Belief

Sometimes we get too caught up in defining our faith.

When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, appealing to him and saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, in terrible distress."  And he said to him, "I will come and cure him."  The centurion answered, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only speak the word, and my servant will be healed.  For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes, and to another, 'Come,' and he comes, and to my slave, 'Do this,' and the slave does it."  When Jesus heard him, he was amazed and said to those who followed him, "Truly I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith. - Matthew 8:5-10

The centurion, who may not have believed all that Jesus preached and perhaps had no idea of the God of whom he spoke, sought him out because he believed the man had some authority over demons who possessed his servant.

Jesus credits the centurion with having more faith than everyone he has met in Israel.  That sounds a bit exaggerated, but he has a point.  The centurion went out of his comfort zone to find someone he didn't know but heard of to help his servant.

That is an act of love, and that is what inspired Jesus to compliment him.

What do we go out of our way for?  Fear of death for ourselves, perhaps.  But how far will we go for someone else?

This is the Good Samaritan parable acted out.  The centurion is the Samaritan who goes out of his way for someone else, in that case, someone he doesn't know, but cares about.

Here, the centurion cares deeply, enough to seek out a religious man he heard about who might be able to help.

We like to think we would do the same, but how do we know?  Until that time comes when we need help for someone else, we can only assume we would go the extra mile.

The lesson is a lesson of love.  And it is one we all need to hear again and again.

It is through our love for one another that we show our faith.  And that is what Jesus meant when he said love one another as you love yourself.

More to come...