As we continue in our ongoing study of the gospel of Luke, we are looking at an event today which I believe Luke providentially put in this exact location, as an illustration of the preceding message that Jesus had just finished preaching. If you have been here for the last few weeks, then you know that we were looking in chapter 6 at a sermon Jesus preached which is sometimes called the Sermon on the Plain, which is distinguished from a very similar message in Matthew called the Sermon on the Mount.
But Luke is very strategic in his gospel. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he has recorded this event immediately following the Sermon on the Plain, and I believe he has done so deliberately in order to illustrate the previous message of Jesus. He indicates this by following up the previous message with the statement in vs. 1, “When He, (that is Jesus) had completed all His discourse in the hearing of the people, He went to Capernaum.” And immediately after His discourse, or sermon, the request comes from a centurion to heal his slave. This healing is not just the record of some random healing, but a miracle directly linked to the passage earlier which will help to illustrate the message of Jesus.
Now let’s review what Jesus preaching about in the Sermon on the Plain. First of all, Jesus has been preaching a gospel of repentance for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, much the same as His forerunner, John the Baptist had been preaching. But as I have often said, the gospel was given progressively. Jesus had not died on the cross yet, He had not risen from the dead yet, or ascended into heaven, so the gospel is still somewhat veiled behind Old Testament curtains, and Jesus is revealing it’s content more and more to those who are following Him.
Many people were following Jesus. There were large crowds, the multitudes, drawn by the fame of Jesus, coming in response to miracles or when Jesus fed them with the loaves and fishes. But the faces in the great multitudes were always changing. But from within this multitude we see Luke describe a sub group called disciples. There were possibly hundreds of these people, and what disciples means is to be a student, a follower. But even among this group we see them in a state of flux, coming and going, some growing closer and some falling away. And then we also saw in chapter 6 another subgroup, even smaller, known as the apostles. There were just 12 of them, and they were privy to a fuller understanding of His teaching, because they walked closely with Christ on a day to day basis.
So it should be obvious that those that persevered in their discipleship were given a deeper understanding of the truth, and it should become more apparent as we go through this gospel that Christ will disclose more and more truth to those that persevere with Him and draw close to Him. And to that end in this next passage we are going to see a very important new concept that is going to become introduced to the disciples that is an essential principle for admittance in the Kingdom of Heaven.
And let me add that this principle of perseverance is just as important today in the church as it was in the time of Jesus. There is too much emphasis today on sound bite style Christian teaching instead of on the steadfast teaching of sound doctrine. It took God 66 books to present the gospel, and so it stands to reason that the full gospel of Christ is not going to be dispensed in a 15 minute homily. There is too much emphasis in the church today on entertainment rather than exegesis, trying to outdo the special event the church down the street did which results in services that are all about style and have very little substance. And there is too little perseverance and diligence among believers who come to church once a month seeking some epiphany, that they can then say “ah ha! Got it! Good to go!” And then you don’t see them for another few weeks until they have another crisis. If you want to know the truth, the whole saving truth of the gospel and not just a nice sounding sound bite, then you have to be diligent to be under the preaching of sound doctrine on a regular basis. Listen, not every message is going to be a home run. Some weeks, I have people come up and tell me that was the best message they ever heard. The next week, no one says a word about the message. I guess they didn’t like that one so much. But I’ll bet you that they probably needed to hear the one that they didn’t like, at least as much if not more than the one that they liked.
You need to follow a godly pastor, become a student of the word, become a disciple and then be obedient to the truth that God has revealed to you so far. And if you do that, then God will reveal more. If you aren’t obedient to what you have heard so far, then don’t expect God to just skip over that and go on to something more to your liking. God is a strict schoolmaster and He will keep you in second grade until you learn what you need to learn in second grade.
Now, up to this point, Jesus’ teaching has been focused on certain elemental things, or foundational principles of the Kingdom. He has laid a foundation that acceptance by God was not going to be on the basis of inheritance, or nationality, or self righteousness, but it was going to be on the basis of repentance, a recognition of your unworthiness and inability to keep the law or meet the standards of God’s righteousness, and instead acceptance in the kingdom was going to be based on God’s mercy and grace. But today, we see Jesus introduce a new principle. And that is the principle that salvation is by faith. Jesus introduces faith in this healing of the centurion’s slave to more fully disclose the way into the Kingdom of Heaven.
On this side of the cross, we know how essential the doctrine of faith is. We are familiar with texts such as Hebrews 11:6, which says, “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” Or Romans 1:17, “BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.” But at this point in Jesus ministry, on the other side of the cross, the concept of faith has not really been established yet. So this illustration is critical to the full disclosure of the gospel.
If we jump down a few verses to vs. 9, we see that Jesus was amazed at this man’s faith. “Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled at him, and turned and said to the crowd that was following Him, "I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith." So I think it would be very beneficial to consider what comprised this great faith that Jesus found amazing, that Jesus said no one else in Israel had.
But first of all, vs. 2 has some background information that we need to put this in historical context. A centurion’s slave is sick and about to die. Matthew tells us in his account some more information, that the slave was paralyzed and in torment. He was on his death’s bed and it was apparent that without divine intervention he was die soon.
Additionally, the text tells us something amazing. This slave was highly regarded by the centurion. Slaves in the Roman Empire were considered nothing but property that they were free to do whatever they wanted with. For a slave to be highly regarded by this centurion was an amazing thing. Now a centurion was a Roman soldier. They weren’t known for being the touchy feely type. Not only was he a Roman soldier, but he was an officer, a centurion indicating that he had one hundred men under his authority. It was a position of one who had climbed up the ranks the hard way, enduring many, many battles, hand to hand combat under the harshest conditions of warfare and had established himself to be a leader of men.
We know from the text, that not only was he a warrior, a leader, but he was a wealthy man. He had built out of his own funds the Jewish synagogue in his community. Another amazing thing is he was a friend of the Jews. He may very well have been a proselyte, or a Gentile who had converted to Judaism. Vs. 5, the Jewish elders said that he loved the nation of Israel. Now would have been extremely uncommon. The Jews hated the Romans, and the Romans generally returned the favor. And finally, as you would expect from a leader of soldiers, he was a man with authority. He said in vs. 8, “For I also am a man placed under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, 'Go!' and he goes, and to another, 'Come!' and he comes, and to my slave, 'Do this!' and he does it." He wasn’t bragging, he was just stating fact. Insubordination in the Roman army to your superior could cost you your life. He was used to following orders and having orders carried out as he wished.
Now all of this is interesting, perhaps, but looked at independently it is not apparent why Jesus would find this man’s faith amazing. But when you look at this man’s faith in relation to the message Jesus just preached then you start seeing some interesting similarities. This centurion was an example of the kind of person that Jesus says will be part of the Kingdom. He is an illustration of amazing faith which amounts to saving faith. Let’s break down what that looks like in human form.
Do you remember how Jesus started his sermon back in chapter 6 vs. 20? Blessed are the poor, and meek, and the mourning, and the hungry. Those are all characteristics of humility. So first of all, this man’s faith was characterized by humility. The religious leaders from Judaism told Jesus in chapter 7:4, “He is worthy for You to grant this to him; for he loves our nation and it was he who built us our synagogue." See, their religion was based on a system of works, whereby God is obligated to do something for you because you have done something for Him. It’s a religion of self worth. But look at this centurion’s attitude of humility. Luke 7:6 “Now Jesus started on His way with them; and when He was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to Him, " Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not worthy for You to come under my roof; for this reason I did not even consider myself worthy to come to You, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed.”
This centurion understood a fundamental principle of the gospel. That as Romans 3:10 says, “there is none righteous, no not one.” He understood Titus 3:5 which says, it is “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us.” The centurion’s recognition of his unworthiness revealed true humility which is the first principle of faith that grants you entrance into the Kingdom, a recognition of your spiritual poverty and bankruptcy and your need for mercy.
Not only is this man’s faith an example of humility, but also he is also an example of repentance. The centurion insists, “I am not worthy.” Don’t come any closer to me. This is reminiscent of what Peter said in Luke 5::8, "Depart from me, O Lord, for I am a sinful man," This is like the publican bowing his head in Luke 18 and beating his breast saying, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner," and he won't even lift his eyes and look toward heaven he's so ashamed. The centurion exhibited a repentance towards his sinfulness.
Next, not only is the centurion’s amazing faith an example of humility and repentance, but it’s also an example of amazing love. This man’s love was amazing because it was not natural. But rather I think the text shows that his love is a result of a transformed heart. He loved his slave in vs.2. He loved the nation of Israel in vs. 5. He loved God, vs. 6, he calls Jesus “Lord”, which was reserved by Romans as a title of the Emperor. He was willing to suffer the consequences according to chapter 6 vs. 22, the consequences of allegiance to Jesus Christ as Lord, when men will ostracize you, and hate you and scorn you for the sake of the Son of Man.
The word "love" used to describe the centurion’s attitude is agapao, the highest and noblest and richest word for love in the Greek language. He loved with the highest and the best kind of love, the love of the will, the noblest love, not the love of passion and not the love of emotion, but the love of will, a love of putting the needs of others above your own. A love of commitment. Agape love is the kind of love with which Christ loved us so much that He died on the cross for us so that we might be saved.
Jesus said in his sermon in chapter 6 vs. 27, that those that are true disciples of Christ will love with the kind of love that God had for us, agape love, which is evidenced by loving your enemies. This man loved his enemies. The Jewish elders vouched for that love of the Jewish nation in vs. 5.
And as further confirmation of his transformed heart and illustrative of amazing faith, he showed his love by giving to others without concern for being paid back. That is another characteristic Jesus presented in His message back in chapter 6 vs.35 "But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.” This centurion showed his love by his generosity in building the Jews a synagogue out of his own means.
And that reveals yet another characteristic of this man’s amazing faith, he had a love and reverance for the word of God. See, the synagogue was very similar to our modern day church. It wasn’t the Temple, it was a local community assembly hall which had as it’s principle purpose the teaching of the Word of God. This man had a love for the Word of God. And so this is a man who had a love for the truth. This is a man who became a God-fearer, who rejected the polytheism of his Roman nation, turned from whatever gods his people worshiped in favor of the true God, he accepted the people of God, the Jewish people. He accepted the instruction of the Old Testament and even took his own money and built a synagogue. Amazing faith, he built a synagogue for the teaching of the Word of God and he understood the authority and power of the word of God as he expressed in vs.7, “but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. He understood that Christ’s word was God’s word, and as such it is authoritative and sufficient for his need.
What you see in this man is great love, not the normal kind, indicating God's work in his heart, a transformation, a new birth. What you see in this man is great generosity, characteristic of one who has the compassion and mercy of God. What you see in this man is great devotion to God and to the truth of God, as indicated by his connection with the synagogue. And what you see is amazing humility and a willingness to repent and turn to the truth of God’s word.
So we see this man is an example of the type of person that Jesus was preaching about in the Sermon on the Plain. The characteristics of those who will enter the kingdom will not be that they can somehow establish their worthiness. They will not try to show their self righteousness. Jesus is establishing the principle of faith because if you don’t understand that salvation is by faith then you will just exchange the OT law for the Golden Rule. And people will still think they can earn their way into heaven as a result of doing good deeds. But what Jesus is revealing here is that the citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven will enter by faith not because of what they have done, but because of what Christ has done for us.
They will recognize their spiritual poverty and call upon the Lord for mercy. And God in response to that cry of repentance, responds in grace. But what the Holy Spirit is disclosing through this illustration, is that all of these characteristics are the hallmarks of an amazing faith, which is saving faith. Faith in the provision of Jesus Christ on the cross as a substitute for the death we deserved. Faith is believing that Jesus is God and that He is sovereign, that He has the power to command and the power over all of His creation. Faith is believing that Jesus has the power to forgive sins. Faith is believing that He has the power to give life, even eternal life. Faith is believing that He has the power to transform our hearts and make us into sons of God. Faith is believing all of that, and then willing to act upon that faith and follow Christ, obeying Christ, doing what Christ wants us to do regardless of the consequences.
So what was Christ’s response to this centurions’ faith? Look at vs.9 “Now when Jesus heard this, [that is, He heard the centurion declare that he knew that Christ had the authority to command healing with just a word] He marveled at him, and turned and said to the crowd that was following Him, "I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith." And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health. Jesus healed the centurion’s servant with just a word.
But please listen folks, let’s not get confused over this issue of faith. There are so many false teachers out there today running around taking the concept of faith and twisting it into a way to manipulate God into doing what we want Him to do. They tell you that if you have enough faith you can be healed, if you have enough faith you can be rich, if you have enough faith you can get all the things you desire out of this life. Please understand the truth that the Holy Spirit is revealing here. Faith is not getting God to do what we want, faith is accepting what God wants. These actual historical events that are recorded for us in the gospel aren’t given to provide us a trampoline whereby we can bounce from a verse over here to another verse other there and launch off into the prosperity doctrine, or a doctrine of self fulfillment, but they are intended to be used as an illustration of the doctrine of salvation.
Faith doesn’t put us in the place of Jesus, whereby we can accomplish all the things we want to do by some supernatural power that comes through conjuring up some fervent belief. Faith is not hoping really, really hard and then having that wish granted. Faith is simply the means of salvation, by which we recognize it is not by our works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saves us. Romans 10:17 tells us, that “faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”
Faith comes then through the Word of God, and that faith results in a supernatural transformation of our hearts. Faith is giving our lives in obedience to the promises of that Word. Just as Romans 4:3 says, "ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS." It’s not making yourself worthy of God’s favor. Faith is realizing your unworthiness, but believing God’s promises.
Jesus marveled at this centurion’s faith. He said it was unrivaled in all of Israel. And the reason that Christ said it was amazing faith was because it was founded in humility and repentance, and lived out in agape love and generosity for others, in obedience to the Word of God. That kind of amazing faith is possible for us today as well. It’s not a founded upon our worthiness, but upon Christ’s worthiness of our complete devotion and worship.
No comments:
Post a Comment