Chris Bailey III - Go Thy Way

Matthew 8:13 KJV - 13 And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, [so] be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.

Jesus tells the Roman centurion to "go thy way', as if to say, "class dismissed!"   There  were many lessons to be learned in this singular encounter.  But maybe the most important one was "and as thou hast believed."  The centurion had a lot of strikes against him from our perspective for his prayer to be heard, much less answered.  But the validity and the worth of his prayer were not started, or stopped, in him.  In fact, it was in spite of him.  Maybe it was by the import or the weight of his prayer that the Lord answered because it was a life-or-death situation?  Well, if that was the case, then Jesus would have commended him for what he brought to him or the seriousness of his situation.  But that is not what The Master applauds.  Jesus says "as thou hast believed." 

"As thou hast believed" since the centurion tells Jesus that He doesn't have to come to his house because 1) the soldier is not worthy to have Him enter and 2) Christ doesn't have to be there to do what he is asking him to do.  The paradox of humility and holy boldness is staggering!  It's like the soldier is saying "I know I don't deserve to even ask you, but if this is what you want to do, I already know you can't help yourself from doing what nobody else can do face-to-face; much less long distance, so..."  The centurion got on a wavelength that moved The Master to say...

Matthew 8:10 KJV - 10 When Jesus heard [it], He marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.

This was a faith that 1) knew God's will and 2) believed God's will.  Once the centurion got on that frequency, nothing could be withheld.  The same applies to us!  There was no restraint.  Not even reality could prevent this from happening because the will of the Sovereign of the universe is sovereign.  It will come to pass.

Matthew 8:8 KJV - 8 The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.

"...but speak the word only..."  Figuratively speaking, the centurion did not plop down, demand, and get in front of Jesus; rather, by his statements he is, by faith, standing humbly but firmly beside Jesus.  He knows that if Jesus wants to heal his servant, nothing or nobody (Satan and every fallen angel included) was going to stop Him!  He wasn't forcing the Lord to move, but he was saying that if this is what God wants to do, His will will be done!  I

t's not in our capacity to twist the arm of God that He moves, but rather in our capacity to trust the arm of God that He moves.    That's simple - trust versus twist, and we can go our way!