Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Protocol
Matt. 8:7. And He said to him, "I will come and heal him."
In Matthew’s abbreviated account he has Jesus directly telling the centurion, "I will come and heal him."
8. But the centurion answered and said, "Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed.
Luke 6: 6. Now Jesus started on His way with them; and when He was already not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to Him, "Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not worthy for You to come under my roof;
7. for this reason I did not even consider myself worthy to come to You, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed.
Without a doubt this Roman centurion understands that Jesus has the power to heal his dying boy and is overwhelmed with his own unworthiness to even approach this Jesus, the emissary of the Jew’s God of creation. The Jewish elders have told Jesus that this Roman is worthy of His attention even in the light of the facts that a Jew was considered defiled if he was to enter a Gentile’s house. Acts 10:28 And he said to them, "You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him; and yet God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean. John 18:28 They led Jesus therefore from Caiaphas into the Praetorium, and it was early; and they themselves did not enter into the Praetorium in order that they might not be defiled, but might eat the Passover. It appears that the centurion understood that his request could be granted without offense to the Jewish legal requirements because the God of creation, who ultimately would grant this request, would not compromise His own law. We plainly see this when Jesus was not far from his house, the centurion sent friends (not servants) to this group saying to Him, “Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not worthy for you to come under my roof; for this reason I did not even consider myself worthy to come to You.” What humility we observe from one who desires to please (without offending) the Jewish God by surreptitiously making his request known!
As God spoke the creation into existence, the Word of God, Jesus need come no closer but by the same creative power, speak the [salvation] word and my servant will be healed. The centurion understands protocol and the position demanded of the rank and file as he explains in the next passage we will see tomorrow.
In Matthew’s abbreviated account he has Jesus directly telling the centurion, "I will come and heal him."
8. But the centurion answered and said, "Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed.
Luke 6: 6. Now Jesus started on His way with them; and when He was already not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to Him, "Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not worthy for You to come under my roof;
7. for this reason I did not even consider myself worthy to come to You, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed.
Without a doubt this Roman centurion understands that Jesus has the power to heal his dying boy and is overwhelmed with his own unworthiness to even approach this Jesus, the emissary of the Jew’s God of creation. The Jewish elders have told Jesus that this Roman is worthy of His attention even in the light of the facts that a Jew was considered defiled if he was to enter a Gentile’s house. Acts 10:28 And he said to them, "You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him; and yet God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean. John 18:28 They led Jesus therefore from Caiaphas into the Praetorium, and it was early; and they themselves did not enter into the Praetorium in order that they might not be defiled, but might eat the Passover. It appears that the centurion understood that his request could be granted without offense to the Jewish legal requirements because the God of creation, who ultimately would grant this request, would not compromise His own law. We plainly see this when Jesus was not far from his house, the centurion sent friends (not servants) to this group saying to Him, “Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not worthy for you to come under my roof; for this reason I did not even consider myself worthy to come to You.” What humility we observe from one who desires to please (without offending) the Jewish God by surreptitiously making his request known!
As God spoke the creation into existence, the Word of God, Jesus need come no closer but by the same creative power, speak the [salvation] word and my servant will be healed. The centurion understands protocol and the position demanded of the rank and file as he explains in the next passage we will see tomorrow.
# posted by Castusfumus : 3:48 PM
