PT-1 “Divine Providence” (Luke 7:12)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/14/2026 9:37 PM

My Worship Time                                                                             Focus:  “Divine Providence”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                       Reference:  Luke 7:12

Message of the verse: “Now as He approached the gate of the city, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a sizeable crowd from the city was with her.”

            Whenever I think about the total control that God has over this planet we live on and the people who live on it, then it just blows my mind.  His superintending control over all human choices, actions, and events to effect His predetermined purposes is known as His providence.  Now unlike a miracle, when God supernaturally interrupts or suspends the natural events to infallibly bring about His purposes.  Given the staggering complexities involved in coordinating even relatively simple events, God’s providence is in some ways even more awe inspiring than the miracles He performs.    I have mentioned that whenever I think about the events that took place in my life, and my families lives as my wife continued to go down hill physically at a rapid pace we all knew that God was surely in control of all of this and the hand writing was on the wall so to speak that she was going to loose her battle with cancer but then immediately after her death which was on July 29^th of this year at 9:36 on that morning the Lord took her home to be with her Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ.  This was all in the plan of God from even before He created the world.  I don’t understand it all, but I do trust the Lord in what he had planned for my wife, and I know that it does bring glory to His name, and the best thing is that I will see her again either at the rapture, or at my death.

            Looking at this section and listening to the sermon on my walk today it has reinforced my trust in the Lord to work things out for His glory and for my good.

            God’s providential control over events flows directly from His sovereign authority, omnipotence, and omniscience.  “The mind of man plans his way,’ says Proverbs 16:9, “but the Lord directs his steps,” while verse 33 adds another illustration:  “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.” Proverbs 21:1 reveals that God’s providential control over human events extends to rulers:  “The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes.”  One example is Cyrus, ruler of the Persian empire:

^“22 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia—in order to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah—the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia so that he sent a proclamation throughout his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying, ²³ “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all His people, may the Lord his God be with him; go up then!’”

 

Though God is not the author of evil (Hab. 1:13), even calamities are under His control, as the prophet Amos notes:  “If a calamity occurs in a city has not the Lord done it?”  (Amos 3:6).  It was one such calamity, whose events God sovereignly ordained in keeping with His purposes, that is the subject of this passage.

            MacArthur writes “Although a village the size of Nain probably would not have hand a wall around it, Nain did have a gate.  Located at the head of the main street, the gate served as a point of entrance for the city.  It was also the place where people gathered to socialize, and where the elders met to adjudicate matters (cf. Deut. 25:7-10; Ruth 4:1-11; Isa. 29:21).”

(cf. Deut. 25:7-10; Ruth 4:1-11; Isa. 29:21)

“7  And if the man does not wish to take his brother’s wife, then his brother’s wife shall go up to the gate to the elders and say, ‘My husband’s brother refuses to perpetuate his brother’s name in Israel; he will not perform the duty of a husband’s brother to me.’ 8  Then the elders of his city shall call him and speak to him, and if he persists, saying, ‘I do not wish to take her,’ 9  then his brother’s wife shall go up to him in the presence of the elders and pull his sandal off his foot and spit in his face. And she shall answer and say, ‘So shall it be done to the man who does not build up his brother’s house.’ 10  And the name of his house shall be called in Israel, ‘The house of him who had his sandal pulled off.’”

“1 ¶  Now Boaz had gone up to the gate and sat down there. And behold, the redeemer, of whom Boaz had spoken, came by. So Boaz said, "Turn aside, friend; sit down here." And he turned aside and sat down. 2  And he took ten men of the elders of the city and said, "Sit down here." So they sat down. 3  Then he said to the redeemer, "Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our relative Elimelech. 4  So I thought I would tell you of it and say, ‘Buy it in the presence of those sitting here and in the presence of the elders of my people.’ If you will redeem it, redeem it. But if you will not, tell me, that I may know, for there is no one besides you to redeem it, and I come after you." And he said, "I will redeem it." 5  Then Boaz said, "The day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the widow of the dead, in order to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance." 6  Then the redeemer said, "I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I impair my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it." 7  Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging: to confirm a transaction, the one drew off his sandal and gave it to the other, and this was the manner of attesting in Israel. 8  So when the redeemer said to Boaz, "Buy it for yourself," he drew off his sandal. 9 ¶  Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, "You are witnesses this day that I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and to Mahlon. 10  Also Ruth the Moabite, the widow of Mahlon, I have bought to be my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his native place. You are witnesses this day." 11  Then all the people who were at the gate and the elders said, "We are witnesses. May the LORD make the woman, who is coming into your house, like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you act worthily in Ephrathah and be renowned in Bethlehem,”

“21  who by a word make a man out to be an offender, and lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate, and with an empty plea turn aside him who is in the right.”

“In God’s providential timing, Jesus and His entourage approached the gate of  the city after their journey from Capernaum just as a dead man was being carried out.  The funeral was over, and the people were removing the corpse on a bier or stretcher to the burial site outside of town.”  This is where I will end this SD and Lord willing pick up on the morning the rest of it.

8/14/2026 10:05 PM

 

 

“Divine Purpose” (Luke 7:11)

 

MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/14/2026 11:04 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                   Focus:  “Divine Purpose”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                       Reference:  Luke 7:11

            Message of the verse:  “Soon afterwards He went to a city called Nain; and His disciples were going along with Him, accompanied by a large crowd.”

            As we look at the phrase “soon afterwards” it points back to the healing of the centurion’s servant which was recorded in the previous passage (7:1-10).  It is an indefinite time designation, but suggests an interval of a few days at most.  Nain was a tiny village which was about twenty miles southwest of Capernaum, and six miles southeast of Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth.  Now on the other side of the hill on which Nain stood was the village of Shunem, where Elisha raised a young boy from the dead as seen in 2 Kings 4:8-37.  About three miles away was the village of Endor, where Saul visited a medium seen in 1 Samuel 28:7-25.  Jesus, along with His disciples and accompanied by a large crowd, made the full day’s journey from Capernaum to this small, nondescript town.

            John MacArthur writes “God always acts with a fixed purpose, never whimsically and there are no unexpected contingencies or coincidences for Him. The sovereign plan of God is settled, unchanging, and infallibly brought to fulfillment.  In Isaiah 46:9-10 God declared, ‘I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, ‘My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure.’’ In Isaiah 55:11 He added, ‘My word…which goes forth from My mouth…will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.’

            “As God incarnate, Jesus also acted with unalterable resolve to accomplish divine purposes.  On His way from Judea to Galilee, Jesus ‘had to pass through Samaria’ (John 4:4).  He had a divinely predetermined appointment with a Samaritan woman, whose sinful lifestyle He would expose, to whom He would reveal His messiahship, and through whose testimony of faith in Him would lead many in her village to believe in Him (vv. 5-42).  He knew the divine timetable for His death, resurrection, and ascension so ‘when the days were approaching for His ascension, He was determined to go to Jerusalem’ (Luke 9:51).  In Luke 13:33 He reaffirmed His determination to follow the divine timetable when He said, ‘Nevertheless I must journey on today and tomorrow and the next day; for it cannot be that a prophet would perish outside Jerusalem.’  Jesus knew precisely where and when His death was ordained in the plan of God to take place.

            “One of the blasphemous ideas exposed by some who falsely call themselves evangelicals is Open Theism.  According to that view, God neither infallibly knows nor sovereignly plans the future.  Jesus, however, not only knew the future, but acted to make certain that God’s purposes unfolded exactly as planned.

            “Circumstances that perhaps had not yet happened when Jesus and His entourage began the day’s journey from Capernaum to Nain would be in place to set up an amazing display of Jesus’ divine power.  When they set out neither the apostles, the rest of Jesus’ disciples, nor t he t hrill seeking crowd knew why they were going to Nain, or what  they would see when they got there.  In fact, the young man may not yet have died, since Jewish custom dictated that the funeral and burial take place soon after death.  But Jesus did know, and made this journey to an ‘off the beaten path’ village because it was God’s plan that He encounter a funeral procession there.”

Spiritual Meaning for my Life Today:  As I looked at this section that I have just wrote, I can’t help but think of the timing of my wife’s death, and knowing that it was in the perfect timing of God.  If I don’t think of it that way then it would mean that He is not in control.  God is in control of all life, the beginning from the end.  This causes me to be thankful that He is in control of all things.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Because of the truth I just wrote above, I have to believe that God will cause me to go through this mourning process in a way that will bring glory to His name, and calmness to my soul.

8/14/2026 11:31 AM

Intro to "“Jesus’ Power over Death” (Luke 7:11-17)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/13/2026 9:04 PM

My Worship Time                                                                    Focus:  “Jesus’ Power over Death”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                  Reference:  Luke 7:11-17

            Message of the verses:  “11Soon afterwards He went to a city called Nain; and His disciples were going along with Him, accompanied by a large crowd. 12Now as He approached the gate of the city, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a sizeable crowd from the city was with her. 13When the Lord saw her, He felt compassion for her, and said to her, “Do not weep.” 14And He came up and touched the coffin; and the bearers came to a halt. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise!” 15The dead man sat up and began to speak. And Jesus gave him back to his mother. 16Fear gripped them all, and they began glorifying God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and, “God has visited His people!” 17This report concerning Him went out all over Judea and in all the surrounding district.”

            MacArthur writes “Without question, Jesus Christ is the most well-known person in human history.  All the world’s major civilizations know something of Him; only isolated people groups and individuals are unaware of Him.  But paradoxically, while Jesus is history’s most well-known figure, He is at the same time its least known.  For while most are familiar with His name and some of the facts of His life and His influence through history, few understand who He truly is.  Opinions concerning Jesus Christ are diverse, and wrong views about Him abound.  Islam views Him as simply a prophet, who in fact did not die on the cross; in the Mormon pantheon Jesus is a created being, the spirit brother of Satan; to the Jehovah’s Witnesses He is Michael the archangel incarnate; blasphemous rock musicals portray Him as a countercultural hero, but just a man; pseudo-scholars reinvent Him as a cynical philosopher, social critic, politically correct sage, liberator of the oppressed, and misguided martyr.  The list of errant views goes on ad infinitum, ad nauseam.

            “But while there are a myriad of satanically-spawned false views of Jesus, there is only one correct one revealed in Scripture.  Peter articulated it when he declared, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God’ (Matt. 16:16), and Thomas affirmed it when he exclaimed, ‘My Lord and my God!’ (John 20:28).  Jesus Christ is God the Son, the second person of the Trinity incarnate, and for those who reject that truth there can be no salvation.  As Jesus solemnly warned the scoffing, unbelieving Jews, ‘Unless you believe that I am He [God; cf. Ex 3:14], you will die in your sins’ (John 8:24; cf. v. 58; 10:30-33).”

(Ex 3:14)

“14  God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’"

(John 8:24; cf. v. 58; 10:30-33)

“24  I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins."

“58  Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”

“30  I and the Father are one." 31  The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. 32  Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” 33  The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.”

“Those who preach a false Christ (2 Cor. 11:4) are cursed; devoted to eternal destruction in hell (1 Cor. 16:22; Gal. 1:8-9).  The deity of the Lord Jesus Christ is the foundational truth of the Christian faith.”

(2 Cor. 11:4)

“4  For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.”

(1 Cor. 16:22; Gal. 1:8-9)

“22  If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come!”

“8  But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. 9  As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.”

            “While ‘no one has seen God at any time’ Jesus Christ, ‘the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him’ (John 1:18).  ‘Explained’ translates a form of the verb exegeomai, the source of the English word ‘exegesis’ (the method and practice of interpreting Scripture).  Only Jesus can interpret God to man, since ‘no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him’ (Matt 11:27).  When even His disciples failed to grasp that truth, Jesus rebuked them for their obtuseness:

“7 If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him. 8 Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”
9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? The one who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” (John 14:7-9)

            “As noted in chapter 9 of this volume, as Luke unfolds the history of Jesus’ life and ministry, he (like the other gospel writers) continually demonstrates His deity and absolute equality of nature with God.  This passage is one of many occasions when Jesus manifested His deity—this time by raising a young man from the dead.  The passage reveals three implicit evidences of Christ’s deity, followed by one explicit and undeniable one, and concludes by reporting the response of those who witnessed the miracle.”

8/13/2026 9:58 PM

 

 

 

 

 

 

“His Great Trust” (Luke 7:7b-10)

 

MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/13/2026 10:26 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                   Focus:  “His Great Trust”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                 Reference:  Luke 7:7b-10

            Message of the verses:  “but just say the word, and my servant will be healed.  For I also am a man placed under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” now when Jesus heard this, He marveled at him, and turned and said to the crowd that was following Him, “I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith.”  When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.”

            Now instead of having Jesus enter his house, the centurion proposed that He just say the word, and his servant would be healed.  He was absolutely confident that the Lord Jesus Christ spoke with divine power and authority, as the illustration he gave reveals:  For I also am a man placed under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come! And he comes, and to my slave ‘Do this!’ and he does it.’  As a military commander, the centurion was under the authority of his superior officers and used to obeying their orders, and he also knew what it meant to give orders to the soldier serving under him, as well as his slave, and have them obeyed.  He understood that Jesus had that same authority over life and death.

            Now when Jesus heard this remarkable expression of the centurion’s humble faith, He marveled at him.  MacArthur writes “Here is a glimpse of Jesus’ true humanity, since as God He is omniscient and cannot be surprised by anything.  But just as in His humanity He became tired (John 4:6), hungry (Matt. 4:2), and thirsty (John 19:28; cf. 4:7), so also could He be astonished at the faith displayed by this Roman soldier.

            “Hearing the centurion’s words, Jesus turned and said to the crowd that was following Him, ‘I say to You, not even in Israel have I found such great faith.’  On the one hand, the Lord’s statement affirmed the centurion’s great faith.  But on the other hand, the sad reality that not even in Israel could the Messiah find that kind of faith was an indictment of God’s chosen people. Matthew records that the Lord added the sobering warning, ‘I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth’ (Matt. 8:11-12).  Trusting in their self-righteousness and external ceremonialism, the Jewish people lacked genuine, saving faith.  Even Christ’s disciples possessed only weak, ‘little’ faith (Matt. 6:30; 8:26; 14:31; 16:8).”

(Matt. 6:30; 8:26; 14:31; 16:8)

“30  But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?”

“26  And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.”

“31  Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’”

“8  But Jesus, aware of this, said, "O you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread?”

“That a Gentile set the example for genuine faith, was a rebuke of the Jewish people, who had missed the truth in spite of all their privileges (Rom. 9:4-5).”

(Rom. 9:4-5)

“4  They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. 5  To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.”

“As the apostle Paul would later write, ‘For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge.  For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God’ (Rom. 10:2-3).

            “The epilogue to the story provides a fitting tribute to the centurion’s remarkable faith.  Matthew noted that, compelled by his desperate, loving concern for his slave, he eventually could not stand to wait any longer.  His great love overcame his sense of unworthiness, and he went out to meet Jesus.  He reaffirmed in person the message he had sent through his friends that he was unworthy to have Jesus enter his house, and his belief that the Lord could heal his servant by merely speaking a word.  Whether he returned with those who had been sent or remained with Jesus is not stated.  But when his friends returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.  The Lord had honored the unusual faith of the man by granting his request.”

Spiritual Meaning for my life today:  Faith is a matter of trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ to do what He knows is best at any given time in my life.  I knew that if the Lord desired to cure the cancer in my wife’s body that He was perfectly able to do it, but He chose not to, and now she is in heaven with the Lord, which was best for her.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trusting that the Lord will guide me into what He desires me to do for the cause of Christ, and to certainly aid me in getting over the mourning period one day at a time.

8/13/2026 11:04 AM

 

“His Great Humility” (Luke 7:6-7a)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/12/2026 9:36 PM

My Worship Time                                                                             Focus: “His Great Humility”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                    Reference:  Luke 7:6-7a

            Message of the verses: “Now Jesus started on His way with them; and when He was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to Him, ‘Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not worthy for You to come under my roof; for this reason I did not even consider myself worthy to come to You,”

            “One of the marks of a genuine disciple of Jesus Christ is the acknowledgment of spiritual bankruptcy (6:20) and accompanying humility that the centurion displayed.  His view of himself was radically different from that of the Jewish elders.  After agreeing to heal the centurion’s servant (Matt. 8:7), Jesus started on His way with the elders and a large crowd of curious onlookers, eager to see yet another miracle (Luke 7:9).  When they were not far from the house, the centurions sent word for the Lord to come no nearer.

            “His desperation had prompted his emotional request for Jesus to come and heal his slave.  But he had become increasingly convicted of his utter sinful and felt unworthy to have Jesus enter his house.  Unlike the proud, self-righteous Jewish elders, he was too ashamed of himself and his sinfulness to be in Jesus’ presence.  His attitude is reminiscent of Peter, who exclaimed, ‘Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!’  (Luke 5:8), and the tax collector, who ‘was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’’(Luk3 18:13).

            “Accordingly, the centurion sent a second delegation to Jesus, this one consisting of his friends, saying to Him through them, “Lord, do not trouble Yourself further.  Skullo (trouble) means, ‘to be bothered,’ ‘annoyed,’ or ‘agitated.’  He understood that his sin was an affront to Jesus’ holiness, but did not yet fully understand His provision of grace and mercy.  All he knew was that he was not worthy for the Lord to come under his roof.  In fact, it was because of his sense of sinfulness and unworthiness that he did not even consider himself worthy to come to Jesus in the first place.  He was a true penitent, with a broken and contrite heart that the Lord would not despise (Ps. 51:17).”  “17  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”

8/12/2026 9:54 PM

           

“His Great Generosity” (Luke 7:5b)

 

MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/12/2026 9:25 AM

My Worship Time                                                                         Focus:  “His Great Generosity”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                       Reference:  Luke 7:5b

            Message of the verse:  “and it was he who built us our synagogue.”

            This will be another shorter SD than many that I have been posting lately, as Luke continues to talk about this centurion’s greatness.

            The centurion’s love was not mere abstract sentimentality; he expressed it practically by building  the Jews of Capernaum a synagogue. MacArthur adds “The use of the pronoun autos, in addition to the third person singular verb translated built, emphasizes the centurion’s personal role.  The Jewish elders gave him sole credit for building their synagogue.  Centurions were well paid, earning between 3,750 and 7,500 denarii, in contrast to the lowest paid soldiers, who warned a mere 75 denarii (Darrel. L. Bock, Luke 1:1-9:50, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament [Grand Rapids: Baker, 1994], 635), so he was able to finance the construction.

            “The primary function of the synagogue was to teach the word of God, and his building of the synagogue reflected  the centurion’s love for the truth.  Like Cornelius (Acts 10:1-2), he was a true God-fearer.  Somehow, despite the generally apostate condition of the Judaism of his day (cf. Matt. 23:13, 15; Rom. 2:24), the centurion had heard and believed the truth that Jesus Christ was the Messiah, Savior, and Lord.”  No in conclusion to this SD I will quote in order the verses mentioned above in this paragraph.

(Acts 10:1-2)

“1 ¶  At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort, 2  a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God.”

(cf. Matt. 23:13, 15; Rom. 2:24)

“13 ¶  "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.”

“15  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.”

“24  For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.’”

Spiritual Meaning for my life today:  It is the best to be listening to the Holy Spirit in order to do the things that He desires you to do in order to show your generosity to others.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trusting the Lord to continue to deal with this great grief that I am going through after the death of my wife two weeks ago today.

8/12/2026 9:45 AM

 

 

“The Great Love” (Luke 7:2a-5a)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/11/2026 9:13 PM

My Worship Time                                                                                  Focus:  “The Great Love”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                               Reference:  (Luke 7:2a-5a)

            Message of the verses:  “a centurion’s slave, who was highly regarded by him, was sick and about to die.  When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders asking Him to come and save the life of his slave.  When they came to Jesus, they earnestly implored Him, saying, “He is worthy for You to grant this to him; fore he loves our nation.”

            The centurion’s love can be seen first in his attitude toward his slave, for after listening to MacArthur’s sermon on this section he mentions that many owners would just kill their slaves if they were sick. The word for slave is Doulos, is a specific term describing a person purchased, owned, and completely subject to the will and control of his master.  The centurion also referred to his slave using the term pais (v. 7) which, though often used of slaves (cf. 1:54, 69; 15:26; Matt. 14:2), literally means, ‘child,’ or ‘son.’  In the context of this story, the term suggests the great affection the centurion had for his slave.  The use of pais may also mean that the slave was a young boy.  Entimos (highly regarded), is also used to refer to a distinguished guest at a banquet (Luke 14:8).  In Philippians 2:29 Paul used it to described Epaphroditus and other men who were to be honored in the church, while Peter used it to describe the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:4,6).  It signifies that the centurion had an extraordinary level of affection for his slave, something that has been made clear in these verses that speak about him.

            I have mentioned that the centurion’s love for his slave was a marked contrast to the typical view of slaves, and the reason that this true is because slaves were not though of a real human beings.  Another thing that many times happened to young boy slaves had to do with sexual abuse.

            Now because of his affection for his slave, the centurion was deeply concerned about him when he was sick and about to die.  Luke did not describe his disease or symptoms, but Matthew noted that the young man was paralyzed and in severe pain (Matt. 8:6).

            MacArthur writes “The centurion’s compassion drove him in desperation to seek the Lord’s help.  He had heard much about Jesus, who had moved from Nazareth to Capernaum (Matt. 4:13) and was very well-known in that region (Luke 4:14, 37; Matt. 4:23-25).  Somewhere along the way, he had heard more than the usual superficial talk about Jesus’ miracles.  As the story unfolds, it becomes clear that he knew enough about Jesus to recognize who He really was.

            “Believing that he was not worthy to go to Jesus personally (see the discussion of his humility below), the centurion sent some Jewish elders asking Him to come and save the life of his slave.  That these leaders in the Jewish community would consent to do so for a Gentile soldier is amazing, and demonstrate es the high regard they had for him.  In contrast to the centurion’s humble sense of unworthiness they, in keeping with their works-righteous religious system, touted his worthiness.  When they came to Jesus, they earnestly implored Him, saying, ‘He is worthy for You to grant this to him.’’  His personal merit, they argued, obligated Jesus to help him—just as in their religious system their self-righteousness obligated God to save them.  

            “The reason the centurion was worthy, they told Jesus, was that he loves our nation.  Though not meritorious in the sense of obligating God to do anything for him, the centurion’s love for God’s people was both surprising and commendable.  Jews and Gentiles usually hated and despised each other. ‘Anti-semitism is not a new thing,’ writes William Barclay.  ‘The Romans called the Jews a filthy race; they spoke of Judaism as a barbarous superstition; they spoke of the Jewish hatred of humankind; a barbarous superstition; they spoke of the Jewish hatred of humankind; they accused the Jews of worshipping an ass’s head and annually sacrificing a Gentile stranger to their God’ (The Gospel of Luke, The New Daily Study Bible [Louisville; Westminster John Knox 2002], 101).  For their part, the Jews refused to associate with Gentiles (cf. Acts 10:25-28; 11:2-3; Gal. 2:11-13). But this centurion overcame those prejudices, recognized the Jews as God’s chosen people, and loved them.”

8/11/2026 9:53 PM