Faith - The Entry To God’s Kingdom Family
I love my family. One thing in particular that I love is that we are inclusive of people who are not our blood relatives but whom we love as family just the same. In Matthew 8:5–13 a Roman centurion approached Jesus to request He heal the centurion’s servant. Jesus uses the example of the centurion’s great faith in His authority and power, to make the point that faith and not ancestry will determine who enters into the kingdom of God and becomes part of His covenant family. I pray that we always remember that we are saved by faith and not by works…or even by ancestry. Amen
When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.” (Matthew 8:5-6)
Matthew has a series of healings that Jesus performs. In this particular healing, Jesus is approached by a centurion, which is a Roman military officer who commands a cohort of 100 Roman soldiers. The Roman soldiers were an occupying force that the Jews despised. For a gentile to approach Jesus to request His healing of another gentile was no small thing. This is a significant event because this exchange between Jesus and this centurion highlighted and reaffirmed God’s plan to include all nations and peoples in the kingdom of God.
Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”
The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” (Matthew 8:7-9)
As significant an ask as this is, Jesus doesn’t hesitate to engage the centurion and offer to go with him to perform the healing that he requested for his servant. The centurion acknowledged his unworthiness to expect Jesus to come to him. But he demonstrated his faith in Jesus by coming to Him to request healing for his servant. And now, he displayed his recognition of Jesus’ divine authority. The centurion was a man of authority and he recognized the authority of Jesus to give a command that would be carried out without the requirement of His presence.
When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment. (Matthew 8:10-13)
Jesus was amazed at the faith and insight of this centurion, a gentile who understood Jesus divinity and authority and had faith in Him that exceeded the faith that Israel had responded with toward Him. Jesus further expressed that “great faith” like the centurion’s would allow people from all nations to join Israel’s patriarchs and God’s family in heaven. Faith, not lineage is required for becoming a member of the kingdom and the new covenant family of God. Additionally, Jesus warned that many who were descendants of Abraham would not enter the kingdom because of their lack of faith.
Because of the centurion’s faith, Jesus told him to go, his request for his servant’s healing would be done. “And his servant was healed at that moment”.
Conclusion
God’s plan of salvation always included people from every nation, ethnicity and language. God’s promises to Abraham are repeated in the Bible to his lineage and are always inclusive of His intention to bless all nations through them (see Gen. 12:3; 18:18; 22:18; 26:4; 28:14). In Revelation 7:9 we see the fulfillment of that promise as John testifies to seeing a great multitude from every nation, tribe, people and language standing before the throne and the Lamb. The Roman centurion’s faith in coming to Jesus for the healing of his servant, gave Jesus the opportunity to demonstrate God’s inclusion of Gentiles in His kingdom plan. It also gave Jesus the opportunity to communicate the foundational truth of the kingdom. Jesus makes it clear, entry into God’s kingdom and God’s covenant family is not based on ancestry…. It’s faith that makes you a member of the family!
Blessings, Rev. Glenn
