May 21, 2024 Devo

The Roman officer’s response to Jesus was an honest one. “I am not worthy.” It was humble and accurate. He wasn’t worthy. He was a sinner. He was a part of a pagan culture. He wasn’t worthy of the Son of God even having a conversation with him, much less having Him come to his home. “I am not worthy.” There was not a truer phrase spoken by a human being since Adam and Eve fell in the Garden. He WASN’T worthy. No one is.
Now, let me rock your world. Though he felt his own sense of shame and fallenness, He WAS worthy. He was worthy because Jesus CHOSE him. He was worthy because, though he was a sinner, he was no more a sinner than anyone that Christ had come to bestow grace and mercy upon. He was worthy, not because of any righteous act he performed or any pious posture he maintained, but because The One who had created him had now come to restore him. He was worthy because Christ put upon him a value that was beyond anything this world could take away. The pathetic, sinful, repulsive Roman soldier was worth dying for.
There’s a part of believing ourselves to not be worthy that keeps us humble and grateful. But it’s also a great danger. Because it misses the Big Picture of the plan of God. Though undeserving of any of the good gifts of God, He has, in His Wisdom, bestowed upon us Great Worth. To miss that is to undermine the value He has put upon each of us.
You are worthy. You are worthy because you are created in the image of God. You are worthy because even though you may only see your past and your pain and your sin, God sees your redemption, your future, and your potential. You are worthy because though you may only see yourself as a lump of worthless flesh, God sees the richness of the Spirit that He has breathed into you. Christ came from heaven to earth to declare the pricelessness of each person. That we are worthy of His love, worthy of His grace, and worthy of His precious, divine life. You, my friend, are worth dying for. Underserving? Absolutely. But make no mistake, Jesus believes you are worthy. That’s God’s Word for you today.