Today's Meditation - Tuesday, October 6, 2020

Today's Meditation

Read Luke 7:1-10

After Jesus had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. ²A centurion there had a slave whom he valued highly, and who was ill and close to death. ³When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave. ⁴When they came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy of having you do this for him, ⁵for he loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us.” ⁶And Jesus went with them, but when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; ⁷therefore I did not presume to come to you. But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed. ⁸For I also am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and the slave does it.” ⁹When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, he said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” ¹⁰When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.

    This story follows Jesus' long segment of teaching the crowds about blessings, good behavior, judging others, attitude, and how to have a foundation for a fruitful and full life.  He then, in this passage, compliments such teaching with the healing of a centurion's slave.

    While this story of healing itself is pretty remarkable, the surrounding context is even more so.  First, the slave who was ill was the slave of a centurion, not even a Jew or a follower of Christ.  And yet the centurion recognized in Jesus the power of his faith, his teachings and all that has been said about him.  And believed that whatever Jesus said would come to pass.  For Jesus, to come across a person who held such faith and belief was extraordinary and this from someone that we might consider a non-believer.  He was a centurion, a ruler in the Roman army who had been sent to Israel to oversee them and keep the Jews from uprising or causing problems for Rome.  The Jewish elders did not consider him one of their own, but saw him as a benefactor, who had been kind to them and had helped them.

    When I'm in discussions with people about who will be part of the Kingdom of God (or who will go to heaven) and who will not, the constant among Christians is that we believe that Jesus is the way to heaven.  For more strict evangelicals/Christians this line of theology usually includes that a person must be baptized, confess Jesus as Lord, accept Jesus Christ into their hearts and begin to have a personal relationship with him after they've said the "believers' prayer."

    However, in this passage we know that the centurion was not a Jew, nor was he a classic follower of Christ, like the disciples or those that followed Jesus in the crowds who have acknowledged him as Lord.  And yet he was kind to the Jews, helping them, giving them money for their synagogue.  After having heard about Jesus, believed that whatever Jesus said would come to pass and that he had, at least, acknowledged Jesus' faith, power, and authority over all things.  

    I don't know, but that sounds like a believer to me.  And as Jesus said to the crowd that followed him, "...not even in Israel have I found such faith."

    Do we have such faith?

Give Me Faith