Monday 8 April 2013

The Power of Intercession and Simple Trust in Jesus

April 8, 2013 - Luke 7:1-10


    1 1-5 When 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.”
   6-8 Jesus 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.”
   9-10 Taken 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.
Luke records how a servant of a gentile centurion was healed by Jesus - Jesus' presence and healing occurred in a servant. We don't see the servant prayed for healing; we don't see Jesus planned to heal the servant; we even don't see Jesus met with the centurion. But we see the power of intercession - the leaders of the synagogue urged Jesus to heal the centurion's servant; we see the simple trust or faith of this centurion in the healing power of Jesus that even Jesus was surprised of this centurion's simple trust. 
We believers can experience the power and presence of Jesus in our lives as we faithfully intercede; and we make a simple trust in Jesus. Jesus, the Son of God, is compassionate and powerful. He is willing to dwell in us through His Spirit, and He is here to transform us. Jesus, let me follow you and encounter you in what I do, and who I meet today. 


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