Luke 7

The first half of Luke 7 deals with Jesus coming into the town of Capernaum.  “A Roman captain” heard He was coming and had a “servant who was on his deathbed”.  While the motive may have been somewhat wrong, this Roman “didn’t want to lose him” and “sent leaders” to Jesus to ask for healing.  The Roman captain was a good man – he loved the  people and had treated them well.  A little later the captain sent “friends to tell Him” that Jesus didn’t even need to come to his house to heal, all Jesus had to do was give the order.  I love how scripture captures that key moment: “Taken aback, Jesus addressed the accompanying crowd: “I’ve yet to come across this kind of simple trust anywhere in Israel”.  What set this Roman apart?  Two little words – “simple trust”.  There was no fanfare, no big expectations, no attempting to seek glory for himself.  He just believed that Jesus could and would.  Do you?  Do you know that Jesus is still in the miracle business?  Do you believe He can and will?  Men – this is one area we need to really look in the mirror about.  Too often we want to be in control of what happens, we want to fix things and be the one who is in control.  That really is not how God works.  Jesus continues on to Nain, a village down the road, where He meets a funeral procession.  A “woman’s only son was being carried out for burial”.  Do you know what happened?  “When Jesus saw her, his heart broke”.  It wasn’t a heart of steel or non compassion here.  Jesus was not afraid to let His human side be exposed.  His heart broke – He “went over and touched the coffin”.  Again, no fanfare or attempt to make a big production out of it.  Jesus simply touched and spoke and viola – “the dead son sat up and began talking”.  Can you envision that?  What a place to have been that day.  Never forget we serve the same God and are saved by the very Jesus that brought healing and life to these two folks.  He hasn’t taken a leave of absence or shut down His ministry.  It is very alive and very well and He is in the business of impacting the world exactly the way He did some 2000 years ago.  What are you expecting Jesus to do today in your life?  How are you praying for Him to impact people in your circle.  Guys – we need to be asking for the power of Jesus to be shown in and through us – not so we can get any glory, but so the name of our Lord and Savior can be obvious and center stage.  Simple trust – no magic formula – just believe.  Jesus will do the rest!