Saturday, 10 January 2009

• The faith of the centurion

  When [Jesus] entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, in terrible agony!"
  
  "I will come and heal him," He told him.
  
  "Lord," the centurion replied, "I am not worthy to have You come under my roof. But only say the word, and my servant will be cured. For I too am a man under authority, having soldiers under my command. I say to this one, 'Go!' and he goes; and to another, 'Come!' and he comes; and to my slave, 'Do this!' and he does it."
  
  Hearing this, Jesus was amazed and said to those following Him, "I assure you: I have not found anyone in Israel with so great a faith! I tell you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Then Jesus told the centurion, "Go. As you have believed, let it be done for you."
  
  And his servant was cured that very moment.
  
  - Matthew 8:5-13
  
  

  This is a brilliant and beautiful short passage.  If this was the only scrap of the gospels that survived intact, we would still have some idea how unique and powerful Jesus was.  We would think of him primarily as a healer, of course, but also as one who did not work under coercion but of his own will.  We would also know that he had an interest in Old Testament prophecies, and that he interpreted them in a way radically different from others of his time. 
  
  I think that three major areas are addressed in this short passage.
  

  1. The Soldier.  Sometimes interpreters like to make passages like this a commentary on the pacifist/just war debate.  They're not.  This passage says nothing one way or the other, really, about the validity of military service for Christians (or, for that matter, Israelites of Jesus' time).  It's easy for Americans reading this to think of the centurion basically like a U.S. soldier entering an American church.  He's not.  A better image is an American soldier stationed in Iraq entering a mosque there, or a British soldier during the Boer War seeking out a reputed South African mystic.  Romans were the oppressor; this man was upholding a social evil.
  2. The faith.  Jesus makes reference in this passage to the degree to which the people's faith helps or hinders both his missions and his miracles.  Elsewhere in the gospels, we're shown that Jesus could do very few miracles in his own hometown, because very few put their faith in his ability to do so.  In other words, human action or inaction can constrain the power of God.  This is a strong point in favor of open theist claims, that God willingly created a world in which he gave genuine power of decision to humans and other free-will agents. 
     
  3. The table.  Jesus refers to the table of the kingdom banquet.  And from the contrast between the centurion's surprisingly great faith, and the Israelites' unaccountable lack of faith, he makes the point that the kingdom banquet at which all Jews knew Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were reclined will be filled with surprising guests from outside the traditionally accepted regiment.  What's more, many who think they're already in are actually constraining themselves from entering. 
     

  What this means for us?  We can draw an application from each of the points. 
  
  First, remember that even your enemy, your oppressor, is a person capable of finding faith.  He may even surprise you and teach you something about your own faith!  So treat him as a human, or, as Jesus said elsewhere, love your enemy.  The Quakers use slightly different language for this, reminding us that all are created in the image of God, and telling us to look for "that-of-God" in each person.
  
  Second, remember that God does not work by fiat, or be coercion.  We are co-agents in the management of this world.  God answers prayer, but your faith and determination in that prayer matters in a tangible way.  Likewise, your actions matter in a tangible way.  Never be willing to accept simply that "this is the way God wants things for some mysterious reason."  In fact, be willing to contradict God, as the centurion did Jesus.
  
  And the third is a two-parter.  First, keep in mind that you may be surprised who shows up in heaven after all.  Don't bother pre-judging these things, because the Jews were all fairly sure that a centurion could not receive aid from the Jewish Messiah.  And, as a corollary to that, never feel so safe in your salvation that you refuse to allow God to work in you.  St. Paul put it this way: "Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you."
  
  What other observations or lessons could you draw from this passage?
  
  -NDSR
  

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