Hi church,
Welcome to today’s devotion. It’s great to be with you again and I hope you don’t mind me having another turn talking about one of my Favourite Bible Characters! As I said yesterday, there are so many incredible characters in the Bible – men and women who are inspiring and influential and who made a difference in history.
Today, I am going to look at a character in the Bible who only gets a short mention, but who is someone that Jesus was amazed at. We meet this character in Matthew 8
Matthew 8:5-13 (NIV): ‘The Faith of the Centurion. When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, asking for help. “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralysed, suffering terribly.” 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.” 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.’
The centurion came to Jesus because he needed something. He had maybe tried everything else and possibly come to the conclusion that nothing was going to work and that maybe he just needed to accept that this was how things were always going to be, but then Jesus arrived and the centurion, probably hearing from others in different areas that Jesus had visited, knew that Jesus could bring change to his situation.
We read in the account that the centurion’s servant was paralysed and suffering greatly. He came to Jesus and told Him this and Jesus replied not uncommonly with a question, “Shall I come and heal him?” Jesus often replied with a question, asking people what they wanted or what He should do. He was giving ownership to people and asking them to take responsibility. The centurion replied in this case with something that blew Jesus’s mind and amazed Him. Verse 8: ‘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.’
The centurion understood that the power and authority wasn’t in Jesus’ presence; it was in His WORD. That when Jesus speaks, what He says has to come into being and alignment. The centurion also trusted Jesus’ word; “But just say the word and my servant will be healed!” He knew that if Jesus spoke, it would happen.
We can learn from the centurion, an unnamed roman soldier, to believe in the power and authority of Jesus’ Word and to trust His Word. What He speaks to you will come to pass. John 1:14 says that the Word became flesh and dwelled among us. Jesus is The Word, so when we read and digest the Word – ‘The Bible’ – it starts to work in our lives, brings things to life, heals hurts and pains, and helps us navigate life successfully.
When we apply the Word and live by the Word, strength and peace come, hope rises, and suffering goes. We don’t have to settle for things, we simply have to get into the Word and speak it. The Word is power and authority, and will bring lasting change to our situations, so trust the Word and start to declare it over your life and circumstances.
Be like the centurion – a person of faith – and trust not in someone who settles, but someone who speaks and trusts the Word!
Love you, church.
Darren Durham
