Refreshing Stories from the Bible - Roman Centurion

Luke 7:1–10 KJV 1900

1 Now when he had ended all his sayings in the audience of the people, he entered into Capernaum. 2 And a certain centurion’s servant, who was dear unto him, was sick, and ready to die. 3 And when he heard of Jesus, he sent unto him the elders of the Jews, beseeching him that he would come and heal his servant. 4 And when they came to Jesus, they besought him instantly, saying, That he was worthy for whom he should do this: 5 For he loveth our nation, and he hath built us a synagogue. 6 Then Jesus went with them. And when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself: for I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof: 7 Wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee: but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed. 8 For I also am a man set under authority, having under me soldiers, and I say unto one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. 9 When Jesus heard these things, he marvelled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. 10 And they that were sent, returning to the house, found the servant whole that had been sick.

Introduction

This is actually a story that immediately follows the Sermon on the Mount.

I don’t know how much you know about the Sermon on the Mount, or if you’ve ever studied it at all.

It’s a very Jewish-focused sermon.

There are definitely gentile elements but it is primarily a call to the Jews to follow Jesus.

Luke’s purpose, in writing this gospel, is to inform a gentile man name Theophilus about the facts surrounding Jesus’ life.

This story would be especially interesting to Theophilus as it centers around Jesus’ interaction with a gentile man.

Not just any gentile man, though, a Roman centurion.

This makes an immediate connection between the intended reader and the personalities of the account.

Honestly, it should also form a connection with us, as well.

Of course, we are primarily a gathering of gentiles.

Humanly speaking, though, this is an intensely human story.

It deals with the common elements of life that we can all relate to.

Luke speaks to the matters of death, faith, compassion, and love.

Having finished the message on the mount, Jesus returns to the city of Capernaum.

Capernaum was a sort of base of operations for Jesus.

He spent a lot of time here, and did many miracles.

As Jesus arrives back in the town, word makes its way to a Roman centurion who was facing the loss of someone that was very close to him.

The passage tells us that the centurion had a servant, who was dear unto him.

There are several terms used to describe this servant.

He describes as a slave, a servant, and a boy.

This young man was probably an orphan, maybe even a Jewish orphan.

These centurion servants would often be victims of dreadful abuse.

But, they would also regularly be treated like sons by their masters.

This is undoubtedly the case in this situation.

Unfortunately, this young servant’s life is facing the tragedy of being cut short.

Luke says he was sick and ready to die.

Matthew tells us that he was sick of the palsy and was grievously tormented.

Death was impending for this boy.

He could not be helped.

Due to the fragility of his condition, he could not be moved.

The centurion had heard about Jesus’ power to heal and believed that He could heal his servant.

So, the centurion asks the Jewish elders to go and beseech Jesus on his behalf.

As a gentile, the centurion falsely assumes that Jewish elders would have more influence with Jesus than he would.

He asks that Jesus would come to him, in order to heal his servant.

There are a lot of ideas written about this request to come, given what we will see in a moment.

The elders were the older leaders of the city.

Probably a combination of civic and spiritual leaders.

The word to describe them is presbuteros.

This is the same word used to describe the need for pastors to act with maturity and wisdom of age regardless of their age.

We see that these men were more than willing to advocate for this centurion and went to Jesus out of admiration for the centurion, not out of fear.

We see a descriptive retelling of how these men interact with Jesus.

The passage says that, when they found him, they immediately began seeking His agreement.

As I read this, I imagine that when they found Jesus, He was, as usual, surrounded by people.

As the leaders of the city approached, though, the people made way out of respect for their position.

This gives them instant access to Jesus.

They use this opportunity to make a case for the worthiness of this centurion.

Their use of the word “worthy” is interesting because later we will see that the centurion did not consider himself to be worthy.

The idea of this word carries with it the meaning of sufficient.

The centurion’s actions were sufficient to warrant Jewish help for his servant.

Indeed, we do see a high level of investment from this centurion into the Jewish community that surrounded him.

The elders said that he loved the Jewish nation.

So much so, in fact, that he had funded the construction of a local synagogue.

The greek is clear that this construction project was financed out of this centurion’s own means.

Some commentators believe that this centurion was a proselyte of Israel.

Others say that he was a God-fearer who worshipped, but had declined to become a proselyte.

Either way it is clear that he was an honorable man in his dealings with the Jews.

Which, by the way, all of the centurions mentioned in the NT act in the most honorable manner.

We’ll say more about this in a minute but, Polybius (ancient historian) stated that only the best men in the Roman army were selected for this position.

Jesus agrees to follow the Jewish elders to centurion’s house. 6

As he drew near, however, another set of messengers from the centurion greet Jesus.

Now, remember, before, Jesus had been asked to come and heal the servant.

The original insinuation seems to be that he would come to the house, lay hands on the servant and heal him.

The centurion has a complete change of heart in the mean time.

The message that is now delivered is that Jesus would not go through the trouble of coming all the way to the centurion’s house.

In this passage Luke tells us that the centurion sent friends to talk to Jesus.

Luke then writes as though the centurion himself is speaking.

Matthew’s record of this event states that it was the centurion who cam to deliver the message.

This is often touted as a contradiction in the gospel record.

You may not see it as a big deal, but there is a rule of logic that says “false in one part; false in all parts.”

What is the answer to the seeming disagreement?

It could be that the centurion followed his friends in Luke’s account and spoke to Jesus after they had said “trouble not thyself.”

The other way to look at this is to understand that, “what a man does through agents, he really does himself.”

Whether by messenger or by personal appearance, the fact is that the centurion communicated with Jesus the following message.

The centurion, who had been touted by the elders as a worthy man, now claims a deep feeling of unworthiness.

He considers himself and his home as being unworthy of Jesus’ presence.

This demonstrates an understanding of the Jewish faith and culture.

The levites would have considered the centurion’s home, the home of a gentile to be unclean.

Any Jew who entered into that house would also have to be considered to be unclean.

The centurion did not expect Jesus to defile himself by entering into his house.

Though he had seemingly asked for this at the first, he became overwhelmed by his unworthiness that he asks Jesus not to come.

So we have a slave in a gentile’s house who cannot be moved, and we have Jesus, a Jew who cannot enter into this unclean house.

This seems like an impossible situation.

Of course, with our God, nothing is impossible.

The centurion needed a divine blessing to deliver his servant.

There are two necessary elements for receiving a divine blessing.

Humility

Faith

He has shown great humility.

At the end of verse 7 we see his great faith.

The centurion expresses his faith by seeking an alternative to Jesus entering his house.

He tells Jesus that he believes Jesus could heal his servant with just a word.

Just a word???

Do you think it’s possible that this centurion had heard some of the Old Testament stories of God’s power?

Do you think he might have heard the story of creation and what God had done with the power of His word?

I think he probably had.

Remember, faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

The centurion believed that Jesus had the power of God upon Him.

This reminded him of the power that he had received as a centurion.

This man knew what it was like to receive authority and to exercise authority.

Centurions were an important link in the Roman chain of command.

They were right in the middle of the chain.

They had links above them and two links below them.

They were the link that connected the officers and generals to the sergeants and soldiers.

They were the main tool responsible for carrying out the will of the army’s leaders.

Because they were so vital, Rome had high standards for who could qualify to be a centurion.

That same historian from earlier said this...

Centurions must be not so much seekers after danger, but men who can command, steady in action and reliable; they ought not to be over anxious to rush into the fight, but when hard-pressed they must be ready to hold their ground and die at their posts.

When this man, in this position told his soldiers what to do, they obeyed without question.

If he told his men to do something, it was just the same as the generals above him saying it.

His words carried the weight of the authorities above him.

This is what he recognized in Jesus.

Whatever this man had heard that God was capable of, Jesus was capable of.

Jesus had the power of God on Him.

That power could flow through Jesus, through faith, to the servant.

Jesus marvels at the faith of the centurion.

There are only two instances in which the gospels tell us that Jesus marveled.

Here, over the faith of a gentile.

In Mark, over the unbelief of the Jews.

Jesus turns to the people following Him and says, “I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.”

This isn’t to say that He had not seen faith.

But he had not seen such great faith as this.

Paul lamented the fact that the Jews required a sign before they would believe.

They had more exposure to the word and history of God than this centurion had.

And yet, this centurion believed, and therefore he would receive a sign.

He had asked for a word, though we do not see any word in this account, Matthew tells us that Jesus said what he had believed would happen had happened.

The messengers returned to the house.

There, they found the servant, who had been sick, was made whole.

Through humility and faith, this centurion was able to witness the power of Jesus at work in his servant’s life.

Application

Do we need God’s power to be seen in our lives and in the lives of the people we love?

Or, are we so independent that we have it all figured out?

Do we have so many resources that we have no need for assistance from anyone else, much less God?

Have we amassed so much knowledge and ease of access that we have lost our hunger for God’s help and power?

We talked on Sunday about the working of God’s power in our lives.

Did that spark a desire in you for that power to be realized?

Did it pass you by in your pew without piquing your interest in the slightest?

We need a refreshment of humility in our lives.

Humility is the only way one may come to God.

This centurion had accomplished more than many of us will ever accomplish.

He held authority and power that most of us will never experience.

He had built that synagogue of his own means.

And yet, he saw himself as unworthy to have Jesus under his roof.

If we would be honest, we struggle to demonstrate this same humility.

We much too often think and act like God owes us something.

We are proud of our religious accomplishments or life accomplishments.

We think that this makes God indebted to or impressed by us.

The truth is, God doesn’t owe us anything.

We cannot impress God.

We cannot put Him in our debt.

We will always be unworthy servants.

Remember that when we come to God seeking His power.

He doesn’t owe us health.

He doesn’t owe us wealth.

We must come to Him in humility.

We need the faith of this centurion.

He didn’t believe that there was anything Jesus couldn’t do.

You’ve heard the stories of the Bible, what do you really believe about God’s power?

Do you believe that God is able to exercise His power in the situations and circumstances of your life?

Do you believe God has the power to send one of His messengers to reach that wayward loved one?

Do you believe that God has the power to provide and protect for that one who has their worldly supports taken from them?

What about that parent or grandparent or great-grandparent who endeavors to raise a child to be a follower of Jesus?

Is God’s power sufficient for them?

I see 2 problems in my own Christian life.

I see a propensity to pride that says I don’t need God.

I see a lack of faith that God would act on my behalf.

What about you?

Do you have this same problem?