GOD HEARS EVERY PRAYER- THE PRAYER OF THE OUTSIDER AS WELL OF THE PRAYER OF THE INSIDER. THE ATTENTIVE NATURE OF OUR GOD IS EVIDENT S GOD COMES TO US AGAIN (IN THE WORD AND IN THE SUPPER. ASCRIBE TO THE LORD THE HONOR DUE THE "HOLY NAME;) BRING OFFERINGS AND ENTER THE COURTS OF THE LORD." IN OUR OLD TESTAMENT READING FOR TODAY, KING SOLOMON PRAYS AT THE DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM, BUILT UNDER HIS DIRECTION. SOLOMON PRAYS THAT THE TEMPLE WILL BE A SIGN OF GOD'S PRESENCE AND POWER, NOT ONLY TO THE ISRAELITES, BUT TO ALL PEOPLES. IN OUR TEXT A ROMAN CENTURION STANDS TO LOSE A HIGHLY VALUED SLAVE. JEWISH LEADERS IN CAPERNAUM CONSIDER HIMSELF UNWORTHY. IN THE MIDST OF THIS TANGLE OF ATTITUDES, THE CENTURION SHOWS HIS UNDERSTANDING OF AUTHORITY AND HIS TESTIMONY THAT JESUS HAS IT, EVEN AUTHORITY OVER ILLNESS AND DEATH. THERE ARE MANY SIMILARITIES BETWEEN OUR GOSPEL TEXT, AND THE ONE RECORDED IN THE O.T. READING ( 1 KINGS 17: 8-24;). THE LOCATION AND THE NATURE OF THE MIRACLE CAUSED THE TOWNSPEOPLE TO RECOGNIZE THAT A "GREAT PROPHET" WAS AMONG THEM. BUT: "ELIJAH" HAD TO STRETCH HIS BODY OVER THE DEAD BOY THREE TIMES AND CRY OUT TO THE LORD (2nd KINGS 4: 32-35).
BUT IN THE GOSPEL TEXT, JESUS RAISED A BOY FROM THE DEAD, THE ONLY SON OF A WIDOW IN NAIN. SCHOLAR'S PLACE NAIN ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE HILL OF MOREH FROM SHUNEM, THUS PLACING THE MIRACLE IN THE SAME GENERAL LOCATION AS ELISA'S. THE PEOPLE WOULD HAVE REMEMBERED THIS FROM SCRIPTURE AND THE LIFE OF THE GREAT PROPHET ELISHA.. HOWEVER: JESUS MERELY HAD TO SPEAK A WORD OF COMMAND. JESUS SPOKE AND THE BOY CAME BACK TO LIFE. JESUS POWER WAS CLEARLY SUPERIOR TO THAT OF THE GREATEST O.T. PROPHETS.
AFTER FINISHING HIS TEACHING TO THE MULTITUDES, JESUS RETURNS ONCE MORE TO THE CITY OF CAPERNAUM PREVIOUSLY IN [.4:31]. ON THAT OCCASION JESUS HAD GONE TO A SYNAGOGUE WHERE HE CURED A MAN POSSESSED BY A DEMON. THAT VERY SYNAGOGUE HAD BEEN BUILT BY THE ROMAN CENTURION IN OUR GOSPEL TEXT. THE WORD CENTURION MEANS CAPTAIN OF A COMPANY OF 1OO SOLDIERS.
SINCE HEROD ANTIPAS WAS THE RULER OF GALILEE IN WHICH PROVINCE CAPERNAUM WAS LOCATED, THIS CENTURION MAY HAVE BEEN IN HIS SERVICE IN SOME OFFICIAL CAPACITY. A WARM FEELING HAD DEVELOPED BETWEEN THIS CENTURION AND THE JEWISH ELDERS WHO HAD CHARGED OF THE SYNAGOGUE.
LUKE HAD SEVERAL TIMES REPORTED JESUS HEALING NUMBERS OF SICK WITHOUT GOING INTO DETAIL. HERE HE GIVES US THE FULL STORY FOR SEVERAL REASONS: THIS CENTURION WAS NO DOUBT A GENTILE; THIS MAN SHOWS GREAT FAITH IN THE POWER OF JESUS WORD. HE IS A MODEL FOR THE MANY GENTILE BELIEVERS WHO WOULD BE COMING INTO THE CHURCH IN FUTURE YEARS. THE MORAL TEACHING OF JESUS DISTURBED NOT ONLY THOSE WHO WERE THE FIRST FOLLOWERS WHO UNDERTOOK TO WRITE DOWN HIS WORDS BUT THE MANY GENERATIONS OF CHRISTIANS, IN A GREAT VARIETY OF WAYS HAVE ENDEAVORED TO BEND THEIR LIVES TO HIS TEACHINGS. AFTERWARD JESUS WENT TO NAIN. AS JESUS APPROACHED IT FROM THE MAIN ROAD HE WOULD OF HAVE BEFORE HIM THE PRINCIPAL GATE OF THE TOWN. OUT OF THE GATE WAS COMING A FUNERAL PROCESSION. THE JEWS NORMALLY BURIED WITHIN A FEW HOURS OF DEATH. THE BODY WRAPPED IN A LINEN CLOTH, WAS CARRIED FROM THE HOUSE ON A BIER (F0R COFFINS WERE NOT USED TO A FAMILY GRAVE CUT FROM A ROCK;) AND SINCE GRAVES WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE THE WALLS OF THE TOWN, THE PROCESSION HAD AT SOME STAGE TO PASS THROUGH THE GATE. THIS WAS THE MOMENT JESUS INTERVENED AND PERFORMED WHAT WAS THE GREATEST OF ALL MIRACLES, THAT OF BRINGING A DEAD PERSON BACK TO LIFE. TWO SUCH MIRACLES ARE RECORDED IN THE GOSPELS APART FROM THIS ONE: JARIUS DAUGHTER ( LUKE 8:40, MARK 5:21, MATTHEW 9:18) AND LAZARUS, (JOHN 11).
HERE THE STORY IS TOLD QUITE SIMPLY AND THERE IS LITTLE TO DISTINGUISH IT FROM OTHER STORIES TOLD ABOUT OTHER MIRACLE-WORKERS IN ANTIQUITY. ON THE OTHER HAND, THE REACTION OF THE BYSTANDERS WERE CONDITIONED BY THEIR RELIGIOUS BELIEFS. A GREAT PROPHET HAS RISEN AMONG US. ELIJAH AND ELISHA, THE FIRST GREAT PROPHETS HAD PERFORMED SIMILAR MIRACLES; JESUS MUST BE ANOTHER OF THE SAME CALIBRE, MOREOVER RAISING FROM THE DEAD WAS A SIGN OF THE NEW AGE THAT WAS TO COME.: GOD HAS SHONE HIS CARE FOR HIS PEOPLE. THE MIRACLE WAS EVIDENCE OF A NEW RELATIONSHIP BEGINNING BETWEEN GOD AND MAN. WHEN THE CENTURION ASKS JESUS TO HEAL HIS WOUNDED SLAVE, THE NARRATIVE EXPLORES WHETHER THE CENTURION IS WORTHY." THE GREEK WORD IN LUKE FOR "WORTHY" IS "SUFFICIENT" THE JEWISH ELDERS SAY HE HAS PROVEN HIS WORTHINESS, BY HIS GOODNESS TO THE JEWS; IN CONTRAST, THE CENTURION HIMSELF SAYS HE IS NOT "WORTHY" OF JESUS. PRESENCE. ARE WE "WORTHY" OF HIS PRESENCE AND HELP? THE CENTURION REVEALS A PARADOX OF CHRISTIAN FAITH: AS SINNERS WE ARE NOT "WORTHY", BUT AS REDEEMED SAINTS WE KNOW THAT JESUS DEEMED US ALL "WORTH"
SAVING, THROUGH GRACE ALONE.
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