The faith of a Centurion

Faith of a Centurion - Luke 7

What is faith? Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1 ESV)

When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum. There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” 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. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. 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.” 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.” Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well. (Luke 7:1-10 NIV)

Who is the centurion? A roman soldier in charge of a bunch (technically 100) of men. As a rule the Jews and Romans didn't get along at all, invading nation ruling a conquered people with an iron fist. But this leader was respected and loved even by his "enemies".

Why should the people (and us) love the centurion?

1. He respected the Jews enough to want to help them worship God. He built them a synagogue; a house where they could meet to worship and read the books of the law and prophets. At this point the temple in Jerusalem had been rebuilt, but the Jews in the different towns would meet regularly at the synagogue and go to the temple at the time of the festivals to offer sacrifices.

2. The centurion acted like a girl!

Kinda like Ruth and Rahab

Ruth (1:6-18) - In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They lived there about ten years, and both Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband. Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that the Lord had visited his people and given them food. So she set out from the place where she was with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, "Go, return each of you to her mother's house. May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. The Lord grant that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband!" Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. And they said to her, "No, we will return with you to your people." But Naomi said, "Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? Turn back, my daughters; go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons, would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me." Then they lifted up their voices and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. And she said, "See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law." But Ruth said, "Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you." And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more. (Ruth 1:1-18 ESV)

How are Ruth and the Centurion alike?

Rahab - And Joshua the son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, "Go, view the land, especially Jericho." And they went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab and lodged there. And it was told to the king of Jericho, "Behold, men of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land." Then the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, "Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come to search out all the land." But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. And she said, "True, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. And when the gate was about to be closed at dark, the men went out. I do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them." But she had brought them up to the roof and hid them with the stalks of flax that she had laid in order on the roof. So the men pursued after them on the way to the Jordan as far as the fords. And the gate was shut as soon as the pursuers had gone out. Before the men lay down, she came up to them on the roof and said to the men, "I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction. And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath. Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that, as I have dealt kindly with you, you also will deal kindly with my father's house, and give me a sure sign that you will save alive my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death." And the men said to her, "Our life for yours even to death! If you do not tell this business of ours, then when the Lord gives us the land we will deal kindly and faithfully with you." (Joshua 2:1-14 ESV)

What similarities do we see between Rahab and the Centurion?

The centurion was not a Jew, but was a god-fearing Gentile, who was born an outsider like Rahab and Ruth, but who becomes an insider, and moreover, a hero! Soon he will witness a miracle of God and God himself will be amazed by his faith.

3. He loved his servant enough to seek any possible means of treatment for him. We can assume he is a wealthy man, if he has the money to build a synagogue, he has the money to hire as many servants as he wants. But this servant is dear to his master, and the centurion clearly doesn't consider him replaceable.

4. He is humble - I don't deserve to have you come under my roof.

Do you remember what John the Baptist said about Jesus? And he preached, saying, "After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. (Mark 1:7 ESV). I am nothing, not worthy to touch the dirtiest part of your body!

What did Peter say the first time he met Jesus? But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord." (Luke 5:8 ESV)

Peter saw the massive haul of fish, realized he was standing before God, and prayed declares that he was not worthy.

I don't deserve. . .I am not worthy. . .I am a sinful man. . .the centurion responded just like Peter and John. But it was not a declaration of self-pity. He's not saying, "I stink, so Jesus will never help me". He's saying, "I don't want to cause you any trouble because I'm not that important, but just speak so my servant may live".

I don't deserve you, but I desperately need you, and I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you have the authority to heal and save! That is a colossal statement of faith - for us as well as the centurion.

5. He asks creatively. Maybe his message to Jesus is obvious if you're a centurion, but most of us, including Jesus have never been commander of a Roman army. But he drew an amazing correlation between his life, his faith, and Jesus's power.

If you were going to ask Jesus to answer a prayer request in the most creative, compelling way possible, what would you do?

What did some other people in the Bible do? Cut a hole in the roof. . .

Is there anything that God cannot do? If you we're going to be like the centurion and send out a request to him, what would you ask for?