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Let
the
Bible speak!
"This is My Beloved Son: Hear Him!"
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Miracles of Healing: Matthew 8
Once when Jesus was entering
Capernaum, a Roman Centurion asked Jesus to heal his servant. Although
the man was a gentile, he displayed great faith in Jesus, more so than
even the Jews of Christ's day. Jesus answered the Centurion, saying:
7 "I will go and heal him."
8 The centurion replied, "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come
under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.
9 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I
tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and that one, 'Come,' and he
comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."
10 When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those
following him, "I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in
Israel with such great faith.
11 I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and
will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in
the kingdom of heaven.
12 But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the
darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go! It will be done just as
you believed it would." And his servant was healed at that very
hour....
17 ...This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet
Isaiah: "He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases.”
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Matthew 8
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Christ had
the power and desire to heal anyone’s illness whether Jew or
Gentile (the centurion was a Roman).
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The
centurion believed that Christ could heal his servant without
needing to be physically present. He understood the fullness of
Christ’s power. This faith is commended by Christ.
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Christ’s
ability to heal is the fulfillment of prophecy.
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The
fulfillment of the prophecy reinforces our understanding that
demons are illnesses
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This Roman Centurion had great
faith and trust in Jesus. But equally as importantly he was a humble
man and acted upon that faith. Though a high ranking member of the
powerful roman armies, he humbly accepted that Jesus had the
authority from His Father to heal the ill servant without even
needing to be present.
It is easy to say 'I believe'
or 'I have faith', but it is attitude of mind and personal actions
that will show what God's word really means to us. As James says:
"faith without works is dead" James 2:20
Faith is defined as the
"substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."
Hebrews 11:1 In other words faith is believing and trusting that the
things God has spoken about and promised in His word will indeed
happen.
An active and living Faith is
vital, because as Paul writes:
"without faith it is
impossible to please Him (God)" Hebrews 11:6
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