Daily Devotional For Thursday, January 25, 2024

Yesterday we started with the first of nine miracles Jesus does beginning in Matthew 8. Today, we come to the second miracle. Read Matthew 8:5-13, “When He had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to Him, appealing to Him, (6) “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” 7 And he said to Him, “I will come and heal him.” (8) But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have You come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. (9) For I too 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 servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” (10) When Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who followed Him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. (11) I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, (12) while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (13) And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment” (ESV).

Like in Matthew 8:1-4, Jesus responded to a direct appeal to Him. Many New Testament scholars believed the first 3 miracles Jesus does in Matthew 8 were done on the same day. Which means, Jesus had no sooner arrived in the town and He is approached to heal. We are told some things up front:

1. First, the man is an officer in Rome — a Centurion. This means he’s over the battalion of Roman soldiers who are occupying this area. 
2. Second, Roman soldiers were hated by the Jews because of their occupation and mistreatment. Also, when Roman put a battalion in an area, they forced local men to serve in the military. Thus, forcing them to mistreat other Jews and be hated by them. They made them both oppressors and traitors. 
3. Third, the word this Roman soldiers used for “servant” is [παῖς, pias] means “young child.” Translations use the word “slave,” which implies this child was born into slavery in his house. 
4. We are not told how or why, but this young child is very important to this Centurion. So important, this Centurion was afraid the child was about to die. Luke puts it this way in Luke 7:2, “Now a centurion had a servant who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him” (ESV).
5. We are not told what the illness was. What we do know it was painful, paralyzing and fatal.
6. This Centurion did not ask Jesus directly for a healing, but indirectly. 
7. The fact this Centurion cares this much for this slave who is a young child is shocking. The average military or civilian slave had no rights, They were considered property. Most Romans soldiers treated their animals better.

• The great Greek philosopher Aristotle said, “There could be no friendship and no justice toward inanimate things, not even toward a horse, an ox, or a slave, because master and slave were considered to have nothing in common.” “A slave,” he said, “is a living tool, just as a tool is an inanimate slave” (Aristotle, Ethics, p. 1161b).
• The Roman law expert Gaius wrote that “it was universally accepted that the master possessed the power of life and death over his slave” (Gaius, On Landed Estates, 1:17.1).
• Cato the Elder advised, “Those in economic difficulty should look over their livestock and hold a sale. They should sell their worn-out oxen, their blemished cattle, sheep, wool, and hides, their old wagons and tools, their old and sickly slaves, and whatever else was superfluous” (Cato, On Agriculture, 2.7. 

8. This man from Capernaum was a seasoned and well-trained Roman Centurion. He would not be in this position if he were not. Most centurions oversaw at least 100 Roman soldiers. So, in his day, he was a man’s-man. 

In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus follows this Centurion to his house but for some reason he does not want Jesus to come inside probably because he felt unworthy for Jesus to enter his home. Roman Centurions were well aware of the Jewish ceremonial cleansing requirements for them to enter a Roman’s home. It seemed this man is not only sensitive and caring for his slave, he is also sensitive to not ask Jesus to break Jewish cultural tradition. He did not want Jesus to  become unclean and contaminated.

What is clear this Romans Centurion knew either by word of mouth or personal witness that Jesus had the power to heal. He also knew and believed that Jesus did not have to be in the room with the child to heal the child. Meaning — he knew that Jesus, with His divine powers, only had to give the word, and the slave would be healed.

Jesus’ reaction to this Roman Centurion shows us that Jesus found that this man displayed faith in such a profound way that Jews did not. Mathew 8:10b, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith” (ESV). This is shocking because later in Jesus’ ministry, He said this to Philip, His disciple: “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know Me, Philip?” (John 14:9, ESV).

In verse 11, Jesus’ comment means that Gentiles, who were not God’s chosen people, would be the very ones who would respond to the Gospel more and benefit from it. This had to be a shock to the Jews in Capernaum. They assumed because they were “God’s chosen people,” this gave them an advantage — eternity with God in heaven. To Jews, God had given His promises through Abraham, and the prophets of the coming Messiah and how to know Who He was. Of all people who should have responded to Jesus, it should have been the Jews. Instead, it would be the Gentiles who never had been taught about the Messiah.

Jesus used a traditional Jewish phrase — “weeping and gnashing of teeth” in verse 12. Jewish tradition taught that the unregenerate or sinners—a term synonymous with Gentiles in that day, —would spend eternity in the outer darkness of Gehenna or hell. The Bible describes hell as a place of darkness and fire which causes pain, torture and torment for all eternity in complete pitch black darkness where no light can be seen. 

Jesus healed the young child slave. So, what are the implications for us today?

1. Is there anyone you look down on because of their race, gender, education, social standing,  sexual orientation, sins, or economic standing? Whoever that is, even with their sin, you are sinning as well. Ask God to give you a heart of compassion and love for them as this Centurion had for his slave child.
2. Do you have anyone in your life that is oppressing you? Maybe they claim to be a Christian, but in your eye, they are a traitor to Christ and our faith. While they may be oppressing you, in what ways can you be expressing Christ’s love for them through the sharing of the Gospel?
3. Is there anyone In power, such as a politician or your boss , where you have unkind thoughts about them in your heart? What if they came to you for help? What would be your response and why?
4. Jesus had already experienced the horrible oppression of Rome. Just as soon as He was born, King Herod ordered the death of all Jewish boys 2 years and younger in Matthew 2:16-18. Yes, Jesus’ family escaped this because they had been warned by an angel, but other Jewish families they knew went though this in their hometown of Nazareth. If anyone had a reason not to care for this Centurion and heal his slave child, it was Jesus. Instead, Jesus healed the child. Why do you think Jesus did this and what does this say about your own life, heart and attitude to those who hurt and oppress you?
5. In Luke 7, Luke tells us this story also. Look what Luke 7:10 says, “And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well” (ESV). Meaning it was more than the Roman Centurion who came to Jesus. Probably his servants, attendants and possibly some troops because Roman Centurions were prime targets of assassination. Imagine for a moment — what impact do you think this may have had on all these others who accompanied this Romans Centurion? Now take that same idea. What would be the results on others in your environment if you did the same thing to your “oppressor” ?

Scripture to Mediate On: Matthew 5:43-47, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’(44) But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,  (45) So that you may be sons of Your Father who is in heaven. For He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.(46)  For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? (47) And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?” (ESV).

Prayer To Pray: “Dear Jesus, there are people in my life who are hard to love. They have done things to me and continue to do things to me. Jesus, I do not want to be consumed by hatred, resentment and bitterness towards You nor them. So, please show me how I can do good to them and then watch You do what You do best — heal, restore and get the glory. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”