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Matthew 8:7
There is so much to be learned from this one statement made by Jesus. In our Bible study lesson for Matthew 8:5-6 we learned of the centurion being of great faith as he was not considered to be in the grace of God because he was a Gentile, but yet he knew Jesus to be a great healer, and with all his options exhausted, he went to the only One in which he had not yet sought for help – Jesus.
In this next sentence of Matthew 8:7, we find the response of Jesus to the centurion’s call for help in healing his servant. Jesus does not question the centurion of the details of just how sick the servant is, or of how far away the servant is, or of how much time they have to get to him to heal him, or of anything else. Jesus simply looks at the centurion, a Gentile, and has compassion on him and the need in which he has brought to Jesus in his sincere need for help, and makes this statement, “I will come and heal him” (Matthew 8:7, NKJV).
This is an example that God and His only begotten Son Jesus know the sincerity of our hearts.
This is an example of the compassion that God and His only begotten Son Jesus have for all people – not just for the Israelites who were God’s chosen people of the Old Testament to set the example for all the peoples of the world to see that God is the Almighty God of heaven and that we all should put our faith in Him.
We often bring our needs for healing, amongst our other prayer needs, to God and never receive the results that we are desiring from our prayers. We know that God’s will is greater than what we can fathom or understand, and it may be many years, if even then, that we can look back in hindsight and see why did what He did in not answering our prayers the way in which we desired. Sometimes it is because He wants us to remain dedicated to Him in our faith even when things do not go the way we would like them to. But in the case of today’s Bible passage of Matthew 8:7, Jesus does what He does to show the world that He is able to heal everyone, not just God’s chosen people Israel. Jesus is making a worldly statement that must have been shocking to those who were present at the time. Why would Jesus heal this outsider, a Gentile? It is because of God’s great love for all people. It is because Jesus came to save all who will put their faith in Him. It is because “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Jesus, on numerous occasions, made it clear that salvation in and through Him is for everyone who will believe in Him. He is the great healer! He is our Lord and Savior – of the world!
Dear LORD,
It is Your desire that we all put and keep our faith in You as Almighty God; the One true God of heaven, even when we cannot understand why You do things in our lives the way in which You do. Please help us to see that whether You choose to heal us and show Your great healing power through it, or to not heal us so that we may be used in other ways through it to bring glory to You through our continued faith in You while not understanding why You do things the way You do, but that we would continue to trust in You and seek Your will for our lives that one day we may be able to look back and see the great things that You have done throughout our lives in bringing glory to You—in Christ. In Jesus name I pray, amen.