Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Strange Affiliation
Luke 6:
3. And when he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders asking Him to come and save the life of his slave4. And when they had come to Jesus, they earnestly entreated Him, saying, "He is worthy for You to grant this to him; 5. for he loves our nation, and it was he who built us our synagogue."
When we look into Luke’s account we find a strange affiliation between Jewish elders and a Roman official. It would seem uncanny for such fellowship to transpire at this day and age of foreign occupation. We gain insight into this relationship when the Jewish elders ask Him to come and save the life of the Roman centurion’s slave. The Jewish elders come up to Jesus and they earnestly entreated Him by saying, “He is worthy for You to grant this request to him; for he loves our nation, and it was he who built us our synagogue.” Rome encouraged the building of these structures to keep the peace in the community. They referred to these Jewish buildings as the opiate of the Jews. But, there is more in this passage that leads us to the understanding of the religion of this centurion. The Jewish elders consider him worthy trading on Jesus’ own Jewish roots. Hendriksen brings up a good point in that we see in this a hint of human merit proclaimed by the Jewish elders.
This encounter transpires, not in Jerusalem but farther north in Galilee where we find the Roman and Jewish affiliation in harmony. The Jewish elders are pleading this centurion’s case before Jesus that He grants this request to save the life of his slave.
Much more than a simple construction project that this centurion financed is unfolded in these words. We see a strong bond as they plead, “For he loves our nation, and it was he who built us our synagogue.” It is apparent that this Roman has forsaken his polytheism for the monotheism of the Jewish nation. He would have to understand that there would be no mixing of Jew and Gentile within these holy places once the construction was completed. He would have to be under the direction of the Jews to accurately construct such a place laid out by Levitical Law. It well could have been that he was enlightened through this project on the holiness of this Jewish God unlike anything he had ever encountered. Most of those sitting in churches today haven’t a clue as to who they are with respect to God’s holiness but this Roman centurion understands his position in the larger sense than a superior of men.
3. And when he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders asking Him to come and save the life of his slave4. And when they had come to Jesus, they earnestly entreated Him, saying, "He is worthy for You to grant this to him; 5. for he loves our nation, and it was he who built us our synagogue."
When we look into Luke’s account we find a strange affiliation between Jewish elders and a Roman official. It would seem uncanny for such fellowship to transpire at this day and age of foreign occupation. We gain insight into this relationship when the Jewish elders ask Him to come and save the life of the Roman centurion’s slave. The Jewish elders come up to Jesus and they earnestly entreated Him by saying, “He is worthy for You to grant this request to him; for he loves our nation, and it was he who built us our synagogue.” Rome encouraged the building of these structures to keep the peace in the community. They referred to these Jewish buildings as the opiate of the Jews. But, there is more in this passage that leads us to the understanding of the religion of this centurion. The Jewish elders consider him worthy trading on Jesus’ own Jewish roots. Hendriksen brings up a good point in that we see in this a hint of human merit proclaimed by the Jewish elders.
This encounter transpires, not in Jerusalem but farther north in Galilee where we find the Roman and Jewish affiliation in harmony. The Jewish elders are pleading this centurion’s case before Jesus that He grants this request to save the life of his slave.
Much more than a simple construction project that this centurion financed is unfolded in these words. We see a strong bond as they plead, “For he loves our nation, and it was he who built us our synagogue.” It is apparent that this Roman has forsaken his polytheism for the monotheism of the Jewish nation. He would have to understand that there would be no mixing of Jew and Gentile within these holy places once the construction was completed. He would have to be under the direction of the Jews to accurately construct such a place laid out by Levitical Law. It well could have been that he was enlightened through this project on the holiness of this Jewish God unlike anything he had ever encountered. Most of those sitting in churches today haven’t a clue as to who they are with respect to God’s holiness but this Roman centurion understands his position in the larger sense than a superior of men.
# posted by Castusfumus : 6:27 PM
