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.
“I have
not found such great faith, not even in Israel.” Doesn’t that catch your attention? There is something in this man that sets him apart from everyone else, but what was it? What would cause Jesus to marvel, to be amazed at someone who is not even part
of Israel. We might have expected to find faith in those who had been taught and educated, who boasted of the covenants and of being the beloved people of God. They knew the OT, they memorized scripture, they did all the right things, they fasted and prayed,
and went to synagogue. But did Jesus marvel at them? Well, actually he did, as we shall see coming up, but he marveled at the depth of their unbelief.
But what about this Gentile? Once again, we find the Sovereign Lord having mercy on whom He desires to have mercy, that the grace of God might be made manifest. Perhaps
some of you feel that way. You marvel that God would ever have even considered you, let alone given you the blessings of eternal life. Who would have ever thought? Not at all expected!
That does not mean that it is any less amazing for you who have been raised in the Covenant, or that it is any less than supernatural grace. But the Lord wants us
to never forget the amazing nature of our salvation and so he brings into the kingdom the most unexpected people. Or as we have noted throughout Luke, the Lord seems to be busy saving all the wrong people, all the wrong kinds of people, sinful people! And
every one of us, covenant children or those saved out of the world, can relate to that.
The Centurion is a man of high reputation and that among the Jews. This is no small point. The Jews despised Gentiles and here is one who not only is he NOT despised
but is held in very high regard. He had helped build a synagogue for the Jewish people. He had given his time and energy to see to their benefit and good and they loved him for it. And the text strongly implies that for all of his lack of religious background
he had grasped the very center of the Jewish faith, that the God of Israel was the One True God of heaven and earth.
But more than that, somehow along the way, in either his hearing or possibly seeing Jesus, he knew that this One True God was present in the Lord Jesus Christ. In
seeing this he grasps what the people, the Jewish people who listened and watched Jesus, day after day, had missed altogether. He knew something, and that something had been revealed to Him, not by flesh and blood, but by the Spirit of the Living God, that
Jesus, the healer, was the long anticipated Messiah.
The Centurion’s servant was sick and dying and the elders of the Jews came to Jesus on behalf of the Centurion that Jesus might go to him and heal the servant, and
in their words, we find their problem. They argued that this man was worthy of Jesus’ coming to him. He was worthy because of all that he had done for the nation of Israel. He was worthy of God’s mercy and grace to be displayed for him,
because of everything HE HAD DONE.
Was that the right way of pleading with the Son of God who came to sinners due to the fact that they had, by their sins, made themselves totally UNWORTHY of the presence
of God? The contrast in our text comes when we hear the words of the Centurion and his view of himself. The Centurion said to Jesus just the opposite of what the Jewish elders had said about him.
They said, he is worthy, but HE says: “Lord do not trouble yourself for I am not worthy even that you should enter under my roof. I did not
even think myself worthy to come to you…”
Here is a man of reputation and by his own analogy has a deal of authority, wherein he can say to a man go, and the man goes without question. So, he has reputation
and power, he has authority.
And so he recognizes that Christ Jesus has authority, more than any man and so much so, that if Jesus commands, then even disease and sickness has to heed the call
coming forth from THIS King. All of the authority and influence, all that this centurion might think to claim for himself, all of this, melts away at the consideration of who Jesus is! All of the accolades of this world, as flattering as they might be, did
not push him to think more highly of himself than he ought. He sees himself clearly…he sees Jesus clearly, and this is the first step toward a relationship with the Father!
This is faith, faith that lives under the reign and rule of Christ; Faith that knows that only in humility, seeing self clearly, in light of the glory of God in the
face of Jesus, can we fully enjoy the blessings that faith promises. And this is what I want us to see this morning. This deep humility that sees self clearly, and knows self to be unworthy, does not weaken faith, but rather, humility
that puts self low, strengthens faith and the blessings of faith!
The humility of this centurion, the true understanding of who he was, the low thoughts of self, led him to a very high estimation of the Lord Jesus. You ever wonder
why this Centurion cared so much for a lowly servant? Or why, as a Gentile, would he have earned such a reputation for caring for the Jews, and making sure they had what was important for them? There is no exalting of self over others when we know self clearly
as God sees us, and that we have been done for completely apart from ourselves, therefore, we have nothing to boast in, but the grace of God in Christ Jesus.
Jesus does not have to be present to command his will and this Gentile soldier has no doubt that the Word of Jesus is enough. “Say the word and my servant shall
be healed.” It is as if everything slips to the background…fades into obscurity but to hear the Word of the Savior. For that word is life…at that word, heaven and earth, all of creation, will stop, to heed, to mount up in obedience to every last desire
that falls from His lips. Faith strips us down to the glories of being nothing and having nothing…BUT Jesus. Faith leaves us hanging on the promises that He speaks to us. Empty in ourselves, but literally filled with the glories and blessings of God
in Christ.
Brothers and sisters, do we in any way see ourselves in this man? Lost to all the world would say, lost to the flatteries of man telling us that we are worthy…only
that we might hear the Word of the blessed Jesus; For He is enough for us. His Word of love, of welcome, of acceptance, this is enough for us. He speaks, and we are full, not of self, but full of the promises and the mercies He gives to those who look away
from everything and unto Him.
Brothers and sisters, the philosophies of men that try and tell us who we are, that try to speak to us about value and human potentiality are bondage, every last one
of them. Our view of self is found not in OUR worthiness, but in Christ’s worthiness. We see ourselves in Him, and because of that we are loved by the Father the same as the Father loves His Son! Everything that is true of Jesus is true of all those who find
their lives in the Savior!
And it all begins, all the joy, the peace, the rest and hope…it is found not in the exaltation of self, but in saying with our brother the centurion, “Jesus, I
am not worthy of even coming to you, but, Lord, speak the word…just speak the word…”
Prayer: Father in heaven, I am empty, but you have filled me, I am unworthy, but Christ has made me the beloved of God! I praise you this day and with the deepest
gratitude give you thanks for your unfailing love that has so conquered and continues to conquer such a restless soul as I have. Give me grace this day to walk in confidence, not in self, not in my own wisdom, but confidence in the One who lived, died, resurrected
and came by grace to make the unworthy, worthy! In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
Hymn: Alas and Did My Savior Bleed
A more solemn, contemplative setting: