Gospel Meditation

Luke 7:1–10

Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture

1.          Following Luke’s version of the “Sermon on the Mount,” He tells of Jesus entering Capernaum, the home of Peter and Andrew and James and John, which small town had become Jesus’ primary residence. Recall He was almost killed by angry folks in His hometown of Nazareth.

2.          A Roman soldier with the rank of centurion, meaning he had command over 100 soldiers, who had a very highly valued servant, who in verse 7 is described as a boy, and he was near death.

3.          The centurion had heard of Jesus and sent Jewish elders to Him desiring that Jesus heal his servant. Here is a hated and feared Roman soldier who had built a synagogue for the Jewish people in Capernaum and so is much respected.

4.          The Jewish elders pleaded with Jesus to heal the servant. Jesus goes with them to the home of the centurion.

5.          It is thought that the centurion saw Jesus coming toward his house, and when he did he felt unworthy that Jesus should actually enter his house where the boy lay dying.

6.          In John 18:28–29 we find Jews who would not enter the house of a Gentile for it would “defile them,” but Jesus was ready to. Instead, the Jewish friends of the centurion tell Jesus that he did not intend for Jesus to actually enter his house, but rather He could heal the servant at a distance.

7.          When Jesus learned of this He declared, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.”

8.          The centurion’s Jewish friends returned to the home and found the servant well. Healed at a distance, and this story would have spread widely through that town.