Hello and welcome to Thursdays podcast. Yesterday we had George, our STC intern, feature in a guest podcast. He did such a good job. I really encourage us to give that a listen if we haven’t had chance to do that yet. George finished off looking at the Sermon of the Mount for us. Today it feels like things shift up a gear or three. We start to see miracles being performed.

REFLECTION:

Currently, we watch a lot of Disney+ in our house. When I hear of miracles, or when we think of supernatural powers, I think about some of the legends in the Marvel comic universe. People like Thor, not like Hawkeye, who have power beyond our natural understanding.  If this is all jargon to you – I’m sorry, but I hope you get this principle.

The miraculous powers of Jesus are impressive to read. But unlike the fictional figures of the movies, Jesus’ powers work in a very specific way. They tell us who He is and confirm what he came to do.

In our reading today we have 3 stories, multiple miracles and healings are beginning to happen. But we are going to focus on one to help guide our thoughts for the day ahead. That is the story that your Bible might describe as “the Faith of the Centurion”.

The centurion describes himself in verse 9 as “a man under authority”. By this he means, “I have been given a certain number of soldiers… inside the sphere of influence I have been given, my word is very important. I have the power to make this happen. I’m a big deal.” Or, if there are students listening, the Centurion is basically a BNOC – a “Big Name On Campus”. The centurion says to Jesus in verse 8 “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.” What is he saying? He is saying, “the whole world is the sphere of your authority.” The centurion knows that Jesus isn’t a miracle worker, or a Marvel superhero who has to get in the room and say a classic catchphrase; the whole world is the sphere of his authority. All you have to do is say the word, is think it, and this servant will be well. The miracle, in some way, shows us who Jesus is. They’re evidence of his authority.

How did this centurion know Jesus could do this? He had never seen Jesus work like this. How did he know? Jesus is even astonished.

The point of this story is that he had clearly been thinking about it. He had been looking at the evidence of Jesus’ life. He had been looking at the way Jesus handles his relationships and the way he speaks. He had been looking at the power of Jesus and the sensitivity of Jesus that has been on display for us the last few days through the wonderful and bizarre words contained within the Sermon on the Mount. He had come to the conclusion, “This must be the Son of God.”

Here is where the miraculous powers of Jesus are unlike anything else in the whole world. This may ruffle some feathers but every superhero film is the same (and I love them all). There is an under-rated hero, they go through a training montage, things get complex, it looks bleak and they finally overcome the hurdle through a pure heroic act. We cheer. Let’s take a hero we might all know, like Superman. He is basically invincible. Jesus is not like that. When Jesus came to the earth with phenomenal cosmic power he came as a baby. He came in vulnerability. What happens when Jesus begins to heal people from here on in in the Gospel story? He becomes more vulnerable not less. In doing good works, healing the sick… he attracts the attention of the religious elite who seek to destroy him. In one commentary I was reading about this passage, they reference John 11 to make this point, when Jesus eventually raises Lazarus from the Dead, his enemies say, “now we have to kill him.” Jesus’ supernatural powers not only make him vulnerable, they made him a target.

The way of Jesus is so unique. There is no one like Jesus.