The Holy Martyrs Terentius and Neonila; Our Venerable Father Stephen the Sabaite, Composer of Canons (9th c.); the Holy Martyr Parasceve of Iconium.
2 Corinthians 5:1-10; Luke 7:1-10.
Read Luke 7:1-10
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
Reading this passage, I can’t help but be a bit bothered by the Centurion’s behaviour. He seems dead-set on avoiding Jesus coming into his home or even meeting him face-to-face. Not once but twice, he sends messengers to ask Jesus to heal his servant: the fact that Jesus heals at a distance also points out the distance between the Centurion and Christ. Of course, this has to do with the Centurion being a Gentile who is respectful of Jewish custom – he knows that Jews did not enter the houses of Gentiles for fear of ritual defilement, and he does not want to put Jesus in that situation. And it’s this respect for the separation between Jews and Gentiles that bothers me: I want Jesus to boldly disregard this convention and dramatically enter the Centurions home, showing the universality of the gospel.
But that’s not what happens (I have to be patient – the fact that the gospel is for all nations will be made clear after the resurrection). Instead, Jesus points to the Centurion’s faith: without doing anything to scandalize either this Gentile or the Jews around him, Jesus thus shows that the simple, practical faith of the Centurion (a faith-based on his day-to-day life as a soldier under the authority of others, and an officer with authority himself) is an example of the faith that Jesus is looking for in Israel, faith in Jesus’ power to heal and to restore to life.
Bible References
Luke 7:1-10