Daily Readings: Luke 7 and Psalm 23
In the opening narrative of Luke 7, there is a stark contrast between the approach of the Jewish crowd and that of the centurion.
The crowd speaks up on the centurion’s behalf and try to persuade Jesus to heal the centurion’s servant on the basis of the centurion’s goodness. They say:
4‘This man deserves to have you do this, 5 because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.’
As Jews, their theology told them that the only chance of God performing a miracle through Jesus was if the centurion deserved it on the merit of his good deeds and outward godliness. In this case, they felt he thoroughly deserved a miracle, so they made every effort to convince Jesus to come with them to the centurion’s home to grant a miracle.
The centurion himself, however, saw it completely differently. Regardless of how others saw him, he knew the truth about himself; so he sent some friends to meet Jesus along the way to give Him this message:
6‘Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. 7 That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed.
Unlike the Jews, the centurion understood his own unworthiness. He knew that the only chance he had of receiving a miracle was not on the basis of his own merit, but purely on the basis of God’s mercy. He had no doubt that Jesus could perform this miracle on God’s behalf, but he also understood very clearly that if He did so, it would be an act of pure grace and mercy. This was the faith Jesus commended – the faith that knows the power of God and trusts purely in the mercy of God to apply that power on our behalf, to rescue and save us by His grace.
Life application: When you need God’s mighty hand of intervention today, do not trust in your own goodness as if God owes you a miracle. Trust purely in the mercy of God and in His perfect love for you.
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