Extraordinary Faith

Introduction

Thomas Manton once said that faith is like eating a piece of bread. Faith is the arm, and the bread is Christ.

Faith seizes ahold of Christ, who is the actual nourishment of our lives.

Manton’s point is that the tiniest little toddler arm can pick up a piece of bread and eat it the same way that the strongest arm can.

You do not have to have strong faith to be saved, you simply have to have faith in the right thing .

BUT, this does not mean that we want to continue in a weak faith. Instead, we want our faith to grow. And we know that the more a toddler eats, the more that toddler will grow and their arm become stronger and stronger.

The weakest faith gets Christ, but a strong faith sees more of Him.

The first work of Satan when it comes to our faith is to keep us from true saving faith. The second work of faith is to render our true faith ineffective.

That’s why this text is so important. The more we eliminate things that corrupt our faith or shrink our faith, the more of Jesus we see and know.

Read Luke 7:1-10

Luke 7:1–10 ESV

After he had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. Now a centurion had a servant who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant. And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy to have you do this for him, for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us our synagogue.” And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying 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 say the word, and let my servant be healed. For I too 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 servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well.

In Luke 7, we see Jesus interacting with the highs and lows of humanity. Jesus interacts with illness, death, doubt, and the pariahs of society. In each interaction, He relays something about Himself to the people He is teaching.

Today, he encounters two groups of people - the Jewish elders or leaders and a Roman centurion.

As we dig into the text, we are going to see that these elders and the Centurion wanted the same thing, but their faith in Jesus to accomplish what they needed looked very different.

From their interactions with Jesus, we see how not to approach our Lord in faith and how to approach Him.

Explanation

The Situation

A Roman Centurion has a deeply loved servant who is very sick to the point that he may very well die.

A centurion is a man who commands 100 soldiers (around the rank of a captain).

We don’t know much about this centurion, but we know he is honorable and compassionate in his dealings with others.

He was well thought of by the Jewish people.

He is compassionate to his servant who is very ill.

This centurion has heard of Jesus (and the stories of his healing), and he sends some Jewish leaders to find Jesus and ask Jesus to heal his servant.

Now… the fact that Jewish leaders would have gone to Jesus over this issue is important.

A Centurion is the “on the ground” enforcer of the Roman occupation. He is responsible for squelching rebellion and making sure, on a micro level, that the people around him submit to the Roman Empire.

So, the fact that they responded well to him shows their love for him or at least respect for him.

The Jewish Elders approach Jesus. They have some incorrect views/misunderstandings about faith as they talk to Jesus.

“The centurion is worthy of your action on his behalf.” Why?

“He loves our nation.”

“He built our synagogue.”

The Jewish leaders wanted the centurion saved because he was useful.

Some of us think that God saves us because of our usefulness.

God doesn’t save you because you are useful. He saves you, because He has more love in his pinky finger than all of humanity throughout all of history combined.

You are not saved because you are useful. You are saved because the God of the universe decided in his infinite goodness, love, and grace, to pick you up out of the dirt, muck, and mire and grant you new life in Him.

So many of us attach God’s view of us to how useful we are to him. This is because from a young age, we have been taught to economize everything that we are/have.

Your Savior loves you just because.

The Jewish leader’s plea was also based upon the merit of the Centurion. They evaluated him based upon purely external circumstances.

They believed that the centurion was worthy of Jesus healing.

We are not saved in the slightest by our merit.

The good that we do contributes not even a minuscule drop to God’s decision to save us. Even our best good is tainted with impure motives, desires, and thoughts.

So many of the religions in our world equate good works with salvation. “If I do enough good, I can be saved.”

The problem with this belief is that you can NEVER get there.

Ephesians 2:8–9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

Titus 3:5 “he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,”

Gospel: Notice that Jesus moves towards the centurion even in the imperfect plea of the Jewish elders.

We must understand that we are NEVER saved by our merit, but rather, we are saved by faith in Jesus Christ.

The Centurion sends word. He speaks in faith about Jesus and his saving power. Three phrases the Centurion uttered can change our lives.

“Lord, I am not worthy.”

He realized that no matter his credentials or his previous accolades, he was unworthy of Jesus’ healing.

He was not asking for healing for his servant based not upon his own goodness but ON ACCOUNT of Christ’s goodness.

“Lord, say the word.”

If we just believed that God was true to His word.

Somewhere along the way, some of us lost the belief that God can move in supernatural, extraordinary ways.

Was it when we asked for something day by day, and he didn’t answer the way we expected?

Was it when we got old enough to rationalize away God’s work in our lives and the people around us?

I was listening to a song this week, “Can you imagine with all of the faith in the room what the Lord can do?”

What if we all took a step of faith this week?

Students, could you imagine how your school would change if all of you took a step of faith this week?

“Lord, you are able.”

Jesus, you are able.

Just as I command others to do things for me, so you are in authority. You can do it.

I am limited in my understanding, Jesus, but I know that you are not.

I believe that you are true to your word, and where I don’t know, I will trust you.

APPLICATION:

It is important to note here that the Jewish leaders asked Jesus to save the centurion’s servant based upon the centurion’s merit. On the other hand, the centurion asks Jesus to save his servant

The Jewish elders commended the centurion’s works; Jesus commended the centurion’s faith.

Invitation

Faith in Christ to save.

Faith in Christ to sanctify.