Belonging - Day 33
Matthew 8:12 But many Israelites—those for whom the Kingdom was prepared—will be thrown into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
13 Then Jesus said to the Roman officer, “Go back home. Because you believed, it has happened.” And the young servant was healed that same hour.
Jesus was willing to heal the man’s servant because of the overwhelming faith that this man showed. In fact, he makes the point to let others know that many of them–those that called themselves Israelites, would not be known by God, but this man would. I think it is good of us to understand that one of the principles that we can take out of this story is that Jesus was not interested in being a savior for simply the children of Israel, but is interested in being the savior of the world. Therefore, things like nationality and even ethnicity are not so interesting or dividing for Jesus as they are for us. Jesus is the God of all, not the God of just the Israelites.
Jesus blames the healing on the faith of the Roman officer. While we know it was the power of God that healed the boy, we also know that our faith can often be the agent from which that power comes. We don’t control what God will do, but if we are open to to following what God would have us do, and to believing in the promises that God has made to us, then our faith intertwines with the Power of God to help change the world.
However, we don’t have to simply have faith in order for God to do supernatural things. God can do incredibly natural and compassionate things through us when we are willing to be faithful to the call that God has given us in our lives as well. We don’t have to be agents of supernatural healing to be incredible agents of grace in the world today.
13 Then Jesus said to the Roman officer, “Go back home. Because you believed, it has happened.” And the young servant was healed that same hour.
Jesus was willing to heal the man’s servant because of the overwhelming faith that this man showed. In fact, he makes the point to let others know that many of them–those that called themselves Israelites, would not be known by God, but this man would. I think it is good of us to understand that one of the principles that we can take out of this story is that Jesus was not interested in being a savior for simply the children of Israel, but is interested in being the savior of the world. Therefore, things like nationality and even ethnicity are not so interesting or dividing for Jesus as they are for us. Jesus is the God of all, not the God of just the Israelites.
Jesus blames the healing on the faith of the Roman officer. While we know it was the power of God that healed the boy, we also know that our faith can often be the agent from which that power comes. We don’t control what God will do, but if we are open to to following what God would have us do, and to believing in the promises that God has made to us, then our faith intertwines with the Power of God to help change the world.
However, we don’t have to simply have faith in order for God to do supernatural things. God can do incredibly natural and compassionate things through us when we are willing to be faithful to the call that God has given us in our lives as well. We don’t have to be agents of supernatural healing to be incredible agents of grace in the world today.
- What have you done in order to follow the will of God today?
- Has your faith ever made you do something you didn’t expect?
- Do you think where you come from matters when it comes to matters of faith?
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