Welcome to this Daily PBJ devotional. Read Matthew 8. When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds followed him. Suddenly a leper came and knelt before him, saying, Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean. Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. I am willing, he said. Be clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. Then Jesus instructed him, see that you don't tell anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift prescribed by Moses as a testimony to them. When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came and pleaded with him, Lord, my servant lies at home, paralyzed, and in terrible agony. I will go and heal him, Jesus replied. But the centurion answered, Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed, for I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell one to go, and he goes, and another to come, and he comes. I tell my servant to do something, and he does it. When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those following him, Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. I say to you that many will come from the east and the west to share the banquet with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then Jesus said to the centurion, Go, as you have believed, so will it be done for you. And his servant was healed at that very hour. When Jesus arrived at Peter's house, he saw Peter's mother sick in bed with a fever. So he touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she got up and began to serve him. When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to Jesus, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah. He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases. When Jesus saw a large crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the sea. And one of the scribes came to him and said, Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go. Jesus replied, Foxes have dens, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head. Another of his disciples requested, Lord, first let me go and bury my father. But Jesus told him, follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead. When he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. Suddenly, a violent storm came up on the sea, so that the boat was engulfed by the waves. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, Lord, save us, we are perishing. You of little faith, Jesus replied, why are you so afraid? Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it was perfectly calm. The men were amazed and asked, what kind of man is this? Even the winds and the sea obey him. When Jesus arrived on the other side in the region of the Gadarenes, he was met by two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs. They were so violent that no one could pass that way. What do you want from us, son of God? They shouted. Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time? In the distance, a large herd of pigs was feeding. So the demons begged Jesus, If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs. Go, he told them. So they came out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank, into the sea, and died in the waters. Those tending the pigs ran off into the town and reported all this, including the account of the demon-possessed men. Then the whole town went out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region. This is God's word. Here in the first half of Matthew 8, we have several stories about Jesus healing people. Each of these stories serves a purpose. But the one that always gets me thinking is the story of the centurion's servant in verses 5 through 13. The first thing that stands out about this story is the man's humility. A centurion is a Roman soldier who is in charge of 100 other Roman soldiers. That is a very powerful man. He was certainly feared and probably deeply respected by everyone who met him or knew him. Of all the people Jesus was willing to visit at home, he was by far the most prestigious. Despite all of that, the centurion didn't want Jesus to come into his home because, as he said, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That's verse 8 from the NIV. He sized up Jesus and had great respect and maybe even some fear of Jesus. The next impressive thing about this centurion is his faith. According to verse 10, that impressed Jesus too. Consider why Jesus said that he had the greatest faith. Not only does the centurion believe that Jesus can heal his servant, but he believes that Jesus can do it remotely. The quote here is from verse 8, but just say the word and my servant will be healed, he told Jesus again in verse 8 from the NIV. What's even more interesting to me is the centurion's reason for believing that Jesus can heal remotely. He told that reason to Jesus in verse 9. where the centurion said, For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one go, and he goes, and that one come, and he comes. I say to my servant, Do this, and he does it. That's it. That's all that the man said. But what was his point? His point was that he understood where Jesus ranked in the spiritual hierarchy. In the Roman army, the centurion did not accomplish things by going personally everywhere where there was an issue. No, a centurion gets things done through the soldiers that report to him. You've heard the old saying, if you want something done, do it yourself. The centurion's statement in verse 9 is saying just the opposite of that. If he wants something done, the centurion doesn't do it himself. He orders one of his soldiers to do it. That's the only efficient and effective way to lead 100 people. Leaders make decisions. Followers carry those decisions out. The centurion understood that because that's how he made his living. So what the centurion was implying was that Jesus was so powerful and so high-ranking spiritually that Jesus can just issue orders and stuff will get done. Say the word, and the servant will be healed, according to verse 8. Did the centurion think that angels would do it? I don't know, and it doesn't matter. What he did know is that Christ can accomplish anything he wants merely by issuing orders. He didn't even need to know the servant's name or his GPS coordinates or anything. Jesus has the power to speak and make things happen. Jesus found the centurion's faith amazing. He said this in verse 10, Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. And again, that's verse 10 from the NIV. What was so great about his faith? In order for Jesus to heal someone remotely without knowing who the person is or where he resides, Jesus must be God. He must know all things to know who the sick servant is and where he is. He must have God's authority to be able to accomplish things by just issuing commands. Since all creation is under his authority, Jesus can use his authority to accomplish anything he chooses, anything he wants. What amazed Jesus was not that the centurion believed Jesus could heal. No, what amazed Jesus was the centurion's recognition of who Jesus was and the centurion's faith in Jesus. Thousands of people believed Jesus could heal, but they were so focused on getting better that they missed what his healing power revealed about Jesus. Christ remarked on the implications of this in verses 11 and 12. This Gentile, the Centurion Gentile, had greater faith than any of Christ's other followers. To Christ, the Centurion was an example of what was to come. The many that Jesus talked about, who will come from the East and the West, are Gentiles, just like this Roman soldier was. Jesus said that these Gentiles will feast with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. Again, that's verse 11. But many Jewish people who knew Messiah was coming who were waiting supposedly for his kingdom, who saw Christ's miracles and his words, will be thrown outside where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, as verse 12 puts it. Why? Because they failed to recognize and believe that in that human body named Jesus resided the Almighty God. Have you put your faith in the powerful Lordship of Jesus Christ? Do you believe that he can and will do whatever you ask for in faith if it is in God's will? Do you ask in faith to give you what you want and need so that you can do his will? The centurion asked Jesus to do the impossible and he believed Jesus would because he recognized the authority and power of Jesus. What about us who follow Jesus by faith and say that we believe in Him? Do we believe that He will do the things that we ask in God's will when we ask Him in prayer? If you found this devotional helpful, go to my website dailypbj.com slash subscribe and subscribe to get a free email subscription so that you can be reading God's Word and I can help you apply God's Word each day through these devotionals. And please consider supporting me financially if you have the means to do so. Go to dailypbj.com slash support. And please share this with someone else. And I'll see you next time. May God bless you. Hope you have a great day today.