The Occupier – Read Matt 8:5-13
Contemplation
As we come back to the town Jesus has made his home, we hear a sound of clanking armour and sandals marching on the warm and dusty cobbles. It’s a soldier! This man leads some of the foreign army who control our town. He’s scary – these soldiers are not usually our friends, and many have hurt our people. When he speaks, it is with a strange accent. What does he want? Papers? Money? To bully us? Hang on, wait. He wants Jesus to heal his slave! What’s Jesus going to say? He’s going to his house? Will he be safe? No, the enemy soldier doesn’t want that, either. “Just say he will be better, and he will be!” Jesus is amazed! Even the people who believe in God don’t trust him so much!
Talk to Jesus and the soldier and the people around you. What do they feel?
Are there people I am afraid of? Could I talk to them?
Do I sometimes find people turn out differently to how I expect?