artybloke said:
Sometimes he did and sometimes he didn't. He said nothing to the centurion despite the strong possibility that the servant he was asking Jesus to heal was also his lover.
And what in any case did he mean? He meant, it seems to me, that people were no longer to break the rule of love. Love God and love your neighbour: adultery, for instance, doesn't generally involve love of one's husband or wife, for instance, and can be very harmful. Therefore it breaks the primary rule of love.
Setting up a lot of other, arbitrary laws, based on partisan readings of Scripture, in the way of the rule of the love of God in our hearts and in our actions is, IMHO, legalism.
The only evidence that exists that the centurion had a lover exists in some people's perverted minds.
With his story of the centurions servant, Matthew moves his circle of inclusiveness inward. The centurion is a gentile. In the context of Israels religious life, they are one step better than a leper, yet still outsiders. The leper couldnt enter the area of the temple. Within the area of the temple was the outer Court of the Gentiles, beyond which no gentile could go. Additionally, while gentiles were not considered unclean at the level of a leper, it was forbidden for a Jew to associate with a gentile or enter the house of a gentile. To do so would have rendered the Jew as unclean. So, the next step in Matthews story of the healing grace of Jesus is to tell of a gentile approaching Jesus.
Again, there is no question asked, no specific request made of Jesus for healing. The centurion simply informs Jesus,
"Lord, my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering." The suddenness of Jesus response, and its content, is, again, surprising. In response to the centurions simple statement, Jesuseagerly is the word that comes to meresponds,
"I will go and heal him." Not only is there an eagerness in Jesus response, but there is an extension of Gods grace beyond what is the expected norm because Jesus is willing to go to this gentile centurions home. Even the centurion seems startled by Jesus response,
"You dont need to come to my home, Lord." In his statement, the centurion expresses a simple faith in the ability of Jesus to heal.
"You dont need to come to my home, Lord. Just say the word and my servant will be healed." "Such is your power, Jesus, that you can heal long distance." Jesus recognizes the centurion for his faith, that he has not seen anyone among the covenant people of Israel with such faith. And it leads to Jesus making the point against smugness in ones faith. That foreigners from
"east and west," like the Roman centurion,
"will take their place at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside." In other words, many who think they are in the kingdom will be out, and many who are thought to be out of the kingdom will be in. Be careful, Matthew seems to be telling his audience, from becoming smug and arrogant in your faith.
The centurion is not only a model for faith, but is a model for intercessory prayer, prayer that is offered on behalf of another person, possibly without their awareness. Does the servant even know of the centurions actions? Theres no indication that he is aware of his masters actions and, as a servant, most likely he knows nothing about it. It is the intercession of the centurion that brings healing to the servant. Again, there is no Biblical formula for healing. A leper comes with his humble and confident faith in Jesus to heal him. A centurion comes with his humble and confident faith interceding for his sick servant. Jesus touches the leper. Jesus gets nowhere near the servant. The healing grace of Jesus also comes through the intercession of another.
http://www.soth.net/sermons%202002/sermon%201-20-2002.htm
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