Luke 7:1-10

Butler's Comments

SECTION 1

The Sick (Luke 7:1-10)

7 After he had ended all his sayings in the hearing of the people he entered Capernaum. 2Now a centurion had a slave who was dear to him, who was sick and at the point of death. 3 When he heard of Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his slave. 4 And when they came to Jesus, they besought him earnestly, saying, He is worthy to have you do this for him, 5for he loves our nation, and he built us our synagogue. 6And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying to him, Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; 7therefore I did not presume to come to you. But say the word, and let my servant be healed. 8For I am a man set 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 slave, -Do this,-' and he does it. 9When Jesus heard this he marveled at him, and turned and said to the multitude that followed him, I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith. 10And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave well.

Luke 7:1-5 A Benevolent Conqueror: After the Sermon on the Mount, somewhere in Galilee, Jesus entered the city of Capernaum on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. A Roman army commander (a centurion, commanding 100 men) lived there and he had a servant who was dear to him; the Greek word is entimos and literally means, very valuable. Polybius, an ancient historian, says that the best man in the army held the position of centurion. Every centurion mentioned in the New Testament appears to be a good man (cf. Matthew 27:54 ff; Luke 23:47 ff; Acts 10:1 ff; Acts 27:43; etc.). Most Romans were contemptuous of those they conquered and exploited the vanquished unmercifully. But this centurion was extraordinarily upstanding and good.

He had a slave (Gr. doulos) who was at the point of death (Gr. lit. reads, emellen teleutan, or about finished.). The word entimos might signify the slave was considered simply a valuable piece of property, but the complete picture of the centurion's character shows a relationship to the slave much more humane and compassionate than that of property-owner. When the centurion heard of Jesus-' presence in Capernaum, he sent Jewish elders to find Him. (Matthew 8:5 says the centurion came for Jesus; this is no contradiction since the elders were his personal emissaries and it could understandably be said he came to Jesus). The centurion must have heard of Jesus-' healing power at some earlier date. Perhaps the centurion had first hand knowledge of the healing Jesus had done in the synagogue built by the centurion himself! The Jewish elders acclaimed the centurion worthy of Jesus-' help for they said he had built them a synagogue. The Greek idiom read, ... the synagogue he, even he, built for us. This may indicate that the centurion paid for its building. The centurion loved Gr. agape) their nation. He was not merely friendly and brotherly (phileo), but he had the concern of the Jewish people on his heart and mind. He willingly cared for them. This was even more unusuala Roman concerned about the whole Jewish nation!

Luke 7:6-10 A Believing Commander: More of the excellency of this centurion's character is now exhibited. He was a humble man. When Jesus started for his home, he sent messengers saying, ... do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; and the very reason I did not come to you personally was that I did not consider myself worthy. Humility such as this was unheard of among Romans! He was a man of reason. He had testimony or evidence from some source that Jesus had healed sick people. He used his reasoning powers to decide what he had heard was true. Thus he believed Jesus could heal his dying slave without even coming into his home. Alexander Campbell once said, Reason deciding that the testimony is true, is believing; reason deciding that the testimony is false, is disbelieving; reason unable to decide, is skepticism. Faith or belief is built by the use of reasoning processes. Faith comes in this order: Fact-Testimony-Faith-Feeling. Many people try to reverse that order and build their faith from feeling, but feeling is the result of faith, not the foundation of faith. Facts testified to and believed on the basis of reasonable verification of the testimony is Biblical faith. Faith is only as good as its Object; the Object is only as trustworthy as it evinces itself to be. Christian faith is in an objective PersonJesus Christ. He has demonstrated His trustworthiness through historical facts which have been testified to by trustworthy historians. When our reason accepts the testimony, we then have evidence to believe Jesus is who these historians say He is. This is the same process of reasoning the centurion used to call upon Jesus for help in this life and death situation. The centurion was also a man who understood that faith and obedience are inseparable. He knew that trusting someone meant you committed your life to that person in obedience. He himself was a man who obeyed his superiors because he trusted them and he expected trustful obedience from those committed to his leadership. He was convinced of Jesus-' authority so he believed that whatever Jesus said should and would be obeyed.

Jesus marvelled at him (Gr. ethaumasen). Only twice in the gospel records is Jesus said to have marvelledonce at unbelief (Mark 6:6) and once, here, at belief (Luke 7:9; Matthew 8:10). Jesus marvelled not because He was unaware that such a faith could exist, but because He was aware of how vibrant and alive the centurion's faith was. Compare this Gentile's faith with that of most of the Jews Jesus spoke to and you will see why He marvelled. The Jews had centuries of divine revelation and providence to prepare them to believe the Messiah when He came, but most of them rejected Him. This Gentile had no oracles of God (cf. Romans 3:1-2; Romans 9:1-5) such as the Jews had and no centuries of preparation, yet he believed. Faith is measurable, but the Lord measures by quality, not by quantity. The statement of Jesus about faith as a grain of mustard seed has nothing to do with quantity; it refers to the vitality or life-force that is in the seed. Faith is not a question of how much, but what kind. This centurion had no quantitative measurement of faith but what little he knew of Jesus gave him a powerful faith because it was active, alive and obedient. Jesus was thrilled by it! Jesus was also pleased by the character of the man. Normally, when a slave was unable to work, he was thrown out to die by his Roman lord. Normally, Romans hated Jews and considered them filthy, ignorant and untrustworthy. But this Roman was different! He was compassionate, benevolent and loved the Jews. He may have been a Jewish proselyte although the text does not say so.

Matthew records (Luke 8:11-12) that Jesus gave a glorious prediction of the salvation of many of the Gentiles as well as a chilling prediction of the doom of the unbelieving Jews. Isaiah, the prophet, had made similar predictions in connection with the coming of the Messiah. Jesus honors living, obedient faith wherever it is found. There are no racial, cultural, social or economic prerequisites required by Jesus.

Matthew also records the tender words of Jesus, Go; be it done for you as you have believed. And the servant was healed in that very moment. Luke records that the elders and friends first sent by the centurion became witnesses to the fact that the miracle had taken place. It is interesting to note that Jesus did not go to the centurion's home, did not lay hands on the slave, did not even meet the centurion himself; and there is no record that the slave had any faith in Jesus. This healing greatly contrasts to the requirements of the pseudo faith-healers of modern times.
We should learn from this incident:

a.

Do not be hasty to classify men. We usually think of all Romans as in the same category with the Caesars or Pilates of that day. But here is a Roman very much different! There may have been many more.

b.

Obedience is the only reasonable and proper response of a confession of faith. Faith and obedience are inseparable. When the authority of Jesus is recognized and acknowledged, just a word from Him should be sufficient to produce action from us.

c.

Jesus is Savior of all men. There are no special people for Him. Wherever He finds faith, He honors it. He expects to find faith in all men. Those who do not believe in Him are doomed to an eternity of torments.

d.

We can demonstrate the quality of our faith in Jesus by helping others. The Son of Man is willing and able to visit the sick through those who have an obedient, living faith like the centurion'S.

Applebury's Comments

Healing The Centurion's Servant
Scripture

Luke 7:1-10 After he had ended all his sayings in the ears of the people, he entered into Capernaum.

2 And a certain centurion's servant, who was dear unto him, was sick and at the point of death. 3 And when he heard concerning Jesus, he sent unto him elders of the Jews, asking him that he would come and save his servant. 4 And they, when they came to Jesus, besought him earnestly, saying, He is worthy that thou shouldest do this for him; 5 for he loveth our nation, and himself built us our synagogue. 6 And Jesus went with them. And when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself; for I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: 7 wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee: but say the word, and my servant shall be healed. 8 For I also am a man set under authority, having under myself soldiers: and I say to this one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. 9 And when Jesus heard these things, he marvelled at him, and turned and said unto the multitude that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. 10 And they that were sent, returning to the house, found the servant whole.

Comments

After he had ended all his sayings.that is, after the lesson recorded in chapter six. The incidents that follow, emphasize the healing ministry of Jesus. The place is Capernaum. See also Matthew 8:5-13.

a certain centurion's servant.Theophilus, a Gentile, would be interested in this. Of course, by the time Luke was writing the account, the gospel had been preached to much of the Gentile world, The ministry of Jesus was largely to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, but there were some Gentiles who shared in the blessings of the Son of God. Such incidents as this gave Gentiles as well as Jews grounds to hope in Him. See Matthew 12:21; Luke 2:32.

This Roman soldier's servant was dear to him; this helps us to see what kind of a man he was. The cruel business of war often tends to harden the hearts of men; some officers have little regard for their men. But the centurion's concern for his servant commended him to Jesus.

sick and at the point of death.The servant was in critical condition. The centurion's request was urgent. Nothing but a miracle could save him.

he heard concerning Jesus.The people of the whole area had heard about the miracles of Jesus. See Luke 4:37; Luke 6:17-19. The news traveled fast, and the distressed people were eager to bring their sick for Him to heal. He never turned one away who called on Him for help.

he sent unto him elders of the Jews.Matthew says that the centurion came to Jesus and told Him about the sick servant. In the light of Luke's statement, we assume that he did it through his agents, the elders of the Jews.

Not all leaders of the Jews were opposed to Jesus. These elders were respected men who, the centurion thought, would have influence with Jesus.

besought him earnestly.The elders were evidently sincere in their desire to help the centurion. They presented a strong case: He is worthy of this thing he asks you to do. He loves the Jewish nation; he built our synagogue.

This is not the only Roman soldier to be commended in Luke's writings. Cornelius was a devout man and one who worshiped God with all his house. See Acts 10:1-8.

Gentiles were attracted to the nation of Israel because God had given them the revelation of His will in the Old Covenant (Deuteronomy 4:7-8; Deuteronomy 5:2-3). He had promised them the Messiah who would reign as king and deal wisely, and execute justice and righteousness in the land (Jeremiah 23:5). Hope was kindled in the hearts of many who heard about Him. Gentiles who were without God and who had no hope in this world (Ephesians 2:12) were strangely drawn to the people of God and the hope of all the world which is Christ. See Romans 9:4-5.

But many Jews conducted themselves in such a manner as to cause Gentiles to blaspheme the name of God (Romans 2:24). What a warning to Christians!

And Jesus went with them.The Physician answered the call for help. The fact that a Gentile had turned to Him in his distress was not the point. Soon His gospel would be proclaimed in all the world with the message of salvation for all peoples.

the centurion sent his friends.The genuine humility of the man made him realize that he was not worthy to have the Prophet enter his home. He sent his friends to ask Jesus to speak the word that his servant might livesuch faith is the complement of such humility. Who were these friends? Jews or Gentiles? All we know is that they were friends. But his greatest Friend was the one whom some had called the friend of sinners (Luke 7:34).

say the word and my servant shall be healed.John records a similar incident which should not be confused with this one (John 4:46-54). In both cases, however, Jesus spoke the word that brought healing to the sick without being in the immediate presence of the person to be healed. He was not limited either by time or by space, for He is God.

I also am a man set under authority.As an officer of the Roman army, he knew what it meant to take orders as well as give orders. He knew what it meant to be obeyed when he spoke. Perhaps no one ought to give orders who does not know how to obey orders.

He believed that Jesus-' authority extended to the realm of disease. He could give the order, and the centurion's servant would live. The soldier expected a miracle to take place.

when Jesus heard these things, he marveled.He marveled because of the nature of the centurion's faith and because a Gentile had such faith in contrast to the lack of it in Israel. Jesus marveled also because of the unbelief of the people of His own town (Mark 6:6).

found the servant.Jesus spoke the word; the centurion's servant was healed, and his faith in Jesus was justified. The friends found the servant in good health when they returned to the house.

Luke describes this amazing miracle in such simple terms, but we should remember that it was the work of God.