Just as you believe

Matthew 8:5-13  5“When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion, came to him, asking for help. 6”Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralysed and in terrible suffering.” 7Jesus said to him, “I will go and heal him.” 8The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 10When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, “I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. 11I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! It will be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that very hour.

Israel has been a chosen nation. Chosen just because of faith (Heb.11:8-16). In this passage Jesus says, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith! When we read vs. 10-12, we understand he was not an Israelite. Neither was he among the chosen and nor was he a follower of Christ. He was someone who randomly pops up and amazes the Lord by his faith. Let us see what about his faith astonished our Lord.

Jesus had just entered Capernaum, when the centurion comes to Him, asking for help (vs.5). First thing to be noted is that he knew whom to have Faith in! He knew if he could just reach Jesus there is a solution. The thing we most often forget or maybe neglect is Jesus Himself. We say He is the healer…but running to the doctor is always the first choice! We say He provides…but then run all around the world looking unto people to help! Looking unto Him has become the last option! What a sorrow that we have turned into unbelieving believers! The very reason why miracles have ceased to happen.

Notice what the centurion says in vs.6 “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering.” He did not say, “Lord, my servant at home is sick please heal him” neither, “Lord, would you please speak healing unto my servant who is sick back home” nor did he say, “Lord, my servant at home is sick, would you please come over and keep your hand on him, so that he might be healed”. We do that, don’t we? We have just a lot of suggestions for Him. “Lord if you could do it this way, it will be great!” Instead of letting Him take the wheel, we hold on to it and give Him directions. The result is either delaying in His intervention or messing up of our situation. We think we know better and He cares little! How wrong! He knew Jesus was able and all he needed to do was invite Him into his problem.

Jesus replies, “I will go and heal him.” The moment you say, “Lord, I’m dependant on you…I am in need of you”, He takes over. Surrendering is the only way to let Him do His Best. He doesn’t just want to see your problem solved but wants to get involved. Didn’t Jesus know, He had authority on words? He did! But He chose to ‘go and heal’. All He wants is that you call unto Him in faith and in total surrender!

Now notice the reply of the centurion (vs.8). He replied, “Lord, I do not deserve…But just say the word …For I myself am a man under authority…” His undeserving mentality shows his dependence on grace. He knew if not for grace, nothing could happen. How often do we forget that it was, is and has been all about grace? Grace keeps you Christ dependant. Christ dependence always keeps and leads you safe. Remember, humility comes before honor. He also acknowledged that Jesus had authority over, no matter what, the situation. He says, “Lord…But just say the word, and my servant will be healed…”. Please note that it is not written, ‘a word’ instead it is, ‘the word’. He knew the power of the word! His faith was in the word! Many of us fail to believe because we don’t know the word enough. Rom 10:17 says “Faith comes form hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ”. Have faith in the word!

Now we understand why Jesus was astonished! He says, “…such great faith...”. Faith He requires from us is ‘as small as a mustard seed’ but here he finds someone with ‘great faith’. Someone whose faith was in Jesus…whose faith let Jesus decide the solution…whose faith was in His word…who had faith in His authority! No wonder Jesus was astonished! He was an unbeliever who believed! Often our prayers go unanswered because of our lack of faith, faith in wrong people, and faith in ourselves, lack of faith in the word and in His authority over the problem. 

It is just as you believe that it would happen. Read verse “13Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! It will be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that very hour.”  Just as he believed his servant was healed and there is more! Note that the servant was healed the very hour, probably right at the word of the master. Let us think Jesus had walked with the centurion to his house and then healed, think about the time it would have taken. The time that the word took to heal was definitely faster than the master plan! Wow! Our faith can give direct entry into our blessings. It all depends and happens just as you believe!