Great Faith in a Great Saviour

Scripture Reading

Luke 7:1–10 NIV84

1 When Jesus had finished saying all this in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. 2 There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. 3 The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. 4 When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, 5 because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” 6 So Jesus went with them. He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. 7 That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. 8 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 9 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” 10 Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.

Introduction

As continue in our study in the Gospel according to Luke, we come to a striking passage of a man that demonstrates great faith in the person of Jesus Christ. And this great faith in Christ, leads to Christ’s powerful working of a miracle in the healing of the man’s servant.

It was the so-called father of modern missions, William Carey, who said, “Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God.” He was a man with a great faith in the powerful working of God. He believed that God not only could work, but would work, according to his perfect plans and is powerful hand.

Faith is indeed extremely important in the Christian life. But we must ask ourselves sometimes if we truly have a deep and strong faith in the God that we claim to serve. I think that very often as Christians, we can make a profession of faith in Christ, but in reality we live with great doubts concerning God’s willingness to work.

I’m not talking in this case about asking God for all kinds of things that are based purely on my own selfish desires. I’m talking about genuine requests in faith that God would work according to His promises in Scripture.

As we walk through this world, we need to ask ourselves the question, do I have a great faith in this great redeemer that is mine?

The passage before us today speaks about the faith of a particular man, who wasn’t typically the man that you’d expect to have such a faith. But nonetheless, he demonstrated a faith that is certainly an example to us all.

And as we see this man exercising his great faith in Christ, we wil see again the great Saviour at work.

As we begin our study of this text, I would like us to consider, firstly...

1. The Man of Great Faith (vv.1-8)

When we speak about this man of great faith, we’re considering the Centurion whose servant is found to be ill. There are 5 things that I’d like us to take note of concerning this man that sends for Jesus to come and heal his servant.

The first thing we must note is,

1.1. His Nationality and Work (vv.1-2)

In verses 1-2 we read...

Luke 7:1–2 NIV84

1 When Jesus had finished saying all this in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. 2 There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die.

We see from the text that this event unfolded in the city of Capernaum.

Now recall that in the previous passages that we’ve considered, Christ was up on the side of a mountain, evidently near to Capernaum, where he had chosen his disciples, and had then been preaching that wonderful sermon on the plain / sermon on the mount. And it is just following this sermon that he’s preached that he now comes down from there, and enters back into Capernaum.

You will recall that this was where Christ had the base of ministry. He lived in Capernaum from where much of his ministry work was carried out. Already we have read through Luke’s Gospel account about a number of miracles performed there. It was in the synagogue in Capernaum that a man with an evil spirit had been present, and Jesus had driven out this evil spirit from the man (Luke 4:31-36). It was also in Capernaum, following this healing of the man possessed, that the crowds had flocked to Jesus in order to have their sick healed. And so Christ had performed many miracles in this town already, and by this time, the people of that place were familiar with him. Not only was he known here, but the word concerning what Jesus was doing had spread far and wide.

Clearly, the Roman Centurion that we will be considering in our text had also heard something about Jesus, and as we will see, had developed a high regard for him.

But before we move on, there are a couple of other important points to keep in mind. We’ve seen previously as we ‘ve studied Luke that this city was a Roman taxing poll. In other words, this was one of the towns in which tax collectors were stationed in order to bring in taxes from the people for the Roman government. We’ve also considered that this city, in fact the entire area, including all the Jewish settlements, were under Roman rule.

And from our text, we find that the man that is sending his servants to Jesus was a Roman, who was an official working for the Roman governement. In other words, he would have been a citizen of Rome. This man was a Centurion.

The fact that this man was a Roman should immediately strike us. Under the normal course of things, this man would be seen to be one of the “enemies” of the Jewish people. Not only was this man a Gentile (which for the Jewish people immediately placed a distinct barrier) but he was working for and supporting the Roman government who the Jews saw as oppressors. They wanted freedom from the Romans.

Remember also, that for the most part, Roman soldiers were hardly seen in a very positive light, particularly by the Jewish people. You will recall that account of the people coming out to John to be baptised in the wilderness, and he was telling them to repent of their sins. We read...

Luke 3:14 NIV84

14 Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?” He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.”

Clearly, the average Roman soldier was perceived to be a person that extorted money for themselves in order to enrich themselves at the expense of the ordinary people. Now this man was a Centurion, so he wasn’t your average soldier. But he was nonetheless a Roman Centurion that had worked his way up through the ranks.

This is simply to demonstrate what the typical perception was of the people in that day. To the Jewish people, the typical perception of anything to do with Roman soldiers was that they were no good.

Just one further comment is necessary concerning the work that he did… We read at the beginning of verse 2, that this man was a Centurion. As I’ve mentioned, this was a Roman official, a soldier that was tasked with overseeing the protection and the maintaining of law and order (and peace) of the Roman empire.

A Centurion was a man with a good deal of responsibility resting on him, and with the authority to make at least some decisions on the spur of the moment. A Centurion would oversee about 80-100 men (hence the name). He would go out into the streets and the cities with these men that were under his command, and he would be responsible for directing them and giving them instructions as they carried out their work of protecting the state.

Clearly, this man had proven himself to be capable of being master over and ruling over such a large group of trained soldiers. He was able to think on his feet, and he would be able to give instructions to his men, and they would obey him. He knew what it was to have men under his own authority. Obviously, he was also a man who himself was under authority from those above him.

This is all very important as we’ll go on to see later in the text.

But notice secondly with me...

1.2. His Compassion (vv.2-3)

Although this man was a soldier, and probably in some respects a toughened man due to his involvement in fighting and war and bloodshed, he was yet a man with great compassion. We read in verses 2 and 3 of our passage:

Luke 7:2–3 NIV84

2 There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. 3 The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant.

We see that this centurion, a Roman soldier, had a servant that he valued highly. The extent of this servant’s illness, however, was so grave, that he was on the brink of death. Without the advanced medical capabilities of our own day, the Roman official was deeply concerned that his servant was going to die.

But the Centurion here demonstrates a deep compassion for this man. He was deeply concerned. And this was a compassion that was moved to action. We don’t know if he attempted other means to help his servant. Probably he had. But what we do know is that word about Jesus Christ, the great physician, has reached the ears of the Centurion.

And so, what he does is he sends some elders of the Jews to Jesus in order to ask Jesus to come and heal his servant.

Just to point this out - in Matthew’s Gospel, when he records this account of the Centurion whose servant was ill, he says that the Centurion himself came to Jesus. There is no real discrepancy here. Quite simply, the delegation is sent by the authority of the Centurion and as a representative of the Centurion.

But I do appreciate Luke’s detail here, because it goes all the more to emphasize the great faith of this Centurion, as we will see in a moment.

Consider further with me, the Centurion’s kindness.

1.3. His Kindness (vv.4-5)

Not only did he care for his servant, but he showed kindness to the Jewish people in the area in which he served the Roman government. As we’ve seen in verse 3, the Centurion “sent some Jewish Elders” to Jesus.

It is possible that these Jewish Elders were the civil leaders of the Jews in that place, rather than the synagogue rulers. But we mustn’t think that they were all that much separated. They would have had at least some good measure of interactions between them.

What now unfolds is thus quite a fascinating situation. Firstly, because the Jewish Elders (whether in the synagogue or in civil arena) would not have been the greatest supporters of the ministry of Jesus. In fact, for the most part, the Jewish Elders and synagogue rulers were the greatest opponents of Jesus.

But secondly, this is striking because the Jewish leaders were for the most part not very much in support of anything related to the Roman government. The Romans were the oppressors of the day.

But in this instance, the Roman official sends this Jewish leadership delegation to go and ask Jesus for some help. And we see from our text that this delegation was not sent under any kind of compulsion, or by means of force or intimidation. Rather, it is apparent that there was a deep and genuine appreciation from the side of the Jewish Elders towards this Roman Centurion. Look at the way in which they come to Jesus and present him with the concern… verse 4 says...

Luke 7:4–5 NIV84

4 When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, 5 because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.”

Immediatley we’re struck by the deep appreciation that they have for this Centurion. Such was their appreciation that they pleaded earnestly with Jesus to help this man.

They go as far as to say that this Roman official “deserves” for Jesus to come and help him. Now, some have pointed out their errant theology, because none of us are worthy / deserving of God’s grace.

But I would give the benefit of the doubt here, and simply say that they were expressing to Jesus the kindness of the man. While our theology is important, we shouldn’t force every word into theological boxes so that we fault-find everything that is said. And we need to apply some measure of wisdom as to when is appropriate to address theological concerns.

The simple reality here is that this man had certainly shown them great kindness, and they wanted to show apprecation to him for his kindness that he’d shown to them.

And in these verses, we find that the Centurion had showed the Jewish people great kindness to this people. They speak about the fact that “he loves our nation.” Evidently this centurion had shown this kind of love in various ways, which had led them to be convinced of this love. But there was one specific account that demonstrated his love for them, and that was through him building the synagogue for them. This was probably the very synagogue in which Jesus had healed the demon-possessed man.

But here was a Roman official who had showed great kindness to the people.

Fourthly, note with me...

1.4. His Humility (vv.6-7)

We need to recognise that the Centurion was a man of high standing. The Roman officials (these ranked officers) would have been highly respected men. They were generally wealthy men (unlike the basic soldiers). This man, as a Centurion, would have been a wealthy man given his position. Furthermore, as a man with such high standing and who is commanding others, we would almost expect that he would live with an air of superiority. But this wasn’t his demeanour at all. Notice what our text says concerning the man...

Luke 7:6–7 NIV84

6 So Jesus went with them. He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. 7 That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed.

What a profound statement of humility and respect coming from this Centurion. This is seen in a few ways.

Firstly, he calls Jesus Lord. There is a sense in which he used the term simply as a common term of respect for Jesus - something like we would call a person “sir.” But it becomes clear through the passage as a whole that he was going well beyond mere formalities. In fact, the manner in which this passage is conveyed demonstrates to us that a profound work of grace had been started in this man’s heart. We will consider in a moment the faith of this Centurion. But at this moment, consider that he, a ranked officer in the Roman army, has this deep respect for Jesus.

But beyond addressing Jesus with the common title of respect, “Lord,” notice how far the respect that he has for Jesus goes. As Jesus is busy travelling to his home in order to help him, he sends another group of men to say to Jesus, “don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof.”

The Jewish Elders that have been sent to Jesus by this very man had declared to JEsus that this man was deserving. they said that he was worthy to receive the help of Christ. But here, this man declares, “I am not worthy.”

Here is the perfect example of Proverbs 27:2

Proverbs 27:2 NIV84

2 Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; someone else, and not your own lips.

As Jesus is heading towards his home, he is suddenly struck with the overwhelming sense that he is not worthy to have Jesus come into his home.

There is some contextual points that we must keep in our minds at this point that probably played into the thinking of the Roman Centurion.

You know that there existed Jewish / Gentile divisions at this time. Particularly from the perspective of the Jews, it would have been unacceptable in their thinking to enter into the home of a Gentile person, since the Gentiles were considered to be unclean.

In Acts 10:28, after the angel of the Lord had sent Peter to the house of Cornelius, another Roman Centurion, Peter said to Cornelius upon his arrival...

The New International Version (1984) Peter at Cornelius’ House

You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him.

That’s a noteworthy comment. The Roman Centurion’s were typically well aware of the Jewish laws, and the fact that the Jews were not permitted to even visit Gentiles. The reason for this was that it was seen that this association with a Gentile would render them unclean. We see this in...

John 18:28 NIV84

28 Then the Jews led Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness the Jews did not enter the palace; they wanted to be able to eat the Passover.

What is quite remarkable in this account was that the Roman Centurion would not have concerned himself with ceremonial uncleanness, since this was not a concern to the Gentiles. But with him knowing the Jewish law, and the fact that the Jews would now come into the home of Gentiles in the ordinary course, he realises that he is going to be the cause of rendering Christ unclean.

One commentator is helpful here. He writes....

Luke C. What He (The Centurion) Thought of Himself: “I Am Not Worthy.”

After all, who is he in comparison with this Exalted One, this personal embodiment of majestic authority, all-embracing power, and condescending love, a love that bridges every chasm and overleaps every obstacle of race, nationality, class, and culture? Who is he to cause this kind Master to commit an act that would put him in conflict with the time-honored custom of his own people, according to which a Jew does not enter the house of a Gentile lest he be defiled

But it goes even beyond this. If it was merely a case of not wanting Jesus to come under his roof, he may have chosen to walk to Jesus himself in order to meet with him on the streets somewhere. Instead, he says to Jesus in verse 7… “I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you.”

This is a most profound word of humility. A respected official in the ruling Roman empire, says that he is not worthy to have this Jewish man Jesus come to him. He is not worthy even to approach him.

What is clearly evident is the fact that God was at work within this man’s life. The faith in this man was nothing less than the miraculous work of God. What many others, including the Jewish religious leaders of that day, failed to see was the supreme worthiness of Jesus Christ. But this Roman Centurion saw that Christ was a righteous man, worthy of the highest honour and respect.

But we must take this a step further even, and consider...

1.5. His Faith (vv.7-8)

This man did not merely consider Christ as some man worthy of honour and respect. He was not merely a respected Rabbi of the Jewish people. Rather, we must see that he recognised the great authority and power that was within Jesus Christ.

While others would refuse to accept the testimony of Christ, despite what they saw him doing, despite all the miracles that they may have seen him perform, the centurion saw in Jesus an authority that went beyond the realm of the physical, seen world. He believed that Jesus was able to command things in the unseen world, and for that which was unseen to obey him.

Look with me at verses 7-8...

Luke 7:7–8 NIV84

7 That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. 8 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

The Centurion’s belief is that Jesus merely needs to speak from where he is, and his servant will be delivered immediately from the ailment that is afflicting him.

His reasoning, as outlined in verse 8, flows out of his own experience as a Roman officer. He knows that when he receives a commend from a higher-ranking officer, there is no question that the command will be carried out. It’s simply a matter of submission to authority. Likewise, when he gives his instructions or commands to those who are under him, they will obey.

The application to Christ however is what is so striking in this instance. What he’s saying in effect is the fact that Jesus has authority over all of the natural realm. He says that Jesus merely needs to speak the word and sickness will immediately obey him, and depart from his servant. He merely needs to speak the word, and health will come to his servant’s body. He merely needs to speak the word, and the body of his servant will obey him.

What a profound faith this man had!!

Secondly from our passage, we must consider...

2. The Saviour of Great Compassion (vv.9-10)

We must not lose sight of this great Saviour that truly is the focal point of all of the Gospels, and of this account that is before us. As we consider th Saviour, notice firstly with me in this regard...

2.1. Great Amazement (v.9)

The response from Jesus truly is a striking one. Verse 9 tells us...

Luke 7:9 NIV84

9 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.”

Jesus was amazed (astonished) at this man. In other translations, he marveled at the faith of this man. And then he makes the striking comment that not even in Israel, had he found such great faith.

There are two accounts in the Scriptures in which the amazement of Jesus is recorded. In both of these accounts, his amazement is recorded as having been related to faith. Sadly, the one was at a lack of faith among the people of his own home-town Nazareth...

Mark 6:6 NIV84

6 And he was amazed at their lack of faith. Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village.

Now this does not mean that there was no faith in Israel. We have already considered a number of incidents in which faith in Christ was very clearly displayed. When the man with leprosy approached Jesus, as recorded in Luke 5:12, was he not approaching Christ in faith that he would heal him? He certainly was, and he was healed.

When the men brought their paralytic friend to Jesus, we read in Luke 5:20...

Luke 5:20 NIV84

20 When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”

Even when large crowds came to Jesus, they demonstrated at least some measure of faith in Jesus to be able to bring healing to them. There certainly wasn’t no faith in Israel.

But this Centurion demonstrated his faith in a very unique and powerful way. And Christ clearly affirmed this faith to those around him.

We need to also see something of what makes this faith in the Gentile man so remarkable. If anyone should have had great faith in Jesus, it should have been the Israelites. The Isrealites were those who had a long history of God working in miraculous ways on their behalf. They had the promises of God. God’s covenant was established with them, including to send a redeemer. It should have been the Jewish people that were exercising great faith in Christ, and yet they were unable to see him for who he truly was.

Finally, we must take note of...

2.2. Great Compassion (v.10)

As Christ hears of this amazing faith of the Centurion, he is moved to action. Luke doesn’t record for us the words that he spoke to the men that had come to him. Matthew’s account tells us

Matthew 8:13 NIV84

13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! It will be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that very hour.

Obviously the Centurion himself wasn’t there with Jesus, but the words were spoken to those who had been sent to him. What Luke does record is this...

Luke 7:10 NIV84

10 Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.

In an instant, and by the powerful proclamation of Jesus Christ, this servant was miraculously healed.

I just wonder at the great awe that would have struck these people that had been sent to Jesus. The Centurion tells them to go with this message to Jesus. Very probably they would have had some thoughts about the Centurion’s state of mind. Having now been sent back by Jesus, to walk into the house of the Centurion and find that the servant had been fully healed, what a striking moment that would have been!! Alredy this Centurion’s faith in Christ, and the consequent working of Christ would have been having a profound impact on those around him.

It is important that we see that Christ’s work in coming was not merely for the Jews, but also for the Gentile. Paul wrote...

Romans 3:29 NIV84

29 Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too,

This picture is clearly shown in our passage.

Application / Conclusion

A.1. The Gospel is for All

But we must also keep in mind the people to whom Luke is writing this Gospel account. He was writing, most likely, to Theophilus, who would be a Gentile, probably a Roman official. More broadly, it is commonly thought that he wrote specificlly to Gentiles.

In this case this entire event would have served as a great encouragement to Gentile readers. Those who are Gentiles are not in any lacking or second rate people as the text will go on to demonstrate. In fact, Christ uses this instance of the Roman official to elevate the faith of this Gentile officer even above the Jewish people. The great faith that will be demonstrated by this Roman Centurion will be said to be even greater than any ones faith in all Israel.

For us today, we need to see that irrespective of our background, we are called to express faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ. There is no one who need be excluded. Our background will not be a cause for being overlooked. Our background will not be a hinderance to Gospel salvation!

A.2. Don’t base your faith on your tradition / upbringing

Don’t ever let your familiarity within the church lead you to lack faith.

There are many societies that were once strong Christian societies. They have slowly started departing from the faith. Much of the United Kingdom, the United States, were very influential Christian countries. Today, they are in large part abandoning the faith, considering faith in an omnipotent God to be foolishness.

We must be careful of this familiarity that breeds contempt!

This familiarity breeding contempt can even start in the small things of life. We don’t believe that Christ is able or willing to do something, and so we start to lose faith. How foolish!

Our faith in this sense is a very personal matter. It is not through the faith of my parents that I will be saved. Or anyone else...

A.3. Remember the Object of your Faith

We must keep in mind the object of our faith.

The Centurion demonstrated a great faith indeed! But that faith was not without a very specific person is its focus and object!

Today, even in some churches, the idea and concept of faith has been completely destroyed, because the faith that is spoken of is not a faith in the person of Jesus Christ, but rather a nebulous faith in faith itself.

Our faith is in Jesus Christ, and in the promises of God through Him.

Is your faith deeply rooted in the person and work of Jesus Christ?

A.4. Believe in the Promises of God

We have the Scriptures which give us these great promises. The question is, do we believe them?