Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“A centurion there had a slave whom he valued highly, and who was ill and close to death. When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave.”
NL Daily Devotion for Sunday, February 9, 2025
by Pr. Sara Gorman, Clergy Stuff
Main Idea: With faith, miracles can happen.
It’s safe to say we have all had people we love dearly become ill, some more suddenly than we could have ever imagined. And it’s safe to say that we would likely do anything and everything for our loved one to be healthy, whole, and back as part of our community. Whatever money could buy, whatever we could come up with, we would do, even if it meant sacrificing something we really wanted. It’s part of being human.
So, reading stories in the Bible of family and friends doing whatever they could for their ill loved one is not surprising. We can easily put ourselves in their shoes. It’s a human reflex, a natural thing to relate to. The centurion had probably tried everything that he could with the money he had, and reaching out to Jesus was a last-ditch effort. I imagine the centurion was conflicted because why would Jesus show up for him and his slave? After all, there were plenty of other people who needed healing that were more deserving, right? So, sending friends to meet Jesus was his way of saying, never mind. But Jesus, doesn’t let the centurion decide if his time is worth it. Jesus makes that decision for himself as he heals the servant from a distance away, surprising everyone.
But the healing doesn’t stop there. Throughout the gospels we read about Jesus turning the kingdom upside down and really advocating for those who have less. So, it should be no surprise that Jesus raises a man from the dead when his mother was entirely dependent upon him for her livelihood.
Jesus used each instance as a teaching moment, and showed those gathered that having a little bit of faith can go a long way.
