Matthew 8

When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. "Lord," he said, "my servant lies at home paralysed and in terrible suffering."

Jesus said to him, "I will go and heal him."

The centurion replied, "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and that one, 'Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."

When Jesus heard this, he was astonished…

I love the bits in the bible where Jesus or God are astonished, or surprised, or change their mind. Though theologians like Thomas Weinandy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Weinandy) and others give some strong arguments against the notion of a mutable or emotional God (or at least the inadequacy of such language to describe God), I am a bit more mainline and warm to thinkers like Jurgen Moltmann (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jurgen_Moltmann), and suspect that the surprised and suffering God is the most real one we can know. Perhaps this is simply because of the practical impossibility (for me at least) of believing that free will is an illusion, whatever the logical or philosophical arguments. Free will means that the actions of humanity and creation must be able to affect the creator.

A word of caution. Being able to ‘affect’ God does not mean we can control God – that would imply both a power and an understanding we simply do not have. However because the God of Christianity is most fully known in relationship, vulnerability is implied. Perhaps God’s greatest gift, made pretty darn clear in Jesus of Nazareth, is the gift of vulnerability – the gift of allowing creation to affect the creator. Perhaps.

OK enough theologising. My friend Mell sent me a link to a comic which she enjoys, I am just computer nerdy enough to enjoy it!

http://www.ucomics.com/foxtrot

In Mell’s words,

peace.out.