Driven: Compelled to Missions by Christ’s LoveSample

Healing for a Centurion, Prayer for Workers 

Career soldiers understand the chain of command. A captain had better jump when his major gives an order. By the same token, if the captain wants to keep his rank, he had better not bother a general with his problems.

The Roman centurion in Capernaum understood the spiritual chain of command. He had generously helped the Jews in Capernaum. He’d also likely heard about Jesus, because the gospels record how the Lord had healed many people in Capernaum, including a paralyzed man. In a centurion’s world, someone with spiritual command such as Jesus held the highest rank. A soldier who understood that kind of power wouldn’t approach Jesus or even His disciples directly with his problems. Instead he started with his Jewish friends in the local synagogue.

When Jesus registered His amazement at the centurion’s faith, He honored this Gentile’s understanding of God’s power by healing the servant from a distance. His disciples caught this and undoubtedly also Jesus’ praise of a Gentile with more faith than Israelites.

Jesus’ compassion for the crowds drove Him to heal many and bring God’s message to more. But He knew that when He left the Earth, He’d also leave instructions for His followers to carry out His commands to reach the rest of the world. So He told His disciples to pray to the Lord who was in charge of the harvest to muster more workers.

Are you involved in Jesus’s commission today? Have you set aside time to pray for workers for God’s harvest and trust the Lord’s power to raise them up?