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THE NORTHERN KENTUCKY SEARCHER VOLUME 1, NUMBER 22, JULY 1, 2001 THE CENTURION'S SERVANT Since we have been studying authority in our Wednesday evening class, I
thought it would be beneficial to consider the account of the centurion of
Capernaum and the healing of his servant. The combined accounts, presented in
The Fourfold Gospel, by McGarvey and Pendleton, read as follows: I know that such a presentation of the text is a little unusual, but it gets the complete text from both accounts before us. The Roman army was a study in efficient leadership. During the time of our Lord, there were 25 legions in the Roman army. Ordinarily each legion consisted of 6,000 men. Those men were divided into 10 cohorts. Each cohort contained 3 maniples, and each maniple contained 2 centuries. In each province the governor was the commander-in-chief of all the troops within his jurisdiction. An officer from the senatorial rank of Roman society was entrusted with the command of each legion and under him were 6 tribunes. Over the centuries, each containing 100 men more or less, were the centurions. Under the centurions were the principales, or non-commissioned officers. This organization worked extremely well. Our attention focuses upon the centurion of Capernaum. This man was apparently in charge of the garrison at Capernaum, a very important commercial center. He had occupied this position long enough to show the people of the city his true character. He had won the friendship of the religious leaders of the town. He had even constructed a synagogue for the Jews. In his first appeal for help, the centurion sent the elders of the Jews to Jesus asking that He would come and save his servant. Luke tells us that this servant was "dear" unto the centurion, and Matthew informs us that he was "sick of the palsy, grievously tormented". Indeed, he was "at the point of death". The Jews' assessment of this centurion and his request was, "He is worthy that thou shouldest do this for him". There is a difference in the two narratives of this event that may appear to present some difficulty until we consider how this man felt about his servant and the emotional stress he was enduring. By combining the two accounts we can see that the centurion first thought that the best thing to do was to send the elders of the Jews to Jesus with his request. Next he sent some of his friends. Out of respect for Jesus, he had his friends ask the Lord to heal his servant from a distance, merely speak the word and his servant would be healed. In this way Jesus would not even have to come into his home. Finally, the centurion went to Jesus personally. What he said is such a marvelous example of faith. When Jesus heard it, He said, "I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel." The centurion, a Roman officer, first declared his own unworthiness to even come to Jesus, much less to have Jesus actually come and enter into his house. He also recognized that such a thing was totally unnecessary, for Jesus had only to say the word and his servant would be healed. Notice that the centurion understood the whole thing to be a matter of authority, and authority was a field in which he had some experience. He said, "For I also am a man set under authority, having under me soldiers, and I say unto one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it." This man's statement was truly amazing. To paraphrase his words, he was saying, "I understand that this whole matter is one of authority. I know about authority in my own life. I have a certain degree of authority and people under my authority respond to it. But you have authority over all things. You can do whatever you think is right and proper. You don't have to come to my home. All that is necessary is for you to speak the word and it will be done." Even Jesus marveled at this man's faith and understanding. What an example of faith! What depth of understanding! Matthew recorded the application that Jesus made for the people present of this Gentile's magnificent faith. Jesus said, "And I say unto you, that many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." The whole world is included in that statement and it was a prophesy of the part that the Gentiles would have in the final redemption to come. I thrill to Jesus' final words of love, compassion, and kindness to this centurion, "Go thy way; and as thou has believed, so be it done unto thee." That very hour the centurion's dear servant was healed. Brethren, it is all a matter of authority and all authority resides in Jesus. The Lord said, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth." ( Matt. 28:18) He is the head of the church, (Eph. 1:22) and we are to be subject unto Him. All of the things that we have been studying related to authority are of the utmost importance. All it takes is one generation of people who do not know what the bible teaches about authority to open the doors of apostasy. One step outside of the realm of what is authorized, and acceptance of that step, and the floodgates are opened. Once a person begins to reason that we do not need authority for all we do in religion, that person has effectively left the Lord's church and started to build his own. Greg Litmer * The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that our aim is too low and we reach it. * God's part we cannot do; our part He will not do. * EVERYONE - TEACH ONE!
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