Worthy (Friday Devotional)

A centurion there had a slave whom he valued highly and who was ill and close to death. When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave. When they came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy to have you do this for him, for he loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us.” And Jesus went with them, but when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; therefore I did not presume to come to you. But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed.”

- Luke 7:2-7

The other day, my son Andrew was sorting through his baseball cards and asked me a question: which did I think was worth the most? His suspicion was that a Ken Griffey Jr. rookie card was the answer, but I thought it was a Sandy Koufax card from the 1960s. We argued pleasantly back and forth and eventually the conversation ended without the perfunctory Google search to see who was right. Even as I write this, I still don’t know which card is worth more.

The gospels tell a story where worthiness—not of cards, but of people—seems to carry a lot of weight. In Luke’s account, an influential Roman officer’s slave is so sick he is near death. Hoping Jesus will be able to heal his slave, the officer sends Jewish delegates to the Lord to ask for help. When they do so, they are quick to explain to Jesus that the centurion is “worthy to have you do this for him,” pointing out that he is a friend to the Jewish people and helped with the construction of their synagogue.

When Jesus arrives at the house, however, the Roman officer sends friends out to meet him with a different message: “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof.” He had never intended for Jesus to come to his home, for he trusts that with but a word Jesus can heal his servant. And Jesus, amazed by his faith, does just that.

I think this man’s perspective is enlightening. By all the world’s standards, he is the picture of success: wealthy, powerful, and respected in the community. Indeed, he says, “I also 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 slave, ‘Do this,’ and the slave does it.” Yet when faced with a situation he can’t control, he understands what others do not: none of his power or influence makes him worthy of a miracle. Ultimately, Jesus alone is worthy.

That kind of humility and faith is worthy—pun intended—of emulation today. It’s easy to get caught up in society’s markers of success, always trying to climb the next rung up the ladder. Like Andrew with his baseball cards, we want to know what we’re worth.

But the Bible reminds us that our ultimate worth is not found in what we build or buy, but in our relationship with Christ. It is in him that we live and move and have our being, and it is through him that we receive salvation and life with God. Don’t look for worthiness where others do—find it in the presence of Savior.