‘LORD … JUST SAY THE WORD!’

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on April 1, 2020 under AM Bible Study |

AM Bible Study Group: April 1, 2020 from Luke 7:1-10

Theme: Spiritual repentance before God shows itself in active reforms of obedience.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

There’s an old saying; “To be a good leader, you must first be a good follower.” Someone who has authority—and who truly knows how to use that authority—can easily recognize and respect authority in others when they see it. And in this morning’s passage in Luke, we meet a Roman centurion—a Gentile man of great authority—who recognized and sincerely honored the even greater authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, And as a result, it made our Lord marvel.

Luke tells us, in Luke 7:1-10, what happened after the Lord Jesus had finished his instructions in what we have been calling ‘The Sermon on The Plain’;

Now when He concluded all His sayings in the hearing of the people, He entered Capernaum. And a certain centurion’s servant, who was dear to him, was sick and ready to die. So when he heard about Jesus, he sent elders of the Jews to Him, pleading with Him to come and heal his servant. And when they came to Jesus, they begged Him earnestly, saying that the one for whom He should do this was deserving, “for he loves our nation, and has built us a synagogue.” Then Jesus went with them. And when He was already not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to Him, saying to Him, “Lord, do not trouble Yourself, for I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof. Therefore I did not even think myself worthy to come to You. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man placed under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard these things, He marveled at him, and turned around and said to the crowd that followed Him, “I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!” And those who were sent, returning to the house, found the servant well who had been sick (Luke 7:1-10).

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Centurions were military leaders in the Roman army. As the name suggests, they held command over a company of 100 soldiers. They often serve in the Bible as representatives of secular Gentile power. And yet, every single centurion we read of in the Bible was an honorable and reverential man.

The centurions we find in the Bible were often involved in some very important events in the Bible’s story. It was a centurion, for example, who stood by and supervised the crucifixion of our Lord (Matthew 27:54). It was a centurion who reported the Savior’s death to Pilate (Mark 15:44-45). One of the first Gentile converts to Christianity during the ministry of the apostles was Cornelius, a centurion of the Italian Regiment (Acts 10:1). It was a company of Roman soldiers—centurions being among them—who rescued the apostle Paul from being killed by a mob in Jerusalem (Acts 21:32). It was a centurion who stopped Paul from being scourged, as other Roman soldiers sought to get information from him (22:25). Centurions often protected Paul from being murdered or provided him with military escort when he traveled (Acts 23:17, 23). And when Paul was under imperial detention, it was often the centurions who ensured that he was well cared for and that his friends were able to visit him (Acts 24:23; 28:16). One centurion even prevented a large group of prisoners from being executed during a ship-wreck, because he wanted to keep Paul alive (Acts 27:43).

Did you know that our Lord’s public ministry was ‘book-ended’ with the presence of centurions? There was a centurion at the end of His earthly life, who stood by the cross as our Lord died and confessed aloud, “Truly this was the Son of God!” (Matthew 27:54); and—as we see in this morning’s passage—there was a centurion who publicly recognized His divine authority just as His teaching ministry was getting started.

All the centurions of the Bible are presented as men of remarkable character and wisdom and authority. They played a crucial part in the story of the Bible. And this passage tells us about the first one we encounter in the New Testament—a centurion whose story shows us how the Lord Jesus favors those who sincerely recognize His divine authority.

The story begins with …

1. THE CENTURION’S URGENT REQUEST (vv. 1-3).

Luke tells us this about Jesus in verse 1, “Now when He concluded all His sayings in the hearing of the people, He entered Capernaum.” Our Lord had just finished His words of instructions in Luke 6:20-49; and was then returning to the nearby town of Capernaum. And it was from there that this noble centurion heard of our Lord’s approach.

Luke tells us in verse 2, “And a certain centurion’s servant, who was dear to him, was sick and ready to die.” The word that is translated “dear” really means “valuable”. And perhaps this indicates to us that this servant provided important and valued service to the centurion. But it’s easy to see that the centurion also loved and cherished this servant. In verse 7, he uses an unusual word to describe his servant. He uses the word pais, which can refer to a young person or child. It was almost as if the centurion referred to the servant as his own ‘boy’ or ‘son’. Clearly, he loved and cared for his servant tenderly.

What was the young servant’s ailment? In Matthew’s telling of the story, we find that the servant was lying at home “paralyzed, dreadfully tormented” (Matthew 8:6). His condition was grave and urgent. And so, as Luke goes on to tell us, “when he heard about Jesus, he sent elders of the Jews to Him, pleading with Him to come and heal his servant” (v. 3).

Now; when we compare this story in Luke with the one in Matthew 8, we find an interesting difference. In Matthew’s account, we’re told that the centurion went to Jesus. But here, Luke tells us that he didn’t go personally, but sent Jewish elders to go to Jesus. There’s no contradiction in this, though. It’s obvious that the centurion’s presence was represented to Jesus by the Jewish elders who went at his request. It may be that, as a Roman, he didn’t feel it would be right for himself—a Gentile—to go to Jesus; and that it was better that the Jewish leaders would go on his behalf.

But what’s remarkable in this is that the Jewish leaders readily did so. They were unhesitant in ministering to the need of this Gentile Roman soldier; because of the great respect that they had for him—and he for them. And so, we next see …

2. THE JEWISH ELDERS’ URGENT PLEA (vv. 4-5).

Luke tells us in verses 4-5, “And when they came to Jesus, they begged Him earnestly, saying that the one for whom He should do this was deserving, ‘for he loves our nation, and has built us a synagogue.’”

In the ruins of the ancient city of Capernaum today, there still stands an ancient synagogue—striking in appearance. It’s a Jewish place of worship; but it has the definite appearance of being a Roman structure. Portions of this building that still stands today may very well be of the synagogue that this centurion built for the Jewish people. That tells us that he had reverence and respect for the God of the Jewish people. It certainly explains why the Jewish people were so willing to bring this request on his behalf. It may be that he even had read and studied the Jewish scriptures—and that he had heard about and believed the stories of Jesus as the Jewish Messiah—and that he believed that Jesus was able to heal His servant.

There’s a lesson for us in this. We should never think that anyone—no matter who they are or where they come from—is beyond the reach of God’s grace; and that they may have been given faith by God to believe. As Peter once said to another centurion who sought the God of Israel;

“In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him” (Acts 10:34-35).

Luke tells us in verse 6a, “Then Jesus went with them.” But perhaps between the time that the centurion sent the Jewish leaders and the time when they made their return with the Lord, the centurion began to rethink his manner of asking. And that’s when we’re told about …

3. THE RECOGNITION OF OUR LORD’S AUTHORITY (vv. 6-8).

Luke tells us, “And when He was already not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to Him, saying to Him, “Lord, do not trouble Yourself, for I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof. Therefore I did not even think myself worthy to come to You” (vv. 6b-7a). This speaks of the centurion’s humble recognition of who Jesus was. This would be a remarkable thing for a Roman—and a Roman military leader, no less—to say about someone whose land the Romans were occupying!

And this was not because the centurion had second thoughts about Jesus performing a healing for him. Instead, it was out of a profound recognition of the divine nature of our Lord’s authority. The Roman commander said, “But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man placed under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it’” (vv. 7b-8).

This Roman centurion understood how authority worked. He himself was under authority. A Roman commander, or a general, or even the emperor would give him a command; and he would immediately carry that command out. Likewise, he had 100 soldiers under his command; and they did whatever he told them to do. And it must be that this centurion understood clearly the authority that the Lord Jesus possessed. He had already understood that the Lord could perform a miracle and heal his servant. But he went further; and understood that the Lord Jesus didn’t even have to be physically present to do it. He didn’t just have the authority to command people; but that He could command illnesses to leave—and they would obey His command! He could simply speak the word; and it would be done! What great authority this centurion recognized Jesus to have!

And by the way; do we recognize Jesus’ authority in the way that this Gentile Roman military man recognized it? Just before He went to the cross—and before He was raised from the dead—Jesus told His disciples;

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it” (John 14:12-14).

Jesus gives us great authority in our asking. And nothing is too hard for Him. The authority doesn’t lay ultimately in we who do the asking, but rather in Him who does the answering May it be that we become more and more like this centurion, who asked confidently of Him who he knew to have all the authority to answer!

And when ask Him in such confidence, it greatly pleases our Lord. Look at how we go on to see …

4. THE HONORING OF A GENTILE’S FAITH (vv. 9-10).

We’re told, “When Jesus heard these things, He marveled at him, and turned around and said to the crowd that followed Him, “I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!” (v. 9). Imagine! A faith that caused the Son of God to marvel! And from a Gentile!

There are at least two times in the Bible when we’re told that our Lord ‘marveled’ at something. He marveled here at the remarkable faith of a Roman centurion in His divine authority—displayed in the fact that he would simply ask the Lord to give a command with the confidence that the command would be obeyed. But another time was when Jesus went to His own hometown in Nazareth, and was rejected by them. Mark 6:4-6 tells us;

But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house.” Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. And He marveled because of their unbelief (Mark 6:4b-6a).

In this morning’s story of the centurion, as Matthew tells it, we find that the Lord Jesus used this as an opportunity to rebuke the unbelief of His own people. He said;

“And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 8:11-12).

It would be a horrible thing to cause the Lord Jesus to marvel because of our unbelief—especially when we should know better. But here was a man who wouldn’t have naturally been expected to know about Jesus, and who nevertheless caused Jesus to marvel by his remarkable faith in Him. And the thing that the centurion had faith in was the greatness of Jesus’ divine authority. Jesus didn’t have to go to the young servant, and lay hands on him in order for him to be healed. The centurion was confident that all Jesus had to do is say the word, and the servant would be healed.

And Luke assures us that that’s what happened. In verse 10, we read; “And those who were sent, returning to the house, found the servant well who had been sick.”

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How often do you and I pray, and ask something of the Lord, and then spoil our prayer by our doubts afterward? Do we dare to doubt our Lord’s authority? Let’s pray that the ‘marvelous’ faith of this remarkable centurion would shame us—in a good way. May we learn, like him, to have total confidence in the divine authority of our Lord. And may we learn to ask accordingly and confidently!

May we have a faith that truly meets with our Lord’s favor!

EA