The last few weeks, we've been working our way through what is possibly Jesus' second most famous sermon of all time, which in Luke is usually called "The Sermon on the Plain." This message, is one that Jesus gave to his disciples (Luke 6:17-20, verse 20 in particular). They are words for people who have chosen to follow Jesus. But, at the same time, Jesus speaks these words in the hearing of the crowds (and the Sermon on the Mount works the same way). So what Jesus is doing, is letting his disciples know how life works in this new kingdom of God, that Jesus is bringing. God has expectations for how his people will live, and there are consequences, good and bad, that depend on if we follow those expectations.
And much of what God expects, is that we live like him.
God is good, and kind, and merciful, to all people, regardless of whether or not they are grateful, or whether or not they live rightly (Luke 6:35). And God expects his people to look and act like him. If we were going to bring in Genesis 1 ("Page 1" of the Bible to use Tim Mackie's language) at this point, we'd say that this is part of how we "image" God on earth (Luke 6:35-36). God expects us to love all people, to do good to them, to lend our money, and to be merciful. God expects us to show grace.
So all of us, who are Jesus' disciples, hear these words and find ourselves struggling with this high calling. I'm perfectly willing to lend money to my friends, but less willing to lend money to people I'm not close to. I'm willing to love my friends, but less willing to love my enemies. I'm willing to show mercy to my friends when they hurt me or wrong me, but less willing to show mercy to my enemies. We read Jesus' words, and there's nothing abstract or complicated about them, really. There have been people in my life I've really struggled with, who have hurt me, and wronged me, and who I want nothing to do with. If that person needed my help, I'd be tempted to use that as an opportunity to mock them, or teach them about the importance of being nice. If that person wrongs me in a way that I can use against them, I'd be tempted to harm them. But Jesus says, "No. Be like your Father in heaven."
And so, this is a tough sermon. Jesus addresses his disciples directly, but he does so in a way that invites everyone to consider whether or not they want in. Lots of people are at the edges of Jesus' ministry. Lots of people are drawn close enough to him, that they find themselves starting to wrestle with what he says, and with whether or not they want to enter God's kingdom. Is this the kind of kingdom, you want to be a citizen of?
Our passage today, Luke 7, begins with Jesus wrapping up his sermon. And what we will see, in today's verses, is a few things. We will see that Jesus lives his words. We will see that Jesus is a good tree, who bears good fruit. We will see Jesus giving freely, and loving people who do nothing for him. We will Jesus showing mercy, just as his Father, and ours, shows mercy. And we will perhaps learn a thing or two about faith, along the way.
Let's read verses 1-5:
(1) After he finished/completed all his words in the hearing of the people, he entered into Capernaum.
(2) Now, a certain slave of a centurion, having sickness, was about to die,
who was by him (by the centurion) esteemed/honored/valued.
(3) Now, hearing about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews,
asking him that he, coming, would bring his slave safely through [the sickness].
Roman soldiers, as a whole, were not well-liked by good Jews. They were the occupiers. They were the illegitimate rulers of the land. They were idol-worshippers, who were outside of God's covenant people.
But this centurion is quite the exception to the rule. Right? This centurion is a model Gentile. He is a good master to his slave. He cares about him, values him, doesn't treat him as property. He doesn't want his servant to die, but the situation is hopeless.
Now, sometimes you can just tell that someone is going to die. You can see them slipping away, and you know it's just a matter of time. You know it's time to gather the family, and say goodbye.
But the centurion knows that there's no reason to simply accept death. Not today. He hears about this Jesus person, that Jesus has healed all sorts of people. He "hears" the good news about Jesus, and he's open to Jesus.
And so what does he do? The centurion knows that he is a Roman soldier, and that Jesus is a Jew. He knows that Jews view Gentiles as unclean. He knows that Jewish customs forbid Jews from associating with Gentiles (Acts 10:28).
And, in ways that surprise us maybe, the Gentile respects all of that. He's not offended, apparently. Instead, he respects Jewish customs and views, and works with them.
Now, if we stop to think about that, it should surprise us. In the early days of Covid, I dropped off a box at someone's house-- they'd bought something, and I brought it to them. That person stayed inside their glass door until I left, and before they touched that box, they sprayed it with Lysol disinfectant.
Am I leper? Do I have Ebola?
She treated me as unclean, and I wasn't exactly sure how to take it. I was half-amused, and half-offended. I accepted it, worked with it. But it didn't put in a very good frame of mind toward her, overall.
But this centurion works with Jewish customs, and accepts them. And this should make us think even more highly of the centurion.
And so what he does, instead of going to Jesus himself, is ask some Jewish elders from Capernaum to go to
Jesus, and ask for help on his behalf.
[The alternative way of understanding this, is that the centurion suspects that Jesus will be more open to the Jewish elders than to himself, and so he asks them to do him a favor. Kind of like how when my brother and I wanted something from my parents as a kid, we knew the best approach was to send the lastborn, baby sister. I really wrestled with this, but the text at this point doesn't really answer our question, "Why doesn't the centurion just go to Jesus?" We get our answer in a few verses, and it has to do with unworthiness. Really, I think the best answer to this question harmonizes the two. The man views himself as unworthy, in part because he's a Gentile. And in favor of this, I think it's important that Luke describes them as "Jewish" elders].
Verse 4-5:
(4) Now, they, arriving to Jesus, they were exhorting him diligently/earnestly, saying that
"Worthy, this one is, for whom you would grant this.
(5) For he loves our nation/people,
and the synagogue, he himself built for us."
So the centurion goes to the Jewish elders for this favor, and the elders are eager to help him. Which, again, should surprise us. Do we expect Jews to happily go out of their way to help a Gentile? Do we expect them to really plead hard, and earnestly, for Jesus to help?
Maybe.
But this centurion is no ordinary Gentile. In the words of the elders, he is "worthy" to receive help.
We all have people in our lives that we are happy to help, whenever they need a favor. We will go way out of way, for family, some close friends. We will do smaller favors for some people. We will grudgingly help others, if we have the time.
This centurion is the kind of person who you always help. And the elders describe why he's worthy in two ways. First, "he loves our people." And second, he built their synagogue for them.
Now, let's pause here for a second. Imagine that we were the Jewish elders, asking a favor of Jesus. What we would appeal to?
My guess, is that we would never, in a million years, tie our request to the centurion's loving Israel and building a synagogue. We have a very different perspective.
What we want to know here, and what we'd base our appeal on, is how the centurion feels about God, and idols. We want to know if he worships the one true God. We want to know if he puts his trust/faith in God.
Luke is actually telling us what we want to know here, but it's hard for us to see it.
You can tell that this Gentile fears God, and walks rightly with God, by how he lives. He loves God's people. And he puts his wallet where his heart is. His checking account shows his faith.
Now, if we take a step back, and look at Luke-Acts as one whole, undivided work, this centurion is a representative of a group of people called "God-fearers." This group has turned from idols to God. They are committed to God-- they pray to God, they are involved in the synagogue. The one thing they haven't done, is get circumcised. Technically, they are still Gentiles. But they are a people who are very close to God, and to God's people. Let's cheat way ahead to Acts 10:34-35 (NLT does a nice job here):
34 Then Peter replied, “I see very clearly that God shows no favoritism. 35 In every nation he accepts those who fear him and do what is right.
This centurion is the kind of person that God accepts. He fears God, and he does what's right. And the Jewish elders recognize this.
Before we move on, just notice the focus on the key word here, "worthy." This is a word you can underline in your Bibles. Know that this is a man who is worthy of Jesus' help. (#baiting)
Now, our story at this point has a (narrative) gap (Luke, as a good story teller, doesn't feel the need to include every detail). But Jesus apparently says "yes." Jesus has just taught his disciples to give to the one who asks (Luke 6:30), and Jesus will give. Verse 6:
(6) Now, Jesus was going with them.
Now, by this time, no longer being far away from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to him,
"Lord/sir, don't be troubled/bothered.
For adequate/sufficient/suitable, I am not,
that under my roof you should enter.
(7) For this reason also, myself, I didn't consider worthy to you to come, ("myself" is focused)
but speak the word,
and may my servant be healed.
(8) For I also, a man, I am,
under authority being placed,
having under me soldiers,
and I say to this one, "Go!," and he goes,
to another one, "Come!," and he comes,
and to my slave, "Do this," and he does [it].
So Jesus says "yes," and he's on his way to the centurion, only to be met by some of the centurion's friends. The centurion wants to change up the plan.
Why?
We find ourselves thinking about the theme of hospitality again. The centurion would like to have Jesus come to his house. That would be a great honor and privilege for him. But he's not worthy to have Jesus under his roof. [And probably, he's trying to respect what he knows about Jews and Gentiles. A Jew would be defiled, by entering his house, and he really doesn't want to do that to Jesus.] And this sense of unworthiness, we now find out, is also why the centurion didn't approach Jesus directly. The centurion doesn't view himself as anything, when it comes to Jesus. So the Jewish elders might think the centurion is worthy of a favor, but the centurion himself as a very low, humble opinion of himself.
And so what the centurion proposes, instead, is something far more simple. He believes that all Jesus has to do, to heal his servant, is speak.
What gives him this type of faith?
Well, based on verse 3, it's partly it's based on what he's heard about Jesus. When you hear stories about the healing that God is giving through people anointed by the Holy Spirit (Luke 4:18), the natural response is faith. If this is time of God's visiting the earth, if this is the year of God's acceptance, if this is the time when God is setting people free, then why not me? Why not a centurion's servant?
The other part of what gives the centurion this type of faith is his own background as a soldier. Let me read you something from one of my commentators, Allison Trites (Luke, Acts, Cornerstone Biblical Commentary, 118). He says this so well, I'm just going to quote him:
"The centurion’s military experience in the forces controlled by Herod Antipas served as a stepping-stone to faith and taught him about the chain of command. He reasoned that, just as he gave orders to those under his command, so Jesus could exercise authority in the spiritual sphere to the forces under his command. Just as the military man acknowledged that he was subject to his commanding officer, so he perceived that Jesus, in truth, was acting in true submission to his commander (that is, God) and could exercise his commission accordingly. The Gentile officer perceived that God was at work in Jesus, bringing in his divine Kingdom and exercising powerful works of healing and benevolence. No wonder Jesus commended him!"
Verse 9:
(9) Now, hearing these things, Jesus marveled at him,
and turning to the crowd following him, he said,
"I tell you, not even in Israel such great faith I have found," ["such great faith" is focused]
(10) and returning to the house, the sent ones found the slave whole/healthy,
Notice how the story ends. Are we told what Jesus said, to heal the sick servant? The actual healing of the servant isn't the focus. What's focused, is the centurion's faith.
Now, what is faith here?
I grew up viewing faith in a very narrow way. "Faith" was about trusting in the basic truths of what I called "the gospel." I had faith that Jesus came to earth, died, was raised, and went up to heaven. I had faith that Jesus died for my sins, and that God forgave me through Jesus. I had faith that I was part of God's people. I had made the commitment to Jesus as Lord and Master, and I knew that was part of faith, as well. Faith includes the idea of allegiance (although I wouldn't have put it quite so neatly right away).
If you drew a circle around all of that, that's how I defined "faith."
Now, that circle works great if we stick to books like Ephesians, and Galatians, and bits and pieces of Romans. But when we turn to Luke, my old understanding proves to be really inadequate.
What is faith here?
Faith begins in this story, by hearing the good news about Jesus.
Now, I say this, and it sounds conveniently evangelical. What could be safer to talk about, as a teacher, than someone hearing the good news about Jesus and responding in faith? Right?
But let me mess with you, by reminding you who this good news is for in Luke.
Let's start with Mary's words, in Luke 1:54-55 (RSV for a reason):
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
55 as he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his posterity for ever.”
Who is God helping?
Now let's hop down to Zechariah's words, in Luke 1:68-79. As I read, notice how much of the focus is on Israel:
“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for he has visited and redeemed his people,
69 and has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David,
70 as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
71 that we should be saved from our enemies,
and from the hand of all who hate us;
72 to perform the mercy promised to our fathers,
and to remember his holy covenant,
73 the oath which he swore to our father Abraham, 74 to grant us
that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
might serve him without fear,
75 in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life.
76 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people
in the forgiveness of their sins,
78 through the tender mercy of our God,
when the day shall dawn upon[f] us from on high
79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
The book of Luke begins with prophetic, Spirit-filled words describing the coming of salvation to Israel. To God's people. The good news, is that God is keeping the promise he made to Abraham, by sending a Davidic messiah, and that God will rescue his people Israel from all of their enemies.
Is this good news for the Roman centurion?
Again, the centurion is in this kind of awkward middle ground. He is what Acts will call a "God-fearer." He loves God's people. He gives alms. He shows his faith in God. And he's open to Jesus, in a way that many Israelites haven't been up to this point.
My guess is that the centurion isn't quite sure what Jesus will think of him, or his request. He knows he's not worthy. He knows that he's not the focus of this good news. But his faith continues, by daring to think that what God was doing for his people Israel, He will also do for an Gentile. And Jesus says "yes." Jesus gives to the one who asks. And Jesus doesn't seem too concerned about being defiled by this Gentile. He's willing to meet with him. He's willing to enter his house (unlike Peter, Acts 10). He doesn't seem to think that Gentiles are unclean (unlike Peter), off-limits, or that God's salvation is only for Jews. Jesus doesn't think that Gentiles are a waste of time.
After 2,000 years of church history, this doesn't probably doesn't strike us as very significant. But when the good news about Jesus opens up to deliberately, fully, include Gentiles, it's stories like this one that show that us being here today, as Gentiles, is perfectly okay.
So let me back up, because I'm pretty sure I just rabbit-trailed pretty hard, and talk about the centurion's faith.
(1) His faith begins by believing the good news about Jesus, that God is visiting his people through Jesus.
(2) His faith continues, by daring to think that was God is doing for his people Israel, He will do for a Gentile. What God does for others, He will do for me.
(3) His faith then continues, by being so convinced of the authority given to Jesus, that he believes the servant can be healed even apart from Jesus' presence.
The centurion knows that all Jesus has to do, to heal the servant, is speak. He doesn't have to be in the same room. He doesn't have to physically touch the servant. His word is enough, for healing.
I don't know about you, but I marvel at this, just as Jesus does.
I have total confidence that if Jesus was physically in this room, that my daughter would be completely healed, and stay healed, after months of slowly getting worse. That the sickness that's been attacking my family for over a month would flee, at the sound of his voice. That we would be made whole.
Do I also have faith that if I get word to Jesus, without actually seeing him, that Jesus will do this for me? Or does my faith require that Jesus physically touch my family?
Do I have confidence that the good news I've heard about Jesus healing other people, can become my good news as well? If Jesus has healed everyone who came to him in faith, will he heal my family, as well?
Maybe that's a stretch. But I can make it slightly easier on myself, by borrowing from what I see in verse 3. I have a group of friends who I suspect God keeps an open ear toward, who I suspect Jesus is on good terms with, who I suspect that Jesus will do a favor toward. I may be a little uncertain how Jesus feels about me. But do I have faith that I can bring my request to them, and they will pass on that request to Jesus, and that Jesus will say "yes" to them?
I can take a step back, and ask bigger questions, as well. Do I have faith that all of this is part of the good news of the kingdom? Do I have faith that Jesus has this kind of God-given authority? Do I have faith that God is actually visiting his people, and that this is the year of his acceptance?
I do, I think. [And just like that, I'm healed? lol. Thank you Jesus! And now I have to rewrite this, lol]
But these are the questions we have to decide as individuals, and as a church. These are the things we have to wrestle with when we see loved ones not recovering, and instead slowly getting worse. Does Jesus have to be physically present in this room to heal? Can we grow in faith, and become like the centurion? How big is the gospel, and what will Jesus do for those who ask?
What would it look like, to have faith like the centurion?
Translation:
(1) After he finished/completed all his words in the hearing of the people, he entered into Capernaum.
(2) Now, a certain slave of a centurion, having sickness, was about to die,
who was by him (by the centurion) esteemed/honored/valued.
(3) Now, hearing about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews,
asking him that he, coming, would bring his slave safely through [the sickness]. .
(4) Now, they, arriving to Jesus, they were exhorting him diligently/earnestly, saying that
"Worthy, this one is, for whom you would grant this.
For he loves our nation/people,
and the synagogue, he himself built for us."
(6) Now, Jesus was going with them.
Now, by this time, no longer being far away from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to him,
"Lord/sir, don't be troubled/bothered.
For adequate/sufficient/suitable, I am not,
that under my roof you should enter.
(7) For this reason also, myself, I didn't consider worthy to you to come,
but speak the word,
and may my servant be healed.
(8) For I also, a man, I am,
under authority being placed,
having under me soldiers,
and I say to this one, "Go!," and he goes,
to another one, "Come!," and he comes,
and to my slave, "Do this," and he does [it].
(9) Now, hearing these things, Jesus marveled at him,
and turning to the crowd following him, he said,
"I tell you, not even in Israel such great faith I have found,
(10) and returning to the house, the sent ones found the slave whole/healthy,
