Children of the Kingdom Pt1

Mat 8:5-12 KJVR
(5) And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him,
(6) And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.
(7) And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.
(8) The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.
(9) For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.
(10) When Jesus heard it, he marveled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
(11) 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.
(12) But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
(13) And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.


This is one of my favorite passages in scripture. The centurion is just endearing to me. His faith is so highly attractive! He leads his life out of knowledge of authority and respect. But this story has a twist.

Jesus was compelled to heal out of compassion. But it wasn't necessary! Why? Because the man's FAITH allowed the Kingdom to come through Jesus and do the healing. Either way, the man's servant gets healed, right? What was the difference?

Don't explain it away as a compassionate act by Jesus because He was impressed by the man's faith. He WAS impressed, but there was a shift. The faith of the man became the healing agent, not the compassion of Jesus. Is that offensive? That does not lessen or negate the compassion of Jesus, who WAS going to heal the man. What it ADDS is a dimension of Heaven on earth - the ability of 'faith' to release the healing power of Jesus upon the earth. That's the Kingdom. That's what we pray for in the Lord's prayer - reread it. This is that 'faith of a mustard seed'. Jesus spoke of the mustard seed twice. Once referring to FAITH, and the other referring to the KINGDOM.

More to come...