Advent From the Backside - The Centurion

Matthew 8:5-13 (My Translation): When Jesus entered Capernaum, a frantic centurion came to him and begged Jesus, saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed and in terrible distress.” Jesus said, “I’ll come and heal him.” “Oh, no,” said the centurion. “You don’t need to come. I’m not worthy to have you under my roof. Simply speak the word, and my servant will be healed. I have a certain amount of authority, having soldiers under me. I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes. I say to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I tell a soldier, ‘Do this,’ and he does. Jesus was awed and said to those around him, “Truly I tell you that even in Israel I have not found such faith. There are many who will come from the east and the west to sit and eat with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. Meanwhile, the children of the kingdom will be thrown into outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Jesus told the centurion, “Go, what you’ve believed could happen has happened.” At that instant, the centurion’s servant was healed.

Luke 7 -

Common English Bible (Chapter 7)

After Jesus finished presenting all his words among the people, he entered Capernaum. 2 A centurion had a servant who was very important to him, but the servant was ill and about to die. 3 When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to Jesus to ask him to come and heal his servant. 4 When they came to Jesus, they earnestly pleaded with Jesus. “He deserves to have you do this for him,” they said. 5 “He loves our people and he built our synagogue for us.”6 Jesus went with them. He had almost reached the house when the centurion sent friends to say to Jesus, “Lord, don’t be bothered. I don’t deserve to have you come under my roof. 7 In fact, I didn’t even consider myself worthy to come to you. Just say the word and my servant will be healed. 8 I’m also a man appointed under authority, with soldiers under me. I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and the servant does it.”9 When Jesus heard these words, he was impressed with the centurion. He turned to the crowd following him and said, “I tell you, even in Israel I haven’t found faith like this.” 10 When the centurion’s friends returned to his house, they found the servant restored to health.

Engage

Simply walk out and start...

Encounter

Good morning! I’m a little lost here, I apologize. I’m speaking a language I didn’t know I knew in a place I’ve never been and don’t recognize. God’s Spirit has brought me here to tell you my story. The story of when I met the Lord, Jesus of Nazareth. Normally, I live in Capernaum. I suppose God’s Spirit will put me back there sometime today, that’ll be interesting. Anyway, my name is Marcus. I’m a proud citizen of the Roman Empire. Capernaum is so beautiful, I wish you could see it. The Galilean Sea is so pretty. I wasn’t sure about being stationed in Capernaum when I first got my assignment, but we’ve grown to love it. It’s nice to be away from the hustle and bustle of Rome and all the politics that go with it. Keeping the peace is important, and I feel blessed to be helping command a garrison.

I suppose you’d say I’m not an ordinary Roman citizen. I’m a soldier, actually a soldier and a commander of other soldiers. As a centurion, I command around 80 men, depending upon the comings and goings. I rose to this rank due to my valor, my skill, my leadership, and my length of service. I’ve seen the worst of humanity on many occasions but have pushed on through it. I understand that you have two documents that tell a bit of the story of my interaction with Jesus. I think I likely saw Matthew, but I didn’t see or know Luke. It’s hard for me to believe that I appear in a document nearly 2,000 years after I met Jesus. It’s hard to imagine how many people have read the story, how many have passed it along, and how many copies there are here in this place on a continent I didn’t even know existed. The way things are documented and kept by your world sure is baffling to this ol’ Roman. Anyway, in your recorded version of the story Matthew said I was frantic. I was. I suppose I’m a different Roman that way, too. Most of my Roman peers don’t care about their slaves or servants, they treat them as barely human if human at all. I’ve learned differently. My parents came from very little, you see, but my dad earned citizenship through his military service. Perhaps that’s why I’ve acted like each human life has value. I’ve also always wondered about who created all this…and if we go anywhere when our life ends or we’re just gone. So I treat my servants a lot like family, I suppose. I invest more of them than just money.

That’s why I’ve been friendly to the Jews in Capernaum. Not being actively engaged in battles, I’ve taken time to observe them. I’ve also helped them with some building projects. I enjoy having a task to do rather than just standing around waiting for something to happen. I’ve asked them about life and about their beliefs and practices. It’s all so strange, but there has always been something appealing about it, though I hadn’t become a convert or anything. I always felt like there was far more to the meaning of life than what I learned as a Roman…that the Roman way of thinking can’t answer some very important questions.

So, when my servant, my dear friend, Antony got so sick and was in so much pain, none of my Roman friends had any answers or even cared. He’s a slave, get what you can out of him and then he dies, they said. So, I thought my Jewish friends might have some way to help. Then, right about that time, I heard reports of Jesus of Nazareth. I don’t know how, and I can’t explain it, but something clicked. I knew he was the answer. Even though Nazareth is a little nothing town, I just knew. I was in awe even before I met him and, although I knew I had Roman power, I felt unworthy, but I was desperate. So, I asked my Jewish friends to help me get to Jesus. I’m not sure they were entirely thrilled with this request and I’m not sure how they really felt about Jesus at the time. But, out of kindness at least, they set the events in motion.

I was pretty amazed when Jesus was headed to my house! And yet I felt unworthy. So, I sent some friends to tell him not to come into my house. Then I reached him outside my house and told him myself. I knew that if this was truly the Lord of the earth and sky, nothing could contain him. His power is not contained to the location where he stands, it’s everywhere. I explained how my power worked…how I can simply issue commands and my commands are obeyed even if I’m not everywhere physically. I knew it must be this way for Jesus, but so much more.

So, Jesus did indeed heal Antony. It seems he healed him at the exact moment he said he would. Truly, he must be the Messiah and the Son of the one true God!

I feel so immeasurably blessed. I don’t deserve to meet the Lord of heaven and earth. Yet, Matthew and Luke wrote that Jesus was impressed by my faith. I knew what I was asking for Antony was impossible without a powerful God. Somehow I knew this man, Jesus of Nazareth, was sent from THE God my Jewish friends have always told me about. Perhaps my kindness and my value toward all lives somehow opened me to believe, I’m not sure. Either way, I know the healing of Antony and my knowing the Lord Jesus is a tremendous gift I’ve been given.

Many of my Roman friends think I’m nuts…they’ve made fun of me, they’ve scolded me, they’ve tried to talk their version of sense into me. If I were to summarize what I’ve learned from all this, I might say it this way...

Don’t be so open as to fall for anything but be open enough to fall for THE thing…Better yet, THE person. Jesus of Nazareth!

Empower

You all may not realize that one of the things Roman soldiers and centurions, like myself, occupy our non-war time with is the oversight, building, and maintenance of our magnificent aqueduct systems. They really are something. Aqueducts bring water from wonderful springs to our cities, our military camps, and the like. They take a great deal of planning to build and maintain. The designers have to be open to using any paths and the force of gravity to efficiently and effectively deliver water to the destination.

Only a fool would set his or her mind on only one path for water to travel and would not expect challenges, changes, difficulties. The smart planner keeps their ears, and their eyes open to the best path forward.

In a way, that’s what I believe I did. I was raised with Roman values, believing in many gods. But as I got to know the Jews, I kept my ears, and my eyes…and my heart open. That allowed me to recognize Jesus for who he is when I had the opportunity. Sadly, many of my Jewish friends haven’t been as open to him as I am. My openness became belief in Jesus when I was presented with an opportunity to choose. I chose him. And now I’m telling everyone I can about him!

Who do you choose? Are your eyes, ears, minds, and hearts open to truly see him for who he is? He is God in the flesh, I promise you! Believe!