A Place of Holy Mystery 1-5When
he finished speaking to the people, he entered Capernaum. A Roman
captain there had a servant who was on his deathbed. He prized him
highly and didn't want to lose him. When he heard Jesus was back, he
sent leaders from the Jewish community asking him to come and heal his
servant. They came to Jesus and urged him to do it, saying, "He deserves
this. He loves our people. He even built our meeting place." 6-8Jesus
went with them. When he was still quite far from the house, the captain
sent friends to tell him, "Master, you don't have to go to all this
trouble. I'm not that good a person, you know. I'd be embarrassed for
you to come to my house, even embarrassed to come to you in person. Just
give the order and my servant will get well. I'm a man under orders; I
also give orders. I tell one soldier, 'Go,' and he goes; another,
'Come,' and he comes; my slave, 'Do this,' and he does it." 9-10Taken
aback, Jesus addressed the accompanying crowd: "I've yet to come across
this kind of simple trust anywhere in Israel, the very people who are
supposed to know about God and how he works." When the messengers got
back home, they found the servant up and well. |