Title: Such a Faith / Luke 7:1-10
Contents
Such great faith / Luke 7:1-10
After completing that famous and inspirational Sermon on the Mount, Jesus came down from the mountain and entered Capernaum (Luke 7:1). Then some Jewish elders came to Jesus at the request of a centurion.
The centurion was not an Israelite, but a Gentile (Matthew 8:5). He is not a military officer directly under Rome, but a mercenary under the jurisdiction of Herod Antipas. When he heard about Jesus, he entrusted some Jewish elders to send him an errand.
The reason is that his beloved servant fell ill and died (Luke 7:2). That is why Jesus came and asked that the servant be saved from the disease of death (Luke 7:3). Matthew reveals that the centurion's servant was suffering from paralysis. “The servant is suffering from paralysis,” it is said that the servant is on the brink of death (Matthew 8:6).
As the elders of the Jews run the centurion's errand, they add reasons why Jesus should heal the centurion's servant from death. The centurion said that ① he was a man who loved the Jewish people. ② It is said that he built a synagogue for the Jews by donating a large amount of money (Luke 7:4).
Upon hearing this, Jesus said, “I will go and heal you” (Matthew 8:7). This is a strong tone that shows Jesus' cheerful acceptance. And Jesus was heading to the centurion's house.
When the centurion heard the news, he hurriedly sent a second person. They were no longer the Jewish elders, but his friends. He told Jesus through his friends, “I am not worthy of the Lord Himself coming to my house. I did not dare go to the Lord myself, so I sent the elders. Just do it with words. Then my servant will be healed” (Matthew 8:8). In Luke's record, "Only speak the word, and my servant may be healed" (Luke 7:7). The centurion himself is also a man under the control of others, and there are soldiers under him, and it is said that if he says nothing, he will do everything (Luke 7:8).
When Jesus heard it, he marveled. I mean surprised. And he said to the crowds who followed him, praising him for saying that he had never met “this great faith” in Israel.
And Jesus said, “Go, let it be done as you have believed” (Matthew 8:13). In the Gospel of Matthew, it is recorded that the centurion came directly to Jesus, and in the Gospel of Luke, it is recorded that he sent a messenger to preach. But even indirectly, the character of the centurion actually came to Jesus. If so, these words become a declaration of blessing to the centurion. At that time, the centurion's servant, who was dying of paralysis, was cleansed, and when the servants went to his house, he was said to have already been strengthened (Matthew 8:13, Luke 7:10). The saying that he was healed and strengthened by that poem means that it was the supernatural work of Jesus himself.
Today we hope that we will open our hearts to the words of Jesus, which he exclaimed to the centurion. That's what "this kind of faith" means. Matthew also exclaimed, “Truly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith in anyone in Israel” (Matthew 8:10).
“Faith like this” is thought to include the meanings of ‘great faith’, ‘great faith’, ‘excellent faith’, ‘unparalleled faith’, and ‘great faith’ in Jesus’ words.
Then, what was the centurion's "great faith" that the Lord had praised? What is the nature and content of belief?
I. It is a godly faith in God.
It is the fact that he loved the Jews. It is true that a synagogue was built for the Jews. This is evidenced by the testimony of the elders, the leaders of the Jewish community, who came to him on an errand (Luke 7:5).
At that time, the world hated the Jews. This is because they claimed only the one God, Jehovah, as the true God and Judaism as the true religion, and condemned all other gods as idols. He said he loved those Jews. His love was demonstrated in ‘Building the Synagogue’. This suggests that he must have converted and served the God of the Jews himself. The fact that he loved God's people and built God's house (synagogue) shows his piety toward God.
II. It is the faith of loving people.
In the Gospel of Luke, he is called “the centurion’s beloved servant” (Luke 7:2). In the Gospel of Matthew, the servant was lying at home with a paralysis and pleaded with Jesus that he was in great pain (Matt. The word ‘servant’ used in Matthew’s Gospel also means ‘son,’ and then it refers to a young servant.
He said that he had sent a man to Jesus to convict him in order to raise his beloved servant from the dead. In the Gospel of Luke, it is said, “he begged the servant to be saved” (Luke 7:3). In the Gospel of Matthew, it is said that he prayed (Matthew 8:5). It is said that the elders of Judea, who had come on errands, also sought them eagerly (Luke 7:4). Their supplications were in effect on behalf of the centurion's supplications.
In a word, these biblical expressions show that he is a man of faith who loves people. In the consciousness of the rulers at that time, slavery was only a simple tool. Human rights, freedom, and love were not even thought of as beings who were abandoned. If you look at the person who loved the servant in such a time and wanted Jesus to save his life, then you can see his noble affection for his subordinate and for the person's personality.
Ⅲ. It is humble faith.
He considered himself to be unable to see Jesus in person (Luke 7:7). Moreover, when he heard the news that the Lord was personally coming to his house, he hurriedly sent again, saying, “… Lord, do not labor, for I am not worthy to have you come into my house” (Luke 7:6, Matthew 8:8). This is his behavior that clearly shows his humility.
Military officers at that time were proud and violent. They oppressed the people and exploited their wealth. Human rights were deprived and they performed brutal dances. Nevertheless, the centurion who appeared here was truly humble. His humility in loving God and loving people is truly as refreshing as an oasis in the desert!
IV. The words of Jesus are supremeism.
“… Just say the word, and my servant may be healed” (Luke 7:7b). “… Only speak the word, and my servant will be healed” (Matthew 8:8).
His confession is a rare sign of faith, realizing the omnipotence of the Lord. This is proof that he truly believed that Jesus was the Son of God. He was a man who recognized that the sickness of his servant was impossible to cure by human strength. So, when he heard the news of Jesus, he had faith to entrust his servant's life to him (Luke 7:3). So he sent a man to Jesus twice.
Who dares to cure a mortal disease with one word? Isn't that something only Almighty God can do, who can make the heavens and the earth come into existence or not with a single word?
The reason the centurion hoped that his dead servant could come back to life with just one word from Jesus was because he believed in Jesus as the Lord and Almighty of all things. Because he believed that all human beings were possible in the words of Jesus. It is because they believed that all human impossibility was conquered in the words of Jesus. Then, is it not actually the centurion himself who first received the grace of faith (Ephesians 2:8)? Isn't he already blessed with heavenly grace?
Ⅴ. It is a belief that sees actual results.
He said, “I am also a man under the control of others, and there are soldiers under me. If I say to one go, I go, and to another, I say, ‘Come,’ and they come and I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and I do it” (Luke 7:8).
These words refer to the activities in the spirit world that the Lord is doing based on the empirical facts that are actually taking place during the centurion's own military activities. Even in the world of soldiers, the subordinates are deducing the actual facts of the spiritual world that the Lord is saying through the fact that everything is done with one word from the superior.
It is an expression of his belief that if Jesus commands (speaks) anything, the result will be realized in reality. We believed that the words of Jesus were not just an ideal or an abstract idea, but that they appeared to us as a fact of practical experience.
If you say it, you believe that it is a real result and achievement. If you say it, you believe that it is an event, history, action, and fulfillment. Indeed it is. God said, 'Let there be light!' As a result, the word of that commandment had light, and it was good in God's sight.
Jesus said, ‘Sea, be still!’ The result was nothing but a calming of the sea. As a result of cursing the fruitless fig tree, the only result was that the fig tree was cursed and the leaves withered. At least the centurion believed that one word would have the tangible result of the Lord's deliverance of his servant from death.
The Old and New Testaments we have received are by no means speculative, abstract, and ideological. Those who believe and act in this Bible can be the things of reality, things of reality, and things of their own, where they can actually experience the contents of the Bible anytime, anywhere.
Ⅵ. It was the faith that leads to salvation (heaven).
Matthew, who recorded the same event, said, “When Jesus heard it, he marveled… I tell you the truth, I have not found such faith in any of Israel. And I tell you, many will come from east and west to sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, but the descendants of the kingdom will live in outer darkness. They will be cast out, and there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 8:10-12).
These words of Jesus included the fact that a centurion who had “such great faith” would sit in the kingdom of heaven where Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob sat. This means that the kingdom of heaven will never be the exclusive possession of the Jews, but will belong to those who have “this great faith” like this centurion. In other words, Jesus said that anyone who has “this kind of faith” can be saved, even a Gentile.
Dear saints!
Such faith! It is a faith that fears God. It is the faith of loving people. It is a humble faith that does not dare look up to the Lord. It is faith that only believes in the words of Jesus. It is a belief in the fact that the words of Jesus give us a taste of realistic results that we can actually experience. It is the faith that finally leads to salvation (heaven).
Such faith! It finally received the blessing of fulfillment according to that belief. "go! At the time the Lord said, “Let it be as you have believed!” The servant in the house was healed of paralysis that was fatal. became clean. When the servants on the errand ran to tell the centurion the result and arrived at the house, the servant was already strong.
The power of the Lord was faster than the steps and messages of men. The servant had already been healed of the disease before they came. It's not really a result of 30x, 60x, 100x! Wasn't the centurion's joy 30, 60, or 100? No, was not the grace experienced by the centurion's servant, who was paralyzed to death, 30 times, 60 times, 100 times!
Indeed, faith is the substance of things hoped for. It is the evidence of things we cannot see (Hebrews 11:1). Aren't all of God's people who lived in the Old and New Testament times the ones who received 30, 60, and 100 times the testimony of this faith!
With such faith as a centurion, wouldn't it be possible to turn all kinds of impossible things that humans have encountered into possible? If we have such faith as a centurion, can we not please the Lord? If we have such faith as a centurion, wouldn't the 30, 60, and 100 times the blessings promised by the Lord be my and your inheritance?
With such faith as a centurion, wouldn't it be possible to overcome the world, overcome the devil, and become the victor in life who commands death? With such faith as a centurion, wouldn't it be possible to make the 21st century that the Lord has allowed into the century of Jesus? Lord, give us this kind of faith! - Amen -