Luke 7:1-16
When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum. 2 There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. 3 The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. 4 When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this,5 because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” 6 So Jesus went with them.
He was not far from the house when 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.7 That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. 8 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.”
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.”10 Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.
11 Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. 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. 13 When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.”
14 Then he went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” 15 The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.
16 They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.”
Reversal of Expectations
Sarah knew Frank in life. She loved him and Frank knew that. Now Sarah is in heaven, and she sees Frank.
She tries to convince him to join her in Heaven. Sarah tries to explain and claims that now that she’s in Heaven she is in love all the time. She didn’t truly love Frank in “the old days,” although she thought she did because she needed him. He asks, “You need me no more?” Sarah explains that, in the afterlife, there is no such thing as need—and as a result, she and Frank can truly love one another: “What needs could I have…now that I have it all? I am full now, not empty. I am in Love himself, not lonely. Strong, not weak. You shall be the same. Come and see. We shall not need for one another now. We can begin to love truly.”1
What is CS Lewis doing in this imaginary interaction in his book “The Great Divorce?”
I think he is trying to teach us that in Heaven we will be able to love one another the way God loves us now and the way we must aspire to love one another. In life Sarah needed Frank, so she loved him. Now she doesn’t need him, and Frank is confused. Lewis is trying to say that love doesn’t need anything. Its interest is in the beloved. Real Love is like that—a do-so thing, not just a say-so thing. The lover only cares about the beloved, it has no need. The lover only cares about the benefit of the beloved. The lover only wants to give, it doesn’t care about getting.
This is the lesson of Luke 7 and the Faithful Centurion.
Luke has an affinity for contrasts. He puts people together in places and situations that cause us to think more deeply. In Luke 1 and 2, we see a contrast between Elizabeth and Zechariah and Simeon and Anna. Luke writes about the recipients of divine blessing and salvation; women are the more optimistic examples in both. They are more sympathetic to the message and more eager to act. Elizabeth recognizes that her cousin is carrying the Messiah and takes the initiative to praise God for this. Anna is first to understand, and she is first to spread the good news.
2
Luke continues to employ these unusual pairings, which throw the reader off balance about the recipients of divine blessing. The young and old, rich and poor, men and women, Jews and Gentiles, belief and non-belief, and the elite and the common people. In Luke 7 we have a Roman soldier who is said to love the God of Israel and his Messiah Jesus. This pairing is dense with questions that go to the very heart of Luke's agenda.
Luke 7 is packed with reversals of expectancy in these pairings. Notice them: The elders and the centurion, Jesus and the elders, Jews and Gentiles, the disciples and the people, the crowds and the disciples and the authorities. A significant pairing is to be found in the location. Capernaum is a place of darkness and unbelief, chosen by Luke as the place to write about the Centurion’s faith. Jesus selected this town as the center of his public ministry in Galilee. He took up residence in Capernaum. The works and words of Jesus in this town by the sea elevate it to a place of prominence second only to Jerusalem.
Why use a city known for darkness as his place (Matthew 11:23)? Why would the elders of the Jews go to a Rabbi they did not trust on behalf of a man they despised (Luke 7:4)? The elders assumed the Centurion was outside God’s blessings even though he was commanding. The Centurion was under the authority of the emperor; he had the emperor's authority over those under him. He held life and death in his hands.
The Centurion had built the synagogue, yet he might not have been able to enter the synagogue. He was uncircumcised and unclean, but the elders said he was deserving. A convention is reversed and turned upside down.
He was a professional officer of the Roman army. He was educated, highly trained, skilled, well-connected and ruthless. Centurions were despised by the people. They represented the government that oppressed them. This centurion loved Israel and her God and believed in the healing power of Jesus. The characters we meet in Luke 7 could not have been more dissimilar—the elders, the crowds, the disciples, Jesus, the Centurion and his staff.
We learn that the Centurion had built the synagogue in Capernaum flowing out of his love and reverence for the God of Israel. We learn that the elders of the Jews said that the Centurion was worthy because he loved Israel and flowing out of that love he built. Worthy is a term of Levitical purity. To be worthy meant to be clean, to be kosher, according to the laws of Moses and the custom of the day. It was a declaration that he was a recipient of divine blessing.
But the Centurion was not worthy—he was a gentile, uncircumcised, a Roman soldier. He was ritually unclean, and we learn in verse 7 that he understood the law—a Jew could not go into his house, and he could not go into the house of a Jew. “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof” (7:6).
The Centurion knew the Law of Moses: he was normally not allowed into Jewish spaces. He was still determined to act. Imagine him raising the money, buying the land, drafting the plans, hiring workers, and consulting with the elders of the Jews. Imagine him purchasing the holy books. Imagine him overseeing the synagogue's construction for the people he loved and the God he worshipped. There was no guarantee he would have been permitted to enter the place he loved to worship the God he loved with the people he loved. It didn’t matter.
His love exemplified God’s love. God sent the Son—he received nothing but gave everything. We receive everything and it costs us nothing.
The Centurion was unworthy, but he was also worthy. He was unclean, but he was also clean. He had nothing before God, but he also had everything.
The man had a love rooted in faith, but a faith that had the power to build something he might not have been able to enter. He loved Israel because of his faith in the God of Israel. What did he benefit or profit from this love? Nothing really—except the most important thing. The Kingdom of God ruling and reigning in his heart.
Are you just a bystander to this story, or is it your duty to enter its life and the life of its people and step inside? Put yourself there. Where do you stand before God? We are Centurions in one way or another: unfit, unworthy and unclean. The outward sign of his uncircumcision is the inner battle of each heart. But Jesus reverses all that and we are fit, worthy and clean. We have everything! We are a spectacle but honoured, we are weak but strong, we are foolish but wise. This is the stuff of the Kingdom of God. Reversal of expectancy! When we look at the cross, we have everything.
Are you willing to build something for someone you cannot go inside? Trust in our Healer and Redeemer. He healed that sick servant and can heal that sick heart separated from him.
That kind of love is not discreet wise or sensible. That kind of love reverses the expectations of your life. It makes you the person you never thought you could be so you can go places, and do things, and be things you never thought possible.
The lover gives up everything and seeks nothing. The beloved gains everything and it costs nothing.
Questions
1. Why did Jesus use Capernaum as his home base in Galilee if it was a place of darkness and unbelief?
2. Why would the elders of the Jews go to a Rabbi they did not trust on behalf of a man they despised?
3.Why did everybody in this text believe that Jesus had the power to heal?
4. Have you ever built something you could not go in? This is not a literal question – it could be building relationships or spending time or money or any investment without the expectation of return.
Prayer of Trust and Humility:
Our Father and our King,
We come before You with hearts full of reverence and awe, just as the centurion approached Jesus with deep faith and humility. We are reminded through his example that faith does not require signs or wonders, but a simple trust in Your Word.
The centurion believed that a mere word from you could heal his servant, we too ask for that kind of faith—a faith that trusts in Your power without hesitation, that believes in Your promises without doubt.
We acknowledge our unworthiness, knowing that it is by Your grace alone that we stand and have all we need or want. Your mercy is greater than our shortcomings. Speak the word and let our lives be transformed. May Your will be done in us as it was in him, bringing healing, peace, and renewal to all areas of our lives.
Grant us the strength to trust You, even when we cannot see the outcome. Let our faith be as steadfast as that of the Centurion, and may we always approach You with humility and confidence, knowing that You are faithful and just.
We ask this in the name of Jesus, who is the Word made flesh, our Savior and our King.
Amen.
Author Bio
Andrew Barron is licensed in the CM&A and is part of
Bayview Glen Alliance in Toronto. He served with Jews for Jesus for 38 years. He is presently an adjunct Faculty at Tyndale University. He was an adjunct faculty at Martin Luther University College and Wycliffe College. He is married and has 3 children.
Footnotes
1. Lewis, CS. The Great Divorce. Geoffrey Bles. 1946. p., 104
2. Witherington, Ben. Mary, Simeon or Anna: Who First Recognized Jesus as Messiah? Biblical Archaeology Society, June 2, 2024. https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/new-testament/mary-simeon-or-anna-who-first-recognized-jesus-as-messiah/. Accessed August 26, 2024
Luke and Acts taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®
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