Luke 7

Posted on Mar 13, 2017 in Bible (NT) in a Year |

Monday

Why would Jesus be interested in the welfare of a Roman soldier’s servant?

Do you remember what Jesus told the crowds in Luke 4:14-30? He was in his hometown, and yet he told them that great men of the faith were sent to help/heal foreigners. Like Elijah and the widow of Zarephath or Elisha who healed Naaman, a commanding officer from Syria. Jesus is interested in the needs of all people, not just the Jews.  This Centurion is a “god-fearer” so he probably has heard the story of Naaman read in the synagogue. (2 Kings 5:1-14) And he also seems to be a very humble man, even though we had just heard from some of the Jewish elders, just how great and kind he has been to the Jews. He stops Jesus from coming into his home, and by doing so, he demonstrates a deeper level of faith. He is acknowledging Jesus’s authority, something that the Pharisees seem to have an issue with. And so he just asks Jesus to “say the word” and his servant (who is at the point of death) will live. The centurion’s faith is what God can do through Jesus’ speaking the word amazes Jesus. Jesus’ emotional response is, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” And the servant is healed.

Now did you notice, Jesus doesn’t even say the words “be healed”? And he certainly isn’t present when the healing takes place. Why is that? Jesus doesn’t have to be in the same room to heal someone… healing from a distance is just a powerful as standing next to, or laying hands on someone. And speaking words is not the most important thing. No what Luke is telling us here is that faith, and in this particular instance the faith of the centurion is what is noticed by Jesus. The servant lives by faith in action. Many times we will hear Jesus say, your faith has made you well or healed you. What kind of faith is required then?

Well, I don’t believe it has to be any special type of faith, just belief that Jesus cares. And we are even given help when we don’t have the faith to believe, because the Holy Spirit will help our unbelief.  Does God always heal? If someone we care about is not healed, does that mean we lack faith? No, there are examples of people who were not healed, but yet they had great faith. Look at Paul, he asked 3 times for a physical healing and God responded by saying no. (2 Corinthian 12:8) Physical healing, although is wonderful when it takes place, is not the ultimate goal of the Christian. Faith in Jesus as our Lord and Savior, that is the faith that we need to firmly establish in our lives.

Blessings on the Day!

Pastor Kathy