Daily Bible Reading 10th June 2026 // Luke 7:1-10
1 After he had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. 2 Now a centurion had a servant who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. 3 When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant. 4 And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy to have you do this for him, 5 for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us our synagogue.” 6 And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. 7 Therefore I did not presume to come to you. But say the word, and let my servant be healed. 8 For I too am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, ‘Go’, and he goes; and to another, ‘Come’, and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this’, and he does it.” 9 When Jesus heard these things, he marvelled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” 10 And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well.
Sometimes people say they do not wish to have anything to do with doctrine and theology, that it obscures and makes difficult what is essentially simple, and that what is needed is a straightforward, uncomplicated expression of faith such as we have in this story. But, simple as it sounds, there is a whole theology involved in it, and this requires to be made clear. When it is, the meaning of true faith, and the nature of our Lord's saving work, and the secret of victory in the Christian life will become clear also. Theology and doctrine are inevitably involved in a true understanding of the gospel and of faith, and right interpretation - which is simply another name for theology - is essential. To speak of a simple, untheological approach is in fact to put a wrong interpretation upon it, and will therefore lead us astray.
There are three points in particular to be underlined, which together gather up the message of the passage. The first relates to the centurion himself. The man was a Gentile, a stranger to the covenant of promise. Yet Christ said of him that he had not found so great faith, no not in Israel. It is impressive to realise that something good is said about practically every centurion in the New Testament. This should teach us to beware of too rigid an assessment of where to expect to find true believers. God has His folk in some strange and unexpected places! Consider the testimony of the Jews concerning him: 'He is worthy for whom Thou shouldst do this'. He was a good man. He must have been a good man for Jews to speak well of a Gentile! He was full of good works, but it was not his works that earned him the attention of Jesus, and he was not helped because he was worthy. In this connection, it is interesting to compare the Jews' estimate of him with his own. 'He is worthy', they said. 'I am not worthy', he said. It was not the fact that he was worthy, but the fact that he had faith that brought the help of Jesus.