Today’s Bible Reading:
Exodus 4; Luke 7; Job 21; 1 Corinthians 8: Proverbs 21
Luke 7 relates a very interesting encounter. There is a certain centurion whose slave was very sick and near death. Having heard about Jesus he sends some Jewish elders to go and ask Jesus to come and save the life of his slave. The elders come to Jesus and beseech him to come and do this because, “He is worthy for You to grant this to him; for he loves our nation and it was he who built us our synagogue.” They implore Jesus to grant the centurion’s request based upon the centurion’s work and attitude towards Israel. They believe this makes the centurion worthy.
And so Jesus starts on His way to visit the centurion. As He gets closer the centurion sends out friends to meet Jesus; this is what takes place as recorded in Luke 7:6-10, “Now Jesus started on His way with them; and when He was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to Him, ‘Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not worthy for You to come under my roof; for this reason I did not even consider myself worthy to come to You, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man placed under 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 marveled 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.’ When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.”
While the Jewish elders had come telling Jesus just how worthy this man was to receive what he asked for, the centurion himself recognized his total unworthiness to ask anything of Jesus. His slave was not healed because the centurion was worthy, he was healed because the centurion had such great faith in Jesus. That is a difference worth noting.
I do not sit here today as child of God because of my worthiness but because of my faith in Jesus Christ. As is so often the case, I am once again reminded that I have been saved by grace through faith and not by works-a gift of God. (Ephesians 2:8) I thank God and I praise Him for the work He has done in my life-oh may my faith and trust in Him continue to grow.
Grace, peace, and mercy,
Debra
Exodus 4; Luke 7; Job 21; 1 Corinthians 8: Proverbs 21
Luke 7 relates a very interesting encounter. There is a certain centurion whose slave was very sick and near death. Having heard about Jesus he sends some Jewish elders to go and ask Jesus to come and save the life of his slave. The elders come to Jesus and beseech him to come and do this because, “He is worthy for You to grant this to him; for he loves our nation and it was he who built us our synagogue.” They implore Jesus to grant the centurion’s request based upon the centurion’s work and attitude towards Israel. They believe this makes the centurion worthy.
And so Jesus starts on His way to visit the centurion. As He gets closer the centurion sends out friends to meet Jesus; this is what takes place as recorded in Luke 7:6-10, “Now Jesus started on His way with them; and when He was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to Him, ‘Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not worthy for You to come under my roof; for this reason I did not even consider myself worthy to come to You, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man placed under 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 marveled 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.’ When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.”
While the Jewish elders had come telling Jesus just how worthy this man was to receive what he asked for, the centurion himself recognized his total unworthiness to ask anything of Jesus. His slave was not healed because the centurion was worthy, he was healed because the centurion had such great faith in Jesus. That is a difference worth noting.
I do not sit here today as child of God because of my worthiness but because of my faith in Jesus Christ. As is so often the case, I am once again reminded that I have been saved by grace through faith and not by works-a gift of God. (Ephesians 2:8) I thank God and I praise Him for the work He has done in my life-oh may my faith and trust in Him continue to grow.
Grace, peace, and mercy,
Debra
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