Can You Amaze Jesus? - Today's Bible Verse Explained (Commentary / Homily) - Saint Matthew 8:5-11

By Tony Joe:

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 8:5-11

When Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion approached him and appealed to him, saying, 

"Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully." 

He said to him, "I will come and cure him." 

The centurion said in reply, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed.

For I too am a person subject to authority, with soldiers subject to me. And I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come here,' and he comes; and to my slave, 'Do this,' and he does it." 

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, "Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith.

I say to you, many will come from the east and the west, and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the banquet in the kingdom of heaven."

Today's Bible Verse Explained (Commentary / Homily) - Saint Matthew 8:5-11

In today's Bible verse we meet a person who exhibited unique capabilities - he could amaze the Son of God. His faith took even Jesus by surprise!

As such, today's verse ranks prime among the hope-filled verses of the Bible; imagine we, mere humans, wielding the power to amaze God.

Can our prayers amaze Him? Of course not. Can our keeping of the commandments amaze Him? No, that is expected of us. Can our good deeds amaze Him? No, as again, it is expected. Our Gospel work, maybe? No, as it is our duty. Maybe our charity? Again no, as we have the incentive of Heaven to do it.

Only one of our God given powers - faith - can impress and amaze Him.

But before we dwell into the nature of this faith, a few vital points need to be noted.

One is that, despite what we believers think, many seeming unbelievers have the potential for greater faith than us. This is a mystery that is seen elsewhere in the Bible too, like in the conversion of Saul to St. Paul, or in the conversion of Levi to St. Matthew, who incidentally recorded today's Gospel reading.

This is because many seeming unbelievers and sinners carry within them an internal spark, which is really their latent search for truth.

The Roman Centurion we meet today is another perfect example of this phenomenon. Appointed to a foreign outpost in Judea, having scant idea or respect for this community let alone their Messiah, and probably a believer in pagan Gods of Rome or even an atheist, this Roman officer nevertheless carries this internal spark to know the truth.

Secondly, note how, unlike in many other similar occasions, Jesus agrees to his request instantaneously - "I will come and cure him."

A little contemplation reveals why. This is only because of the deep care for the afflicted servant that is exhibited by the Centurion.

Remember, he commanded a group of one hundred soldiers, and each Roman soldier was well-trained, well-provided for, and carried special privileges across the Roman Empire. A person commanding one hundred such soldiers was no small guy.

Yet, it was not for one of his invaluable soldiers that the Centurion approached Jesus; rather for his servant, who was probably a slave.

Note this powerful officer's concern for a lowly servant's suffering - "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully."

The Gospels notes elsewhere that "Jesus was moved with compassion", and here we see Him moved by a human being's compassion for his servant.

Take note also of how the powerful Centurion addresses Jesus twice. Nothing less than "Lord..". The wholehearted devotion is unmistakable.

Also to be taken note is his unique self-awareness about his sinful nature. ""Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof." No pretensions or self-righteousness over there.

Finally, we arrive at his faith that amazed Jesus.

He believed ardently that only a word from Christ was enough to heal his servant. But from where did this faith originate?

His further words reveal the source - his awareness about the authority of Jesus. In all likelihood, he had heard or even seen Jesus performing his healing miracles, and became convinced that Jesus had the authority from God.

Being a seeker of truth, he could never ignore this fact. No human being could heal so many people, even off their congenital conditions like blindness and lameness, without God's authority.

And he puts it so eloquently before Christ. Just like he could command his soldiers or servants to 'go' or 'come' or 'do' with a word, and they would obey immediately without fail, he made it clear to Jesus that he understood Jesus could just command diseases to leave!

It was a secret of Jesus, hidden from many of his followers even, but due to this Centurion's compassion, un-pretentiousness, and respect for the authority of Jesus, he was privy to this secret that made him full of faith.

Isn't it wonderful to realize that we too hold this power to amaze God with this kind of faith? Yes, we too can have such faith, if we cultivate these three qualities - respect for the authority of Jesus, compassion, and un-pretentiousness. 

But one cardinal point we need to be careful about.

Note how Jesus is cautioning that this kind of faith is difficult for habitual believers.

"Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith. I say to you, many will come from the east and the west, and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the banquet in the kingdom of heaven."

Just like how the potential for higher faith was likely to be found outside His community back then, the same continues even today - the potential for higher faith in Jesus is likely to be found outside of formal Christianity.      

That is why need to keep our faith fresh always, and not get immersed in just the routines and rituals.