© 11 Colin Melbourne
I will go and heal him
Please first read: Harmony of the Gospels
Would He come?
Why should the Jewish Messiah listen to a plea from a Gentile, could He be bothered with an oppressing idolater’s slave?
Should he have sent money or gifts as an inducement?
Such thoughts must’ve run through the soldier’s mind as he waited anxiously for news from his delegation.
He had no need to worry; As soon as He was asked, the Lord said, I will come and heal him. That’s Jesus, and He’s never changed. Heb. 13:8 KJV.
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
We read in Luke 7:3 that the Centurion wanted Christ to come to him, but as Jesus approached, the Roman became embarrassed, and changed his mind.
Why?
He’s Coming!
There are many valid reasons; he was assuredly overwhelmed by Christ’s graciousness, and in true humility he felt unworthy. But he also wanted to prevent Christ breaking the religious taboo of crossing a Gentile’s threshold. The Pharisees would criticise Jesus for doing so, as Peter reminded another Centurion, called Cornelius, a decade later in Acts 10:28 KJV.
And he [Peter] said unto them, Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation; but God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean.
The Shepherd Always Hears His Lambs Call
Sick one, take heart! Our Lord hears your cry as soon as you call on Him for healing. He went immediately to heal this outsider, how much more His own children?
Nor will He let cultural or religious taboos stop Him from raising you up to perfect health.
Heal on a Sabbath day? No problem.
Enter the home of a pig-eating pagan idolater? No problem.
Let the legalists and Pharisees freak-out, they won’t prevent Jesus doing God’s Will on Earth as it is in Heaven.
Wholeness, deliverance, and perfect health are your portion in Christ Jesus.
Only believe that Gospel fact. Receive them today, wherever you are.
The Key to Harmony
I understand Matthew’s account to begin after the two groups mentioned in Luke (the Jewish elders and then the friends) have already approached the Lord, and failed to stop Him advancing towards the Centurion’s home.
Oh I love this; Christ was sent to the lost sheep of Israel, the Jews.
To them Moses delivered God’s Law from flaming Mount Sinai.
Six hundred years later, God in the Flesh sat on a dusty hillside near Capernaum, and turned the screws with His Sermon on the Mount.
Ye have heard… but I say unto you…
Ouch!
Come now reader, which have you managed to keep; The Law, or The Beatitudes?
Which is easier for you to uphold?
The truth is none of us has come close to keeping either God’s Law or Christ’s Beatitudes.
Only the LORD Jesus Christ has fulfilled them.
That is why we each need a gracious Saviour, all the time!
The Messiah came to His own on a Galilee hillside, raised the bar for the unbelieving Jews, then He received an urgent message from a Gentile, “Just say the word, and it will be done!”
Do you think Christ wanted to meet this heathen who displayed more faith than anyone in Israel?
That means he had more faith than the chosen Jewish disciples and John the Baptist!
I think He was determined to meet the Centurion face to face, and bless him for expressing such wonderful trust in His authority.
When you show unquestioning faith in Christ He will come and meet you personally too.
Notice in Luke’s version Lk. 7:7, it was the friends who conveyed the Centurion’s statement;
Wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee:
So at that point the Centurion was no doubt observing from a distance.
In order to reconcile Luke and Matthew’s versions, let me suggest what may have happened.
The friends met Christ close to the Centurion’s home, and the Roman was watching. As soon as Christ heard the Centurion’s message from the friends, He replied (as in Luke), brushed aside their attempt to stop Him, and pressed on.
The Centurion saw the Lord approaching, rushed out to stop Him, and that is where Matthew takes up the dialogue.
The Roman then declared in person what his delegates had already spoken. Christ reiterates his commendation of the Gentile’s faith. Luke’s version Lk. 7:9 tells us Jesus was amazed by this expression of faith:
When Jesus heard these things, he marvelled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
Compare that with Matthew’s account Mtt. 8:10 KJV;
When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
So, having blessed the Gentile in person, there was no need to enter his home, therefore, He just gave the word, and the servant was healed by the time they returned.
Now, with that scenario in mind, please read both versions of this miracle and see how it fits perfectly with no contradiction in the Bible accounts. (Mtt. 8:5-13 and Luke 7:1-10).
This is for you too
Notice, a Gentile foreign invader, an idolater, and trained killer representing a ruthless wicked Empire, was nevertheless commended and rewarded by God in the Flesh for believing in Christ’s authority.
He is held up as a paragon of Bible faith because he acknowledged the power of Jesus Christ to save and heal. The Messiah was astonished and thrilled by his faith.
You can do that. Simply believe, like him, that nothing is impossible with Christ on your side. “Lord, just say the word, and it will be done!”
The Best Book on Healing: Christ died to release you from sin and sickness when you only believe in Him. Here’s how to do that and receive perfect health today.
You don’t have to be a Bible scholar. This man wasn’t, he’d merely heard reports of Christ healing all who came to Him; lepers cleansed, maniacs delivered, the blind seeing, cripples walking, the dumb speaking, the deaf hearing, and the dead raised.
It was obvious, even to a Pagan thug, that God was working through Christ, who turned nobody away. Every sick person who came to Jesus believing, was completely healed. Search thoroughly, you won’t find a single exception in the Scriptures, because healing, like salvation, is for whoever believes.
If you are sick or infirm in any way, God wants to heal you right now, all you have to do is believe like the Centurion, and it will be done just as you believe!
© 11 Colin Melbourne
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