Luke 7:1-17

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.” 10 And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well.

11 Soon afterward he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. 12 As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. 13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” 14 Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” 15 And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. 16 Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!” 17 And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.

(ESV)

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After Jesus had finished his teachings on the beatitudes he returned to Capernaum. There a centurion heard about Jesus and sent elders of the Jews to appeal to him to come and heal one of his servants he highly valued. The elders pleaded with Jesus and presented a case that he was deserving of his request because he loved the nation and had built them their synagogue. Jesus agreed to go with them but before he got there He was met by some of the centurion’s friends who told Him not to trouble himself. The centurion explained why he had sent messengers and not come to Jesus himself. He didn’t consider himself worthy to even have Jesus under his roof. But the centurion fully recognised Jesus’s authority and trusted His ability to heal his servant even from a distance. He was a man of authority and could send the soldiers under him where he pleased. If he told one to go, he went and if he called another to come, he came. If he asked a servant to do something, he did it. He knew that Jesus had the authority to just speak and his servant could be healed.
Jesus marvelled at the man’s faith. He turned to the crowd and told them that even in Israel He had not found such faith. When the centurion’s emissaries returned, they found the servant healed.

Soon after this, some manuscripts say the next day, Jesus went to a town called Nain where He came across a funeral procession. The only son of a widow was being carried out to be buried and was followed by a large crowd. For a widow to lose her only son was extremely tragic. She would have no one to care for her and would likely leave her dependent on public charity if she didn’t have extended family to support her. Jesus had compassion and told her not to weep. Then Jesus exposed Himself to the dead body by touching the bier (a stretcher, they didn’t use closed coffins). This would have exposed Jesus to ceremonial uncleanness (for a day for touching the bier and a week if he touched the corpse). But Jesus didn’t become unclean, instead, the transfer goes the other way (Jesus gives us His righteousness, He makes us clean). Jesus told the man to get up and his life was immediately restored. The man sat up and began to speak and Jesus returned him to his mother. Fear gripped those who were there and they glorified God because they recognised a prophet was among them and God had visited His people. they were on the right track but they needed to recognise Jesus as their Messiah. Both of these miracles point to Jesus being more than a prophet. He healed from a distance and raised someone from the dead only by speaking. Once again, Jesus’ miracles cause a stir and news about Him spread throughout the country.

Seeing doesn’t mean believing. Many people saw Jesus perform the miracles He did and still didn’t believe He was the Messiah, especially the religious leaders. The centurion is an example to us that faith does not require sight. He heard about Jesus and based on what he had heard, he had faith that Jesus had the power to heal without even being there. We have to have the same faith. We know about Jesus because of what we have heard, through the written word, from those who did see. Remember that Luke wrote his letter, recording eyewitness testimonies (Luke 1:1-2) to bolster the faith of Theophilus who had believed based on what he had been taught. How do these stories of what Jesus did encourage your faith?


Major Stories of the Bible Reading Plan

Solomon’s Wisdom: 1 Kings 3