Luke 7:1-10 | 1 Samuel 16:7
It’s easy to get caught up in prejudice against titles and groups of people when reading the gospels. Pharisees? They’re hypocritical law-worshipers. Jewish leaders? They’re self-centered messiah-killers. Romans? They are brutal totalitarians who marginalize people of all sorts. Soldiers? They’re war-mongering crucifiers.
But each of these is an assumption beyond the full truth. Any one of those above-mentioned people groups has righteousness to be found within, even in the gospels.
This Roman centurion from Capernaum is one such example.
Luke 7:1-10
After Jesus finished presenting all his words among the people, he entered Capernaum. A centurion had a servant who was very important to him, but the servant was ill and about to die. When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to Jesus to ask him to come and heal his servant. When they came to Jesus, they earnestly pleaded with Jesus. “He deserves to have you do this for him,” they said. “He loves our people and he built our synagogue for us.”
Jesus went with them. He had almost reached the house when the centurion sent friends to say to Jesus, “Lord, don’t be bothered. I don’t deserve to have you come under my roof. In fact, I didn’t even consider myself worthy to come to you. Just say the word and my servant will be healed. I’m also a man appointed under authority, with soldiers under me. I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and the servant does it.”
When Jesus heard these words, he was impressed with the centurion. He turned to the crowd following him and said, “I tell you, even in Israel I haven’t found faith like this.” When the centurion’s friends returned to his house, they found the servant restored to health.
I Samuel 16:7
But the Lord said to Samuel, “Have no regard for his appearance or stature, because I haven’t selected him. God doesn’t look at things like humans do. Humans see only what is visible to the eyes, but the Lord sees into the heart.”
Prayer
God,
Help my eyes and my heart to see without prejudice.
We are taught every day to assume the worst (or the best!) about certain groups of people. Sometimes such generalizations are founded upon fact-full observation for a group. But we mostly don’t live with groups. In life, we come across individuals.
So help me - like Jesus - to see individuals, to know individuals, and to love individuals.
By your spirit & in Christ,
Amen.
“So help me - like Jesus - to see individuals, to know individuals, and to love individuals.” Yes, Lord.