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Weekly Message | August 23rd, 2009
Passage: Luke 7:1-17
Key Verse(s): 9
Starting tomorrow we will embark on a new fall semester. Many freshmen will be wandering on campus in need of spiritual mentors—their hearts fresh and open to Bible study. The growing students among us enter into the next level of their academic and spiritual training and will reach new levels of joy and holiness. We look forward to an even more fruitful student ministry and Narrowgate fellowship. Next Sunday we will start worship services on campus in the student union and our expansion and renovation project may be soon underway. Also, several among us have hearts burning with a sense of world mission and vision through their experiences at the European Conference. They are ready to conquer UT campus.
Indeed, it is a time of great excitement and expectation among us. In that sense, this passage is very relevant. The stage was set for Jesus’ disciple-making ministry to take off, all things were in place. The disciples had a sense of calling and commitment, the apostles were designated, and the teaching about the blessed life and basic life-building direction was given. In a sense, the story of the centurion is a preview, or if you will, a kind of living syllabus for the disciples. Just as a course syllabus lays out the course objectives and plan, the centurion displays the qualities of leadership Jesus would be working on to grow in his disciples. It is about great faith. In the case of the dead widow’s son, we see a desperate situation and a young man in need of new life. More than that, we see Jesus, the true object of our faith. As we think about these two real stories, we may consider the development and practice of great faith in Jesus among us.
First, “This man deserves to have you do this” (1-6a). Jesus had just finished his deep and profound teaching to lay the foundation for his disciple-making ministry which lay ahead. He spoke all in the hearing of the people, and when he finished, he entered Capernaum, the capital city of the Galilean region and mainstay of his discipleship ministry. But instead of stories about Jesus and his disciples, Luke records something quite different. The dominant issue that arose concerned a Roman centurion. Though he never actually shows up in the passage, the Bible speaks explicitly about him and his character. So let’s first think about the qualities that made him so deserving of Jesus’ help.
Look at verse 2: “There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die.” The centurion loved and was concerned about his servant. The centurion valued the servant highly. Usually a servant was seen as a possession and treated like something that was owned like a hammer or lawn mower. But the centurion was a good and gracious master. The servant was dear to him, and he did not want to lose him. They had developed a meaningful relationship over the years. This is remarkable given the status and position the centurion held. He was obviously a Gentile, rich, and a military officer overseeing Roman interests in the area. Centurions were notorious for being hard-hearted and ruthless, but this unlikely candidate wonderfully displayed the shepherd heart of God for one person.
Look at verse 3: “The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant.” Here we see that the centurion knew about Jesus. Probably he was so amazed and continuously curious about what Jesus was doing and the current hubbub about him. It was the highlight of his day to hear about Jesus and his wonderful work among the people. Each day seemed to bring new surprises and insights into Jesus’ greatness. But now the centurion had a life-threatening issue of his own to deal with. At this moment, all that he had learned about Jesus did not go by the wayside. Instead it came to the forefront of his mind and directed his actions. He co-worked with Jewish elders to bring Jesus’ intervention to his dying servant. The centurion was a man of heart and a man of action, and most importantly he knew the right place and the right way to seek Jesus’ help.
Look at verses 4-5: “When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, ‘This man deserves to have you do this, because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.’” These verses show the actions and words of the senior civic leaders and the place the centurion had found in their community. They came to Jesus and pleaded earnestly on behalf of the Gentile centurion as if he were a Jew. They backed up their plea touting his love for the nation and service in building their synagogue. The centurion had used his position, power, and resources to serve the needs of the community. During normal times he built up good relations with other leaders. He accepted them as his own people, studied and accepted their way of life and culture, and did his best to support and value what they held most dear. From prominent elders to servants, top to bottom, he had won the hearts of people. He respected and embraced a whole community, culture, and nation. In this, we can say the centurion had the qualities of a world class leader.
So what was Jesus’ response? Jesus went with them. Jesus was moved and was willing to meet with this man. Jesus found some real excellence in the kind of person he was and the relationships the centurion had built. Jesus had in mind how the centurion might inspire much greater faith in his own disciples.
This first section teaches us the kind of character development that moves Jesus and is deserving of his intervention. It is the way we strive to develop our capacity to value one soul. It starts with valuing one unlikely person highly, holding them dear, and not wanting to lose them. Despite possible ethnic or culture differences, we are proactive in deep relationship building and meeting their specific needs. We embrace their culture and way of life and find ways to support them with the given resource capacity we have. We struggle to find God’s vision and hope for their life. We build up strong co-working relationships with other leaders during normal times and seek their help in times of need.
Several years ago I met one young man on campus who was willing to study the Bible. He was from a different ethnic background than me, and I really struggled with how to meet his needs in the specifics. Actually I felt so limited in what I could do for him. I talked with M. Susan about having him move into our house and he did. He has since moved on, but that event marked an important moment for our house church. In retrospect, I had no idea what I was doing or how to support him through common life. We had just bought the house and my wife was pregnant. But in my heart, I saw his real value and potential and was striving to better organize my life to love and support his growth. Since then, God has gradually increased the size of my heart and amount of space in my life for his sheep. I thank God for the grace to learn his heart through common life with his sheep.
Striving to love and value one soul deeply and organizing our life accordingly is a profound expression of our faith and our desire to learn God’s love. When we struggle consistently toward this one goal, it transforms our character and capacity. This one practice is an essential component of great faith. As leaders and growing student leaders in campus mission, God may help each of us to take one step closer toward valuing one college soul, even one new freshman this fall semester that begins tomorrow. In doing so, we take steps to all grow as world class leaders. We become men and women who are deserving of Jesus’ help and intervention on behalf of all those we love and hold dear.
Second, “I have not found such great faith even in Israel” (6b-10). When Jesus was not far from the house 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. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you.” The centurion sent friends to speak for him personally. This shows how closely the centurion was watching over the situation. Probably he had messenger runners who ran back and forth to update him on the progress of various projects going on. When he found out what the elders had done and that Jesus was personally coming to meet him, he did not think about how blessed and deserving he was. Instead he thought about who Jesus was. His words address Jesus as “Lord”. He did not want to trouble the Lord or cause any unnecessary hassle. Most likely, the centurion, in the course building the Jewish synagogue, read and understood Old Testament scripture well. He knew he was a foreigner and Jesus would become unclean by coming into his house, and in no way did he want to disrupt the great work Jesus was doing. He deeply understood the difference between himself and Jesus. In brief, despite his position of prestige, he was such a humble man whose first thought centered on the person of Jesus not himself.
Here we find a great definition of humility. Humility is to recognize the surpassing greatness of Jesus and his work compared to anything else we may be trying to do. It is to make decisions and take action based on our relative insignificance next to the superiority of our Lord Jesus. This is the humbleness that the centurion displays and something that we need to learn, relearn, and in my case be reminded of continuously and struggle to practice throughout life. Being humble does not mean that we say how worthless and pointless we are. We shouldn’t overemphasize our undeservedness as sinners so much that we fail to elevate Christ. But true humility comes from the place we give Jesus and his work in our life.
Look at verses 7b-8: “‘But say the word, and my servant will be healed. 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 recognized Jesus’ power and authority that was not bound by distance. Jesus only had to say the word. It was not necessary for him to make a personal appearance. Then he explained his understanding of authority based on his experience. He was a man under the authority of Caesar and he had authority over 100 soldiers. He obeyed his authorities and exercised authority with success. And he knew the Lord Jesus was at the very top of the chain of command and only had to say the word and his servant would be healed.
Let’s read the key verse, verse 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.’” Only twice does the Bible record Jesus being amazed. Jesus was amazed at the great faith of the centurion and had not found such deep and perceptive faith even in Israel. Jesus was constantly on the lookout for faith. When people have great faith they become very useful to God. So why was Jesus amazed by his great faith?
In group Bible study last Saturday, S. Kevin made the comment that the centurion embodied the teaching that Jesus had just given in the Sermon on the Plain. As a Roman centurion, this man should have judged and condemned the Jews but he was giving and generous with his time and resources. He showed strong, godly qualities of leadership but was humble to learn from and trust Jesus. His life bore much good fruit, and perhaps most notable of all, he heard Jesus’ words and put them into practice. He indeed exemplified much of Jesus’ teaching.
More specifically, the greatness of his faith is that he correctly understood the truth about the invisible spiritual reality and applied it to his visible, practical situation seamlessly. M. Peter described this as a transformed conscience that could properly hold and apply Jesus’ new way of thinking. This issue of authority and how this truth related to Jesus was the centurion’s inroad to the world of faith. He could now connect two worlds, the spiritual world and practical reality, and allow Jesus and his truth to dominate both. In the Jews’ case, everything Jesus taught them was filtered through all their bad Old Testament baggage. Despite all their religious traditions and practices, the Gentile soldiers’ “say the word” faith outshined them all because to him, everything started and could be understood based on Jesus’ position of authority. This transformed his conscience and allowed him the spiritual insight to discern the parallels between the spiritual realm and practical reality.
How about you? What are the spiritual truths that have made the critical jump and permeated your thinking and practical life? One leader said his was the truth that he was a sinner and had born the fruit of an empty and meaningless life. But Jesus was willing to forgive and change all that. From that one truth, his mindset began to change and he became a new creation. As Bible students and Bible teachers we have to be on the lookout for these truths. We should be trying to figure out who God is and how he is working within. We have to search for the cracks in sin-hardened hearts where the transforming truth may find a way to seep in. God may help us to have such great faith that correctly understands the spiritual world, internalizes it, and applies that truth to our practical thinking and actions.
Third, “Young man, I say to you, get up” (11-17). Soon after Jesus’ encounter with the great faith of the centurion he went to a small country town called Nain about 25 miles southwest of Capernaum on the southern tip of Galilee. Jesus’ disciples and a large crowd went along with him. We can imagine their joy and excitement traveling around with Jesus, totally engaged with him and his teaching, and enjoying the beautiful surroundings of the Galilean countryside.
Look at verse 12: “As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her.” Luke describes a situation of drastic contrast. Jesus and his companions encountered a funeral procession. The dead young man was the only son of a widow. The small town banded together to mourn and support this woman. The dark, heavy cloud of death hung over the whole community.
Verse 13 reads, “When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, ‘Don’t cry.’” Jesus saw the depth of her brokenness and grief. He saw the strong grip death had on her. Jesus’ heart went out to her. Jesus shared her pain and took responsibility to do something about it saying, “Don’t cry.” Jesus had the cure for her tears.
Look at verse 14a: “Then he went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still.” Jesus personally involved himself with this situation. He stepped in to stop the wave of death that was flowing out of this small town and he was planning to turn the tide toward new life in Jesus. The young man wasn’t going to take even one more step towards the grave.
Look at verses 14b-15: “He said, ‘Young man, I say to you, get up!’ The dead man got up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.” This is the power, love, and mercy of Jesus, the true object of our faith. He is the Lord of all comfort and the author of life. He is the ruler with all authority on heaven and earth. When he said to the young man, “Get up!”, he got up, even from the sleep of death and began talking. Only Jesus can turn the tide of any situation toward the grace and mercy of God. We don’t have such power but we can have such great faith in Jesus.
In Jesus we can always find a fresh and new start. We can be free from the power of sin and death and get up, leaving it far behind to pursue the life Jesus has for us. It’s never too late to take hold of Jesus’ grace and forgiveness and begin again. For this small town Nain, this young man became their hope and future. He would be a constant reminder of God’s mercy and grace among them. It is the young men and women among us, the young and growing teenagers and college students, who represent our hope and future. As we see their responses to God’s words like “Get up,” their growing faith in Jesus, and their greater responsibility for their life and for the ministry we are all very encouraged that God is working among us and has heard our prayers.
As the fall semester commences tomorrow we may focus on developing and practicing great faith in Jesus. We may take deliberate steps to value one more campus soul and organize our life accordingly. We may find the way for ourselves and for our Bible students to have transformed consciences through deep Bible study and testimony writing. And we may get up and take hold of the new life Jesus offers every day.
August 23, 2009; Greg Lewis; Toledo, UBF
Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.
