verses 5-13
Wow. This is a story about a Roman captain, aka not a Jew! He was worried for his servant (I wonder if its the word doulos in Greek that actually means slave, I should check) who was deathly ill. He seems like a caring man to care about a mere employee. How many of my bosses have cared that much for me? None that I can think of. The crazy part is in verse 8 when he reveals his understanding of Christ's authority. As a Roman captain, he understood that Christ had an army of spiritual forces working for Him and knew that Christ could delegate his tasks at whim! Even Jesus was taken aback that a NON-JEW had this kind of faith! In verses 10-12 Jesus forecasts that many non-Jews from everywhere would someday believe while many people who grew up in the faith would not. Crazy cause its true. . . I mean, I'm not a Jew. Most of my believing friends aren't Jews. Some are but most are not. Jesus hit the nail on the head once again.
verse 13-17 Jesus healed many sick and inwardly tormented. Back in verse 1, the leper said, "If you want to heal me you can," and Jesus said, "I want to," and healed him. Oh that we would talk to God with this kind of belief!
We know many who are sick or inwardly tormented. For example, in this culture there are many kids who have been abandoned by one or more of their parents and abused by parents and step-parents. They are also abused by others around them once their parents have abandoned them and failed to protect them. They see their parents go through 3-5 marriages and are given inconsistency as the only consistency in their lives. And we still have the nerve to wonder why as adults, these children end up in mental institutions or prison, never free from their inner torment. Let us ask God that he would touch them and they would be healed.
No comments:
Post a Comment