When He had completed all His discourse in the hearing of the people He went to Capernaum. And a certain centurion's slave, who was highly regarded by him, was sick and about to die. And when he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders asking Him to come and save the life of his slave. And when they had come to Jesus, they earnestly entreated Him, saying, "He is worthy for You to grant this to him; for he loves our nation, and it was he who built us our synagogue." Now Jesus started on His way with them; and when He was already not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to Him, "Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not worthy for You to come under my roof; for this reason I did not even consider myself worthy to come to You, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I, too, am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, 'Go!' and he goes; and to another, 'Come!' and he comes; and to my slave, 'Do this!' and he does it."
Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled at him, and turned and said to the multitude that was following Him, "I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith." And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.
Faith is a willingness to bet your very life on the promises and character of God. If I were to try to pick a synonym for 'faith' I would choose the word 'adventure.' Faith is not a dry theological concept bound up in stodgy churchianity. Faith is a risky, adrenalin-pumping adventure.
Physical healing is always a shadow of the spiritual reality of the spiritual healing our world needs through Jesus Christ. Moving from the kingdom of death to the kingdom of life. . . . Faith according to this story, is not confidence that we have done the best we could, that God will assess our merits generously; faith is abandoning trust in our works and merit and any thought of deserving salvation, and relying totally and without reserve on the person of Christ and the authority of his word.
And it came about soon afterwards, that He went to a city called Nain; and His disciples were going along with Him, accompanied by a large multitude. Now as He approached the gate of the city, behold a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother and she was a widow; and a sizable crowd from the city was with her. And when the Lord saw her, He felt compassion for her, and said to her, "Do not weep." And He came up and touched the coffin; and the bearers came to a halt. And He said, "Young man, I say to you, arise!" And the dead man sat up, and began to speak. And Jesus gave him back to his mother. And fear gripped them all, and they began glorifying God, saying, "A great prophet has arisen among us!" and, "God has visited His people!" And this report concerning Him went out all over Judea, and in all the surrounding district.
Put both stories together and they lay down positively and negatively what the conditions of salvation are. If you have many good works to your credit and good resources like the centurion, or nothing at all like the widow, it makes no difference, for salvation is not of works, whether many or few, whether good or bad, it is by grace through faith, it is the gift of God. . . . whether it is salvation from physical death, as with the centurion's slave and the widow's son, or whether it is salvation from spiritual death, the basic principles of salvation are the same.
Father, thank you for Christmas and for the joy of knowing that you sent your Son in the fullness of time to be our Savior. Thank you for these two stories and for your willingness to allow your Son to bring life out of death. Thank you too that in your compassion you are still willing to take anyone who is dead in their trespasses and sins and give them life. For those who do not know you as their Lord and Savior I pray that they will take you up on your offer to cancel their appointment with the second death. Amen.
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