The Lens Part 2

Luke 7

After Jesus had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. A centurion there had a slave whom he valued highly and who was ill and close to death. When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave. When they came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy to have you do this for him, for he loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us.” And Jesus went with them, but when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; therefore I did not presume to come to you. But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed. For I also am a man set 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 slave, ‘Do this,’ and the slave does it.” When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him, and, turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health. (Luke 7)

In the last story, which was also about this same miraculous healing, you read about the lens. Yes, the centurion’s lens, which was the way he saw the world, how he saw it through the lens of his experiences and life lessons in leadership. But there’s more to it. A lot more. And that’s what I want to speak about in this story.

Because I am here to tell you that the lens goes both ways. Yes, both ways in that just as we see others through our lens, we are seen in the same way, by them. Because it’s not just how each one of us sees the world. No, it’s also about how the world sees us. Or maybe I should say it’s about how we allow the world to see us.

Because to some degree, we can control how others see us, can’t we? We try to look good, to fit the needs of our circumstances, don’t we? We try to live up to what we think is expected of us. In your day, you will understand the concept of a person’s image and how each one of us wants to project a certain image.

Does all of this sound philosophical? I suppose it does, and if so, let me apologize. I may have gone a bit too far. But having said that, what you read above is important, and I can prove it to you.

Let’s go back to the centurion who wrote the first part of this story. If you didn’t read it, or if you’ve forgotten, go back and read it now: https://www.animatedbiblestories.net/blog/the-lens

And despite my feeble attempts at deeper thoughts, I am not a philosopher. Not even close! Actually, I am a legionary, one of eighty men under the command of the centurion who you’ve already heard from in part one.

But even though I am uneducated and probably not very bright, I pride myself on my intuition, my feelings. And those intuitive feelings have given me great trust in my commander. As he wrote, his abilities, refined through his lens of observation, have saved not only his life, but the lives of the men in his command. That includes me and I am very grateful. Yes, I trust him. I trust him with my life.

Yet, it surprised me when he sought out the Jewish rabbi, Jesus of Nazareth.

To understand why, you must first consider the normal profile of a centurion. Of course, a centurion is a strong leader, one who commands strict obedience at all costs. He considers the legionaries under him as a whole, a body of men, not so much as individuals. They must, you see, obey and act as one.

To the centurion, then, discipline is foremost, and he acts as judge over all who are under him.

And, of course, as we are a force of occupation, the centurion views the occupied population as the enemy, a people to be controlled. At all cost. To get to know them or understand them at a personal level would be far outside the expected role of a centurion. It would almost be viewed as consorting with the enemy.

As you can see, our centurion strayed far outside that normal profile. First, he was “loved” by those same occupied citizens. He built their synagogue. He was considered “worthy.”

And most important, he knew who Jesus was; he was a student of the ministry of Jesus, especially of the healing powers of Jesus.

So, when his servant became sick, our centurion did not hesitate. He acted. He reached out to Jesus, the itinerant rabbi with a reputation for healing. And what’s more, he did so in public, in full view of not only the local citizens, but also in full view of those under his command. Like me.

What was he risking? Nothing less than a breakdown of discipline in the territory under his control. First, he knew that Jesus was loved by some but despised by others. Publicly reaching out as he did opened us up to the hot tempers of those who opposed Jesus.

It also might have caused confusion in our ranks. Were we now supposed to make friends with the locals? Losing our strong grip of control could lead to an insurrection.

And finally, our centurion showed two qualities that, in my opinion had never before been seen in the ranks of centurions.

First, he showed an empathy for his servant that went far beyond anything we’d ever seen. To risk all that he did to get help for his servant was without precedent. I mean, he really put his image of a strong, disciplined leader on the line when he showed such a level of care, especially care for a servant.

And second, and even more amazing, was his display of humility. Do you remember his words?

“Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; therefore I did not presume to come to you. But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed.”

Not worthy? A Roman centurion not worthy to have a member of an occupied people, a people considered enemies of Rome, to come under his roof?

The humility he showed was not only genuine, it was shocking. And again, he said this in the full hearing of anyone nearby, including some of his own men.

Jesus Heals the Centurion’s Servant

Paolo Veronese, 16th Century

I hope you can imagine what it took for him to do this. First, his empathy for the servant. Second, his belief in the rabbi Jesus of Nazareth, a puzzling figure at best. And third, his sincere humility in publicly stating that he was not worthy to have Jesus enter his house.

I don’t know about you, but for me, I feel like I have witnessed something never before seen. And for me, also, it has made me take more notice of Jesus. Yes, of course, Jesus did, in fact, heal the servant, and yes, he did in fact, do so from a distance.

But more than that, the empathy, faith and humility of our centurion has impressed me at a very deep level. I am not the same man as a result.

And I must consider my own life.

This story began with the image of a lens, a lens through which we see the world and the lens through which the world sees us. For me, I am considering how much my internal lens has been changed, certainly by the rabbi, Jesus, but even more, by the example of empathy and humility set by my centurion leader.

You may be wondering if I had ever seen these qualities in my centurion before that day. My answer is no, I had not. And as I contemplated about that, it occurred to me that, as I said at the beginning, we can control what others see in us. But only so far. Eventually, who we really are, our inner selves, must emerge, for better or for worse. We can’t control our image forever.

And maybe, that’s for the best. Because in the case of my centurion, what emerged that day, the day that he showed such empathy, faith and humility, what I saw in him that day, was a beautiful thing.