Missional Jesus attracted crowds and from that crowd summoned people to follow him by becoming doers of God’s will. What is God’s will? You can say it a number of ways, but the two most succinct summaries of Jesus are the Golden Rule (Matt 7:12) and the Jesus Creed (Mark 12:29-31). Now the cutting edge of “missional” for Jesus:
1. Missional Jesus accepts anyone who comes to him for healing.
2. Missional Jesus breaks down boundaries between Gentiles and Jews.
3. Missional Jesus heals Gentiles, too.
4. Missional Jesus, in the parallel in Matthew 8:5-13, contrasts the Gentile’s faith with Jewish lack of faith, exposing his belief that what mattered was faith in God (through Jesus) and not ethnic heritage and religious association.
5. Missional Jesus lauds the perception of faith in him as faith in the One who is Sent by God with Authority.
1 When Jesus had finished saying all this in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. 2 There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. 3 The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. 4 When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, 5 because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” 6 So Jesus went with them.
He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. 7 That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. 8 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
9 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” 10 Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.