One of the primary ways we learn is by watching what someone does. In his introduction, Luke writes: “I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven.” We learn from what Jesus said and from the things he did.Jesus’ life was filled with mercy. Mercy is that ability to empathize and engage in compassionate acts with those who are suffering distress, pain, and troubles. It results in a concern and kindness to people who are often overlooked—even those we may not like!Let’s look at two times that are important examples of Jesus showing mercy. In Luke 7, Jesus heals a centurion’s servant and then raises a widow’s only son from the dead. From what Jesus did we learn some principles that we should apply in our lives.In the first example a non-Jew asked for healing for his slave who was sick and near death. He was a Gentile and a centurion, but he believed in God and supported the local synagogue. However, he had not become a proselyte—fully converted to Judaism. He sent some of the leaders of the Jewish synagogue there in Capernaum to ask Jesus to heal his salve for whom he dearly cared. So Jesus went, but along the way the centurion sent a message stating that Jesus did not need to come into his house. Knowing that entering the house of a Gentile would make Jesus unclean, he believed that Jesus could heal his servant from where he was.This was remarkable as the centurion recognized that Jesus had power and authority not only to heal but to heal from a distance! This seems to be the first time Jesus did heal without being present with the person. So how would this a Gentile know that Jesus had this power? Jesus marveled and stated that no one in Israel had made such a bold confession of faith. The slave was healed.Then Jesus went to Nain, a small village. Upon arriving there was a funeral procession coming out of the village to bury the son of a widow. Jesus saw the plight of this woman and had compassion. He raised this young man from the dead.We are to learn some important principles for our lives from these two instances of Jesus’ mercy. First, from the centurion, was that Jesus heals across distance. Just as Jonah could ...
