Luke 7:1-10
When Jesus had finished saying all this in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. There a centurion's servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, "This man deserves to have you do this, because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue." So Jesus went with them.
He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: "Lord, don't trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But 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 amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, "I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel." 10Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.
a. On what basis did the elders appeal to Jesus to heal the centurion's servant?
They asked him to go based on the centurion's worthiness.
b. What was the centurion's perspective on what he deserved?
The centurion felt unworthy.
c. Do you tend to operate like the elders or the centurion? Explain.
It really depends on the day. Some times, I come at it from a "I deserve this" standpoint. And not just in my relationship to God. I very much feel like a person who needs to balance scales - no gift is really a gift, everything must be paid or accounted for. If someone buys me something, I have to buy them something or do something to pay for what was given. This isn't the most healthy attitude and I struggle with letting gifts just be gifts - even gifts from God.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment