“Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof but only say the word and my servant will be healed.”
Today’s gospel setting is in Capernaum, a town on the north-west shore of Lake Galilee, some 190 km from Jerusalem. Capernaum was a Roman military post and a tax collection centre. The apostle Matthew, himself a tax collector, became a disciple of Jesus in this town. After being rejected by his fellow Nazarenes, Jesus centred much of his ministry around Capernaum, including the carrying out of a number of miracles such as the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law, the casting out of the unclean spirit in the synagogue, the healing the paralytic, and the casting out various unclean spirits. Jesus would have been well known in this town.
Certainly he would have been known to the Centurion. We know from Luke’s account that this particular Centurion loved the Jewish nation and had built for them a synagogue. This Centurion was special; he clearly knew of the healing work of Christ and may well have witnessed Christ healing the afflicted. Why else would he approach Christ earnestly petitioning him for his servant who was lying paralysed and in terrible distress? Notice that this leader of Gentiles does not direct Christ to do what he wants. He does not say to Christ ‘heal my servant’ nor does he command him to do his bidding. He is polite, respectful, humble and undemanding in his prayer. All he does is put his problem at the feet of Christ.
There are important lessons for us in this gospel. Observe that the Centurion does not ask anything of Christ for himself but beseeches Christ on behalf of another who cannot approach Christ himself as a result of his affliction. We should bear this in mind when we pray to God. We should not ask for ourselves. When you really think about it anyhow what can you ask from God? If we ask for wealth then wealth quickly falls away. If we ask for health we still die because that is the natural order of things. If we ask for fame that too, in time, passes. Indeed, Christ reminds us that “in praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your father knows what you need before you ask him”. If our father knows what we need before we ask him then why do we ask? The Centurion understood this lesson well as he did not ask anything for himself. Indeed he did not ask for his servant but bought the attention of the servant’s plight to Christ.
Observe also the humility of the Centurion. Here is a man given to authority. He expected immediate and unquestioning obedience from those under him. He was a Roman and a free man. He owned slaves and had the power of life and death over them. Politically his role was to enforce law and order and ensure that the Pax Romana was held throughout the territory controlled by Rome. By all accounts the Centurion should have represented the pride of an occupying power. Yet, he does not approach Christ with the pride of a conqueror. He does not even approach Christ as an equal. He humbles himself before the feet of Christ calling him “Lord”.
Again, we can learn something from the humility of this Centurion. He does not rely upon his social, economic or political position as giving him some priority in having his needs met. Nor does he ask for payment in return for his good works in this world. On the contrary, he asks with all humility expecting nothing in return. Do not be confused when Christ in chapter 6 of Matthew says “ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will receive; knock and it will be open to you”. There Christ is talking about asking, seeking, and knocking to open the doors of the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven can only be opened to each one of us upon our death and should be sought by all in this lifetime. The prayer of the Centurion referred to in this gospel reading is to the here and now of this world. Accordingly we should, like the Centurion, lay our problems in all humility at the feet of Christ and beseech him that his will and not our will be done.
The Centurion had deep faith; Lord only say the word and my servant shall be healed. Without faith you can have nothing. St Paul said we walk by faith not by sight. In other words what we do is not solely as a result of our own ability and resources but is reliant upon the totality of an infinitely far greater power. Faith is that you do not rely upon yourself but something beyond yourself. Faith means you accept that you are not the master of your own destiny and that you are reliant upon someone greater than you. This is one of the hardest lessons for us to learn today. We see the world as revolving around us and we seek our advantage and benefit, as that is central to our material thinking. If something makes no sense to us then we reject it. However, Faith cuts right across all that selfish and egotistical thinking. Faith involves putting the other first. Faith is thy will be done and not my will be done. Faith involves seeing Christ in each of us and recognising that our Lord has to be honoured whether he has the appearance of one of the dispossessed, the dirty, the mentally retarded, the ill, or the hopeless. After all, it was for such as these that Christ came into the world.
Finally, Christ reminds us that no race, people or nation have any predestined favour in the kingdom of heaven. Each of us must work hard as Christians to sit at table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This means that each of us must be committed to Christ. Christ himself reminds us that “no one who put his hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God”. Let us accordingly not be complacent Christians. Let us beseech Christ for someone in need. Let us put our prayer at the feet of Christ and ask him to do his will. Let us each pray to Christ “Lord I am not worthy to have you come under my roof but only say the word and I will be healed.” Amen.