JC & the Law: the humble centurion … (12/13/18)
For our next example proving that Jesus ministry was founded upon his desire to replace the cold & inflexible priestly interpretations of the Law with the warm & humble Love that he believed resided at the core thereof, we turn to Matthew 8 and its portrayal of Jesus’ encounter with “the faithful centurion” (via Matthew 8:5-13 – see also Luke 7:1-10 & John 4:46-53) … In this tale, we essentially see a Roman centurion begging Jesus to come to the aid of one of his servants who is “lying at home, paralyzed and in terrible distress.” (Matthew 8:6) Jesus responds to him by saying that he will gladly travel to the centurion’s home and cure the servant, whereupon the centurion humbly states that such a journey is not necessary – that Jesus must only “speak the word and my servant will be healed.” (Matthew 8:8) Jesus, amazed by the man’s devoutness of belief, tells him “let it be done for you according to your faith” (Matthew 8:13), and the servant was supposedly healed in that same hour …
Aside from the fact that Jesus – as he was so often wont to do – clearly places the responsibility for this particular healing not on himself, but rather on the faith of those asking for the same (see Matthew 14:31, Matthew 15:28, Mark 5:34, Mark 9:23, Mark 10:52, Mark 11:22-24, Luke 17:6 et al), there are two facets of this story that are as oft-overlooked as they are important. The first of which has to do with the fact that this healing is performed for a Gentile – one who was clearly not living under the rubric of the Jewish Law. And this fact is made even more pivotal when one realizes that the encounter supposedly stimulating this particular healing occurred in Capernaum – essentially Jesus’ hometown at the time (“Then Jesus said to them, ‘Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house.’ And he could do no deed of power there … and he was amazed at their unbelief” ~ Mark 6:4-6 – see also Matthew 13:54-57, Mark 3:21, Luke 4:24, & John 4:44); a fact that symbolically announces Jesus’ message to be about reforming the Law in order to allow for a transcendence of the same – to be about freeing the Divine Love that was being held captive by the priests and the Pharisees; setting it free to heal & charm & move the whole world; Jew & Gentile alike.1
The second subtle-yet-important portion of this story is the probable truth that the centurion’s “servant” was actually his male companion & lover, and that Jesus publicly agreeing to be merciful towards a gay couple was a direct affront to the seemingly anti-homosexual (and admittedly immoral) edicts outlined in Leviticus 18:22 (“You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination”) and Leviticus 20:13 (“If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death”).2 And while the casual reader of the texts in question may very well wonder as to the supposed lack of evidence that supports such a little-known claim, a great deal of evidence for it there is indeed … Initially, we look to the ancient manuscripts themselves, where the term “servant” in Matthew 8:6, Matthew 8:8, & Matthew 8:13 is actually a quite callow translation of the curious Greek word pais (Strong’s #3816) – a word in ancient Greek language & literature which often referred to the younger partner in a homosexual relationship.3 This evidence gains even more weight when we look to verse 9 of the same passage, where the far more common term for servant – doulos (Strong’s #1401) – is used by the centurion to describe his other slaves4 … A final telling clue showing that the centurion’s “servant” was actually a beloved homosexual partner is the fact that nowhere in rest of the entire New Testament do we find anyone asking for a healing of their slave – and as such it is highly unlikely that we would see a respected Roman warrior asking a humble Jewish rabbi for the same. Instead, said warrior in all likelihood turned to Jesus as a last resort; the last chance he had of saving his beloved partner from a life of suffering.
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1Verses 11-12 actually have Jesus making this very claim in no uncertain terms, stating that “many will come from the east and the west [i.e. from beyond the borders of Judea] and find a seat in the Kingdom of Heaven, even while the heirs thereto [i.e. pious Jews who uphold the fringe requirements of the Law while being simultaneously devoid of the compassion and the Kindness that reside at the heart thereof] will be thrown into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” … As an aside, NOTE as well that the phrase “weeping and gnashing of teeth” found here (and elsewhere) does not imply any physical suffering that comes from the painful tortures normally associated with residing in Hell, but rather is a descriptive reference to all who emotionally suffer from acute frustration whenever selfish needs are not acquired or selfish hopes are not satisfied or selfish expectations are not met.
2While these two Old Testament laws (and only these two Old Testament laws) merely denounced homosexual intercourse and not homosexual relationships or homosexuality itself – and while the centurion, as a non-Jew, would probably have thought little of making such a pronouncement via his request (seeing as how it was quite common in those days for Roman soldiers to establish homosexual relationships &/or maintain homosexual lovers – as an offshoot of the prohibition of heterosexual marriage for Roman soldiers decreed by Emperor Augustus well before the birth of Jesus), all Jews within earshot of the exchange would definitely have been astounded by the same.
3Indeed, for 600 years before the Gospel of Matthew was written, the Greek word pais was used by numerous authors – among them Thucydides, Eupolis, Aeschines, Plato, Callimanchus, and Plutarch – to refer to a beloved partner in a same-sex relationship. Kenneth Dover, a preeminent scholar and noted authority on ancient Greece (who happens to be heterosexual) affirms this fact as well, and even Robert Gagnon – arguably the foremost anti-gay biblical scholar of the day – admits that pais often carries this connotation.
4Admittedly, the more banal doulos is used by the centurion to describe the ill servant in Luke 7’s similar telling of the same encounter, and yet it is critical to note that he attaches the adjective entimos thereto – a term meaning extremely highly valued, deeply cherished, &/or having a most honorable rank (Strong’s #1784) – when he does so (see Luke 7:2) … Luke 7:7 then concludes this alternative passage by once again describing said servant using the term pais.
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