The centurion….a faith like no other
Entering the ruins of Capernaum, …the sea is off the the right…Peter’s house is straight ahead, safely hidden under a viewing structure….the town is left and ahead, cobblestone streets, bumpy and irregular, made of black basalt-like stone….the synagogue is left, sitting on a rise, pillars starkly standing against the sky, carved white stone…huge chunks of ancient buildings line the various walkways…an olive press off to the side, built into the ground, at the ready for the harvest of those rich olives, you can almost smell the oil seeping out into the trough…
Oh, and here comes the Elders on a mission….pleading earnestly the cause of the local centurion…his valued servant is sick, they say…”…”He is worthy to have you do this for him, for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us our synagogue.”
The centurion feels unworthy even for Jesus to even enter his home…he recognizes Jesus authority…his saving grace…” just say the Word and my servant will be healed.”
Jesus responds with healing and admonishment and Declaration…”When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.”
And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well.”
The people to whom Jesus came to, the Jews, did not have the faith that this Roman had…they didn’t recognize the authority that Jesus had…but they came at the asking of the soldier whom cared for them…
The books of Matthew and Luke recount the servant’s healing , the centurion’s faith…
I thought of this story as I was praying through our women’s prayer list…do I have the faith of this centurion, that prayers would be answered…would others plead my cause , do I plead others’ cause, enough…do I ask, knowing Jesus has all authority under heaven to listen, to answer…do I run out and meet Him…do I wait expectantly for his answer…am I humble before Him…
Thank YOU…let me believing, humble, waiting before You…
After he had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. Now a centurion had a servant who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant.
And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy to have you do this for him, for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us our synagogue.”
And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying 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 say the word, and let my servant be healed.
For I too 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 servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.”
And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well.
Luke.7.1-10
Speak,oh Lord
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRIDqJPsPYc
https://thewisebeliever.com/centurion-faith-lessons-sermon/
https://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/forbiblestudynerds/2014/12/matthew-85-13-the-faith-of-the-centurion-theological-commentary.html
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