Don't be a Pharisee!

Matthew 8:5-13

Who gets the greatest revelation of how God works? It's so often the ones we least expect. The gospel is in fact quite simple, and we so often over complicate it. God is more than capable of doing the impossible, and with just a single word. But I often make it more complicated than that.

What a blow it must have been to hear Jesus say he hadn't seen such faith in all of Israel. They were God's chosen ones! Mathew says Jesus turned to face those following him. They were probably mostly Jews, the people of Israel. Jesus was literately saying "this guy understand this stuff far more than you lot ever have". This centurion was a Roman. He wasn't God's chosen people, was he? He was seen as the enemy by many. But in fact, he had been given a revelation of how God works to a far greater extent than the Jews ever understood.

We often give the Pharisees a hard time. They were super religious, strict in the law, judgemental and self righteous. But maybe a bit of Pharisee slips into my character when I think God couldn't possibly speak to "that person" before speaking to me. Or judging that someone's greater faith in God's ability to move mountains is just simple naivety. "If they really knew how God worked they wouldn't see it so simply". In fact maybe Jesus is saying "greater faith have I never seen in all your life son". I need to watch out for that bit of Pharisee that slips in every now and again.

God used a donkey. God used a Roman centurion. He can use me, but in fact, He can use anyone.

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