Jesus and the German Soldier

 

One of my favourite passages in the gospels, and has been since I was a kid, is the encounter with the centurion soldier. As a kid I listened to the Christian musician the Donut Man, whose song about the centurion soldier stuck with me so much a few years ago I tracked down the song and album to listen to it again.

It always amazed me that the man of greatest faith in all Israel was the Roman Soldier: "8 But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 10 When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith" (Matt. 8:8-10). It also amazed me that this amazed Jesus.

But it was not until I got a bit older and went to Bible College that I realised how offensive to the Jewish people Jesus' statement here was. The Jews, in general, considered themselves superior to all Gentiles because of bad theology. But this guy was worse than that. He was a Centurion, tasked with oppressing the people of Israel. That was his role. Enforcing the power of the conquerors.

Hence Jesus did not just affirm a Gentile before his Jewish audience as being spiritually more faithful than them. He affirmed one of their oppressors. No Israelite, and Jesus knows the hearts of all, had the faith of this man, and therefore the understanding of God he had. The man the Jewish people would have looked down upon the most, while also fearing, was affirmed by God.

This was highly offensive to the Jewish people. To understand how offensive it was, imagine if Jesus had said this to a German soldier in the 20th century? Now you understand. Now you know why Jesus was hated by so many of his kin. He judges according to the heart, not the flesh.

It was not the man's ethnicity, or his Roman loyalties that factored most here, it is that he understood Jesus. The Jewish nation had been largely led astray by an ethnocentric theology of religion and faith which had warped their moral compass. Paul calls this the Judaizer error. This error has always had this effect, because it places ethnicity in the wrong place: as a recipient of the promises of God by virtue of genetics. This stands in opposition to everything the Bible ever says about the issue.

I have seen many people over the last two years argue that those who criticize Israel's actions stand in line next to bad company. So what? A man is not supposed to look to his left or right to know what is right and true, but up. We aren't basing our opinion on company but on a right understanding of who God's people are and what justice is.

Rather you should be concerned that people you consider inferior have superior moral clarity on this issue. This is an easy win for the Church, call for peace and no more weapons shipments to the region. But just like in every era there are Christians so enamoured with old wine skins, that the Roman Centurions of the world can see past them. Rather you should ask why do the heathens you disagree with see this and you do no?