Matthew 8:5-13 2024/07/21 Osaka Church
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit
When we are seriously ill or suffer from unexpected hardships, we pray to Jesus, “Please heal me” or “Please deliver me from these hardships.” This prayer is not only for ourselves, but is even more earnest when it is for a loved one. “I don’t care what happens to me, just save this child’s life.”…
The Church has told of countless examples of people who have been healed and their hardships removed by such earnest prayer.
However, we also know of many sad realities where things did not end in such a good way. That is more common. So…
“Ask, and it will be given to you.”
“If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move.”
Are such words of the Lord unreliable? Or was it because the person praying did not have enough faith, or because the prayer was not sincere enough?
Many people prayed desperately from the depths of their soul, from the deepest part of their own life, for their sick children, for their spouses, about whom the doctor had clearly said, “There is no hope,” and prayed, just like the “father” of the Gospel, “Help me, I believe, help me my unbelief” (Mark 9:24). Who could say that this prayer lacked sincerity?
The more serious your faith, the more urgent this question becomes, and today’s Gospel gives us a hint as to how to answer it.
A centurion, commander of a Roman army, went to Jesus to ask for healing for his sick servant.
The Lord said, “I will go right away,” but the centurion stopped him, saying, “Lord, I am not worthy to let you into my house, but just say the word and I will be healed. You are in charge of life, so that I can give all my men obey me at the word of my mouth.”
Jesus praised his faith and then commanded him.
“Go, and let it be done as you have believed.”
The Gospels tell us:
“And at that very moment his son was healed.”
This is a very important phrase.
When we pray with faith in Christ as the Lord of life, the one and only God who controls life, miracles will occur at that very moment. The sick state of people who believe only in money, the power of this world, the pleasures of this world, the wisdom of this world, and above all in themselves, the very distortion of “life”, will be healed. This kind of healing is the most decisive healing of all. No matter how hard we try, we cannot heal this sick way of life by our own power, nor can we straighten out the distortion of our “life.” However, when we realize that everything we have relied on and counted on until now is powerless, and we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as the “Lord of life,” we will be healed “just then.”
Even if a physical illness is cured once, we will eventually die. However, the healing of this person’s very existence, the healing of “faith” in which we believe in Christ as the Lord of life and direct our whole life toward him, will carry us to “eternal life” that transcends physical death, as long as we do not let go of it.
And one last thing. The centurion pleaded. “Just give me the word.”
The Word of God becomes flesh and offers itself to you, saying, “Take and eat.”
It is clear what we must do, isn’t it?