Luke 7:1-17

Luke 7:1-17 (The Message)

A Place of Holy Mystery

1-5When he finished speaking to the people, he entered Capernaum. A Roman captain there had a servant who was on his deathbed. He prized him highly and didn‘t want to lose him. When he heard Jesus was back, he sent leaders from the Jewish community asking him to come and heal his servant. They came to Jesus and urged him to do it, saying, "He deserves this. He loves our people. He even built our meeting place."

6-8Jesus went with them. When he was still quite far from the house, the captain sent friends to tell him, "Master, you don‘t have to go to all this trouble. I‘m not that good a person, you know. I‘d be embarrassed for you to come to my house, even embarrassed to come to you in person. Just give the order and my servant will get well. I‘m a man under orders; I also give orders. I tell one soldier, ‘Go,’ and he goes; another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it."

9-10Taken aback, Jesus addressed the accompanying crowd: "I‘ve yet to come across this kind of simple trust anywhere in Israel, the very people who are supposed to know about God and how he works." When the messengers got back home, they found the servant up and well.

11-15Not long after that, Jesus went to the village Nain. His disciples were with him, along with quite a large crowd. As they approached the village gate, they met a funeral procession—a woman‘s only son was being carried out for burial. And the mother was a widow. When Jesus saw her, his heart broke. He said to her, "Don‘t cry." Then he went over and touched the coffin. The pallbearers stopped. He said, "Young man, I tell you: Get up." The dead son sat up and began talking. Jesus presented him to his mother.

16-17They all realized they were in a place of holy mystery, that God was at work among them. They were quietly worshipful—and then noisily grateful, calling out among themselves, "God is back, looking to the needs of his people!" The news of Jesus spread all through the country.

Devotion

In this passage, Jesus continues to perform miracles. He heals two different people. The first a slave of a powerful Roman captain who himself appeals to Christ to heal him. The other person that Jesus heals is the only son of a heart broken widow.

We can take a lesson from those involved in the miracles described in the text. In the first, the captain humbles himself before Jesus and states that he is not a good person and is not worthy of Jesus. Despite all of this, Jesus heals the captain‘s slave. He also states how strong the captain‘s faith is. Even when we don‘t feel that we deserve Christ‘s love or are unworthy of Him, he is there for us and desires to bless us.

The second miracle involves a mother who has lost her only son. Christ and his disciples come upon the funeral procession for the son. Being touched by her grief, Jesus heals her son. Because of his love for the woman, Jesus heals her son without her even having to ask. Much like this woman, Jesus is watching out for us, cares for us, and continually looks for ways in which to bless and touch us.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, we thank you for your unconditional love for us. Please help us to continue to grow in our relationship with you. Amen.