Serving the servant

People of Hope Part 11:  The Roman Centurion
Monday devotions@work 15 June 2020

In Math 8:5-13 there is a remarkable story of faith and hope and servanthood. It is the story of the Roman centurion seeking help from Jesus for his paralyzed servant.

5 Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, 6 saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.” 

 Let us start off this story by finding out more about the centurion:

• A centurion is a Roman soldier appointed over a garrison of 100 men. Thus, this man was in a position of authority. But not only that – He was a Roman.
• At that time in history the Romans were in government over Israel, and therefore this centurion was a government agent that was appointed in a position of authority over Jesus, Who was a Jew.
• The centurion was also the servant’s employer, which means that he was in a position of authority over his servant.

Thinking about this, it gives us some understanding about what this centurion actually did when he chose to go to Jesus to seek help for his servant.

• He obviously cared deeply for his servant. This man had value in the centurion’s eyes – not only the life of the servant mattered, but the quality of his life mattered to him.
• The centurion does not fall into pride. He acknowledges that he does not have the means neither in the natural, nor in the spirit, to help his servant. He does not allow pride to stand in the way of this man’s healing. No - he humbles himself by acknowledging that Jesus - who in the natural is subjected to his authority – has more authority than him in the spirit, goes to Jesus and asks for help. At that moment the centurion, this man of authority, became the servant. He served his servant with a hope and faith that was not just mere words. He put that hope and faith into action and went to Jesus requesting His help.
  
  
  7 And Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”

Jesus immediately agrees to go to the centurion’s house and to heal the servant – however the centurion answers:

“Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

• There is a bit of background information to this moment that maybe is not so clear from this particular passage. If we take the culture of the day into account, particularly in relation to the rabbi’s of the Pharisees and Sadducees, the centurion would no doubt have been familiar with the fact that the rabbi’s of the day would not enter the house of a gentile - they believed it made them ceremonially unclean. With this in his mind it may be that he is saying to Jesus that he knows He can send someone else, and therefore does not have to come to his house Himself.
• From his answer we can deduce that this centurion understood authority. He understood that, just as he is in authority, so is Jesus. In fact, he acknowledges that Jesus has a higher position of authority than himself. I wonder what his expectation was of how Jesus was going to heal his servant. Maybe he thought that the rabbi would send one of His disciples to be ceremonially defiled rather than be defiled Himself? Clearly, he did not yet understand that Jesus cannot be defiled, since He is the One who cleanses us. Or maybe it could be that he was saying to Jesus, “I am Your servant – send me, to serve my servant with healing and life?” If the latter was true, he literally asked Jesus to impart the authority to heal the servant to him.
• This was a man in a position of authority that was clearly willing to serve. He understood leadership to be servanthood. He was not too proud to serve, even though he was in a position of leadership. He understood that authority is given with the purpose to serve. That authority can only be true authority if it serves people with life, healing, and quality of life.

Jesus looked at this man and said:

10 When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!

And in verse 13: Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that same hour.

• Jesus was willing to go Himself, but He did not physically go, neither did He send a disciple. He said to the centurion “Go your way and as you believed – so let it be done for you!” So, what was the way of the centurion and what was done for him? The way of the centurion was the way of faith – as he believed, so it was done for him.
• I think he and his messengers made a beeline home. I think he could not get home fast enough. He believed, had a great faith, that against all odds Jesus would heal his servant. According to Luke 7, by the time the messengers got home they found the servant up and well. The servant was healed that same hour!

If we believed, like the centurion did, that leadership and authority are given to us for only one purpose and that is to serve, life – and history – would have looked much different. To serve God, to serve people, His creation, and His Kingdom with the authority He imparts to us, should be our only goal.

Come let us worship our Servant King with Graham Kendrick

... and with Misty Edwards in Servant of All from her album relentless...

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