Contemplative Bible Reading

Luke 7:2-4 (New Living Translation)

2 At that time the highly valued slave of a Roman officer was sick and near death. 3 When the officer heard about Jesus, he sent some respected Jewish elders to ask him (Jesus) to come and heal his slave. 4 So they earnestly begged Jesus to help the man. “If anyone deserves your help, he does,” they said, 5 “for he loves the Jewish people and even built a synagogue for us.”

An officer of an invading and occupying army had a sick slave. Whoa. Is there any good in that first sentence? Anyways, this officer heard of a man named Jesus who was healing sick people—seriously sick people.

Unable or unwilling to cross too many cultural barriers, the army officer found some intermediaries—some respected Jewish elders—to approach this Jesus and ask for help. These men did so out of appreciation for what the army officer had done for them. It worked well for all involved.

Who were these respected Jewish elders? They were men who were (1) older, (2) wiser, and (3) more visible than the average person. They had a sense of what was happening in front of them. They didn’t deny the miracles of Jesus—they occurred right in front of them. They didn’t deny the occupying army—it was right in front of them. They didn’t deny sickness and healing—those were right in front of them.

What did they have to lose? Not political power as they weren’t rulers. Not money as they probably weren’t rich.

They did have the respect of the people to lose. That was a lot. So, they acted like respected people act. They accepted reality and spoke to the persons who spoke to them.

They spoke plainly, clearly, and truthfully. Perhaps that is why they were respected. Perhaps there is a lesson for us here.