How did the Centurion have faith?
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| English: Christ cleansing a leper by Jean-Marie Melchior Doze, 1864. Source: http://www.allposters.com/-sp/Jesus-Healing-the-Leper-1864-Posters_i1945716_.htm (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
faith’” (v. 10).
Notably, Jesus orders the leper to tell no one about his healing. Instead, he must first go to the priest in order to be declared clean (Matt. 8:4). Having the cured man obey the laws for leprosy’s cleansing (Lev. 14:1–32) testifies
to the priests that Jesus does not come to break the Mosaic law. Also, the ability to heal leprosy is a prophetic miracle (2 Kings 5:1–14), and so Christ
may intend to reveal His prophethood to the priest through the leper’s
testimony. Moreover, the commoners expect a Messiah who will kick the Romans
out of Palestine. Having the cured man not proclaim Christ’s power will help keep His acclaim from spreading too rapidly and arousing Rome’s ire before the
proper time.
Jesus’ healing of the leper is also a clue that His ministry will fulfill and
thereby end the ceremonial regulations that separate Jew from Gentile. He can cleanse the unclean and touch the polluted without Himself suffering such
uncleanliness. This is a strong hint that the new covenant era will not be one
marked by ceremonial distinctions as the old covenant was.
The healing described in Matthew 8:5–13 also involves a person considered
unclean in first-century Judaism. A centurion, who is a Roman officer in
charge of one hundred troops, comes to Jesus urgently requesting his servant’s
healing (vv. 5–6). Most Jews are hostile toward these foreign occupiers, but
Christ feels for the man’s beloved servant and acquiesces to the man’s request
(v. 7). However, the centurion’s great faith means that our Savior will not
have to go to the man’s home (v. 13). In Roman society, the emperor has
supreme authority, and he delegates it to officers like centurions. To disobey
these officials is to disobey the emperor himself. The centurion sees that
Jesus is invested with a similar authority, only the person He represents must
be God (vv. 8–10). This officer understands, as John Calvin comments, that “he
who, by the mere expression of his will, restores health to men, must possess
supreme authority.”
Many who should know better never recognize Jesus’ authority. This Gentile
sees Jesus for who He is, anticipating the day when many foreigners will, by
faith, be grafted into God’s people Israel (vv. 11–12; Rom. 11).
In Christ, God is keeping His promise to bless all the families of the earth
in Abraham (Gen. 12:1–3). The conversion of the nations to Christ is among the
most tangible proofs for the veracity of the Bible. What Jesus has predicted
is coming to pass — the Gentiles are coming to faith in Jesus. Think today on
Jesus’ transformation of the nations and be encouraged that He has not left
His people without a message.
