JESUS THE CENTURION

 Satan and his demons work by “torments.” Consider now the case of them against Job: 

·         Job’s servants were all slain as they did their daily chores. (Job 1:15)

·         His sheep and servants were burnt (v. 1:16)

·         The camels were stolen and the servants with them slain by the sword (v. 1:17)

·         A wind collapsed the house and his sons died within. (v. 1:19)

·         He was afflicted with boils, encountering the demons a second time (Job 2:7)

·         He lost his friends who continually vexed him. (Job 19:2)

·         His wife turned against him. (v. 19:17)

·         His spirit was apparently much troubled. (Job 21:4)

·         Those who he had helped abhor and flee from him and even spit in his face (Job 30:10). He is persecuted for the “Name.”

·         Evil came onto him even as he looked for good. (Job 30:26)

·         His bowels boiled (v. 30:27)

·         He was condemned. (v. 32:3)

 Note than Satan nor a demon attacked Job directly. He was troubled by natural occurrences. One curse would have been coincidental, but a series of curses were torments. Things failed to go right for Job and his family.

Murphy’s Law is that if something can go wrong it will. Job’s Law seems worse; even if it cannot go wrong; it still will! I call that “Herrin’s Law” now in jest. In jest because I am really blessed so much more than I deserve!

As it turned out, because Job remained faithful, God blessed him again with more than he had before. Job had been vexed — distressed or troubled. That is “tormented.”

Now consider the servant of the centurion presented to Jesus for healing: 

⁵ And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto Him a centurion, beseeching Him, ⁶ And saying, “Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.” ⁷ And Jesus saith unto him, “I will come and heal him.” (Mat 8:5-7)

 Therein it is unknown whether the afflicted had the faith of Job or not, but the centurion certainly did! His faith was enough that Jesus would heal the afflicted man.

Like Job, the servant was at home. He was laying on his bed “grievously tormented.” It is translated that he was afflicted with the “palsy” because he was paralyzed to such an extent that he could not move and was vehemently vexed in the manner of Job, as it can also be translated.

There was some force that was against, or perhaps, in him that troubled him. Refer to Job’s troubles again. Demonic forces troubled him. God allowed that as a test of faith. Somebody’s faith was being tested; it seems to be the centurion’s faith that was tested. The demon got into his servant just as demons got into the servants of Job to test Job’s faith!

That he merely had palsy seems trivial. However, he was surely paralyzed with fear because of what was in him.

Jesus had confidence… “I will come and heal him.” Jesus seemed to be agreeable to go there and heal the man where he laid. He did heal, but remained where He was. The centurion said, “speak the Word only, and my servant shall be healed” (Mat 8:8).

The centurion’s faith was greater than one might think. He knew that Jesus need not go there to heal and needed only to speak the Word. The centurion knew that Jesus was both man and Spirit — the “Son of Man” and the “Son of God.” He understood Jesus, that as God, His Word was sufficient to heal from afar.

Speaking of the “Word,” John wrote, “As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His Name” (John 1:12).

The centurion received Jesus and it was his faith that made him a “son of God.” The centurion’s faith was the catalyst that healed his servant.

Jesus said to the centurion, “go thy way” and in that same hour the servant was healed (Mat 8:13). Jesus gave that faithful centurion the Power of healing. Jesus had given some of His Virtue (dynamos; dynamics) to the centurion whose faith healed the man in Jesus’s Name. Note that it still was not the centurion who healed but Jesus who had shared His Power.

Did the centurion do something? He was a soldier of Caesar. Did he strike the man with his sword and the demon come out? Likely, he did nothing but walk home in faith and Jesus did the battle with the demon in the man.

The “Word” spoke, and it was done, just as the centurion expected. The Holy Spirit of Jesus is the Word of God. God need not be there even to battle demons. He is omnipresent therefore time and space are no hindrance to Him. A good guess is that the servant was healed by Jesus even before the centurion got to him.

The centurion admitted his unworthiness and implied that he was powerless against demons because he himself had killed. If he had thought himself righteous as Job was accused (Job 32:1-2), then the demon would not have left the man.

The centurion could have thought, I’ll do that, but not so, knowing he had not the power, he thought, God will do that!

Demons are real. Most believe in angels. Well, demons are angels that can deliver messages as well. They invoke the thought of evil, and the thought of evil within can indeed paralyze a person.

The saying, “scared half to death” applies to the paralyzed man. He was afraid of what was in him so intensely that he could not be healed. He was paralyzed with fear, and probably even knew that his master could not protect him, even with swords. Another good guess is that the paralyzed man, although he could not go to Jesus, that Jesus would indeed come to him. When he regained his motion, it may be concluded that he knew the Spirit of Jesus had reanimated him. Jesus had done battle with the demon, not the centurion.

(picture credit; geocities)