Title: The Centurion's Faith
Contents
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21. I hate and despise your feasts, and I take no pleasure in your holy assemblies.
22. Even if you offer me burnt offerings or grain offerings, I will not accept them, nor will I take care of the fellowship of your fattened sacrifices.
23. Stop the sound of your singing before me, for I will not listen to the sound of your harp.
24. But let public law flow like water, justice like a river.
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5. As Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came and begged
6. He said, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed and in great pain.
7. He said, I will go and heal him.
8. The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come into my house; but speak the word, and my servant will be healed.
9. I, too, am a man under the control of others, and there are soldiers under me. I say to one to go, and to go, to another, to come, and they come; to my servant, to do this, I do
10. When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith in any of Israel.
11. And I tell you, many will come from east and west to sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.
12. The children of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
13. Jesus said to the centurion, “Go, let it be as you have believed.” At that hour the servant was healed.
Content
Title: The Centurion's Faith
Text: Amos 5:21-24, Matthew 8:5-13
In the Gospels, there are records of people of faith who moved Jesus. Most of these people were Gentiles, not Jews. At that time, the Gentiles, who had faith only in Jesus, listened to Jesus' praise than the Jews who boasted that they were living a holy life. The centurion, the protagonist of today's text, is one of them.
Jesus' words, 'I have never seen such a faith in anyone in Israel' are highly praiseworthy words that make us envy not only the Israelites at the time, but also those of us who have faith today. So, if you look at today's text, you will be curious about what kind of person this foreign centurion was. If we look at him through the text,
First, he was a person who could empathize with the pain of his neighbors.
Empathy and empathy are different things. It is empathy that most people cry when they watch TV or a movie. However, empathy differs from feeling the pain and suffering of the other person as well as accepting one's own efforts and sacrifices for this purpose. Father Pierre of France, who was concerned about these differences in the minds and hearts of those who lead a religious life, said that the fundamental distinction between human beings should be 'one who is satisfied alone' and 'one who sympathizes' rather than 'believer' and 'non-believer'. I did. Those who live as disciples of Jesus must have a passionate heart for neighbors who are marginalized and shadowy.
The second centurion was a man of simple and simple faith.
Faith is not gained through much experience or much learning. Faith does not grow through our understanding through reason or through the emotion that resonates with our emotions, but through our total trust in Jesus. The centurion was praised for his absolute trust in Jesus' power. The words of Jesus, “Let it be done according to your faith!” were spoken by seeing his absolute faith. Miracles come about through total faith in Jesus.
Through this centurion, we can look back at our spiritual present.
The Jews who claim to be the chosen people are proud of being the people who have received God's law. But Jesus set the Gentile centurion, whom the Jews despised, as an example of faith. The words of Jesus that 'the native descendants of the kingdom can be cast out into the darkness outside' are warning words to the Jews who live with pride in their faith. Spiritual pride and 'I believe well' The sense of relief that we'll just have to do this makes our souls sick.
Only people of faith who have the heart of Jesus can illuminate the heartless and harsh times. New miracles will continue to happen through those who love their neighbors with full faith in Jesus.