkness, where people will cry and grind their teeth with pain.”
Then Jesus said to the officer, “Go home. Your servant will be healed just as you believed he would.” And his servant was healed that same hour.
Matthew 8:5-13
The officer said, “Lord, my servant is at home in bed. He can’t move his body and is in much pain.”
Jesus said to the officer, “I will go and heal him.”
The officer answered, “Lord, I am not worthy for you to come into my house. You only need to command it, and my servant will be healed. I, too, am a man under the authority of others, and I have soldiers under my command. I tell one soldier, ‘Go,’ and he goes. I tell another soldier, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and my servant does it.
When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. He said to those who were following him, “I tell you the truth, this is the greatest faith I have found, even in Israel. Many people will come from the east and from the west and will sit and eat with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But those people who should be in the kingdom will be thrown outside into the darkness, where people will cry and grind their teeth with pain.”
Then Jesus said to the officer, “Go home. Your servant will be healed just as you believed he would.” And his servant was healed that same hour.
Matthew 8:5-13
We like being in control, don't we? We love being put in positions of authority and power (whether we can handle the responsibilities or not). For some, being in the spotlight (believing we are more "important" than everyone else) is worth whatever the cost to cling to. We get a taste of power and we aren't about to let it go.
But look at today's story...the Centurion, who is a man of authority able to order his troops to kill, defend, destroy, guard, build, tear down, move or anything else he had a mind to do. Yet, this man of power found himself in a position where all his authority and power were useless. Understand, that servants during this time in history were disposable. If one died, you just went to the market and bought another one. So when this Centurion takes such an interest in his servant as to go as Jesus for help speaks of an unusual relationship. Perhaps the Centurion and this servant grew up together in the same household, perhaps even played together, and were together throughout their lives (as sometimes happened).
But the Centurion recognized that all his hard won power and authority could not save his servant. And in admitting that he needed Jesus' help, he achieved something most of us have yet to understand...that Jesus is in control and is the Great Physician. He understood that God is God and he is not.
I wish I could remember who wrote it, but this quote stuck in my mind: "Some of us think holding on to power makes us strong, but it is in the letting go that true power is unleashed!"
If you want to know just how powerful you are, grab a handful of sunshine. When night comes, open your hand and see how brightly your handful of sunshine glows. The only one who controls the sunshine is the One who created it...and it ain't us.
Got something you're trying to deal with? Stop trying to control it and let God deal with it!
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