The Gospel of Luke (23) A Centurion's Servants Healed 04/16/2023

First Baptist Church Leominster

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

00:00

It was a denial of Jesus Christ as being fully God, truly God, and truly man.

00:07

And the reason is because they had this philosophy that that which is spirit is good, that which is flesh is evil.

00:13

Therefore, God could not possibly have been incarnate in Jesus Christ. And they were in the churches, and so things were really a problem.

00:23

They were true Christians, and then there were these heretics who thought they were true

00:28

Christians mixed up in the churches. And John wrote this epistle basically to sort them out, to give a true assurance to the true people of God, but to reveal those who were sorely mistaken, wrong, in their understanding of the essentials of the

00:47

Christian faith. And so we have 1 John. I think it's probably the best book of the

00:55

New Testament, which will give a sound assurance of salvation to those who read it and take the message to heart.

01:02

Pastor Jason, please. 1

01:11

John chapter 1. That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life.

01:26

The life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testified to it, and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was from the

01:35

Father, and was made manifest to us. That which we have seen and heard, we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us.

01:46

And indeed, our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things, so that our joy may be complete.

01:56

This is the message we have heard from him, and proclaimed to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

02:06

If we say we have fellowship with him, while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

02:13

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his

02:21

Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

02:30

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

02:38

If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

02:45

Let's pray. Lord God, we thank you that you are light, and we thank you that your scriptures are a light to us.

02:58

That in the scriptures, we see who you are, and what you've done. And Lord, we thank you that in Christ Jesus, we have the forgiveness of sins.

03:08

We have a mediator. We have an advocate. Lord, what a tremendous blessing this is.

03:14

As we open up your word, and as we continue to study the gospel of Luke, Lord, please make things clear to us.

03:22

Help us to see your truth. Help us to line our lives up to it. We just pray for the preaching of the word, that as it goes out, it would affect each one of us.

03:33

We thank you, Lord, in Jesus name. Amen. Well, let's turn in our

03:44

Bibles to Luke 7. You know, we thankfully have a means for people who can't get up here to the sanctuary to observe and participate in the service downstairs.

04:06

We wish they could all be up here, but it's just not possible. But just by way of reminder, it would be good if you happen to be traveling through the

04:14

Fellowship Hall during the service, to be mindful of them, that they're attentively observing and listening to the service up here.

04:26

And so it would be good to remain quiet traveling through or sitting in the Fellowship Hall, that everybody shows regard for one another.

04:36

Well, here we are in Luke chapter 7. And today we want to consider the miracle that our

04:43

Lord Jesus performed in healing the servant of a Roman centurion. This is an episode that's also recorded for us in Matthew's Gospel, not in Mark.

04:56

And so we can consider the two accounts side by side. I've put them there in your notes. There's a few different differing details between the two records.

05:05

And I've italicized and boldened those words and clauses that distinguish each account.

05:12

Now, we're only going to read Luke's account in the left column, but you are able to think and look more quickly than I can speak, and you can see the comparison between them and the different details.

05:24

So here's Luke 7, 1 through 10. Now, when he, Jesus, concluded all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered

05:32

Capernaum and a certain centurion's servant, who was dear to him, was sick and ready to die.

05:40

So when he heard about Jesus, he sent elders of the Jews to him, pleading with him to come and heal his servant.

05:50

And when they came to Jesus, they begged him earnestly, saying that the one whom he should do this was worthy, for he loves our nation and has built us a synagogue.

06:03

And then Jesus went with them. And when he was already not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying to him,

06:12

Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof.

06:20

Therefore, I did not even think myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed.

06:28

For I also am a man placed under authority, with having soldiers under me. I say to one go, he goes, to another come, he comes, and to my servant do this, and he does it.

06:40

And when Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turned around and said to the crowd that followed him,

06:48

I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel.

06:55

And those who were sent, returning to the house, found the servant well, who had been sick.

07:03

While one considers the two accounts, you can observe some slight difference in details.

07:10

The two narratives are not contradictory, we would argue, but they do differ. Where Luke describes the centurion sending

07:18

Jewish leaders to Jesus, to appeal to Jesus for him, Matthew describes a centurion as though the centurion himself came to Jesus.

07:29

Matthew was describing what the centurion said to Jesus through his emissaries, as though he said it himself.

07:36

Both Matthew and Luke's accounts emphasize the great faith of the Gentile centurion. That's the major point, by the way, of the episode.

07:46

But where Luke contrasts the faith of the centurion with the works righteousness belief of the Jewish rabbis,

07:53

Matthew shows the Gentiles faith to be typical of many Gentiles. They will have an inheritance in the kingdom of God, in contrast to many unbelieving

08:02

Jews, that will be rejected. It could be said that Matthew somewhat abbreviates and condenses the account that is recorded in Luke's Gospel.

08:14

And this is typical, by the way, of Matthew's writing. Of course, we understand and confess that the Holy Spirit superintended both writers and penned exactly what

08:25

God would have penned for us. Well, now let's work through Luke's account and consider the details.

08:34

Again, the major point of emphasis of this passage is the great faith that characterized the Roman centurion, underscore

08:41

Roman. Now, thankfully, it does not take great faith to see

08:46

God at work. Faith, even as diminutive as a mustard seed, is sufficient.

08:52

The Lord Jesus declared to move, see mulberry trees transplanted and mountains transported, if it's the will of God to do so.

09:03

Doesn't take great faith, a little faith. Nevertheless, it would be a good thing if each of us

09:08

Christians possessed great faith. Great faith is preferable. Great faith is commendable.

09:16

Our Lord commended this man for his great faith. Verse 9 is

09:22

Luke's concluding declaration of the episode. When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him and turned around and said to the crowd that followed him,

09:31

I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel. Not all

09:37

Christians possess great faith, and this is a sad thing. Sad because they, possessing weak or little faith, forfeit many blessings on their journey, on their pilgrimage to glory.

09:53

Thankfully, even one with weak faith, however, may be assured he possesses saving faith.

10:00

For even his little faith is true faith. It's a product of grace, a work of God, and there's a vast difference between little faith and no faith.

10:14

Even little faith in a great Jesus will save the soul. Although little faith may not be convinced always that it is so.

10:23

There's doubts. And yet great faith is to be desired. It's commended by our

10:29

Lord. Jesus marveled at him. Some parade themselves before others as possessing great faith, particularly those who claim to work signs and wonders in the name of Jesus.

10:44

Many of them, however, seem to be focused inward to themselves and see greatness of faith as something they themselves possess.

10:51

Look at me, my great faith. They are often focused in unhealthy ways on themselves, the subjects of faith, rather than God, the object of faith.

11:05

And furthermore, it seems that many of these who purport to have great faith, in actuality, have their faith in a little

11:11

God. Or so their theology would seem to suggest.

11:16

We should much prefer to have a little faith in a great God than a great faith in a little God. And that's the whole point of Jesus saying, if your faith was just, you know, the size of a mustard seed, that's sufficient.

11:32

Great faith is good, it's commendable, but you can get by with just a little bit of faith. For even in the presence of little faith, a great

11:41

God will bring great blessing. And it's therefore much to be preferred. What's most desirable, of course, is to have great faith in a great

11:50

God. And this is what we have set before us in our little story here in Luke chapter 7.

11:58

And so let us glean from Luke's account the nature of great faith, both in how it's presented, and then we'll compare it and contrast it with little faith.

12:10

And so let's consider this episode, Jesus heals a centurion's servant.

12:15

First, we see the need of the centurion, verses 2 and 3. And a certain centurion's servant, who was dear to him, was sick and ready to die.

12:26

And so when he heard about Jesus, he sent elders of the Jews to him, pleading with him to come and heal his servant.

12:35

Although the centurion's slave is the subject of the sentence, it's a centurion's servant.

12:40

It's the centurion himself who is in view. A centurion, of course, was a

12:46

Roman military officer of some rank. He probably commanded a troop of at least 100 Roman soldiers.

12:54

And so I think that this man might have been the leader of a garrison of Roman soldiers stationed there, quartered there near Capernaum on the shores of Galilee.

13:05

In the minds of nationalistic, religious, fervent Jews, he was a leader of occupational forces.

13:12

The Roman oppressors. And yet we see he had the respect and adoration of the

13:19

Jews who knew him. He was a good man, as men go.

13:24

We know there's none good but God, but humanly speaking, he was a good man. He loved

13:29

God. He loved God's people. He must have loved people in general. No matter their background, social standing, or nationality, for we see he even loved his slave.

13:42

Who was sick, who was dear to him. He was a good man. And even the most discriminating of Jews thought so, and viewed him with that was worthy of receiving

13:54

Jesus and his favor. He's the kind of person we ought to strive to be like.

14:00

Loving, generous, kind, compassionate, and humble. The centurion's care and concern for his servant may suggest some noble qualities of the servant who is in need of healing.

14:15

This servant must have been a loyal, dutiful servant to his master. John Calvin thought so. He surmised as much.

14:22

Luke says that this servant was very dear to him. And thus anticipates a doubt which may, might have arisen in the mind of the reader.

14:30

For we know that slaves were not held in such estimation as to make their master so solicitous about their life, unless by extraordinary industry, or fidelity, or some other virtue they had secured their favor.

14:43

And by this statement, Luke means that this was not a low or ordinary slave, but a faithful servant distinguished by many excellencies, and very highly esteemed by his master.

14:54

And that this was the reason why he was so anxious about his life, and recommended him so earnestly.

15:00

I think that's a reasonable conclusion to draw. May our

15:07

Lord enable each of us to be faithful to the ones that the Lord has placed over us.

15:13

And the Lord has placed every one of us under someone or others. May we be like Joseph in Egypt, who obtained favor with everyone whom he served.

15:24

Thus bringing credit to his God, and credibility to himself in the eyes of man. May the Lord enable us to live that way in this fallen world.

15:35

Now this man was not a Jew, but a Gentile. He was outside the national covenant relationship with, that Israel had with God.

15:44

He may have been one that was referred to as a God -fearer. That is a Gentile who had embraced the

15:51

God and faith of Israel, but had not undergone circumcision in order to become a true

15:56

Jewish proselyte. There are many God -fearers in that day.

16:02

But again, he was, humanly speaking, we always have to qualify that, he was a good man, and somewhat of a religious man.

16:12

And oftentimes we may find ourselves presenting the gospel to such people as this man. Who by human standards are noble individuals.

16:21

Not many of this type are called by God. Not many wise, not many noble, or mighty are called, but some are, thankfully.

16:30

Paul stated that, 1 Corinthians 1. And I wonder if sometimes the manner in which we present the gospel excludes hope for people like these to come to the

16:39

Savior. We often open wide the gospel net to allow for any to enter, and we do so by stressing that Jesus receives the most sinful of individuals.

16:49

And he does, thank God. And in so doing we are hoping to imply that Christ receives any and all who come to him.

16:59

But I wonder if some good people, and I put that in quotation marks, for there's none good, feel that they do not belong because they do not have a portion in what we offer.

17:14

I mean the Lord calling drunkards, and adulterers, and prostitutes, and the poor.

17:23

In Luke's gospel women are emphasized, who were not highly regarded in that day by males.

17:31

And furthermore, I wonder if some Christians who have not lived based lives at some period in their lives feel at times they wish they had, so they might maybe feel more assured of their salvation based on their on their lives, from their transition from godlessness to godliness.

17:50

I've met Christians that way, raised in a Christian home. They've never been out in the world living for sin, in sin.

17:58

And sometimes they struggle when they hear the testimonies of some great sinner coming to salvation in Christ.

18:09

Thankfully the Lord saves great sinners, and that there's no sinner so far from the Lord that he'll not receive him in faith.

18:18

But it's greatly desirable and commendable to have been raised in a Christian home by godly parents.

18:23

That's the ideal. To have never known by experience the terrible stain of sin that's common to those of us who once lived far and apart from God.

18:35

You're the blessed and privileged one. So yes, this was a good man, but this man had a need.

18:43

A desperate need, not for himself, but for someone he cared about. He loved this servant.

18:53

And that led this centurion to Jesus. And often this is the way of God with good men so called.

19:00

They do not see themselves as having a great need, but they encounter some concern for another one close to them. A problem of such a nature that reveals perhaps his powerlessness to address it.

19:11

He sees that all of his influence, all of his goodness, all of his financial resources are useless to deal with the matter.

19:19

And they are therefore compelled to come to Jesus who alone can help. The Lord saves people like that.

19:30

I knew a man, he was an acquaintance. I helped disciple his wife when I was out door knocking in Citrus Heights, California near Sacramento.

19:39

And he was a tile man who would put tile in swimming pools and whatnot and decks.

19:48

He became very wealthy. And he told me what converted him. He says, I'm not intelligent enough to be a good businessman.

19:57

The Lord so blessed me. I knew it must be of God. The goodness of God had led him to repentance.

20:04

You don't hear that account very often, but it was it was true for him. But sometimes you'll have a person who maybe doesn't see a great need for himself.

20:15

But he becomes very burdened about someone he cares about. And so we've seen people come to Christ over the years in this way.

20:23

Concern of a good wife over a wayward husband. Concerned parents over their children.

20:30

Their love for or concern for the problems of another are instrumental in revealing their need of the

20:35

Lord Jesus. And so it was with this man. His dear servant was sorely ill.

20:42

And so he asked the Jewish leaders to go to Jesus on his behalf and ask him, Jesus, to heal this man.

20:50

And so it is. God uses problems to draw us and to keep us close to himself.

20:57

Most of us would not have sought Jesus unless we sensed we needed him. And so the

21:02

Lord in his love and providence sees that we remain needy.

21:09

So we always need him. And that's God's love being manifest, of course.

21:16

Therefore, needs are good. Problems are good. If they point us toward our Lord from whom comes our help.

21:25

The centurion called upon the influential Jews he knew and asked them to go to Jesus on his behalf.

21:31

Requesting that Jesus would come to heal his servant. And this request of the centurion was a good request.

21:41

When we have a need that we know that we cannot meet. Say, when we have a sickness or someone we care about is sick, we're not only to go to our father in prayer, but we should be as this centurion and ask others to go to our

21:54

Lord on their behalf. On behalf of that one in need. Prayer cards.

22:02

I have a stack of them about that thick now on my desk. This is it's good to make your prayer request known that your brothers and sisters in Christ can be faithful and pray to you.

22:13

Samuel you know declared, Lord forbid that I should sin against God in failing to pray for you.

22:24

We read in the scriptures, the Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous. Find righteous people.

22:33

Good godly Christians and ask them to pray for you and for the concerns you have. We're told that the prayer of a righteous one will be very wonderfully effectual before God.

22:42

Confess your trespasses to one another. Pray for one another that you may be healed. The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man or a woman, of course, avails much.

22:53

Avails much. There are some people that the Lord is more willing to grant their request than others.

23:04

When we're in need of God to work on our behalf or in the life of another, let us enlist our righteous brothers and sisters in Christ to join us in petitioning our father to intervene to bring healing and restoration.

23:17

Amen. Let's consider the attitude of the elders.

23:23

There's a problem here. We read of them approaching Jesus and appealing to him to help this man.

23:29

When they came to Jesus, they begged him earnestly saying that the one for whom he should do this was deserving.

23:36

For he loves our nation and has built us a synagogue. King James says he's worthy.

23:43

That's what the Jews told Jesus. So let's consider first their opinion of the centurion.

23:51

These Jewish men of prominence in Capernaum had genuine affection and appreciation for this man who had authority over them.

23:59

He had shown kindness toward them. The very place they meant for worship of God in Capernaum had been built by him.

24:08

We're assuming it was the synagogue in Capernaum he built. And although they may not have been concerned about this man's slave, they cared about this slave's master.

24:19

So much so they came to see Jesus on his behalf. Perhaps there's, however, a note of political expediency as well.

24:28

It was to their advantage that they remained on good terms with this man. This man came, hey go to Jesus on my behalf and there would be a tendency for them to do so.

24:37

He had the power to make life quite difficult for them. And so it was in their best interest to do whatever he asked of them.

24:48

But it must have been very difficult for them when you consider their opinion of Jesus and their attitude toward him.

24:54

Jesus had previously offended them more than on one occasion. He openly challenged their authority.

25:01

They were suspicious and jealous of Jesus. They had already determined that Jesus had violated their sacrosanct traditions and that he was worthy of death.

25:12

They hated him, filled with anger toward him. They had already counseled with one another what to do with him.

25:19

And so these elders were the same ones we read about in well, just the last chapter,

25:24

Luke chapter 6. When Jesus on the sabbath was in his second synagogue, there was a man whose right hand was withered and the

25:34

Pharisees, the scribes and their Pharisees watched him closely whether he would heal on the sabbath and that they might find an accusation against him.

25:44

They were opposed to him. He was a threat to them. And when he did heal the man, they were filled with rage and they discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.

25:56

But now they're put in the awkward position of having to go to Jesus and ask him for his help. Can you imagine the tension and difficulty that must have been in their thinking?

26:06

It's ironic. It must have been very humbling to them. Certainly it was not easy for them.

26:13

We might be reminded of a similar condition where I thought of this back in the days of ancient Persia.

26:19

Haman, the prime minister of Persia under King Azarias, was intensely embittered toward the Jewish man

26:24

Mordecai. Remember he had basically persuaded the the emperor of of Persia to declare a day in which all the

26:36

Jews would be killed. So Mordecai would be one of them. Haman, of course, desired foremost his self -promotion and public recognition of his greatness.

26:46

He was a man full of pride. And so when the king had a sleepless night, he got out the royal records and read them.

26:54

That'll make you sleepy, I guess. And he was reminded of the plot against him that was thwarted due to the influence of Mordecai.

27:02

And so the king asked the advice of Haman what he should do in order to give great honor to a man. Haman, filled with himself, thought the king was about to honor him.

27:11

And so he said to the king, for the man whom the king delights to honor, let a royal robe be brought which the king was worn, a horse on which the king is ridden, which has a royal crest placed on its head.

27:23

Let his robe and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king's most noble princes that he may array the man whom the king delights to honor, then parade him on horseback through the city square, proclaim before him, thus shall it be done to the man whom the lord delights to honor.

27:40

And then the king, of course, said to Haman, hurry, take the robe and horse, just as you suggested, and go do it to Mordecai.

27:48

And you could imagine Haman now having to honor Mordecai and leading Mordecai through the city.

27:54

It must have been very difficult, I suspect, for Haman. And I suspect these

28:00

Jewish leaders, you know, were clenching their teeth as they were having to come to Jesus. They were really put in a bind.

28:07

What else could they do? So we can imagine their thoughts and feelings as they came to Jesus.

28:15

Well, third, consider their thoughts regarding God and the way God deals with people. This is telling.

28:22

Here lies one of the great lessons of our account, by the way, the utter error of their thinking that God relates to people based on their personal merit.

28:32

Why? The Jewish leaders thought this man merited God's favorable dealings with him.

28:38

They said to Jesus, he's worthy. He's deserving. Why?

28:44

Because he loves Israel. He built us a synagogue. They viewed this man as deserving of God's favor.

28:52

Because of the things he had done or opinions he held regarding God's people, he merited or earned

28:57

God's favor. He was worthy. And of course this opinion or this outlook of the

29:05

Jewish leaders is opposed to the way that God deals and relates to his creatures. And it reveals the very heart of the

29:12

Arab Judaism of that day and really the religionists of any day. They saw the world as divided into two groups of people.

29:21

There, first, there are those who are worthy of God's blessing. They assume, why would

29:26

God deny him or them? And they would probably think God would be unjust if he refused to answer, you know, this request.

29:36

And then there's a second group in the world. There are those who are unworthy of God's blessing. They assume that these people have no claims on God.

29:44

Why, they cannot expect to receive anything from God. And this is how they viewed themselves. And this is how they were viewed the world.

29:51

But the scriptures are clear that this is not how God relates to people, to sinful people. God is no respecter of persons.

30:00

And what that means, of course, is that God does not show favor to anyone based upon personal merit.

30:08

Their worthiness for receiving blessing from him. God deals with people according to grace and mercy, in spite of who they are, not because of who they are.

30:19

God freely bestows his blessing on whomever he pleases, irrespective the goodness or sinfulness of the recipient.

30:28

God has declared, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. I can somewhat understand that.

30:34

It's the second part. It's, I'll have compassion on whom I will have compassion.

30:40

God does not have compassion on everybody in their sin. He does on those whom he sees in Christ from eternity.

30:49

He's burdened with their burdens. God declared, I'll have mercy on whom I will have mercy, compassion on whom

30:56

I will have compassion. No number of good deeds, no amount of resolutions, no amount of tears earns the favor of God.

31:04

God bestows his sovereign grace on sinners, who are all deserving of his wrath due to their sin.

31:11

If you and I got what we deserve from God, it would be eternal hell. Much of Judaism of the first century taught otherwise.

31:20

They taught that being a Jew, a physical descendant of Abraham, itself merited God's favor.

31:27

Further, they thought by possessing the scriptures as a people, having access to the temple, conforming to stipulations of the law of Moses, particularly the

31:36

Ten Commandments, that that brought them into favor with God. And this was their undoing.

31:44

Paul described their folly, the Jews' folly, in Romans 10. These were unbelievers in Jesus.

31:51

Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. Paul was burdened about his countrymen.

31:59

For I bear witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.

32:08

Zeal for God without proper knowledge of God is dangerous and damning.

32:16

For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, which is a gift through faith, and seeking to establish their own righteousness through their law -keeping, have not submitted, not humbled themselves and submitted to the way, the only way of obtaining righteousness that's going to save your sinful soul, and that's if God gives it to you as a gift, freely through faith in Jesus Christ alone.

32:43

For Christ is the end, that is the goal or destination of the law. If you obey the law rightly and believe it rightly, it's going to lead you to Jesus.

32:52

But it didn't them. Rather, they became puffed up. They thought they were worthy.

32:58

And they thought this man was worthy because he he did enough for us Jewish people. He's worthy,

33:04

Jesus. The fact is, faith in Jesus Christ alone renders one righteous before God.

33:12

Righteousness before God is a gift from God that he declares of every true believer in Jesus Christ.

33:19

No matter how great the sinner, if he purposes to turn from his sin and believe on Jesus, God reckons that believing sinner as righteous.

33:30

The righteousness of Christ is given to his account credited to him. God thereafter views the believing sinner as righteous as his son,

33:41

Jesus Christ, because he has the righteousness of Christ credited to him. The Jews failed in this matter, and as a result, the majority of the

33:51

Jewish people failed and refused to believe on Jesus for righteousness. They trusted in themselves.

33:57

They incurred and encountered the judgment and wrath of God. And so this passage here in Luke chapter 7 reflects the very reason for the rejection of the majority of Jews as an ethnic people from the kingdom of God.

34:11

God only saved a remnant of Jews who had come to see their guilt due to their sin and their need of righteousness that God freely bestows upon believers in Christ.

34:24

Well, let's compare and contrast their attitude and outlook with the attitude of the centurion and the faith he exhibited.

34:33

Verses six to eight. And Jesus went with them.

34:39

And when he was already not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him saying to him, Lord, do not trouble yourself for I'm not worthy that you should enter under my roof.

34:50

And therefore I did not even think myself worthy to come to you, but say the word and my servant will be healed.

34:57

For I also am a man placed under authority, having soldiers under me. I say to one go, he goes.

35:03

To another come, he comes. To my servant do this and he does it. Take note of the centurion's opinion of himself.

35:12

In contrast to the Jew's opinion of him. He declared I am not worthy. The Jew said he is worthy.

35:18

The centurion said I'm not worthy. The Jewish leaders might have reacted to this man's statement.

35:24

Why, you are worthy to receive blessing from him. No, this centurion would respond.

35:30

I'm unworthy of receiving blessing. He was a humble individual. He had more insight in regard to his own spiritual state in his knowledge of the manner that God deals with sinners than did the

35:43

Jewish religious leaders he sent to Jesus on his behalf. They were clueless.

35:51

Now this man had done great things. We have seen he had good qualities. He had a good reputation.

35:58

But he did not see any of those things as a basis of thinking of himself more highly than he ought.

36:05

He had a high opinion of others, but he had a low opinion of himself. There are some who think little of themselves and are quite right in their estimation frankly.

36:16

Most would agree with them. But here is a man who highly esteemed others, but saw himself as God sees him.

36:25

He was a man who was not worthy for Jesus to even step into his house. He probably no doubt knew that that a

36:34

Jew would be regarded as unclean if he went into a Gentile's house. He didn't want Jesus to be put in this position.

36:42

This man alone had a right perspective of himself, estimation of himself. He did not see anything that he was or that he had done as meriting favor from God.

36:54

Now we Christians might be more in the pattern of the elders than we realize or care to admit. We think

37:00

I don't do this and this therefore God should hear and bless me. And when he doesn't do so we're disappointed or we think

37:08

I do this and I believe this or this and therefore God will hear and bless me.

37:14

We have a natural tendency to think that we relate to God on the basis of merit rather than Christ alone.

37:26

Our attitude should be although I don't do certain things and although I do the things I'm I do not do all the things

37:32

I'm commanded nevertheless. I have no claims on God. I am unworthy. But how different was he from the

37:40

Jewish elders? They said he is worthy. Verse four, he said I'm not worthy. Verse six, we are not accepted by God because we do not do certain things.

37:50

We're not accepted by God because we do certain things. We are accepted by God based on his mercy and grace and thankfully

37:57

God is merciful and gracious in Jesus Christ. Jesus receives sinners and the fitting question that we always ask do you qualify?

38:08

God receives sinners and only sinners. Are you a sinner? Do you qualify?

38:14

If not, you're on your own. Jesus is no saver to you. He came to save sinners, not the self -righteous.

38:24

Well, Jesus commanded this centurion for his great faith and so here we see the first of three elements of great faith.

38:32

First, he was aware of his own lowliness and absence of any personal merit to receive anything from God.

38:40

You can never have great faith in God if you have great confidence in yourself It's totally opposite to the world.

38:51

The two are incompatible. You can't have great faith and great self -esteem.

38:56

Can I put it that way in today's modern language? Charles Spurgeon wrote this, but I thought says one that a man who had strong self -reliance was a man of great faith.

39:07

He is the man who has no faith at all for self -reliance and Christ's reliance will not abide in the same heart.

39:15

Peter has an idea that he can go upon the water to his master. He's not so sure of the others, but he's clear about himself.

39:24

James, John, Andrew and the rest of them are in the ship. It does not occur to Peter that any one of these can tread the waves.

39:31

But he cries, Lord, if it's you bid me come unto you on the water. Self -consciousness is no attribute of faith.

39:39

But it's a nest for doubt. Had he known himself, he might have said, Lord, bid

39:45

John come to you on the water. I'm unworthy of so high a dignity. But no, being weak in faith, he was strong in his own opinion of himself and he hurried to the front as usual.

39:58

He hastened into a pathway that was quite unfit for his trembling feet to tread and before long found out his error.

40:04

It is weak faith that allows high ideals, ideas of self.

40:10

Great faith hides self under its mighty wings. Amen, Spurgeon.

40:18

And then note the centurion's opinion and attitude respecting Jesus. When he was already not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him saying to him,

40:29

Lord, do not trouble yourself for I'm not worthy that you should enter under my roof. And therefore

40:34

I did not even think myself worthy to come to you. This man had a great faith in Jesus's position and power.

40:44

It was not just an understanding of his own lowliness, but his great faith in Jesus's greatness, which contributed to Jesus's assessment of this man's faith.

40:55

He said in verse 6, I'm not worthy to have you to come into my house. He revealed in verse 7a that he did not even see himself worthy to approach

41:04

Jesus. He sent others on his behalf. And then in verse 7b, we see that he did not wish to even trouble

41:11

Jesus. Simply issue the word, it'll be enough. As easy as I command soldiers and they do my bidding, you can issue the command and it'll be done.

41:23

And so we see here the second of three elements of great faith. He was aware that through Christ's great authority and power, he could receive anything from God.

41:33

He had great faith. The centurion saw that in Christ all power resided.

41:41

And that the illness of his servant, an illness even unto death, was no real difficulty for Jesus to treat.

41:47

With a word from Jesus, his servant would be healed. He had great faith. But he also had faith in Jesus's willingness to heal.

41:58

It's one thing to have confidence in his ability, but some would doubt his willingness. We saw this before in Luke's gospel.

42:06

There must be a confidence that we will receive things from God. Earlier, we read of the faith of a leper who came to Jesus.

42:14

This man said to Jesus, Lord, if you're willing, you can make me whole or clean.

42:22

The writer to the Hebrews said that in order to please God, one first must believe that God is

42:28

God. That's essential. And many do that. Many do not doubt his power, but the writer goes on and adds a second matter.

42:40

You must also believe he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. You have to believe that he's willing to bless.

42:51

If you think it's based on merit, you know, you'll probably always have doubts and probably should have doubts.

42:58

And so here we see a third of three elements of great faith. This centurion was aware and believed

43:04

Christ's willingness to grant his request. He did not simply see that he was unworthy to request anything of Jesus, but failed to make his request.

43:14

He acted upon his faith. He sent messengers to Jesus. He knew that this man, Jesus, who had such authority, was gracious and delighted in coming to the aid of helpless, needy people.

43:29

And this understanding or faith in the character of Jesus moved him to send for assistance.

43:36

And this in turn reflects thirdly this insurance faith toward God and particularly how

43:42

God relates to people. He knew Israel's God was all -powerful and worthy to be served in worship.

43:50

He had built a synagogue so that the worship of God could take place. And further, he knew that God had entrusted great authority to Jesus.

44:02

At that time, he probably only understood Jesus to be a great rabbi from Nazareth.

44:08

But further, he knew whether he was a Jew or not. He, this Roman centurion, whether he was

44:14

Jewish or not, he would render this God his faith and allegiance and order his life in the light of this knowledge.

44:22

And as a result of this manner, Lord Jesus said, now we can refer to Matthew's account, truly

44:28

I say to you, I've not found such great faith with anyone as Israel. And then we have a prophecy here, a declaration.

44:36

I say unto you that many shall come from the east and west, gentile lands, like this centurion, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.

44:47

In other words, the kingdom of God. They'll have salvation. They're among the people of God with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but the sons of the kingdom, being

44:55

Jewish people, unbelievers in Jesus, shall be cast out into outer darkness in the place where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

45:08

Of course, we know ultimately the centurion had great faith in God because God had performed great grace in his heart.

45:16

This man didn't gin up this faith in himself, did he? Calvin wrote, before Christ healed his servant, he was healed by the

45:25

Lord. I think that was a good statement. We read the remark of Jesus in verses 9 and 10 that conclude the episode.

45:34

When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him and turned around and said to the crowd that followed him,

45:41

I say to you, I've not found such great faith, not even in Israel. And those who were sent returning to the house found the servant well who had been sick.

45:51

Each and every one of us, in order to be saved, must have this kind of faith. We should have a keen sense of our own unworthiness to receive anything from God.

46:04

We should have a sense of God's great ability and power, Christ Jesus, to save even us from sin.

46:11

Some people have a keen sense of their sin. They don't have a very keen sense of God's ability to save them through Jesus Christ.

46:20

God's grace is greater than your sin. As great as it is. We see sin, we experience sin, it's right before us all the time.

46:28

But do you see Jesus? That takes the eye of faith, doesn't it? You have to believe what's said of him.

46:34

Because you're not going to see it visibly. We put faith in unseen things that are realities,

46:41

Christ. And we should be persuaded to come to him and receive salvation on the base of his mercy and grace alone.

46:48

Chuck the merit stuff, that won't get you anything but hell. We should come to him on the basis of his mercy and grace alone, due solely to the atoning sacrifice of Christ's death on the cross and the power that is his to bring the merits of Christ's death to bear upon our case through faith in him.

47:16

We don't have the time. And I knew we wouldn't have when we started because we've got about four more pages of notes.

47:23

But I wanted to show, and I'll just stress this and we'll close, that the Lord's dealings with this

47:29

Gentile, this Roman here in Luke 7, really portends or reveals the realization of God's purposes in history, found throughout the entire

47:41

Old Testament and throughout the New Testament, that God has purposed that his kingdom will encompass not just Jewish believers, but Gentile believers as well.

47:51

It goes all the way back to God coming to Abraham and saying that you'll be a father of many nations, reiterated to Isaac, confirmed to Jacob, declared throughout the

48:02

Psalms to David and then the prophets, that Gentiles would come into the kingdom of God.

48:08

The prophet Isaiah declared God the father speaking through the prophet telling his son Jesus, you've been wonderfully faithful in saving a remnant of Jews, but this is too small a thing for you.

48:20

Ask of me and I'll give you the Gentiles as your inheritance. Jesus did ask of him and the reason most of us here today are

48:28

Gentiles in faith in Jesus is because of Jesus's faithfulness and God the father answering his petition.

48:36

And you find here in Luke 7 and other places in the gospel, intimations of Gentiles too coming to salvation in Christ.

48:45

I've not seen such faith in all of Israel, which suggests or intimates that God accepts people on the basis of faith through faith alone and that it intimates also that wherever he finds faith, not just among Jewish people, but among Gentiles too, that they are participants and citizens of the kingdom that he was inaugurating.

49:10

And then if we could go into the second volume of Luke, the book of Acts, we of course see when the kingdom of God opens up to the

49:18

Gentile world. God's purposes are being realized and fulfilled. The kingdom of God has gone out into all the world and God is calling out people from all the nations to come into the kingdom of God through faith alone in Jesus Christ.

49:34

And this man portends that reality, that blessing that you and I experience for having come to Christ.

49:43

Amen. Let's pray. Thank you father for your word. And thank you for these episodes and the wonderful setting forth our

49:51

God of the personality and the character, the faith, as well as the unbelief of those involved in this episode.

50:00

Help us, our God, be as this Roman centurion. Help us, our God, to have a genuine love and concern for people about us,

50:09

Lord, and help us to desire their well -being. And help us, our God, to be prayerful also on their behalf.

50:17

And help us, our God, always to reject any notion of personal merit with regard to our standing before you.

50:25

And help us to see, our God, that we stand in the righteousness of Jesus Christ alone and not in anything of ourselves, which is futile and dangerous as well.

50:37

Help us to believe on Christ. Help us, our God, to always be faithful in prayer to you based upon Christ.

50:44

And may you do wonderful works, our God, in the lives for those for whom we are burdened, for whom we pray as you did with this servant.