If I told you that Jesus once healed a man’s boyfriend, and you can read all about it in the Bible, would that have you scratching your head?
You bet!
You probably weren’t told that story in Sunday School, and for good reason. It goes against the prevailing conservative Christian narrative that says there is no way that Jesus would have associated with, let alone affirmed a same-sex couple. Plus, given the prevalence of heteronormative biblical scholarship, it should come as little surprise that Jesus’s potential encounter with a gay man has been written out of the story.
But, believe it or not, when you scratch below the surface, there is a story in the Gospels where Jesus may well have encountered a gay man and, not only that, that man asked Jesus to heal his partner. And guess what? Jesus did! Not only that, Jesus commended the man for his faith.
Don’t believe me?
Fine! I’ll show you the story. Chances are if you grew up in church, you’ve heard it before anyway. However, I very much doubt you’ve heard the plausible interpretation of this story that does, in fact, write a same-sex couple into the Biblical narrative. Strap in! This is the story of when Jesus healed a man’s boyfriend:
You may be thinking there’s nothing gay about this story. And you’d be right — if you’re reading it in English as a 21st-century citizen of the modern world. At first glance, there is little to justify an LGBTQ reading: there is no explicit language of romance, sex, gender, or anything else of the sort.
But once you start to look at the original language used in the story, another potential narrative emerges. The first clue from the text is the use of the word “slave.” The centurion’s dialogue with Jesus uses two different Greek words for “slave.” The first is the Greek word δοῦλος which is the general word for slaves used throughout scripture, and is employed in verse 8, but not in the centurion’s direct discourse with Jesus. That’s important.
The word that the centurion uses when he refers to his “slave” when he is actually talking to Jesus is the word παῖς. Now, the term παῖς was a word that referred not only to young slaves but also to junior partners in male-male sexual relationships. Yes, they had a word for that, even back then.
The use of this word on its own doesn’t necessarily indicate the homosexual sense of the term, but in Luke 7:2, the centurion further refers to the slave as ἔντιμος, meaning something like “precious” or “honored.” It’s unusual for a slave owner to refer to his ordinary slave in these terms. Sure, the centurion’s description could be his way of expressing that this slave was a particularly good slave but may also imply an emotional bond.
As uncomfortable as it may make you feel, it is a well-established fact that sex between men and slaves was not at all uncommon in the Roman military.
While each of these points taken in isolation does not require readers of the Bible to assume that same-sex intercourse was involved, I suggest that the sum of the parts, taken together, indicate that there is a genuine possibility of a sexual relationship between the centurion and his slave.
Shocking, right?!?
What makes the story even more compelling is that the centurion, knowing that ancient religious Jews despise same-sex relationships in much the same way modern fundamentalist Christians do, decides not to go to Jesus himself but sends others to enquire of Jesus. The centurion is trying to be discrete.
Do you blame him?
Further, when Jesus tries to come to the Centurion’s house, the Centurion sends word to Jesus, “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you.”
Theologian Theodore Jennings wrote in the Journal of Biblical Literature that the centurion “knows that religious Jews revile … the sort of love he knows; yet he goes out into the street to find a Jewish healer and, risking rejection and ridicule, asks help for the boyfriend he loves.”
Now that’s a Biblical interpretation that you’ve probably never heard.
Jesus’s response to the gay man
I’d be lying to you if I didn’t tell you that the LGBTIQ reading of Centurion’s story has not been the object of some academic scorn. But I’d also be lying to you if I said that any embellishment is required for the LGBTIQ version of the story to be entirely plausible as well.
Let’s entertain the idea that Jesus really did have an encounter with a Roman Soldier who was engaged in a same-sex relationship (a not-uncommon occurrence in those times). Let’s imagine for a moment that this centurion, out of deep concern for his lover, did approach Jesus for help.
How does Jesus respond?
Well, to me, he responds in exactly the way I would expect Jesus to respond. Jesus distinguishes himself from other Jews by accepting the homosexual nature of the relationship without disparagement and heals the man’s partner.
Does the fact that Jesus says nothing about same-sex relationships imply his tacit acceptance of the practice? I’ll let you decide. I’m sure I’ll cop my fair share of hate for daring to suggest the very idea.
My personal view is that the centurion ought to be celebrated as an archetype of gay discipleship: A gay man who risks humiliation by approaching Jesus — a potentially hostile Jew — on behalf of his lover, only to be commended for the excellence of his faith by the very son of God.
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This post was previously published on Backyard Church.
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