Luke 07.01-10 What
we will study this morning in Who is Worthy…01. Faith (Luke 07.01-03); 02. Works (Luke 07.04-05); and 03. Great Faith (Luke 07.04-05).
01. Faith (Luke 07.01-03)
At the end of Matthew’s account of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 05.01-07.29),
Matthew tells us that the people were amazed at the Sermon on the Mount
teaching of Jesus (Matthew 07.28-29). After preaching the Sermon
on the Level (Luke
06.17-49), Jesus goes into Capernaum. We talked about Capernaum
before (Luke
04.31-37 | The Authority of Jesus) and Matthew
tells us that Capernaum became the adopted home of Jesus during His public
ministry (Matthew
04.13). Capernaum is never mentioned in the Old Testament, and it
means the city of Nahum. Now there
doesn’t seem to be enough evidence to know for sure if this city was named
after Nahum the prophet. The town of Capernaum is about 16 miles Northeast of
Nazareth, on the Northwest side of the Sea of Galilee (Map
of the Galilee) and within walking distance of where Jesus delivered the
Sermon on the Level. It was in Capernaum that Jesus taught on the Sabbath where
the people were amazed because He taught with authority; He cast out the demons,
healed Peter’s mother-in-law (Luke 04.31-41). It is where Jesus healed both the
leper and the paralyzed (Luke 05.12-26). Matthew the tax collector set
up his tax booth here in Capernaum (Luke 05.27-39). John tells us that there was a
royal official who lived in Capernaum (John 04.46), who was most likely in the
service of Herod Antipas. Capernaum was the main city on the Northern shore of
the Sea of Galilee, and was important enough to have a centurion with his group
of soldiers.
Centurions are so named because they were in charge of 100
soldiers. A Roman legion at full strength was made up of 6,000 men who were
divided into 10 cohorts of 600 men each. A centurion commanded 100 of these
men, so in a Roman legion there were 60 centurions. More than likely, the
responsibilities of this centurion were keeping order, enforcing the law, and
overseeing the collection of taxes. Every time a centurion is mentioned in the
New Testament (Mark
15.39; Acts 10.01-02; Acts 22.25-26; Acts 23.17-18;
Acts 27.01;
Acts
27.42-43), they are mentioned in a favorable light. With this
centurion, there is no better example of what Jesus talked about in His Sermon
on the Level (Luke
06.17-49; Matthew 05.01-07.29) than what we will study this
morning. This Roman Centurion was a model of genuine faith, a faith that works!
So a particular centurion in Capernaum had a slave “who was highly
regarded by him” (Luke 07.02) or one who was held in honor, or precious to the centurion. This
centurion cared deeply about this slave. This slave “was sick and about to die” (Luke 07.02).
Matthew tells us that the centurion’s “servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully
tormented.” (Matthew 08.06)
Luke 07.03 “When he heard about Jesus” but
he had not yet seen Jesus. This centurion had great faith in Jesus, even though
he never saw Him. When Jesus appeared to Thomas in the Upper Room after His
resurrection, “Jesus said to him, “Because
you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet
believed.”” (John 20.29) Paul tells us “faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the
word of Christ.” (Romans 10.17), that “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of
things not seen.” (Hebrews 11.01) “And without faith it is impossible to
please Him, for he who comes to God
must believe that He is and that He
is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” (Hebrews 11.06)
Luke 07.03 “he sent some Jewish elders asking Him
(Jesus) to come
and save the life of his slave.” It says a lot about this centurion
that the elders of the city were willing to go on behalf of him, as
traditionally the Jews hated the Romans for occupying their land. Notice again
the faith of the centurion, he sent the Jewish elders to see if Jesus would heal his slave, not could Jesus heal his servant. The
parallel account in Matthew 08.05-13 has the centurion talking to
Jesus. This was normal for this culture to attribute the actions of the
representative to the person in authority as if he himself did it. For it was
down by and under his authority.
02. Works (Luke 07.04-05)
The Greek word for “implored” (G3870) parakalew parakaleo which means to beg or beseech. These Jewish elders were acting as intercessors
for a Gentile man! They told Jesus that this centurion was a worthy man because
of his works. They mentioned that the synagogue that he built was evidence of
his love for the Jews and their God, thus he is worthy to have his wish
granted. This is how the world views people who do good works. Good works
evidences a worldly worthiness. People look favorably upon those who donate to
different charities. That’s why when you go to the grocery store; they try to
“guilt” you into donating for a certain cause. And when you don’t, you’re
looked down upon when you ignore the red kettle or the girl scouts. It happens
every Sunday, as people gather to go to church, thinking that by going to
church, giving to their church and showing up three weeks out of four is “good
enough”. Without realizing it, many
people have the attitude that Heaven can be bought by their good deeds,
thinking that the scales of justice will weigh in their behalf.
Even though the Jewish elders thought that he was worthy
because of his works, we know from the Sermon on the Level (Luke 06.17-49)
that these good works displayed His faith (James 02.14-26) and not what saves us (Ephesians
02.08-10).
03. Great Faith (Luke 07.06-10)
Luke 07.06 “Now Jesus started
on His way with them; and when He was not far from the house, the centurion
sent friends” Jesus starts on His way towards the house of the
centurion, when the centurion sends his dear
friends (in the Greek-G5384 filov
philos).
Luke 07.06 “Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am
not worthy for You to come under my roof;”
The Romans were not known for displaying humility, especially towards
the Jews who they were ruling over. The centurion
knew that that the houses of the Gentiles were considered unclean to the
Jews, and that as a sinful man he was not worthy to have the Son of God come
into his house. The centurion’s response was much
like Peter’s when he saw and experienced the great catch of fish in Luke 05.06-07,
Simon Peter “fell
down at Jesus’ feet, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man, O
Lord!”” (Luke 05.08) When
you see yourself in light of the perfection of the Son of God, you see yourself
for who you really are. Not as the world sees, which is only on the outside,
but from the inside out.
Luke 07.07 The
Gentile centurion knew that Jesus could
heal his servant, but he was unsure if Jesus would heal for a Gentile. The fact
that Jesus healed for a Gentile shows us that Jesus came to offer “salvation to
everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Romans 01.16).
The Jewish elders told Jesus that the centurion was “worthy” (Luke 07.04) for Jesus to heal his
slave, yet the very same centurion said that he was “not worthy” (Luke 07.06-07) for Jesus to come to
His house.
Luke 07.08 This
centurion knew authority, for he was a man under authority, and he was a man
with authority. Just as his men and servants would have to carry out his
commands, he knew that Jesus was One with authority much more than a mere
mortal. He knew that all Jesus needed to do was speak and his paralyzed and
dying servant would be healed (Matthew 08.06). When you have the true, living
faith in your heart, you realize how unworthy you are before the LORD, and yet
you have no doubt that He can help you.
Luke 07.09 Jesus
marveled at the faith of this centurion because no one else in Israel had made
such a bold confession of the unlimited authority of Jesus.
Luke 07.10 Matthew
tells us “the
servant was healed that very moment.” (Matthew 08.13). A person is not
worthy by their own merit, for if that was the standard, there is only One who is
worthy (Revelation
04.11; Revelation 05.01-14). In Revelation 05.01-14 we are told that
Jesus is the only One who is worthy to open the scroll. When the Romans would
make a law, it would not go into effect until the scroll was opened, again
reaffirming that only Jesus is worthy! There is nothing that you and I can do
apart from the love of Christ that was displayed for us on the cross. We are
made worthy by the blood of the Lamb that was slain for us.
This Roman Centurion had very little spiritual instruction,
and yet he had great faith in God’s Word, knowing that he was not worthy.
We today are made worthy by the blood of the Lamb that was
slain for us (Revelation
04.11; Revelation 05.01-14).
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