To seek that which is lost
On Wednesday, another column by Professor George Henson ran inThe Daily Campus under the headline “Was Jesusgay?” I realize that Professor Henson is not trying to prove,without a doubt, that Jesus was gay. However, I found it necessaryto explain why his arguments cannot be used to even entertain thepossibility that Jesus was gay or that he condonedhomosexuality.
Professor Henson uses Matthew 8:8 where Jesus heals a Romancenturion’s slave. Professor Henson used arguments claimingthat the centurion and the servant (a young boy) were a couple.Here’s why that doesn’t work:
The Greek word for servant in this passage is pais (theword that Professor Henson says is an implication that thecenturion and the servant were lovers) and does not translate intoanything more than ‘boy,’ ‘girl,’‘child’ and in some instances ‘servant.’The Greek word for love between a man and a boy ispaiderastia, which incorporates the word pais, butalso incorporates the word eran meaning love. Pais,the word that’s used in the Greek translation of the Bible,means only ‘child’ or ‘servant’ when itstands alone.
However, if it were in fact true that the centurion and theservant engaged in sexual activity, in that day, the servant wouldhave had no say in the matter. He would have had to do whatever hismaster told him to do. Homosexuality was not a lifestyle that theservant chose if he was in fact having sex with the centurion. Ifthe centurion had sex with the boy, that doesn’tautomatically make him gay. He most likely had a wife and multiplechildren and just used the boy for sex — it probablywasn’t a loving relationship.
What’s more, even if the centurion did love the boyservant, and they were in a relationship, it does not mean thatJesus was accepting of that behavior. Luke 19:5-10 tells the storyof Zacchaeus. Jesus goes to Zacchaeus’ house even though heknew that Zacchaeus cheated people out of their money claiming thatit was for taxes, and that he also stole from people. Jesusdidn’t judge him the way the people did for his sins. Luke19:7 says, “But when they saw it, they all complained,saying, ‘He has gone to be a guest with a man who is asinner.'” Even though everyone, including Jesus, knewthat Zacchaeus was a bad person, Jesus still went to his house toeat with him. Why did Jesus do it? After Zacchaeus promised tochange his ways and pay back all the people that he’dcheated, Jesus said in Luke 19:10, “…Today salvationhas come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; forthe Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which waslost.” Zacchaeus was saved after he changed his old lifestyleto a new one – one that glorified Christ. I have no doubtthat Jesus’ would have healed the centurion’s servanteven if they were gay together because that’s how Jesus is.He doesn’t wait until everything about you is perfect tobless you. But when you are blessed by him, you cannot help butchange – he works in your life, and you become more like himthe longer you know him.
Honestly, I can research all I want about the centurion and hisservant and the characteristics of Jesus and whom he’s mostlike, but really, what it comes down to, is that he died to eraseall of those sins. It’s fitting that this weekend Christianswill celebrate his resurrection from the dead that atoned for allthe sins of man, whatever they might be. I know that if you enterinto a relationship with him, you will be changed — nothingabout you will be the same. All Christians should look at whetherthey are allowing that life change to be made or if they’resaying, “That’s just how I am.” He will changeyou. Philippians 1:6 says, “…being confident of thisvery thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will completeit until the day of Jesus Christ.” Let him keep working.
Happy Easter.
Sarah Piland is a senior journalism major. She can be reachedat [email protected].
