68-69. Faith and Resurrection

BACKGROUND with LINKS

68. A Roman officer demonstrates faith: Matthew 8:5-13, Luke 7:1-10

At this point, Jesus' fame increases, and He begins to place a greater emphasis on repentance.

This healing was significant because it was a Gentile Roman centurion (a commander of one hundred soldiers) who approached Jesus as Lord. He was a man of great faith and recognized Jesus' authority because He believed that Jesus had the power and authority to heal his servant from a distance. This story is important because it demonstrated the need for faith to enter the kingdom and that even a Gentile could enter if he had faith. This flew against conventional wisdom that said that you had to be a Jew to enter. Salvation is by faith alone. It is interesting to note here that the Luke account records the sending of messengers.

69. Jesus raises a widow's son from the dead: Luke 7:11-17

Nain was 25 miles southwest of Capernaum. This miracle is unique to the gospel of Luke and emphasizes Jesus' compassion for the needs of people. The only means of support for a widow was an offspring. Without her son, she would have been destitute and had to resort to begging for food. Many commentators believe that Luke recorded this so that the interchange between Jesus and the disciples of John the Baptist in Luke 7:18-23 would have more impact. His ability to raise her son from the dead authenticated who He was.

REFLECTION

And without faith it is impossible to please Him, 

for he who comes to God must believe that He is

 and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

(Hebrews 11:6) 

And this man came to Jesus, and he was rewarded!

I love this Gentile Roman centurion's faith. He believed that Jesus could heal from a distance. We are told that Jesus was amazed or marveled only two times in the different gospel accounts.  One was at the lack of faith of the Jews (Mark 6:6) and the other with this man's "great faith"! He only commended two people for their "great faith," and they were both Gentiles (Matthew 15:28). Jesus also healed at a distance on these occasions.  Jesus was there to "bring near the Gentiles" (Ephesians 2:11-13).  This totally rocked the Jews' world!

APPLICATION

If this Roman, with very little spiritual instruction, had that kind of faith in God's Word, how much greater our faith ought to be! We have an entire Bible to read and study, as well as nearly 2,000 years of church history to encourage us, and yet we are guilty of "no faith" (Mark 4:40) or "little faith" (Matthew 14:31). Our prayer ought to be, "Lord, increase our faith!" (Luke 17:5) (The Bible Exposition Commentary (Lk 7:1))

PRAYER

Lord, increase our faith! Amen.