Today’s Reading:
Luke 7:1-10
“After He had finished all that, He had to say in the hearing of the people, He went to Capernaum [Matt 8:5-13]. Now a [Roman] centurion’s slave, who was highly regarded by him, was sick and on the verge of death; When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to Him, asking Him to come and save the life of his slave. When they reached Jesus, they pleaded with Him earnestly [to come], saying, “He is worthy for you to do this for him, because he loves our nation and he built us our synagogue [at his own expense]” And Jesus went with them. But when He was near the house, the centurion sent friends to Him, saying, “Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not worthy for You to come under my roof. Therefore I did not even consider myself worthy for You to come to You. But just speak a word, and my slave will be healed. For I also am a man subject to 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 was amazed 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 [as this man’s]” When the messengers who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.” (Luke 7:1-10, AMPV)
Centurions were usually career soldiers who kept the Roman military strong. This one could probably be serving with Herod Antipas’ forces. He was wealthy, with a good character and had integrity, he must have heard about Jesus Christ. To have express great concern for his gravely sick servant, he must be a very compassionate man. Remember the New Testament had earlier positively talked about some centurions, among whom were a) the one who witnessed Jesus’ death who identified Him as God’s Son (Mark 15:39); b) Cornelius whose conversion opened the way for the church’s outreach to the Gentiles (Acts 10); and c) Julius who was kind to Paul (Acts 27:3).
Jesus could have pronounced the healing instantly, knowing that the servant was gravely ill, but he walked with others to the place, and it took some time. This could have put the centurion if he was very much expecting Jesus to come, in a state of anxiety, wondering how long He would take to come. Most times when we are anxious about the solution to a problem, we hardly can pray, nor sleep, but will be expecting a speedy answer as a solution to the problem. A lot of thoughts would have raced through our minds in the waiting period. We would have been worried sick. But this is not the case with this centurion, he was calm and even sent words to Jesus not to come into his house because he perceived himself not worthy – an unholy sinner. He felt unworthy to even approach Jesus’ holiness to request him to come and heal the sick servant, in the first instant. As a man of power and authority, he felt it would be downgrading to ask Jesus to leave whatever he was doing and come to serve him. In the world, masters often proudly lord their authority and power over their subjects. He wanted Jesus to only pronounce the words and his servant would be made whole. He had heard a lot about the works of Jesus’ hands, and has confidence in Him. He approached Jesus not as a last resort or magic charm, but because of his great faith in Him. Jesus was amazed and marvelled at the attitude of this non-believer. He exclaimed to the crowd around Him that: “I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel”. Jesus was rejected by his own siblings and even his people that he was originally sent to save the Jewish race. Jesus himself pointed out that a prophet has no honour in his own country (Jn. 4:44). He said, “only in his home town, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honour” (Mark 6:1-6).
We are so near to Jesus, yet we are very far from him because we do not believe in him; we sometimes have doubts about what He can do for us because we cannot see Him. Due to many distractions around us, our faith in Him is very shallow. Also, because we do not know our rights, our benefits in him, we cannot exercise our authority over the work of God’s hands (Ps 8:3-6). We do not understand what His death and resurrection really are to us. We only pay lip service to Him who has made us be joint-heirs of His inheritance in the Father. In our pride and ignorance, we suffer untold hardship in the hands of the evil one and his cohorts. We are cowards in the face of the enemy whom we should challenge in power and might of God, through the Holy Ghost. “For from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent shall take it, shall possess their possessions by force.” (Mt. 11:12-14). Most times, unbelievers that would be true to themselves, recognise that Christians possess God’s message for the world. It was recorded that the centurion loved the nation of Israel, and even built a synagogue for them. This is why in his dear moment of need; he could turn to Jesus for help. As a Christian, how strong is your faith in Christ Jesus? Do you know who you are in Christ? Are you being faithful in your walk with Christ? What is your hope of eternity? Do you aspire to be where Jesus has gone to prepare for believers? Have you given your life to Jesus Christ as your Saviour, Redeemer, and Master?
He promised that these signs shall follow those who believe, in my name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues, they will take up serpents and if they drink anything deadly (poisonous), it will not hurt them, they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover (Mk. 16:17-18). The scripture also saith that, they will surely gather together against you; but because their gathering is not of me (God), they will surely fall and fail for thy sake (Isa. 54:15-17). In the face of acute persecution like our brothers and sisters in the Northern part of our nation are facing, in this perverted, confused, chaotic dark world full of wickedness and potholes, do you believe the statements of Jesus?
What do we then do? Trust in the Lord and in His power of might, and you shall be saved. We should know that every believer is in a battle with the enemy because the enemy is out to deceive us, make us fail and usurp the glory and honour God has bestowed on us. So, Fight the good fight of faith, with all your might, Christ is your strength and Christ your right (1Tim. 6:12-16; the hymn by H. A. Harding).
OLUFUNMILAYO TITILOLA ADEKUSIBE
Prayer:
Father, thank you for your promises of hope for my life, in Jesus name.
Father, promote me and increase my faith in You, in Jesus name.
Father, visit Christians that are being persecuted and are in great sorrow of heart and pain with Your mercy, in Jesus name.
Lord Jesus, the Great Healer, in your mercy, put an end to the pestilence ravaging the nations and heal your people, in Jesus name.
Father, let your fire of revival fall upon Your Church, revive Your work, and transform lives, in Jesus name.
Father, the heart of the king is in your hand, turn the hearts of many perishing souls that are still in darkness and do not know You, towards You in Jesus name.
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