Luke 7:1-10 Pastor Nathan P. Kassulke
“Great Faith”
Pentecost 2 Sunday, June 23, 2019
What would Jesus say about you? In our sermon text today from Luke chapter seven, Jesus had something surprising to say about a Roman centurion. What he said was surprising because he singled out this foreign man in order to impress on others how great the centurion’s faith was. And this is surprising also because as often as Jesus spoke about faith, he most often talked about people’s weak faith or their lack of faith. The people of Jesus’ time would have expected a religious teacher to have good things to say about the Pharisees. These men seemed on the outside to be as religious as anyone. They were careful about their behavior. They lived lives that others thought were very impressive and very devout. But Jesus called these men a “brood of vipers” (Matthew 12:34) and he compared them to “whitewashed tombs” (Matthew 23:27). Or at other times, Jesus rebuked his own disciples, those whom he himself had instructed and taught. He called them, “you of little faith” (Matthew 8:26) or asked them, “do you still have no faith?” (Mark 4:40). And remember, these were men who were following him and were working with him. In fact, it is very interesting to note that there are very few times when Jesus praises someone’s faith. When he does, it is a non-Jewish person, an outsider. That is the case for the Roman centurion, about whom Jesus says, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel.” As we look more closely at this account in our sermon today, we will take note of what great faith looks like so that we can learn to emulate it in our lives. This account follows several parables of Jesus in Luke’s Gospel. After Jesus had finished teaching by means of these parables, he headed into the town of Capernaum. Capernaum was in Galilee and on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. It was part of an important trade route through the area, and Jesus spent a good deal of time there during his earthly ministry. Capernaum was also home to a garrison of Roman soldiers. The leader of these soldiers was a centurion. In this account, we don’t actually meet the centurion, but we learn a lot about him. What we learn first is that he had a servant who was sick and dying. When the centurion heard that Jesus was nearby, he sent others to ask Jesus to come and heal his servant. In fact, he was able to convince some Jewish elders to do this for him. It seems apparent that this centurion had converted to the Israelite religion. He was clearly supportive of the Jewish people, as these elders testified about him. And he looked to Jesus as one who could help him, one sent from God and therefore able to do things like heal the sick. And this is an important factor when we are talking about faith. Great faith looks to Jesus. The centurion sent for Jesus because he believed Jesus could help. He didn’t just have a strong desire or wish for his servant to be healed. He didn’t “just believe” that everything would be alright in a way that is often recommended to people today as if a happy disposition can heal a deadly disease. See, the object of faith is the most important thing about faith, and Jesus is the object of great faith. I have heard this point illustrated this way: suppose I were to go over to the tables over in the Bible study area. I could be brave and climb up and stand on one of the tables. If the table is strong enough, I will be fine. If it is not, I will fall. It doesn’t really matter how much I trust the table. I can trust it a lot, and not just climb up, but leap up and land on the table, and maybe for good measure give a few more jumps on the tabletop. On the other hand, I can trust the table less and gently transfer my weight to the top of the table, maybe crouch down at first and then finally, slowly rise to my feet. It doesn’t matter. Either the table is able to hold me, or it is not. It’s the table that makes the difference, not my faith in it. If faith is in Jesus, it has the strongest possible object—a table, so to speak, that can handle any weight. The centurion wasn’t sending his friends to just any person hoping someone might possibly be able to help. He was sending them to Jesus, the Messiah, the Savior. He was sending them to someone who could help in every need. If we are going to have great faith, it has to be faith in Jesus. There are temptations all around us to put our faith, our trust, our confidence in something else. I can trust that I will be alright if I have enough money, or if I figure out the right things to do. Things will work out for me if I have the right people around me and if I work hard enough. We tend to think in these ways, and we tend to act in these ways, and that all puts on display the
fact that we are sinners who have strayed far away from our God and from his Son Jesus Christ. If I put my faith anywhere else, that will eventually let me down. Money may help for a time in this life. The things I do may be successful for a time. But that time will come to an end. Think of the dying servant in our account. There was no amount of money that the centurion could pay in order to save his life. There was nothing that he could do to heal him. The only one that could help at death’s door was Jesus. The man’s faith was great because it was faith in Jesus. At our death’s door, and therefore also throughout our lives, what we need is Jesus. He died to take away our sins, and he rose from the dead to give us eternal life. Now we can rest our entire weight on him. We can stand firm in him. We can be certain that eternal life is ours and that Jesus will also bless us in countless ways in this life. Great faith looks to Jesus. That means also that great faith is humble. It is amazing to note how humble the centurion was. He didn’t go to Jesus as he later explained, because he didn’t think he was worthy. He wasn’t trying to help himself directly. He was trying to have his servant healed. This humble faith was evident in the centurion’s life. He had served the Jewish people around him, so much that they begged Jesus to help him, insisting that he was worthy of Jesus’ help. If faith looks to Jesus, it is humble faith. The faith that looks to Jesus admits that we cannot help ourselves. We cannot do what we need. We cannot stand on our own. Faith looks to Jesus because it needs Jesus. And that humble faith shows itself in lives that serve and honor others. Of course, great faith does more than just look to Jesus. It also trusts his Word. The centurion not only sent elders to Jesus, he sent friends, too. As Jesus and the elders were on their way to the house, the centurion’s friends met them with another message. And that message was this: “I didn’t feel worthy to come to you in the first place. I don’t consider myself worthy to have you come to me now, but I trust your word. If you say the word, I know that things will happen just as you say. If you order it to happen, my servant will be healed.” Even more, the centurion explained that he understood this because he was in charge of soldiers. When he ordered them to do something, they would do it. In the same way, he knew that whatever Jesus ordered would happen. And that is in spite of the fact that what he was asking Jesus for was impossible. Now, I know that Jesus was about to do exactly what the man asked. Nothing is impossible for Jesus, but this would have been impossible without Jesus. The servant was about to die. There was no other recourse. But the centurion trusted that Jesus could do what was ordinarily impossible. And that has been a theme of our Scripture readings today. Walking around a walled city does not cause the walls to crumble down. Ordering a disease to give up its victim does not heal that disease. But for God it does. For Jesus it does. Jesus proved by this miracle as by so many others that he is true God, and that absolutely every word of his is not only powerful but also completely reliable. That has implications for us, too, doesn’t it? That means that we will want to listen to every Word of our Savior. That means that we will not want to take lightly anything that he says to us. It means that even when things don’t make perfect sense for us, when we face the suffering talked about in our Second Lesson, when we face even things that seem impossible, that we will simply listen and trust. Great faith trusts the word of Jesus. And finally, great faith receives his blessing. For the centurion, this meant not only the praise that Jesus lavished on his great faith, but also that he received what he asked for. The centurion’s servant was healed by the time the men returned to the house. The great faith of the centurion received blessing in every way. And that is the promised outcome of our faith in Jesus, too. Blessing in every way. Blessing in the greatest way. We have Jesus’ promise that he will take us to be with him in heaven forever. And he guarantees it. What would Jesus say about us? May he grant it that he will say that we have great faith like the centurion! The centurion knew that he didn’t do anything, Jesus did. Great faith always recognizes this. We do nothing. Jesus does and has done everything for us.
The Text: Luke 7:1-10 After Jesus had finished saying all these things to the people who were listening, he went into Capernaum. 2A centurion’s servant, who was valuable to him, was sick and about to die. 3When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. 4When they came to Jesus, they begged him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy of having you do this for him, 5because he loves our nation, and he built our synagogue for us.” 6Jesus
went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to tell Jesus, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, because I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. 7That is why I did not consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. 8For I am also a man placed under authority, having soldiers under me. I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes; and to another one, ‘Come!’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 9When
Jesus heard these things, he was amazed at him. He turned to the crowd that was following him and said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel.” 10And when the men who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well.