Saving Faith and Blind Faith

Beloved brothers and sisters. It is a joy to be here this morning to share God’s Word with you in Luke 7:1-10.

Before beginning, I invite you to bow down in prayer before our triune God in order to submit this time into his hands. Let us pray.

Introduction

In Luke 7:1, we read that: “After Jesus had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum.” By this verse, Luke is informing us that he is transitioning from formal sayings, teachings back to narratives, stories. Christ does more than speaking now, “he enters.” [PAUSE]

Indeed, just before our passage, in Luke 6:20-49, Christ was busy teaching. We find there the ensemble of teachings which is classically known as the Sermon on the Plain. It contains among others the beatitudes, words about hypocritical judgment, and the Parable of the Wise and the Foolish Builders. So, by now, the reader of Luke’s gospel is ready to come back to stories.

We love stories because in them, we get to see Jesus entering, going, praising, rebuking, being sad or amazed. There is a sublime difference between “In the beginning, God created…” and [bear with me] “God’s triune creational act is the cosmologically foundational event of the drama of doctrine” [it actually means the same thing!].

Please don't misunderstand me here, we can and we ought to be able to be taught formally, but most of us naturally enjoy stories for the dynamism that is inherent in them. In fact, we see our own lives and everything around us as stories.

It is no wonder since the most essential fact about reality is that it is the story whose author is God. Indeed, most stories are composed of 5 essential steps and we see each of them in the story of our world [improvised explanations of each step]:

1. Initial situation (settings, “once upon a time”) – creation, 2. Problem (something goes wrong) – the fall, 3. Transformative action (the action done to resolve the problem) – God’s promise of the coming of the Serpent-Crusher through his elected people, and then Christ’s incarnation, death, resurrection, and ascension, 4. Falling action (the problem has been and/or is being resolved) – that would be the era of Christ’s Church, and 5. final situation (the new state of affairs, the happy ending) – Christ’s second coming and the edification of the new creation.

All(good) stories ever told emulate that one foundational story we all live in at this very moment.

Today, we get to read and meditate on a littler story within the Story, that of Jesus and the centurion in Luke 7:1-10.

While stories are dynamic and lively, they – like formal teachings – do always teach us something.

So, before going verse by verse through our passage together, I want to frame our time by stating what, I think, Luke wants us to learn informally. [PAUSE] He wants to teach us about the nature of faith, namely saving faith.

Here is my way of putting the passage’s main point: “Saving faith does not put forward its righteousness, rather while affirming its worthlessness, it puts its trust in Christ’s power.” [I REPEAT]

As we will see, Luke contrasts that saving faith with blind faith. That contrast is very helpful to understand our passage’s main point. So, let me summarize it as well: “Saving faith despairs of sight itself, reaches clumsily outward for the sun of righteousness, and though blind, sees. [PAUSE] While blind faith claims perfect sight, reaches proudly inward for one’s inner light, sees darkness, and thus is blind.”

Now, keep your Bibles opened and follow the text with me. [PAUSE]

Here is the structure you should see in this story:

1. First, verses 1 and 2. We see our transition that we have already talked about in verse 1. Then the initial situation, and the problem appear. I have called verses 1 and 2: Jesus’ return to Capernaum and the centurion’s sick servant.

2. Second, verses 3 to 8. That’s our transformative action. I have called this unit: The centurion’s requests for Jesus’ healing. He makes two requests, one through Jewish elders, one through his friends.

3. Third, verses 9 and 10. That is the falling action and the final situation. We see Jesus’s praise of the centurion’s faith and the healing of the servant.

Let’s delve into God’s Word!

1. Jesus’s return to C. and the centurion’s sick servant (v. 1-2)

First, Jesus’s return to Capernaum and the centurion’s sick servant in verses 1-2.

As we have already seen, in verse 1, Luke makes us transition from formal teachings back to narratives.

The first action that we see Jesus doing is that he enters Capernaum. That’s our initial situation. He is back in Capernaum.

I say “back” because Jesus had already been there.

Indeed, that’s where he famously taught with [I quote] “a most astonishing authority” and cast out a demon, amazing everyone (we see that in Luke 4:31-35 which happens before our passage).

Moreover, in Luke 4:23 and Luke 10:13-15, we also learn that Christ has done many other “mighty works” which are probably not related by Luke or even the other gospels.

So, Christ comes back to Capernaum. Luke does not tell us why Christ is back in that town again.

As a matter of fact, from there on, Christ will be surprisingly passive in our narrative, story-wise. What I mean is that the story will rather focus on another person, namely the centurion.

We encounter himin verse 2. With him, we also encounter his sick servant. The sickness of the servant is the problem of our story.

Read verse 2 with me: “Now a centurion had a servant who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him.”

It is perhaps good to remember what a centurion was in the first place. Centurions were commanders in the Roman army of a unit of 100 men. They were not at the top of the hierarchy, but they did earn a significant salary.

They tended to be rougher, less educated, but reliable, straightforward men. Imagine a man like US Army, Sergeant Hartman, complete with a buzz cut. That’s the type of man we have here.

Needless to say, this centurion’s presence in Capernaum is due to Rome’s rule and colonization of Galilee.

And so, we learn that he has a servant who is sick “to the point of death.” Luke adds this likely to make sure that we understand that it was clear to everybody around that he was not going to get better soon. He is in a critical condition. The only hope left is a miraculous intervention.

Finally, we read that the centurion highly valued him. While Roman slavery was on the whole better than many systems of slavery before and after, this is still a shocking fact to read.

Some Roman slave owners could and did like their slaves actually, we have numerous instances of Romans boasting of and taking good care of some of their slaves, whether they be a famous chef, an able accountant, or even a mistress. But, reading that the centurion regarded that slave as precious, honored, or valuable without any mention of a practical reason why is odd.

As we will see in the following verses, the centurion goes very much out of his way for the sake of his slave. He seems to simply love him beyond what would be expected of even a virtuous Roman slave owner. [PAUSE]

With the end of verse 2, our story’s foundations are set up: on one side, we have Christ coming back to Capernaum – and we, as the readers, know who he is and what he is capable of – and on the other side, we have a centurion with a problem, a beloved sick servant.

We are now left to almost anxiously desire their encounter.

2. The centurion’s request for Jesus’ healing (v. 3-8)

Thus, we transition to the second part of our story. Verses 3 to 8. The centurion’s requests for Jesus’ healing. This is the core of our passage.

We read in verse 3 that “he heard about Jesus’s return.” As we have seen, Capernaum knew Christ already. It is likely that the centurion had seen himself the previously demon-possessed man at Galilee’s Aldi while grocery shopping. At the very least, he heard detailed reports about what Jesus had taught and done.

In any case, the centurion puts his trust in Christ’s power and decides to request of Christ that he heals his sick servant.

The centurion’s request is our transformative action in the narrative. The action done to resolve the problem. The centurion sees Christ as the solution to his problem.

Now, the way in which the centurion will address his request is paramount for Luke.

He does not go to Jesus himself like Jairus did. He rather makes his request through two means: first, through some Jewish contacts he had (verses 3 to 6), and second, through his friends (verses 6 to 8).

For whatever reason – we will see why later – he does not want to go to Jesus in person. At this point of the narrative, we can think that it’s either because he is a powerful man who is too busy, either that he knows that a Jew would not accept to come under a non-Jew’s roof. We can’t be sure why. [PAUSE]

2.1. Blind faith (v. 3-6)

The first means by which he chose to address his request to Jesus is to send some Jewish contacts he had. Let’s look at verses 3 to 6. [PAUSE]

The centurion first thinks it best to ask Jewish peoplehe knew that they be his mediators. It makes sense. They would know how to approach Jesus and make the request, he thought.

At this point, it is worth mentioning that these Jewish elders were probably socially prominent Jews, social leaders, and not the heads of the synagogue.

The wording of the request the centurion shares with them is important: “The centurion sent to Jesus elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant.”

This could look odd when we know the second request the Roman leader will later address to Jesus. Why is he asking Jesus to come if: 1. He believes that one word from him suffices. 2. He doesn’t think himself worthy of seeing him anywhere.

The way I reconcile the centurion’s first request and the second is that I see in this first request a desperate, “HELP, come quick!” [PAUSE] Imagine the scene with me: the centurion’s neighbor, let’s call him David, arrives at his home’s front porch exhausted from running and announces to him: “Titus, Jesus is here.” The centurion, Titus, looks at David, then at his beloved, bleeding, bent servant, and immediately runs to the Jews. He then shouts at them, “Could you go get Jesus, please? Fast before he leaves.” [PAUSE] Another way to see it is that if your baby is bleeding out, your very first reaction will be more of a knee-jerk one than the fruit of matured reflections.

Verse 4. The Jews accept and come to Jesus.

The way they transmit the centurion’s request will betray a faith which is different from the centurion’s faith. We will discover the Roman leader’s faith in verses 6 to 8. Remember, that’s a contrastLuke wants us to note.

To give the Jews some credit: they pleaded with Jesus earnestlyon behalf of a centurion, a non-Jew. They are eager, urgent in their tone. “Come, please, now.”

However, the foundation of their request, what they put forward to Jesus, is the centurion’s righteousness. [PAUSE]

Look at verse 4, “He is worthy to have you do this for him, 5 for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us our synagogue.”

In other words, the Jews are saying: “you don’t have a choice Jesus. He is worthy. The Jewish people owe him, we owe him and therefore you owe him too. The works he did justify that you would do that for him.” The basis for their request betrays a this-worldly language of honor and obligation. He did that for us. He deserves that you do that for him. There is no economy of grace here.

The Jews transmit the centurion’s request to Jesus with their understanding of faith: a faith which puts forward its righteousness, a faith which reaches inward, a faith which considers itself justified by the works it does, by the works of the law.

Beloved, “all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse” (Galatians 3.10) and walk in darkness, because the light of saving faith is not in them (John 11:10). These Jews are blind guides (Matthew 15.14). They rely on an ultimately blind faith.

These Jewish elders end up being a deceitful means for the centurion. They did not make his request to Jesus in the way he would have wanted, as we will see.

And yet, we read in verse 6 that “Jesus went with them.” Christ, according to his divine nature, knew that the centurion’s request and faith had not been presented appropriately by the Jewish elders.

2.2. Saving faith (v. 6-8)

The story looks like that should be it. The centurion made his request through the Jews. They told Jesus. He accepted to come. Now, as readers, we are expecting Jesus to come, encounter the centurion, and finally heal the sick servant. The end.

However, the story takes an unexpected turn. There is a second transformative action. There is a second request. Verse 6: “When Jesus was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends” to him with a message.

Like I said, I believe that the centurion wasn’t pleased with the way he made the first request. It was a knee-jerk reaction. After some time of reflection, he now wants to make a more detailed request to Jesus. He doesn’t want him to get the wrong impression of him and especially his request.

At that point of the story, the centurion might even be able to see himself that Jesus is only two blocks away, right there [point finger]. Luke says Jesus wasn’t far from the house. There is no time to get anyone, but his closest friends, who were probably with him. They are the second means through which he makes his request to Jesus.

And they won’t be a deceitful means since, this time, he sent them to bear a specific message to Jesus that he probably asked them to memorize. In fact, the centurion’s message is where the narrative spends the most time.

Let’s look at it together. Verses 6 and 7 (here, take note that I am using the NIV for v. 7 because it shows a parallel you find in the original Greek) [read with me]: “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not … worthy … to have you come under my roof. 7 That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you.” [explain the parallel in Greek, ικανος και αξιος]

Ten minutes ago, the Jews were saying to Jesus: “Trouble yourself. He is a big deal. He is worthy. We owe him. Let’s go.”

The centurion’s message is exactly the opposite. We now know he is using mediators to make his request to Jesus, not because he considers himself a big deal, and not even because of Jewish ritual purity laws. The core motivation behind the sending of messengers is based on his understanding of who Jesus is and who he himself is. And he judges himself to not be worthy of being anywhere in His presence.

[LONGER PAUSE]

As some of you know, Abigail and I have been blessed with our first son 9 months ago, our little Calvin. As a result, I have been discovering and enjoying American children’s literature with my boy. I am from Belgium, so this is new for me. Well, the centurion’s earnest repetition (“I am not worthy here, I am not worthy there, I am not worthy anywhere”) made me think of Dr. Seuss. Bear with me: it is as if Sam I Am came to the centurion and said: “You are worthy, meet Jesus.” Then the Centurion in the pavilion would respond: “I could not, would not, on a boat. I will not, will not, with a goat. I will not see him in the rain. I will not see him on a train. Not in the dark! Not in a tree! Not in a car! You let me be! I am not worthy of being in his presence ANYWHERE!” [PAUSE]

The centurion [PAUSE] does not [PAUSE] put forward his righteousness, rather he affirms his worthlessness earnestly.

Unlike blind faith which sings “It sure can be, that I should gain,” saving faith rather sings through the centurion, “And Can It Be, That I Should Gain?” Saving faith despairs of sight itself, reaches outward for the sun of righteousness, and though blind, sees. [PAUSE]

As admirable as his confession already is, the centurion does not stop there, let’s read verses 7 and 8 now: “But say the word, and let my servant be healed. [PAUSE] 8 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.”

Simplybased on what he might have seen and what he heard for sure about Jesus’s teachings and works in Capernaum, he puts that much trust in Christ’s power.

Say the word. That will be enough for you. Then, he makes “a minor-to-major comparison”: if I, a centurion, can give orders to soldiers and see them be accomplished, surely you, can order disease to simply go away. The logic is amazing because it so casually presupposes an amazing faith in Christ’s power.

That’s an even greater faith in Jesus than the paralytic and his friends who wanted at all cost to get close to Christ.

Of course, we can’t know if he believed that Jesus was the Messiah, the son of God. But, like John Calvin wrote, he at least believed that the power of God resided in a very special way in Christ. [PAUSE]

Whether the centurion was saved or not, not putting forward one’s righteousness, rather affirming one’s worthlessness, and putting one’s trust in Christ’s power is how saving faith, true faith always looks like. And it is a strikingly beautiful sight in comparison to the inward-bent, bleak, blind faith of self-righteous people.

Now, let’s see what Jesus himself thinks of the Roman leader’s message.

3. Jesus’s praise of the centurion’s faith and the healing of the servant (v. 9-10)

We finally reach the third part of our story. Jesus’s praise of the centurion’s faith and the healing of the servant (verses 9-10). This is our falling action (the problem is about to be resolved in consequence of the transformative action) and then the final situation (the servant is healed).

Look at verse 9 with me: “When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him.”

Jesus heard. In the same way that the centurion heard about Jesus, now Jesus hears about him.

And he marvels. Christ is simply amazed. This is one of only two texts in the Bible in which Jesus is amazed. The other one is in Mark 6.6 in which he marvels at unbelief. It’s negative. Here, he marvels at something positive, the saving faith of this centurion. So, it’s the only time in the Bible in which Jesus is positively amazed at something or someone. That should catch our attention.

Like Calvin says it well: “It was no small matter to declare, in such lofty terms, the power of God, of which a few rays only were yet visible in Christ.”

Then Jesus comments on his amazement, we are still in verse 9: “and turning to the crowd that followed him, he said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.””

Jesus turns this event into a formal teaching moment. He turns to the crowd behind him and essentially tells them: “don’t missthe lesson.” Not only is this faith amazing in and of itself, but it is all the more marvelous that it came from outside Israel.

This Roman man with his strange lips and his foreign tongue (Isaiah 28:11) worships the one true God with a faith which is amazing to Jesus himself.

Luke will show throughout the rest of his book, Luke-Acts, how much the centurion and all of us non-Jews are blessed and so loved by God to be able through saving faith to become sons and daughters of the one true God.

Beloved, don’t let America fool you. The mainwonder of the New Covenant is not the ethnic diversity of people present in it, but the fact that all of us, equally non-Jewish peoples, lost, without hope in the world, would be, with the centurion, grafted in Christ together through saving faith. [PAUSE] It was scandalous to the Jews then and it is scandalous to the Jews today. Orthodox Jews see all of us as goyim, that is non-Jews. The term is almost always used negatively by Orthodox Jews today in Israel; I have heard it multiple times when I lived there for a couple of years (משוגעים הגוים ; non-Jews are insane). They see us all as degenerate dogs not worthyof being considered the people of God.

And yet, beloved, it is those of a faith like the one of the centurion who are the sons of Abraham, the patriarch. The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the non-Jews by faith alone. The amazing fact of the New Covenant, what Paul calls its central “mystery” in Ephesians, is that we non-Jews are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. That’s the main point, wonder, and mystery of the New Covenant. Don’t let America muddy that truth. [PAUSE]

This precious new covenant reality, of which we are the beneficiaries, was already being accomplished in today’s passage.

If you do not put forward your righteousness, rather while gladly affirming your worthlessness, you put your trust in Christ’s power, then, rejoice for you have been given by Christ, you, a non-Jew, an amazing gift, a marvelous faith.

Finally, go with me to verse 10: “And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well.”

When through saving faith, we reach outward for Christ and Christ embraces us back with tenderness, we can confess with the hymn, whether our sick servant is made well or not, that “whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say: it is well, it is well, with my soul.”[PAUSE]

CONCLUSION

In Luke 7:1-10, we have learnt together that “Saving faith does not put forward its righteousness, rather while affirming its worthlessness, it puts its trust in Christ’s power.” That’s the faith the centurion had, that’s the faith which amazed Jesus.

We have also contemplated a striking contrast between the saving faith of the centurion which despairs of sight itself, reaches clumsily outward for the sun of righteousness, and though blind, sees Christ [PAUSE]and the blind faith of the Jewish elders who claim perfect sight, reach proudly inward for their inner light, see darkness, and thus are blind to the Son of God. [PAUSE]

Permit me now to end our time in God’s Word by some apt words from Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice in Wonderland, which captures so well the essence of Luke 7:1-10. In a letter to a friend which he wrote two years before his death, Carroll says that some of the core truths Christ taught us is: [I quote] “our own utter worthlessness and His infinite worth; … it is by faith in [Christ], and through no merit of ours, that we are reconciled to God; and most assuredly I can cordially say, "I owe all to Him who loved me, and died on the Cross of Calvary.” Let’s pray.