Luke 7:1-10

Transcript

Hey, everybody.
Welcome back.
Thanks for joining us as we continue through Luke.
Start the seventh chapter of the Gospel of Luke today,
and a really interesting text,
a fascinating text that
is
accounted for in other Gospels.
Luke, I think,
enjoys telling us this story.
The way it’s framed
in Luke is really interesting.
This is,
well,
I don’t know.
We’ll talk about what it is or isn’t
after we read it.
But let me get into it here.
This is verse 1, chapter 7.
“After Jesus finished saying these things in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum.
And a centurion there had a
slave whom he valued highly and who was ill and close to death.
When he heard about Jesus,
he sent some Jewish elders to him,
asking him to come and heal the slave.
When they came to Jesus,
they appealed to him earnestly
and said, ‘He is worthy of having you do this for him,
for he loves our people,
and it was he who built our synagogue for us.’ And Jesus went with them,
but when he was not far from the house,
the centurions sent friends to say 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 only speak the word and let my servant be healed,
for I am also a man 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 slaves do this,
and they do it.’ When Jesus heard
this, he was amazed at him.
And turning to the crowd that followed him,
he said, ‘I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.
When those who had been sent returned to the house,
they found the slave in good health.'” I think this is one of those stories,
Michael, that as a 21st century reader,
as an American reader,
we could read this.
It might sound a little confusing to us.
We would read it through and say,
“Oh, Jesus did this nice thing.”
I don’t think we understand in the context of this really how maybe stunning is the right word.
The idea that there’s a Roman officer who has a servant
who Jews take up for to Jesus and make a
case for Jesus’s help.
And then that’s not even to mention this back part where Jesus is literally
amazed at the man’s faith,
at the level of his understanding and his faith.
I think it’s hard
for us to wrap our head around really how surprising and how strange this text would be,
and maybe how shocking or at least possibly even troubling it would have been to those
who first heard it.
So one of the
downsides of the way that we do these studies is the fact that we
go text by text day by day.
So if you have not been with us the last few days in Jesus’s teaching
section, it is essential that you recognize that this story follows verse one when Jesus had
finished all of his sayings.
So all of these things he’s talked about already,
the things that you
would want to go back a couple videos to make sure that you heard about,
this reversal of the
kingdom about how God is interested in the lost and the least,
how our action matters,
not just what we say, but doing Jesus’s teaching.
All of this is enfolded in as we move into this story.
And Clint,
you’re exactly right.
It would be so easy for us to miss that when this centurion
is dealing with a sick member of his household,
when Jesus has brought into that story,
none of this should make sense to us.
All of this is strange and counter cultural.
This movement
where the oppressor, the one who is militarily subjugated and holds power over the Israelite
people is here, the one who is in a position of need.
And instead of the people kicking in when
he’s down, the people are helping and bringing Jesus into the equation.
And then to use that
word stunningly at the end of the story,
we find that this individual is actually the illustration
of faith is actually the one who is portraying very much the teaching that Jesus has already offered.
And it is his gentile understanding of authority applied to Jesus that Jesus receives positively.
And he notes that this is an image of someone that stands even above those who Jesus
has taught in the Jewish region.
That is,
it’s right on the doorstep,
if not crossing the line
into offensive in a Jewish audience.
And here, Luke tells this story confidently,
and he includes these details so that we,
the reader, know that it’s intentional.
Yeah. And I would say,
as it unfolds, Michael, it’s probably a series of surprises.
First of all,
that there’s a centurion that are not well regarded on the whole,
certainly not loved by
the Jewish people for the most part.
But here is a centurion who cares about one of his house
servants.
The word slave is also servant,
and depending on what the context is,
would have some bearing on
how we understood that person’s role in his position.
But whatever you call that person,
the centurion cares about that person who is ill and close to death.
He reaches out
through Jewish channels to Jesus.
Surprisingly, those Jewish people respect him,
or at least they acknowledge that he is worthy of having you do this.
In other words, they seem to believe
Jesus could do it also.
And they speak for the man.
They sort of vouch for him.
He’s been good to us.
He built the synagogue.
He loves our people,
all of which are surprising to hear these
things said by Jews of a Roman soldier,
a Roman leader,
military leader.
And then Jesus goes,
which is, again, another surprise that Jesus is willing to do this.
And then,
you know, so all of this speaks to the centurion,
to his impact on the people around him.
Maybe we even hear Jesus’
words last chapter.
You know,
if you’re good, you bear good fruit.
Maybe there’s some sense of that
here.
This man seems to have cultivated good relationships within his household and within his community.
And then the thing that is most shocking is the thing that shocks Jesus.
Jesus is on the way when other people come sent by the centurion who tells Jesus,
“Look, I don’t deserve to have you in my house.
That’s why I didn’t come to you.” Maybe he thought he would offend Jesus.
Maybe he thought he would make trouble for Jesus if Jesus were seen with the centurion.
Maybe he understands the context.
But for whatever reason, he says,
“I know you don’t need to be here.
I exercise authority.
I’m a man with authority.
I tell people what they do to do,
and they do it
because I have authority over them.
So I know that if you want to heal my servant,
you can do it without being here.” Essentially,
that’s the claim of faith that he makes.
And it leaves Jesus
stung—I mean, the word “amazed.” And the word—and Jesus,
in the gospel of Luke,
there are things that amaze Jesus.
Jesus is not shocked very often,
and part of that is the way
the character Jesus is portrayed in the gospels.
He’s sometimes amazed by the lack of faith.
There are a couple of times where he’s stunned by what people do or say,
and this is one of them,
and it’s a short list.
He is amazed at the centurion,
and he praises him to the—I have not found
such faith even in Israel.
The idea that this Roman centurion has such faith in Jesus that he
sends word to him saying,
“I don’t deserve to have you in my presence,
and I know you don’t need to be
here to do what I’ve asked if you’re willing.” It is a remarkable expression of faith,
and it leaves Jesus stunned as well.
And so everything about this passage just kind of ramps up along the way.
It’s really well-written.
It’s well-delivered.
And again, I think if we try to enter it a little
bit from the perspective of when it happens,
it is a pretty amazing—it’s a pretty amazing story.
We are now in the seventh chapter of Luke,
and the conversation, which we’ve seen before,
continues to require repeating,
and Luke is answering the question,
“Who is welcome
in the kingdom of God?
Who is Jesus coming to save?” And this story is a concrete answer
to that question.
Luke is wanting us, the reader,
to know that this Roman,
this person outside the circle,
is able to hear the good news and to respond.
And I think we do miss the force of that,
but the hope of this story is that the fruit of the gospel can grow in unexpected and unlikely places.
And so we’re going to have later in the book of Luke that parable of sowing seed.
I think
weaves in stories like this throughout the entire gospel,
which all together make this consistent
thread a reminder to us that the gospel can take root and that when it does,
it may look different
than it does for us,
or it may sound different than we are used to,
but that this is God’s ability
to work in the human life,
that someone who’s used to exercising military authority can offer
us an image of faith who sees Jesus and says,
“I don’t need you in my house.
I don’t need you
to be troubled in any way.” If you would be willing to say these words,
I believe that you’re able to do it.
That is a beautiful kind of illustration of one small encounter with Jesus,
which functions as a revelation of who Jesus is.
He’s a man with authority,
even the authority of God himself,
but this man who controls soldiers,
who’s an image of military might,
this man is able to show us that.
And Luke is able to tell us that and to illustrate that in a way
that is consistent throughout the entire gospel.
And if we’re willing to continue to be open to it,
we’ll teach us that we too will see the gospel in surprising places.
Yeah, we’ve seen Jesus here in the gospel of Luke reach out to tax collectors,
call them now doing this work on behalf of a centurion.
And Michael, you asked the question,
“Who does Jesus care for?
Who does Jesus reach out to?” And really,
it is those who humble
themselves before Him.
It is those who put their faith in Him.
And what’s really interesting,
and this is somewhat subtle,
but notice that the Jews say of the centurion,
“He is worthy
of having you do this for Him.” And a verse later,
he says, “I am not worthy to have you come under my roof.
I know if you speak the words,
He will be healed.
My servant will be healed.” And so,
maybe the best thing we can say about the centurion
is that he doesn’t approach Jesus
on his own reputation.
He doesn’t approach Jesus on his own assumption of authority.
The fact that he is a person of authority,
and yet he recognizes Jesus to be superior,
he recognizes Jesus to be above him,
and in Jesus’ presence,
he considers himself unworthy,
is, I think, the act of faith that Jesus is applauding,
is celebrating late in the story.
So,
I hope we can begin to convey at some level how unlikely of a character of faith this man is
in the context of the gospel,
in the context of first century Galilee.
This is not the person
we expect to show up and see them affirmed and
celebrated for their faith.
That’s just,
that is not what you expect.
It’s nearly unheard of,
and yet here it is,
Jesus changing rules and
rewriting boundaries and doing things we don’t expect,
and that’s part of the power of the way
Luke is telling his story.
Yeah, and there are some details in this story I think that are helpful
to note here at the end.
Verse 10, “When they had been sent returned to the house,
they found the slave in good health.” I just want to remind you that this cuts against much of our modern
understandings of slavery.
This centurion is showing true wholehearted concern for the person
who serves in his house,
and that, no doubt, is also a part of Luke’s reason for telling this
story.
This centurion is not only good to the Jews in building that synagogue and having good relations.
I believe the text even says they say that he loved them.
It says in verse 5,
“For he loves our people.” But here he loves those who serve under him.
He cares for them,
and so here in
Jesus is really having an encounter with a man who has a kind of worldly authority
which you think would be against Luke’s interest.
You would think that Luke would be very much against that
kind of militaristic power,
but instead Luke is showing us how this man,
in a surprising vocation,
is good to the people that he is called to lead.
He cares for the least of his staff.
When Jesus comes, he treats Jesus with utmost respect and honor,
and that ultimately, as a result of this man’s character and actions,
once again connecting with the previous teachings that
Jesus has already given,
this man’s servant is going to be healed.
That is another example of
a person caring for the least that continues on that Lukean theme,
but Jesus is the one who has
done that at every turn.
I think it’s interesting that here we have an example of someone not in
the circle of the disciples,
not in the circle of the disciples who follow Jesus,
or even within Judaism
writ large, and yet this man is heralded as a person who trusts Jesus and whose word is
good to those around him.
I think, Michael, to some extent,
because Luke is perhaps the most outsiders seeing Jesus,
right?
The tax collector I’ve mentioned,
now we have the soldier
down the road.
It will be a woman later, a Samaritan.
Luke,
because of his openness and
interest in these outside characters,
can really do a nice job in drawing the contrast between those
who should understand who Jesus is but don’t,
and those who have no reason to understand who Jesus
is but get something of him being the Son of God,
whether that be a centurion, a tax collector,
a woman, a Samaritan.
You’re going to see that kind of woven in throughout the rest of the gospel.
The very people who should be able to discern something of who Jesus is don’t,
and the ones you
least expect are the ones who get it.
And that’s in all the gospels,
but I think it’s most,
in some ways, maybe most apparent in Luke,
because Luke is so open to these stories about outsiders
and loves those stories,
I think, to be honest.
If you had a Bible that didn’t have Luke,
maybe Acts would be more surprising than it actually is.
I wonder if we only had Matthew,
Luke, and John.
There’s a sense in which maybe we would be
a little surprised when the gospel spreads so quickly amongst the Gentile world,
but because of Luke’s insistence upon Jesus’ own life and ministry being lived out with these people who
have been considered far outside the bounds of the community of Judaism and the ancient religion
rooted in the oneness of God.
Luke makes it so abundantly clear through the examples chosen,
the stories recounted, that Jesus had a heart for the people who later Paul would be ministering to
and in whom that gospel would spread like wildfire.
And I just think that it’s a beautiful thing to
see that woven into the story in a way that makes it clear that this wasn’t an afterthought.
This was part of Jesus’ intention from day one.
Yeah, it’s surprising that this man would ask.
It’s surprising that Jesus says yes,
and then it’s surprising that Jesus is surprised by the level of his faith.
That’s a vintage Luke kind of story,
and I think there’s a lot in it for us.
We’re glad that you would spend some time with us today during the midst of this study.
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Thanks, everybody.