Faith for healing

There’s an amazing story of how Jesus brought healing to the household of a Roman officer, and praised the centurion for his faith.

Let’s read the entire account.

Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.” And Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”

The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that same hour.

Matthew 8:5-13

Notice what happened here. It was the centurion’s faith that healed the servant. Yes, Jesus was there to oversee the healing, but He credited the centurion with the faith required for the cure.

Jesus was prepared to go and heal the servant, but when He heard and saw the centurion’s faith, He was amazed and said that his faith was enough to heal the servant.

Notice that Jesus says to the centurion, “Go your way; and as you have believed, so be it done for you.”

Jesus adds that He has not seen such faith, not even in all of Israel. You would think that, given they were God’s chosen people, Israel would have a reasonable level of faith, but Jesus finds that the Roman’s faith is even greater.

The centurion’s understanding of how faith works is telling. He likens it to the authority he has as a centurion and an officer to say to his soldiers they have to do certain things and they need to obey. “Only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.”

He is intimating that the Word goes to work when it is uttered in faith. He says that Jesus only has to speak the Word and it must obey Him. We can learn from this.

Jesus doesn’t then Himself speak the Word, but tells the centurion that his own words through his own faith were sufficient for the servant to be healed.

Faith is heard

Jesus knew what the centurion believed because he spoke his belief and Jesus heard it. He told Jesus how and what he believed.

He understood that the Word is powerful enough to intervene in a situation when it is uttered in faith. What Jesus saw was that the centurion wasn’t trying to be in faith. He was in faith when he revealed what happens when the Saviour speaks the Word.

Jesus then declares the centurion’s words to be as though they were His words, uttering the same thing that the centurion clearly believed. You see, even we who believe are authorised by Jesus to speak and act in His name when we speak and act according to His Word, which is also His will(John 14:14).

That is how faith works. We don’t have to work it up or fake it. If it is faith you will know it. We simply need to believe the Word and put it into action with our own words, provided they are words of faith, confirming the Word, and that we absolutely believe what we are saying will come to pass.

Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

1 John 5:14-15

When we find a promise in the Word, Jesus is the Yes and Amen to all the promises (2 Cor.1:20). We can speak that promise and act on what it promises (2Pet.1:4). That is very simple faith. That is what the centurion declared with his words, his understanding and his actions.

We can learn from this and see results. If God is true, then His Word must be too.