He Chose to Heal a Roman Servant (Forty Days with Jesus – Day 13, Mar 3rd)

16 Mar He Chose to Heal a Roman Servant (Forty Days with Jesus – Day 13, Mar 3rd)

Read Luke 7:2-9

Thought for the Day: Jesus is the ultimate authority!

In the time of Jesus, the Jewish people were not free. Instead, their land was occupied by the Roman government. On any given day, it was typical to see armed Roman soldiers, and the people were not pleased. Many of the Jewish people couldn’t simply accept the situation as it was. Instead, it became very easy to forget that the Romans were people too and instead simply see them as ‘enemies’. This quickly became a two-way problem with neither side showing respect to the other.

The day a Roman centurion (an officer in charge of 100 soldiers) asked Jesus for help, it must have shocked the Jewish leaders! The request even came with a carefully crafted explanation: the sick Roman servant was a friend to the Jewish people and had helped build the synagogue. But, what happened next shocked everyone… even Jesus! The officer humbly admitted that he was not worthy to have Jesus come into his house. Instead, he simply asked Jesus to “say the word and let my servant be healed.” You see, this centurion knew a thing or two about authority. Just as 100 men reported to him, he answered to those in higher leadership. His experiences allowed him to simply have faith in Jesus’ authority.

Jesus chose to heal a Roman servant. While that’s pretty amazing on its own, we need to learn the lesson of that servant’s master. The centurion trusted in Jesus’ authority. He didn’t try to control the situation or sit down and have a long discussion. There was no need to debate theology or philosophy. He simply realized that Jesus is trustworthy. Today, let’s learn this lesson and begin to set aside some of the less-than-helpful doubts we experience. While we will never have all the answers, we have something better: Jesus, a man of His word!

Reflect & Pray – Am I willing to doubt my doubts and trust Jesus? Am I living my life with Christ taking His rightful place of authority? God, please allow me to see that Jesus is the ultimate authority in my life!