Many will come from the east and west and will recline at the banquet in the Kingdom of God. Today’s Gospel Reading recounts the healing of a centurion’s servant by Jesus. It is an account that is not only meant to teach us a thing or two about what is referred to as “trusting faith,” but also reminds us of the unbounded mercies of God. When the centurion approached Jesus, he displayed a level of faith that amazed even Jesus himself. In the words of Jesus, it was a display of faith that was unparalleled (…in no one in Israel have I found such faith). What made it even more astonishing is the fact that it was displayed by an individual who was supposedly not a man of faith. For those who were with Jesus, the Centurion’s boldness in approaching Jesus fulfilled the prophecy about the day of fulfillment, that it, the day when creation will ultimately attain its goal of joyfully streaming toward the house of the Lord (cf. Psalm 122).

The centurion’s show of faith was evidence that the prophecies of old were being fulfilled in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ (cf. Isaiah 2:2: “In days to come…all nations shall stream toward the mountain of the Lord’s house.”) It was proof of the nearness of the kingdom of God since the nations that had hitherto not known God were now coming to the knowledge of God. And it was not a mere coincidence that this was taking place in the lifetime of Jesus, for through his ministry, the in-breaking of the kingdom of God had commenced. Thus, the joining at table of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob by men and women from the east and west should not be seen as a denigration of the elected people. Rather, it should be seen as a fulfillment of the plan God has had for creation from the very beginning: every man and woman joining at the banquet table of the Lord God.