Image from alpha consultant
After Jesus had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. A centurion there had a slave whom he valued highly, and who was ill and close to death. When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave. When they came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying, ‘He is worthy of having you do this for him, for he loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us.’ And 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; therefore I did not presume to come to you. But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed. For 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.’ When 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.’ When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health. (Luke 7:1-10)
The Romans were not a welcome group in Israel. They controlled the area by force and the presence of soldiers in any region is not always a welcome sign. It was because of the soldier's authority that Jesus responded about the "second mile." A Roman soldier could tap a Jewish citizen on the shoulder with the flat part of his spear and force that citizen to carry his load for one mile. When asked about that, Jesus said to go two miles. It may not have been a popular answer, but it was one that showed the way a Christian should live. So, to read this story is to see the influence that faith had had on the life of one in charge of at least one hundred of those soldiers. It would be rare to see Jewish elders to come and speak on a soldier's request, let alone that of a centurion. And to hear the Jewish elders say, "He is worthy of having you do this for him, for he loves our people,and it is he who built our synagogue for us." This was a man of love and conviction; he spent his money and used his influence to built their worship center, and now in his need; "a slave whom he valued highly" was ill and close to death. He had heard about Jesus and His power and so asks for Jesus to heal this slave. And that centurion's faith was so strong he asked that Jesus not trouble coming to his house; "But speak the word, and let my servant be healed." He explained how his authority worked and he had no doubt Jesus' authority worked the same way. And the slave was healed, and Jesus used it as a teaching moment for His disciples.
Jesus still has that same authority. If we have faith and ask of God to be with us and our loved ones, He is there. If we are hurting and need healing, we should go to God first and ask. Whatever our need, know the power of God and ask of Him!
PRAYER: Awesome God, thank You for Jesus and His presence with us. You know the needs of this dear reader and his/her family. Bless them with answered prayers that glorify You; this we pray in Christ Jesus' precious name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
Thank you for your prayers. Nellie and I arrived safely home yesterday at 1 p.m., having spent 88.4 hours in the car traveling some 5,100 miles from CC to Portland and back. We pushed our way back thus no ConCafes for the last two days. Please continue to pray for my dad, his vitals stay normal but he is sleeping most of the time now. God is good.
