Lord, you have the power

to make me well

 

As Jesus came down the mountain, he was followed by large crowds.  Suddenly a man with leprosy came and knelt in front of Jesus.  He said, "Lord, you have the power to make me well, if only you wanted to."

Jesus put his hand on the man and said, "I want to!  Now you are well."  At once the man's leprosy disappeared.  Jesus told him, "Don't tell anyone about this, but go and show the priest that you are well.  Then take a gift to the temple just as Moses commanded, and everyone will know that you have been healed."

When Jesus was going into the town of Capernaum, an army officer came up to him and said, "Lord, my servant is at home in such terrible pain that he can't even move."

"I will go and heal him," Jesus replied.

But the officer said, "Lord, I'm not good enough for you to come into my house.  Just give the order, and my servant will get well.  I have officers who give orders to me, and I have soldiers who take orders from me.  I can say to one of them, 'Go!' and he goes.  I can say to another, 'Come!' and he comes.  I can say to my servant, 'Do this!' and he will do it."

When Jesus heard this, he was so surprised that he turned and said to the crowd following him, "I tell you that in all of Israel I've never found anyone with this much faith!  Many people will come from everywhere to enjoy the feast in the kingdom of heaven with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  But the ones who should have been in the kingdom will be thrown out into the dark.  They will cry and grit their teeth in pain."

Then Jesus said to the officer, "You may go home now.  Your faith has made it happen."

Right then his servant was healed.

                                                                           Matthew 8:1-13

Contemporary English Version The Holy Bible (New York , NY: American Bible Society 1995)