March
15th Luke
7 Jesus heals a centurion’s servant
1:
Now when he had ended all his sayings in the audience of the people,
he entered into Capernaum. 2: And a certain centurion's servant, who
was dear unto him, was sick, and ready to die. 3: And when he heard
of Jesus, he sent unto him the elders of the Jews, beseeching him
that he would come and heal his servant. 4: And when they came to
Jesus, they besought him instantly, saying, That he was worthy for
whom he should do this: 5: For he loveth our nation, and he hath
built us a synagogue. 6: Then Jesus went with them. And when he was
now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying
unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself: for I am not worthy that thou
shouldest enter under my roof: 7: Wherefore neither thought I myself
worthy to come unto thee: but say in a word, and my servant shall be
healed. 8: For I also am a man set under authority, having under me
soldiers, and I say unto one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come,
and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. 9: When
Jesus heard these things, he marvelled at him, and turned him about,
and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have
not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. 10: And they that were
sent, returning to the house, found the servant whole that had been
sick.
Jesus
raises the widows son
11:
And it came to pass the day after, that he went into a city called
Nain; and many of his disciples went with him, and much people. 12:
Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a
dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a
widow: and much people of the city was with her. 13: And when the
Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not.
14: And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood
still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. 15: And he
that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his
mother. 16: And there came a fear on all: and they glorified God,
saying, That a great prophet is risen up among us; and, That God hath
visited his people. 17: And this rumour of him went forth throughout
all Judaea, and throughout all the region round about.
Not
every Roman was bad. Here we have an example of a Centurion who was a
God fearing man who had converted to Judaism. He loved Israel and
had built a synagogue for the Jews. He had a servant who was precious
to him so he sent for Christ, however when Christ was on his way he
thought twice of allowing Christ into his home because he felt he was
unworthy. So he sent friends asking Christ to just say the word and
the servant would be healed! He said, l am also a man who has
authority and l can just give a command at my will is done. Christ
comments on the greatness of his faith. He says that he has not found
such great faith, not even in Israel. When the friends returned to
the house of the Centurion they found the servant healed. On the next
day Christ was entering the city of Nain and two processions were
winding their way toward each other. There was the company of the
disciples and many other followers and there was the company of
mourners following the coffin of a widow who only son had died.
Having no husband and now no son she is to be plunged into poverty on
top of bereavement. What would happen when these two processions met?
When Christ met the funeral he had compassion on the woman and
stopped the procession by touching the coffin. Then he called the son
back to life and he sat up and began talking. This procession broke
up in the fear of the Lord and unspeakable joy and the woman went
home rejoicing. ‘Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be
comforted’. The news of this event spread throughout all Judea and
beyond.
- What sort of person was this centurion?
- What sort of faith did he had?
- What happened when these two processions met?
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