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.