A Leper and a Centurion

Author: Joseph

Date: March 8, 2020

The sin in Eden permanently disabled us from having faith in God as a natural part of who we are. Humankind is no longer able to trust God as easily as when we were in Eden. Faith was broken. Trust was lost. Now, in the world, faith in God is dismissed, mocked, demeaned, and persecuted. Humankind, as if to complete the sin of losing faith in God, has now made it a “sin” to believe in God – ironic. Demonstrating faith in God and seeing Him act in our lives is increasingly difficult in the world we live in. We cannot be disheartened into believing that our faith is in vain and that God is not to be glorified through our faith. We must make our faith a necessary part of our walk of life and hold onto it at all cost. Our faith not only allows us to remain in God’s will for our lives, but it also allows Him to work in our lives actively and when we petition Him.

Yeshua had just finished speaking to His disciples and a large crowd that was following Him when he encountered a man with leprosy. The man with leprosy bowed himself before Yeshua and petitioned, “Lord, if You are willing, you can make me clean” (Matthew 8:2). Yeshua’s response was that He was willing to heal the man and He immediately healed him. Notice the leprous man’s petition. He did not say, “Lord, if you are able…” but instead said, “Lord, if you are willing.” The key point here is that the leprous man did not doubt in Yeshua’s ability to heal him. He understood that the power of God was in Him and that He was able to do all things, even heal him from leprosy. The leprous man did not doubt Yeshua in any way. By petitioning, “Lord, if you are willing,” the leprous man was humbling himself before Yeshua and submitting himself to Yeshua’s choice of whether or not to heal him. “If you are willing,” was not a pessimistic petition questioning God’s kindness or His mercy, it was simply a way for the leprous man to recognize that the decision of whether or not he was to be healed rested in the will of God through Yeshua. God’s will was for the man to be healed and for the man to bring God glory through his faith, so Yeshua responded that he would be healed and he was immediately healed.

Imagine for a moment that the leprous man questioned Yeshua’s ability or questioned His goodness. Do you think God would have been willing to heal a man that did not have faith in His goodness and in His power?

Yeshua encountered a Roman centurion not long after He healed the leprous man. The centurion told Yeshua that he had a servant that was paralyzed from his illness, requesting Yeshua’s help. Yeshua is willing to help and tells the centurion that He will go to the servant and heal him. The centurion tells Yeshua, however, “Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed” (Matthew 8:8). He humbly requested that instead of taking the time and trouble of travelling to his home, that Yeshua would speak His authoritative words and heal the servant from where they stood. The centurion understood that Yeshua held authority and, just as he could speak and have his servants perform work, Yeshua could do the same and more, being God in the flesh. Yeshua “marveled” at the centurion’s faith and then prophesied about how others would show similar faith from around the world (Matthew 8:11-12). The centurion humbled himself, believed in the authority of God, and believed that whatever Yeshua spoke would be done accordingly.

The centurion did not need to see the healing for himself, but only believed in Yeshua’s authority, which was enough for Yeshua to respond with action. Didn’t the centurion show greater faith by only needing to hear God’s words to believe He would do as He said?

"...have faith that God will always do exactly what He says."

We can and should put our faith in God. We should never feel ashamed for doing so, nor believe the lie that our faith in God is somehow wrong. While the rest of the world denies God and seeks to suffocate any signs of faith in Him, we can have confidence that our faith is not in vain and that God will respond to us when we put our faith in Him. Our faith must be steadfast. As the leprous man did not doubt God’s goodness or His ability, neither should we. Just as the centurion was able to trust in God’s authority and rely solely on His words, not needing to see for himself the miracle that occurred, so we must be able to have faith that God will always do exactly what He says.

Faith glorifies God. Showing faith in God allows Him to work actively in our lives and to do His will freely. When we give our faith to God instead of something or someone else, He responds and acts, even performing miracles that otherwise would not take place (cf. Mark 6:4-6). Do not allow the discouragement or the persecution of the world to hinder your faith. Instead, realize that the world is trying so hard to remove faith in God because it is in direct opposition to their sin and self-worship. God is mightier and more able to do anything than the world and they know it, even though they deny it. Have courage to stand firm in your faith in God and see how He performs His will in your life when you do so.

Matthew 8:1-17 Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB). www.lockman.org