Oh, Little Town of….
A cop pulls over a car full of nuns. The cop said, “Sister, this is a 65 mile-per-hour highway. Why are you going so slow? The speed limit is 65.”
“Sir,” the sister replied, “I saw a lot of signs that read 22, not 65.”
The cop laughed and said, “Oh, sister, that’s not the speed limit, that’s the name of the highway you’re on.”
Sister said, “Oh! Silly me! Thanks for letting me know. I’ll be more careful.”
The cop looks in the backseat where the other nuns are shaking and trembling. “Excuse me, Sister. What’s wrong with your friends back there? They’re shaking something terrible.”
“Sorry officer, we just got off highway 119.”
What does the policeman do now? There’s evidence that something happened even though he was not there to witness it. Without question, the officer was surprised that action was taken on misunderstood information.
We have an officer involved in today’s scripture of Luke 7:1 through 10. Jesus went to Capernaum, which is a fishing village on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee. It’s a small town of fifteen-hundred. The synagogue was a major feature of this town just as churches populate rural communities today. This City is believed to be Peter’s home. Other notable disciples with roots in this Community were James and John, plus Andrew and Matthew who was a tax collector.
The location of this story is important because every community has a personality, spirit or attitude. Capernaum’s citizens so inspired the occupying Roman Officer that he personally bought them a new synagogue. That was some kind of attitude to cause a man who was not from there to make such an investment in the life of the community that he would make a major contribution to build the church a new building.
There are other remarkable facts about Capernaum, a two-century-old town at Jesus’ arrival. There were no defensive walls around the town. The people were industrious since archeologist have found many oil and grain mills. They fished the lake, or Sea of Galilee, and signs of a strong agrarian society were discovered. Contrary to other cities, no evidence has been found that this Community involved themselves in the bloody Jewish revolts against the Romans. Even Josephus, a Jewish general during an earlier revolt, was taken there after he fell from his horse in conflict in nearby Bethsaida. This General called Capernaum “a fertile spring.” And, this town was never a part of the first Jewish revolt of 66 through 70 and the Romans left the people alone and did not occupy it after the revolt. Yes, the Romans ended their occupation, which was out of their character since conquest of lands and people is what they believed greatness was.
Archeological evidence shows that over the centuries, other synagogues were built to keep up with the spiritual needs of the people. The church was the center of activities.
You likely gather that this was a religious community where citizens had and practiced their God-given code of conduct. This is a place where citizens were expected to uphold the reputation of their town by being what they were expected to be. Capernaum was a good place to live and raise a family, and even an excellent place to find disciples.
Does this give you an idea as to why Yeshua would visit this place to call disciples to Him?
Matthew 4:13 gives further insight about how the people of this small City accepted Messiah. The passage reads, “And he left Nazareth, and came and settled in Capernaum, by the seaside within the borders of Zebulun and Napthali, so that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet Isaiah, saying, O land of Zebulum, O land of Napthali, the way to the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles! The people who dwelt in darkness saw a great light, and upon those who dwelled in the country and in the midst of the shadow of death, light shone. This is when He, Jesus, called Simon Peter and his brother Andrew, saying to them, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.”
It appears that Jesus enjoyed going there and teaching in the synagogue, because while there on one of his journeys, he healed a man.
Any community the size of Capernaum needed no newspaper or radio station. News traveled faster than it could be printed, so you know that every time the Master was in town, they turned out to hear Him. This was the case, again in this place, of the paralytic man who was lowered through the roof by friends so Jesus would heal him.
It’s true, Capernaum responded well to Yeshua’s teaching while Nazareth did not. Apparently Nazareth, the home of the Nazarenes, was not quite ready to change even though Christ was raised among them. Did such rejection frustrate Yeshua? John 4:44, reads, “For Yeshua had been testifying that a Prophet is not honored in his city.”
While we have previously focused on healing of the servant, it’s worth asking if my community has the attitude, personality and spirit that is attractive or repulsive? Do you support your churches and nurture a code of conduct that attracts the people you want in your town? Capernaum was a place where people from different backgrounds learned to love each other, and that love so influenced their occupying force that the officer assigned to them, funded a synagogue! Amazing!
It’s with that background that we look at the story in Luke seven. This story is about that Roman officer stationed in Capernaum. The Centurion, or Roman boss, had a servant who was very ill, actually near death. This man was so in touch with the people of the town that the Jewish leaders, or perhaps others, told him that Jesus was returning. The news delighted the Centurion for a reason we might find strange; he loved his servant and knew Yeshua could heal him!
In the normal setting and relationship between a local slave or servant, the Roman would not have cared in the least. If a slave died, he would just go get another one. Was this attitude the result of the spirit of Capernaum?
The elders had been asked to approach Jesus about healing this servant. This man of authority, this Roman, had told the elders that he wasn’t worthy to even approach Messiah. That too is a radical difference. Most Romans thought of Jews as second-class citizens. While Jesus was alive most of the powerful, including Romans, thought of Him as a troublemaker. However, the Roman was so grieved over his servant that he wanted to get Yeshua’s attention to heal the man. Was it because of the love in this Community that earthly authority had a different attitude?
Because this occupying authority had been so good to the Community, the elders met Jesus as He approached the city limits, giving Him the story and saying, “come heal this man.” The selling job continued in verse four, “When they came to Jesus, they begged him earnestly, saying; He is worthy to have this done for him; for he loves our people and has even built a synagogue.”
Consider the chain of faith. The servant was near death so his boss asked the Jewish leaders to approach Jesus with this favor. It wasn’t only the faith of the servant, this faith continued through the occupying Roman officer to the religious leaders of the community to the Master. No wonder Jesus’ response was amazement and great surprise. He said, “I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such faith as this.” See what a group of believers can do when they love each other?
What influence can a community of followers have on every life they touch? Remember this story! Capernaum helped our Savior change the world.
Even though Capernaum was never mentioned in the Old Testament, the very name is Hebrew. As we can mention a modern city’s name and invoke a feeling or meaning based on their history or collective attitude, this Community-by-the-sea did the same and should today when we understand. Two Hebrew words meaning “comfortable and village” were combined to make the word Capernaum, yet the Prophet Nahum appears to be the inspiration behind the name. Nahum was a minor prophet whose prophesying is recorded in the Bible. Nahum’s name means comforter. This Prophet lived 400-years before the City was established. There’s a lesson that what you do for the Lord will last. This Prophet inspired by his name and teaching a Town that became a hiding place for the One who is a hiding place for us.
So, Capernaum was a spiritual haven, a place where loved abounded and where expectation for order and industry lived. This is a place where children were loved yet lived with expectation. Imagine the reports the Roman officer sent back to his command. While not one of those reports have survived history, it is easy to imagine how one of them might read, “Dear Caesar Augustus; this place you have sent me to is nothing like I’ve ever seen. I came here thinking these people were the enemy, but they love me! Not one time have the people here tried to hurt me, and they never gossip or conspire against me. My sword has never been drawn here, in fact, it gathers dust in the corner of my room. The Rabbi calls me “friend” and asks what he can do to help. I have a servant who loves his work and takes such great care of me. Everybody here goes to synagogue and worships God. This place is amazing. If there ever is a need, all people get busy and make things right. We have plenty to eat and the children are happy. If you will allow, I would love to retire here.”
How do we know this was the attitude of this Community? Read Luke 7:1 through 10 again and look for the attitudes.
It is so easy to skip right over the name of the Town in scripture and go straight to the Master healing this servant. It is an amazing example of faith, yet the environment was conducive to this level and meaning of community. Every lesson by Yeshua is about an ingredient for the level of faith required for a healing of this kind, while we fail to see how the environment of love promotes faith that surprises even Yeshua. Capernaum is proof that such a city can exist. And this setting is where Christ wanted to be; is where he found the biggest percentage of His disciples, and where He and other leaders came for R&R, or rest and relaxation.
We don’t know who decided to make Capernaum such a marvelous place, yet this City became a literal “soft place to land.” Everyone needs a place where they feel safe; a place to decompress, recuperate and relax. Messiah is no different than the rest of humanity in this need. For most, there is home or some place at home that allows us to take a deep breath and sink into acceptance of who we are. This place of security and refuge is on our minds in stressful times, and is a goal to reach when the world presses us into situations that tests our spirits. Where is that place for you? Where can you enjoy acceptance; where you can breathe freely; where you know you are safe? When you are there, do you feel that easy shift in your soul that is subtle and tranquil? Is this a time or place when know you have retreated to feel centered again?
This little City of Capernaum was such a place for our Lord. Imagine establishing a love for each other so strong that the very Personification of Truth, the very Son of Love, would retreat to such a place to be spiritually filled. This place of refuge was established two-hundred years before Christ was born, and centered on God’s Law and instructions to His people. If we have the formula for living this way, why is such a place so rare?
The focus scripture, Luke 7, comes after Jesus preached his heart out! The sixth chapter is full of sayings we hold as our code of conduct; such things as not to judge so we won’t be judged, the blind leading the blind, the splinter in your brother’s eye, bearing good and bad fruit. Additional teaching is recorded in verse 46, “Why do you call me, My Lord, my Lord and do not what I say?” Then the concluding story was the house built on a foundation of sand or stone. Exhausted and no doubt frustrated, the Master then retreated to Capernaum where he was met by synagogue leaders who told him about the Roman’s servant who was near death.
If a healing was going to happen, this was the place. Whether healing of body or soul, this place of love was where even a representative of an occupying force had complete confidence that God ruled, plus confidence in the Son of Love, Yeshua. Was there need for an additional testimony about the power of love? Did God need to demonstrate further that He was in charge? No, the fullness of love that was lived and demonstrated in this place was enough.
So, where are we [you] as a church? Do you have to tell people that you love each other or are you a Capernaum in your community? How about your home? Do your children have a soft place to land, with all that means? Is our [your] community one with a reputation of acceptance and comfort, so inviting that newcomers are accepted with open arms of love? If not, how do you get to that place of peace like Capernaum? We all have the example, the instructions and support by Almighty God to live this way, if we only would.
Examine your own home, our [your] church, your community against the measure of this little City on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, where even the Son of God retreated to be refreshed and strengthened to take on a rude world another day.
An interesting contrast is Jerusalem. Although the name means “place of peace,” it has never lived up to its name. To live as Jerusalem is the same as calling a place “home” while knowing it’s only a house; a church without the Spirit of Truth; a community full of judging, anger, gossip and suspicion. Is this God’s fault? No, the struggle for power there has never included love--but the opposite. As long as man works in his wisdom to make a community a place of peace, it will never happen without listening to and doing what God tells us to do. It is so sad that humanity struggles for power over each other, when the real source of power is love with all it means in First Corinthians 13.
Where is your power? Where is your soft place to land? Are you building a Capernaum or Jerusalem? And, do you really want to live in the place you are creating or building? The choice is yours—all yours.
By-the-way, the Roman officer’s servant--was healed. Verse ten reads, “So those who were sent returned to the house and found the servant who was sick, healed.”
Are you determined to misread the signs that direct us how to live, like the nun in our opening story? Is the best way for humanity to coexist force, as with idealism, or by love, an internal, self-governing force? God has a plan for us to live as He designed. Get it right. Let’s obey the Master.
In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, amen.
©2013, J. Tilton
