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Luke 7:8 “For I also am a man placed under authority, having 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.”

   Jesus told His disciples on one occasion that they needed the faith of a child, else they could never enter heaven. This is the kind of faith we find in the centurion. He understood Jesus very simply, but very well. Jesus was submitted to the will of the Father, and the centurion was submitted to the will of Rome. While the centurion had only his servants under him, Jesus had all of the authority of heaven under His control. Thus the centurion understood that the healing of his servant was a simple task for Christ, totally within His power, and that His power was not limited by time and space.
   It is this simple but profound faith that we must have. It is vitally important. It is what brings a child of this present evil world out of the darkness and into the glorious light of eternal life in Jesus Christ.

   Heavenly Father, we understand and know that the appropriate response to You and Your Christ is praise. We are completely indebted to Him, and yet we are so free in His service. Our very lives belong to Him, and yet we feel as if all the universe is at our feet. The beauty of life in Jesus is so overwhelming! All I can give to worship I give in praise to You! Truly this life in Christ is the eternal reality that outlasts this world of evil. I long for the future home of the new heaven and earth! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 7:7 “Therefore I did not even think myself worthy to come to You. But say the word, and my servant will be healed.”

   It was the Word of Christ back at the very beginning that framed the world. The centurion understood that this was all that was needed. Jesus has at His disposal all the power that there ever could be, so He needs only to say the word and He has His will.
   This has caused many to treat the Lord like a cosmic genie, thinking He will do whatever whenever to satisfy their whims. And they teach others this. But there is a great deal of difference between a genie and the God of All. He has all of His other attributes as well, not just power, but wisdom, will, love, justice, holiness, and on and on.
   This explains why there are Christians every day who die of cancer, or have a heart attack, or are handicapped. The Lord isn’t a dream maker, He is a world maker. He made every deaf, blind, deformed, and disadvantaged person that has ever lived. And it is all within His power and rights to do so because He is not a genie, He is Almighty God. It is by His decree that all exists the way it exists.

   Heavenly Father, thank You so much for how You work with us. We would do things differently from how You do them. But, that is because we are limited. We cannot see all that You see. If we could we would understand it all so differently. Father, we know we can trust You. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 7:6 “Then Jesus went with them. And when He was already not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to Him, saying to Him, “Lord, do not trouble Yourself, for I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof.”

  This particular event in the earthly ministry of Christ has always impressed me strongly. This man truly understood the nature of Christ. He had a better feel for the real significance of the Messiah than did many persons in the Jewish nation. He understood the need to approach Christ with worship. That is the only right way to approach Him. Though it may seem strange to our sentiments today, what this man did was the most worshipful thing he could think of. To say that he was unworthy to have Jesus enter his home was closely akin to John the Baptist’s words when he said that he was unworthy to even tie Jesus’ shoes.
   This man saw and understood that Jesus was to be treated with greater honor than anyone else. As the magi when Jesus was young, he saw that there was little he could offer Christ, but gave his best anyway. This action put the centurion in a position of submission to the higher authority of the Christ. And by this simple act he showed he understood the power of the Chosen One of God.

   Heavenly Father, sometimes we get so crazy with our worship. We think it has to be presented in certain ways. But yet this man was able in a matter of minutes to honor you in a way that few did during Jesus’ earthly ministry by giving great honor to Him. This is no credit to the man, but serves as a credit to Your merit, to the power of Your Christ. I can only say, Jesus Christ is Lord! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 7:5 “for he loves our nation, and has built us a synagogue.”

   This man was a patron of the Jews. Patronage is an ancient system that anyone would do well to research. Many things in the New Testament are better understood through an understanding of patronage. This man may also have been considered a Jewish proselyte.

   Heavenly Father, thank You for being our Patron. You have made it possible for us to live. We will never stop praising You for it! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 7:4 “And when they came to Jesus, they begged Him earnestly, saying that the one for whom He should do this was deserving,”

   We know from Jesus’ reaction to the centurion that the Jew’s impression of this man was not far off. But, how deserving is deserving? What really does one have to do to merit a supernatural intervention on one’s behalf? Is it really something we can merit, or instead only something God can choose to graciously bestow?

   Heavenly Father, You are good to us. But, we realize that is because of how You are. You are good. You are gracious. We are just receivers that illustrate it when we receive it. We are the receptacles for Your grace. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 7:3 ” So when he heard about Jesus, he sent elders of the Jews to Him, pleading with Him to come and heal his servant.”

   Not only did this man believe that Christ could heal his servant, but he understood the scope of the mission of Christ. Like Naaman going to see Elisha, his status as a Gentile, and Christ’s as a Jew, was not an issue for him. Perceived need will often outweigh all other considerations.

   Heavenly Father, we will praise You for Your great grace! You have not held back on the basis of our sin. You deal with us on the basis of belief. And if our need brings us to a place of belief You are at work in that. Thank You! We may hope to be holy because You, the Holy God have willed it so. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 7:2 “And a certain centurion’s servant, who was dear to him, was sick and ready to die.”

   Jesus ministers to every type of need that can be imagined. In this case, the centurion’s servant had likely been with him since he was young. They may have even been childhood friends, as strange as that sounds. So this was a unique need. There was a sick person, that was not strange. But the relationship of the requester to the one who needed healing is what is special here.
   Jesus said nothing of the relationship. In fact, Jesus teaches us to be servants to all. If there is any social inequality here, Jesus chooses to let His power and teachings bring about change.

   Heavenly Father, the power of the gospel is our tool for great change. Thank You for giving us something more influential and life-changing than any ideology or philosophy. We can be confident in Christ that the most serious problems can be solved. You are so wise! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 7:1 “Now when He concluded all His sayings in the hearing of the people, He entered Capernaum.”

   Everything Jesus did had a purpose. He had a mission and He chose His actions to fit with it. And the primary thing He did was teach. We tend to lose sight of that. We talk about His miracles and other aspects of His ministry. But, His teaching was the main thing. To remember the significance of His teaching is to remember the fact that He wanted His hearers to act upon His words. This is the message of Christ. We must accept and embrace the truth of His words. There is no alternative. He has the good word from the Father, and is the Source of truth.

   Heavenly Father, thank You for giving us the truth! Though we don’t always immediately understand or like what we hear, we are so thankful for it. Your Word soothes the hurt in our souls. This life brings us such confusion, but You bring us clarity in Your book. Thank You! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 6:49 “But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.”

   To hear and do nothing is a great danger. We see here that Jesus says the fall of this house was complete. Why? What is He emphasizing? He is telling us that the danger if hearing and not doing is a serious one. In the long run it will go easier for those who never heard and continued in sinful ignorance, than for those who in their sin ignored the message clearly explained to them.

   Heavenly Father, may we never fail to praise You for the heavenly gift! You have shared with us the most amazing news and our very soul longs to hear it again and again. May our mouths be ever full of Your praise! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 6:48 “He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock.”

  One of the often overlooked blessings of following Christ is psychological stability. Building on the Rock does not only stabilize your spiritual well-being. That spiritual stability spills over into every area of life. It leads to a normalizing trend in society. Though this in itself is not a reason to be a Christian, it serves as an evidence that a relationship with Christ makes a difference in an individual’s life.

   Heavenly Father, thank You for keeping us from the craziness of sin. Your Word shows us the path for our feet. We can walk without stumbling. Christ is our great foundation that keeps us safe among the pitfalls of life. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.