Good Morning Friends,
“When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion
came to him, asking for help. ‘Lord,’ he said, ‘my servant lies at home paralyzed
and in terrible suffering.’ Jesus said to him, ‘I will go and heal him.’ The
centurion replied, ‘Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But
just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under
authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, “Go,” and he goes; and that
one, “Come,” and he comes. I say to my servant, “Do this,” and he does it.’
When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, ‘I
tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.’”
(Matthew 8:5-10)
The centurion in this account impresses me! There
are three things about him that I think are especially notable:
His compassion. The Romans were not well known
for their compassion toward their servants. In fact, the common attitude among
slave owners in that society was to treat their slaves as human machinery! Here
was a master so concerned about his servant that he sought out Jesus when no
one else could help.
His humility. The centurion told Jesus “I do
not deserve to have you come under my roof.” That demonstrates how much respect
he had for Jesus and the humble attitude with which he considered himself. A
centurion was a powerful and influential Roman soldier, but this man had not
let his position go to his head.
His faith. Jesus was astonished by the man’s
faith. He had not found anyone in Israel with faith like this man. This man saw
Jesus as someone with authority. He trusted Jesus’ word. The result was a
marvelous miracle happened that day as the servant was healed the very hour
when Jesus spoke the word.
Compassion: love others. Humility: honor Jesus.
Faith: trust His word.
His, by Grace, Steve
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