Daily Bible Reading 13th 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.
The second point is even more fundamental, if that were possible: he believed Christ's word was with power because He was One, like himself, who was under authority. 'I also', he said. That 'also' is the heart of all. With the eye of faith he saw that Christ was precisely in the same position as himself. In effect, he was saying to Jesus, greatly daring, 'You and I are the same: we are both alike in this: I am under authority, as a soldier; and You are under authority'. This is what the man perceived about Christ. Now, the centurion was under the authority of the Roman prince, Antipas; and it was because he had been, as a soldier, obedient to higher authority, that eventually authority had been vested in him, and he had become a centurion, with soldiers under him. And just as he had obeyed unquestioningly the orders he had received from above, so now he could expect his orders to be obeyed. He could say to his soldiers, 'Come' and 'Go', and it would be done. And, knowing how it was with himself, he felt he knew how it would be with Christ. And he was right! This is what so impressed Jesus, for the man had in fact penetrated the very depth and heart of the mystery of His Person and of His coming, and had grasped the real meaning of His Incarnation and of His saving work. For Christ also had received orders from above, and had utterly submitted in obedience to them - obedient unto death, even the death of the cross; and for this reason, authority had been vested in Him, whereby He could say to disease, 'Be gone' and it would go, in obedience to His word. This was Christ's authority, and the man saw how and why it was, saw Christ's 'secret'. Well might Jesus marvel, when He saw how clearly the man had perceived Who He was and what He came to do!