With great sorrow, there is another passage of Scripture that both homosexuals and pro-homosexual advocates are twisting and maligning for their cause. As such, I must address this corruption and correct it before it can do any more damage. The passage in question is Matthew 8:5-13.
And when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, imploring Him, and saying, "Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented." Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him." But the centurion said, "Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, 'Go!' and he goes, and to another, 'Come!' and he comes, and to my slave, 'Do this!' and he does it." Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who were following, "Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel. I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." And Jesus said to the centurion, "Go; it shall be done for you as you have believed." And the servant was healed that very moment.
Now, you might read the above passage and ask, "What could they possibly be trying to use as support for homosexuality here?" Well, when the centurion says, "Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented," the Greek word translated as "servant" is the word pais (παις). In their ignorance, whether deliberate or accidental, these homosexuals and pro-homosexual advocates claim that this word—pais (παις)—means "a young male lover."
Like all cults, false teachings, and other liars, these people have failed to examine this word throughout the rest of Scripture, because doing so is detrimental to the lies they are trying to make you swallow. In Luke 2:43, it says, "the child Jesus," which in the Greek is Ιησους ο παις (pais). Are these homosexuals and pro-homosexual advocates trying to tell us that this passage actually
says, "the young male lover Jesus"? This is extremely dangerous ground for these individuals to be standing on, especially for those who call themselves ministers, reverends, pastors, and/or preachers.
The fact is, the word pais (παις) does not mean "a young male lover" at all. It means "a child" and can refer to the child of either sex (see Gerhard Kittel, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Vol. 5, pp.636-717; Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study New Testament, pp.1089-1090; W. E. Vine, Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, p.76; et al.). In Luke 8:51, the word translated as "maiden" is the Greek word pais (παις). In Luke 8:54, where Jesus says, "Maid, arise," the Greek is παις (pais) εγειρου. In both these verses, the word pais (παις) clearly refers to a female child.
In fact, there is nothing in the Matthew 8:5-13 passage to inform us whether
this servant is a male or female child. Pais (παις) refers to a child
of either sex. Likewise, autos (αυτος), the Greek word translated as "him" from "I will come and heal him," can be translated as either "him," "her," or "it" (among many other things). But let us accept it as it has traditionally been interpreted here, as
referring to a male servant.
Compare Matthew 8:5-13 to Luke 7:1-10.
When He had completed all His discourse in the hearing of the people, He went to Capernaum. And a centurion's slave, who was highly regarded by him, was sick and about to die. When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders asking Him to come and save the life of his slave. When they came to Jesus, they earnestly implored Him, saying, "He is worthy for You to grant this to him; for he loves our nation and it was he who built us our synagogue." Now Jesus started on His way with them; and when He was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to Him, "Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not worthy for You to come under my roof; for this reason I did not even consider myself worthy to come to You, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man placed under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, 'Go!' and he goes, and to another, 'Come!' and he comes, and to my slave, 'Do this!' and he does it." Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled at him, and turned and said to the crowd that was following Him, "I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith." When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.
Matthew uses the word pais (παις), meaning "child," whereas Luke uses the word doulos (δουλος), meaning "slave or servant," except in verse 7. By inferring that the word pais (παις) means "a young male lover," these homosexuals and pro-homosexual advocates
are eisegetically forcing an erroneous interpretation upon the word
that cannot be found in the context of the passage.
In the Greek, the term erastes was applied to an older male (though not necessarily many years older) who loved boys, while the term eromenos, meaning "beloved," was applied to the younger male lover. These two are precisely what Paul had in mind when he referred to arsenokoites and malakos in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10. While an eromenos was sometimes called a pais, the word itself does not mean "a young male lover." To argue that it means so in Matthew 8:5-13 is as idiotic as arguing that it means so in Luke 2:43.
Enough of this pro-homosexual ignorant intellectual stupidity already. Homosexuality is a sin. Period! Our temptations do not rule us nor do they tell us who we are. Read this blog entry for the truth behind homosexuality.