Tough and Tears
Luke 7:2
"And a certain centurion's servant, who was dear unto him, was sick, and ready to die."
Mark Driscoll has been preaching a series on the Gospel of Luke. I have no need to repeat most of what he preaches here in his sermon on "Jesus Heals a Centurions Servant."
One thing that did strike me about this sermon was the relational depth among the major actors: the Centurion, Jesus, the Jews who came to Jesus on the Centurion's behalf, and the servant himself. Driscoll does a great job making these personalities three-dimensional in regards to their realities...what they are thinking and feeling. The Centurion is sorrowful over the impending death of his servant. The pathos is real and Driscoll tells of some personal situations with illness, death, and dying, that he is experiencing presently.
We have all seen carboard life-size cut-outs of famous people like Stallone. And tourists pay $$$ to get a picture taken with it. When the picture is developed, it is often difficult to tell if the cut-out is a real person or not. Flat begats flat. I often approach the Bible with no imagination, but I have found putting myself into the story, helps keep the reading of these remarkable tales from becoming routine. How would I feel, what would I be thinking? The Bible in 3-D.
One reality that I thought of further was the powerlessness of the Centurion. Rome was many things but powerless was not one of them. The Centurion was a high ranking soldier in the most formidable army on earth. Weakness was not something Roman soldiers felt as a rule in the execution of their military duties. Several decades later, Rome would burn Jerusalem to the ground, a real whup-ass.
The Centurion stoically did not dismiss his servant to impending death. He felt sorrow and asked for help from the only one who could help...Jesus. It is healthy to acknowledge our weakness as it does really exist. In fact, understanding our weakness and asking Jesus for healing makes us strong in Him.
"And a certain centurion's servant, who was dear unto him, was sick, and ready to die."
Mark Driscoll has been preaching a series on the Gospel of Luke. I have no need to repeat most of what he preaches here in his sermon on "Jesus Heals a Centurions Servant."
One thing that did strike me about this sermon was the relational depth among the major actors: the Centurion, Jesus, the Jews who came to Jesus on the Centurion's behalf, and the servant himself. Driscoll does a great job making these personalities three-dimensional in regards to their realities...what they are thinking and feeling. The Centurion is sorrowful over the impending death of his servant. The pathos is real and Driscoll tells of some personal situations with illness, death, and dying, that he is experiencing presently.
We have all seen carboard life-size cut-outs of famous people like Stallone. And tourists pay $$$ to get a picture taken with it. When the picture is developed, it is often difficult to tell if the cut-out is a real person or not. Flat begats flat. I often approach the Bible with no imagination, but I have found putting myself into the story, helps keep the reading of these remarkable tales from becoming routine. How would I feel, what would I be thinking? The Bible in 3-D.
One reality that I thought of further was the powerlessness of the Centurion. Rome was many things but powerless was not one of them. The Centurion was a high ranking soldier in the most formidable army on earth. Weakness was not something Roman soldiers felt as a rule in the execution of their military duties. Several decades later, Rome would burn Jerusalem to the ground, a real whup-ass.
The Centurion stoically did not dismiss his servant to impending death. He felt sorrow and asked for help from the only one who could help...Jesus. It is healthy to acknowledge our weakness as it does really exist. In fact, understanding our weakness and asking Jesus for healing makes us strong in Him.
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