“Amazing Faith”Luke 7:1-10

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God Gives Us His Words of Eternal LifeLuke 7:1-10

Found on page 856 in our guest Bibles.

Today’s Scripture:

faith

“Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think

and evaluate evidence.”

~ Atheist Richard Dawkins

“Amazing Faith”Luke 7:1-10

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1 The recognition ofwho Jesus is

2 The trust the follows in light of it

Be on the lookout for...

After he had finished all his sayings

Luke 7:1

in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum....

Now a centurion had a servant who

Luke 7:2

was sick and at the point of death,who was highly valued by him....

When the centurion heard about

Luke 7:3

Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and healhis servant....

And when they came to Jesus, they

Luke 7:4-5

pleaded with him earnestly, saying,“He is worthy to have you do thisfor him, for he loves our nation, andhe is the one who built us our synagogue....

Ruins of the 3rd centurysynagogue in Capernaum

The ‘white’ synagogue was built upon the foundation of the ‘black’ synagogue

that was built by the centurion.

And when they came to Jesus, they

Luke 7:4-5

pleaded with him earnestly, saying,“He is worthy to have you do thisfor him, for he loves our nation, andhe is the one who built us our synagogue....

And Jesus went with them. When

Luke 7:6

he was not far from the house, thecenturion sent friends, saying to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for Iam unworthy to have you come under my roof....

How do you see Jesus, and how do you see yourself?

The two questions are connected, because when we see Jesus as he really is—in all

his splendor—we also see our true spiritual

need…

...This is not poisonous pessimism, but a

healthy realism that helps us breath the

fresh air of the gospel.

“Therefore, I did not presume to

Luke 7:7-8

come to you. But say the word, andlet my servant be healed. For I too am a man set under authority, withsoldiers under me: and I say to one,‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another

“...‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my

Luke 7:8

servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it....”

When Jesus heard these things, he

Luke 7:9

marveled at him, and turning to thecrowd that followed him, said, “I tellyou, not even in Israel have I foundsuch faith....”

And when those who had been sent

Luke 7:10

returned to the house, they foundthe servant well.

~ JC Ryle, 1816-1900 Church of England

“A greater miracle of healing than this is

nowhere recorded in the Gospels. Without even

seeing the sufferer, without touch of hand or look of eye, our Lord restores

health to a dying man by a single word. He speaks,

and the sick man is cured. He commands, and the

disease departs.”

Why does Luke include this story in his historical biography of Jesus?

Important Question

To have great faith in Jesus is to place

our complete trust in Jesus

Take the surestep of trustingboldly in Jesus

1

“You are no longer faced with an argument

which demands your assent, but with a

Person who demands your confidence.”

~ CS LewisProfessor at Oxford

Grow your faith by getting to know Jesus more.

2

The more you know about Christ the less will you be satisfied with superficial

views of him; and the more deeply you study his

transactions in the eternal covenant, his engagements

on your behalf as the eternal Surety, and the

fullness of his grace which shines in all his offices...,

~ Charles Spurgeon“The Prince of Preachers”

...the more truly will you see the King in his beauty. Be much

in such outlooks. Long more and

more to see Jesus.

~ Charles Spurgeon“The Prince of Preachers”

monkeyc.net: http://www.flickr.com/photos/73584213@N00/559749139/

flickr images courtesy of:

other images:

Photos.com: james steidl / 92655990

Capernaum Synagogue: http://www.israeljerusalem.com/capernaum-synagogue.htm

http://www.lugaresbiblicos.com/annotations.htm

Photos.com: masashi sakajiri / 147055961

Photos.com: Ivan Kmit / 95631678