JAW-DROPPING FAITH
Luke 7:1-10
INTRODUCTION
A. RESPECTING AUTHORITY FIGURES
1. Have you ever been in a grocery store and saw a child best described as spoiled?
2. The mother would say, “Put that candy back’, and the kid would say, “No”, and then rip the package open. The mother would say, “That’s it! Don’t you get another one and I mean it.”
3. The kid would grab something else. The mother would say, “put it back”. The kid would start screaming, and the mother would say, “be quiet and put that thing in the basket.”
4. The mother was supposed to be the authority figure, the child knew who was in charge!
5. A salesman called a house and a woman answered. He said, “May I speak to the person who makes the financial decisions for your family about purchases for your home?”
6. The woman answered, “I’m sorry. He’s still at kindergarten and won’t be home till about 3!”
7. We’re looking at the subject of ‘authority’ in tonight’s message.
B. TEXT
1When Jesus had finished saying all this in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. 2There a centurion's servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. 3The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. 4When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, "This man deserves to have you do this, 5because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue." 6So 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. 7That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. 8For 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." 9When 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." 10Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.
C. THESIS
1. Tonight, we’re looking at a man who had “Jaw-Dropping Faith.” Only twice in all of Scripture was Jesus said to “marvel” or be amazed.
2. The other time was when he began his public ministry in his hometown of Nazareth, and he was rejected by his fellow Jews – “he was amazed by their lack of faith.” (Mark 6:6, Luke 4:14-30).
3. The centurion had a faith that was more perceptive and sensitive than anything Jesus had witnessed in Israel.
4. “Why was Jesus so amazed?” We’re going to look at the 4 characteristics that made this man’s faith so amazing. FIRST, HIS FAITH CAUSED HIM TO;
I. HE LOVED ACROSS ALL BARRIERS
1. Jesus had just completed the teaching know as “The Sermon on the Mount.” Now Jesus entered into Capernaum, a city on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee.
2. While Jesus is in Capernaum, he is approached by representatives of a Roman Centurion. Centurions were commonplace in the Roman Empire. They were equivalent in rank to a modern-day army captain and normally in command of 100 soldiers.
A. A SPECIAL SERVANT
1. This particular centurion had a servant who was ill, Matthew (8:6) in his account of this incident uses the term (pais) which is young child.
2. Whoever this young man was, Luke who was a doctor, said he “was sick and ready to die.” If you have ever clung to a loved one that was at death’s door and you felt that he was slowly losing the battle, you know this centurion awful sense of helplessness.
B. HE BROKE THROUGH BARRIERS
1. THREE WAYS HE CROSSED SOCIAL/ RACIAL BARRIERS:
a. We are told that this man loved Israel, though it was not the land of his birth.
b. He cared deeply about his young servant, which was out of the social norm.
c. And he crossed racial and ethnic barriers when he, as a Gentile, appealed to a Jew for help.
2. His liberty is especially surprising when you realize a. How proud and arrogant the average Roman was about their citizenship and status, looking down on others as barbarians; and b. How much the Jews hated non-Jews. One Jewish saying was, “I thank God that I wasn’t born a dog, a gentile, or a woman”.
3. To conclude, this man ignored all the social barriers and loved people from several diverse racial and economic classes. That’s pretty jaw-dropping!
II. HE WAS ACTIVE IN THE WORK OF GOD
A. REASONS FOR HIM NOT TO BE RELIGIOUS
There are at least two reasons this man shouldn’t have been spiritually inclined, especially to the religion of the Jews:
1. He had been raised in the richest and greatest military power in the world; a nation which believed that their deities were the true ones because they conquered everyone else’s deities.
2. He was, by profession, a hardened killer who had risen through the ranks of soldiers by being good at meting out unforgiving and brutal punishments to anyone who rebelled or committed crimes against the empire. People who have seen the worst of human nature sometimes doubt there is a good, loving God guiding history toward a wonderful conclusion.
B. BUILDING THE HOUSE OF WORSHIP
1. (4) “And when they came to Jesus, they begged Him earnestly, saying that the one for whom He should do this was deserving, (5) “for he loves our nation, and has built us a synagogue.”
2. Gentile worshipers were barred from the Temple in Jerusalem but not so with the synagogue, the synagogue was a place that even a Gentile could come and listen to the word of God being taught. So in the time and place
this centurion lived, the major way that God was using to spread his light was the synagogue system, and he used his money, his reputation and his influence to build a synagogue. This centurion consciously chose to participate. He enthusiastically involved himself in what was most apparent that God was doing.
3. In stark contrast, according to George Barna, the church statistician, among adults who regularly attend church (that is at least once a month) 37% did not give a dime to a church in the last year. He goes on to say that only 3-5% of the people who do give, tithe their income. The average donation by adults who attend non-Catholic churches is $ 17.00 a week. [George Barna. How to Increase Giving In Your Church. (Ventura, Calif.: Regal Books, 1997) p. 20.]
4. Hopefully you give because you recognize that according to God’s Word, it’s through the local church that He plans to reach a lost world.
III. HE APPROACHED CHRIST IN GREAT HUMILITY
We are impressed not only with this man’s great love, but also his great humility. He demonstrated a good understanding of who Christ is and also grasped his position as a sinner!
A. HE WAS THOUGHTFUL OF JESUS
1. In verse six we find, “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. (7) Therefore I did not even think myself worthy to come to You.”
2. Before Jesus could reach his house, the Centurion sent a second representative to Jesus, telling him that it was not necessary for him to come to his house. Because he was probably familiar with Jewish religious customs, he did not wish to put Jesus in a position of having to enter the house of a Gentile.
B. HE KNEW JESUS WAS MORE THAN A MAN
1. He regarded himself as unworthy of having Jesus come under his roof, and even felt unworthy of meeting Jesus in the street. What an unusual thing for a Centurion – a commander of soldiers – to say to a roving civilian!
2. This could only mean that he believed Jesus to be, at the least, a mighty prophet along the lines of Elisha(to Naaman), or possibly more, the Messiah of the Jews.
3. Whichever, he was more respectful to Jesus than any other person in the New Testament.
IV. HE BELIEVED IN JESUS’ DIVINE AUTHORITY
A. THE CENTURION’S GRASP OF AUTHORITY
1. “… But say the word, and my servant will be healed. (8) 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.”
2. If there was something that this Centurion was an expert in, it would be the recognition and exercise of authority. As a Centurion, he had absolute power or authority over 80 to 100 men. He could ask any of his men to do something and be confident that it would be done. He needed only to give his slave a command and it would be obeyed.
3. The centurion apparently realized that Jesus had authority over sickness, disease, life and death; that Jesus’ words were like soldiers, having power backed by heaven, and would not return without accomplishing their task.
4. Jesus’ words were also God’s words; “…So is My word that goes out from My mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it” (Isa. 55:11).
5. All Jesus must do is say the word, and the centurion believes that it is as good as done. Jesus was amazed at this Centurion’s spiritual insight and faith.
B. AUTHORITY IS ALWAYS GREATER THAN POWER
1. How many of you have ever played with a toy called an “Etch-A-Sketch”? It has a pen like writing tool with a magnet in it. When you “write” with it, the magnet moves around metal filings to make a picture.
2. If you could speak to those metal filings and said, “why are you acting like that” the response would be, “we are under the magnet’s authority.” Jesus had not run into anyone who understood faith to simply be an extension of recognizing Jesus’ authority over all things.
3. On the football field are huge players, 6’7”, weighing 295 lbs, covered with pads(armor) and bulging with muscles. To oppose them would be a tremendous struggle, for these men have power.
4. But there’s another group of men on the field; 155 lbs, short, no helmet, no pads, wearing striped shirts. All they have is a whistle. But when they tell one of the big players, “Get off the field and go into the locker room”, the big players obey, because the little men have authority(referees). Authority is always greater than power! The centurion recognized that Jesus had authority.
CONCLUSION
A. JESUS’ RESPONSE
1. “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!”
2. Jesus marveled that a Roman centurion, a man whose occupation prized being big, bad and tough, a man who was steeped in paganism, a gentile, should grasp so well the essence of faith.
3. Sometimes those are far away from God have a better understanding of spiritual things than those who are closer.
B. THE POSTMAN’S CONFIDENCE
1. A Postman was speaking to a group of high school students about what a sense of security he felt in his job delivering the mail.
2. “Why,” he said, “All the resources of the Federal Government are pledged to support me in delivering
the most insignificant post card.
3. If anyone dares to hinder me, all the police powers of the Federal Government would be thrown into action to secure the safe delivery of that one post card! SO IT IS WITH GOD AND FAITH!
C. WRAP-UP
1. Almost as an afterthought Luke adds in verse ten, and oh by the way when “…those who were sent, returning to the house, found the servant well who had been sick.”
2. JAW-DROPPING FAITH CAUSED THE CENTURION TO:
a. LOVE ACROSS ALL BARRIERS.
b. BE ACTIVE IN THE WORK OF GOD.
c. APPROACH CHRIST IN GREAT HUMILITY
d. BE WILLING TO TRUST IN CHRIST ALONE
D. PRAYER TIME
