Breaking the Word

  When he entered Capernaum, a centurion approached him and appealed to him, saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully." He said to him, "I will come and cure him." The centurion said in reply, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed…

 "Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith. I say to you, many will come from the east and the west, and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the banquet in the kingdom of heaven, but the children of the kingdom will be driven out into the outer darkness, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth."…

"He took away our infirmities and bore our diseases." (Mt 8:5-17)

As one believes so it happens. Here in this story we fine a gentile standing in front of Jesus with a request for healing. Jesus, on his side, is ready to go with him. But the faith of the centurion is something remarkable. Certainly,   faith in this story is not a general religious attitude to life. Here, faith consists in recognizing the authority that Jesus possesses. Faith always brings its reward.

The faith of the centurion is a sign of what is going to happen in the future. That is the gentiles are going to come in a big way into the kingdom of God while the children of Abraham are going to be locked out of the kingdom.

Faith in Christian terms is, believing in Jesus. Living God is present in him. God has entrusted his authority to Jesus. This Jesus is exercising this authority for the salvation of the whole world. 

  When Jesus came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. And then a leper approached, did him homage, and said, "Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean." He stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, "I will do it. Be made clean." His leprosy was cleansed immediately. Then Jesus said to him, "See that you tell no one, but go show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them." (Mt 8:1-4)

Leprosy was not only a physical ailment but also it had its social segregation. They were forced to move out of the society and the society moved away from them. Nobody approached them. Here Jesus reached out to him and touched him. We could imagine the repugnant feeling that was going through the onlookers. On the other hand there was life and warmth and newness going through the leper himself.

More than the physical healing (of course he needed that), the leper needed reintegration into the society. He needed to get back into his family, into his village. For this he needed authorization and that is why Jesus asked him to show himself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses prescribed. The leper needed to be restored as a member of Israel.

This is a miracle. Not a magic. It is a miracle because it restored the individual and made him get back into the believing community. And he himself expressed his faith. Miracle takes place when there is faith, believing community, restoration. In short, miracle takes place where there is God and people of God.