Mateus 8

Jesus heals at a distance

5 As He entered Capernaum a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him 6 and saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, being terribly tormented." 7 And Jesus says to him, "I will go and heal him." 8 But in answer the centurion said: "Lord, I am not worthy that you should come under my roof; but only speak a word and my servant will be healed. 9 For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does." 10 Upon hearing him Jesus marveled, and said to those who were following: "Assuredly I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith! 11 And I say to you that many will come from east and west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of the heavens; 12 but the sons of the kingdom will be thrown out into the darkness farthest away. There, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."*"Sons of the kingdom"—those who knew the truth and rejected it will have the severest judgment, "farthest away". (Dante’s view of hell is perhaps not entirely mistaken.) 13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go; and let it be done for you just as you believed." And his servant was healed in that very hour.*Jesus healed a serious case at a distance.*It has often been assumed that Matthew’s account here is parallel to those in Mark 1:29-31 and Luke 4:38-39, but close attention to the contexts has convinced me that Matthew’s account took place some time after that in Mark and Luke. In that event, Jesus healed the woman twice, which means that just because God heals you one time, it does not mean that you will never get sick again.