Met Ephrem (Kyriakos) on the Centurion's Faith

 Arabic original here. 

The Centurion

The centurion is a pagan who had perfect faith in Christ and said to Him, "Only speak a word, and my servant will be healed" (Matthew 8:8).

After this, the Lord states that from among the pagans, there are those who will "sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven  but those who consider themselves to be sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. " (Matthew 8:11-13).

Here the Evangelist Matthew indicates evangelism, since he closes his gospel with it, saying, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19).

All of this is in order to tell all the nations about the salvation that was achieved in Christ, in faith in His redemption and His love for humankind, and also to say that the good news can be spread even in our world today, despite the spread and predominance of secularism or hearts hardened by paganism.

The Apostle Paul says that we "are justified by faith" (Romans 5:1). Here also the Lord Jesus tells the centurion, "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you" (Matthew 8:13).

Where do you think we find this lived faith? True faith is not necessarily tied to a certain dogma and it is not tied to a certain rite or a certain canon. It is tied to profound humility: "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed" (Matthew 8:8).

Here is where the word of God is found. This word is not necessarily found in a specific denomination or in a specific dogma.

The centurion believed that Jesus' word would be active at the center of his life. His faith was within, in obedience to God's word. This obedience does not contradict an doctrine.

Without this inner longing, dogma leads to a dead faith. "I am a man under authority," obedience and trust in God's word and its rule. All of this gives us security and salvation.

+Ephrem

Metropolitan of Tripoli, al-Koura and their Dependencies