City Life Starter

Written by Paul Lane

The Word

7 After he had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. ² Now a centurion had a [bond] servant who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. ³ When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant. ⁴ And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy to have you do this for him, ⁵ for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us our synagogue.” ⁶ And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. ⁷ Therefore I did not presume to come to you. But say the word, and let my servant be healed. ⁸ For I too am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” ⁹ When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” ¹⁰ And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well.

Luke 7:1-10 ESV

Reflection

It is said that the Secret Service trains new employees to spot counterfeit bills by making them study the real bills.  That way they can know a counterfeit instantly. The U.S. hundred dollar bill has been the most counterfeited bill in the world. Typically, counterfeiters will make $20 and $100 bills because they are so common, and they have a lot of purchasing power.

I find the parallel between the Secret Service agent and the Roman Centurion being able to spot real authority very striking.  Being familiar with what it is like to be in a place of authority and having people answer to his authority, the Roman Centurion found something that he could relate to when he saw what Jesus was doing.  I think Jesus was so impressed with him because he understood how it worked when everyone else around him didn’t.  Jesus marveled at him because he was exactly right. Often unbelievers will accuse Christians of having blind faith.  However, here is an example of someone who had the right kind of faith, which was not blind.  This Roman centurion had faith in Jesus which was based on an understanding of how authority worked and based on the evidence of the works that Jesus had already performed.

Application

Ask yourself if your faith has purchasing power.  Is it based on a distant hope that everything is going to work out if you believe hard enough?  Or are you becoming more acquainted with the ways of God and learning the ways of His kingdom?  Come to know His ways, taste and see that the Lord is good, and you will find that His works are faithful.

Prayer

Lord, I pray that You teach me how Your kingdom works.  Teach me how Your grace works when I am under pressure.  Teach me how Your love works when I feel down and empty.  And teach me how Your authority works when I doubt and struggle to believe.  In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.