In Matthew 8:5-13 the story is told of Jesus and the
Roman Centurion. Both Matthew and Luke
record the story. This is how Matthew
tells it:
5 When Jesus returned to Capernaum, a Roman officer came and pleaded with him, 6 “Lord, my young servant lies in bed, paralyzed and in terrible pain.”7 Jesus said, “I will come and heal him.”8 But the officer said, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed. 9 I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’ they do it.”
We’ll stop this story at this point because we can
already learn a lot from these few verses.
This Roman officer, a centurion in charge of one hundred Roman soldiers,
comes and pleads with Jesus. Think
about this….this is a career military officer, a Roman, in charge of highly trained warriors that represent the conquering and occupying army and keep order in this
northern region of Galilee.
The Romans are hated by the Jews; however Jesus, also a Jew, has
no hate for this man. This Roman humility
is obvious as he not only pleads with Jesus but also asks Jesus for healing, not for himself but his
servant, likely a household slave. This humility moves Jesus.
In the book of Micah, one of the last books of the Old
Testament and written about 700 years before this exchange between Jesus and
the Roman officer answers the question of what God expects of us.
He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8 ESV
Humility is not only a virtue but it is expected by God
and the key to receiving grace and answered prayers. James, the Lord’s brother, writes, “God
opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” James 4:6 ESV. In other translations it says that God
actually resists the proud.
I don’t know about you but when I pray, when I ask the Creator of the universe to hear my petition I don’t want resistance.
Humility or the lack of it is always the result of a
comparison. We lack humility when we
compare ourselves to others and feel superior. We are humble when we give honor to others.
Humility should come easily when we compare ourselves to
Jesus or the standards that are set for us in the Bible. We fall short…way short of what is
expected. However, God embraces us with
his love and grace when we are humble. When we are willing to submit to God’s
plan, to His timing and His will for our lives, He hears our prayer and
responds with compassion.
