Rev Gav

Faith

Luke 7:1-10

When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people, he returned to Capernaum. At that time the highly valued slave of a Roman officer was sick and near death. When the officer heard about Jesus, he sent some respected Jewish elders to ask him to come and heal his slave. So they earnestly begged Jesus to help the man. “If anyone deserves your help, he does,” they said, “for he loves the Jewish people and even built a synagogue for us.”

So Jesus went with them. But just before they arrived at the house, the officer sent some friends to say, “Lord, don’t trouble yourself by coming to my home, for I am not worthy of such an honour.  I am not even worthy to come and meet you. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed. I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’ they do it.”

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to the crowd that was following him, he said, “I tell you, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel!” And when the officer’s friends returned to his house, they found the slave completely healed.

Reflect

Jesus was on his way back to a place called Capernaum when some well-respected Jewish guys asked Jesus to go with them to a Roman Centurion’s house to heal his servant (a Roman Centurion was a senior soldier commanding up to a thousand men, not just a hundred as is commonly thought and the name implies). Jesus agreed to go with the Jewish elders and they set off, however, on the way they met more servants sent from the Centurion, and this time they conveyed a strange message. The Centurion had done some reflecting and the messengers told Jesus not to come in person after all. Firstly, the Centurion claimed he was not worthy of the presence of Jesus, and secondly, he believed that Jesus could simply stay where he was, say the word, and the servant would be healed. Jesus was blown away by the Centurion’s faith and the servant was healed.

We know that Judea, the land of the Jews, was occupied by a brutal enemy – the Romans. The Romans typically tried to assimilate other religions into their own, but here the opposite was true. This wealthy Roman Centurion, a Gentile (non-Jewish) outsider, had not just gained the respect of the local Jewish community, but had gained a faith in the God of Israel, and even more incredibly, he believed, without doubt, that Jesus was the expected Messiah.

In some ways, the Roman Centurion was correct in that he was not deserving of the presence of Jesus. He was a trained killer, working for the enemy as part of the occupying force, rich from wealth obtained from a brutal occupation, and he was not Jewish. Yet, Jesus said that in the whole Jewish nation he had not encountered a faith as humble and as strong as this guy!

Jesus was concerned, not with race, status, or wealth, but with character, and the Centurion’s heart was full of humility and faith. Luke, by telling us this story, challenges his readers — including us — to ask whether they have that same humility and faith in Jesus Christ?

Do

Today, in humility, ask God to give you the gift of faith — that you might be certain, in whatever difficulties you are going through — that ultimately, God has your best interests at heart.

Pray

Holy God
I know that I am not worthy
of your presence in my life,
and yet you invite me
to be part of your story.
Give me the gift of faith in you,
that I may trust in you
in all circumstances;
believing that you have
all authority in
heaven and on earth.
Amen.

Think

What does Jesus’ reaction to the Centurion tell us about who is welcomed into the family of God?

Is faith something we generate within ourselves or something that is given to us by God?