“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