Demonstrating Great Faith

DEMONSTRATING GREAT FAITH

a prayer to open

Open my eyes and help me to see you.

Open my heart and help me to know you.

Jesus, my Lord and my God.

The highly valued slave of a Roman officer was sick and near death. When the officer heard about Jesus, he sent some respected Jewish elders to ask him to come and heal his slave. . . . “If anyone deserves your help, he does,” they said, “for he loves the Jewish people and even built a synagogue for us.”

So Jesus went with them. But just before they arrived at the house, the officer sent some friends to say, “Lord, don’t trouble yourself by coming to my home, for I am not worthy of such an honor. I am not even worthy to come and meet you. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed. I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’ they do it.”

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to the crowd that was following him, he said, “I tell you, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel!” And when the officer’s friends returned to his house, they found the slave completely healed.

Soon afterward Jesus went with his disciples to the village of Nain, and a large crowd followed him. A funeral procession was coming out. . . . The young man who had died was a widow’s only son, and a large crowd from the village was with her. When the Lord saw her, his heart overflowed with compassion. “Don’t cry!” he said. Then he walked over to the coffin and touched it, and the bearers stopped. “Young man,” he said, “I tell you, get up.” Then the dead boy sat up and began to talk! And Jesus gave him back to his mother.

Great fear swept the crowd, and they praised God, saying, “A mighty prophet has risen among us,” and “God has visited his people today.” And the news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding countryside.

Many of us spend a great deal of time in our prayers asking God for the things we need, and of course Jesus does tell us to do that (see Matthew 7:7-11). But how much time do we spend seeking the healing, restoration, forgiveness, and wholeness of others? In these stories, we see the love the Roman officer had for his servant, and the love the mother had for her son. We see this centurion exercise his faith on behalf of the servant. And we see Jesus respond to the heartbroken mother by restoring life to her son.

• On whose behalf can you exercise your faith—however little or much that may be? (Maybe it’s someone who is struggling with faith, has fallen away from God, or has not yet come to know Jesus.) What would that look like?
• Where do you need your trust in God increased? How might you not only pray for his help but also take one step in faith?
• What does today’s passage reveal to you about Jesus?

Father, increase my faith and expand my ability to trust even when I’m groping blindly for any evidence of you. So often I long to see you, to sense you, to hear from you. But, Lord, help me believe even when I am overcome with sadness and heartbreak. Keep my heart attached to you in the dark and through the doubt. Cast away all fear and remind me of your sustaining, unending love. Amen.