You Who Once Were Far Off
Preached by Benjamin Vrbicek
May 7, 2017
Before the Easter season, we spent several weeks in Luke 6 preaching through a sermon that Jesus gave to his followers. In it are several of the classic sayings that we associate with Jesus and his teachings, sayings such as, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God” (v. 20), and “Love your enemies,” (v. 27), and “Judge not, and you will not be judged” (v. 37). These are probably familiar to you, and especially so if you were here for those sermons.After some time away from Luke’s gospel, this week we return to it picking up in chapter 7. We’re going into a block of sermons where Jesus, we might say, speaks less through is words—although he certainly talks—and more through his actions: powerful and compassionate actions to those who are far from God and need his help.
Scripture Reading
If you have a Bible, please turn with me to Luke 7:1–10. If you are using the brown Bible’s on the end of the row, it’s on page 980. After I read, we’ll pray and then study this together.1 After he had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. 2 Now a centurion had a servant who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. 3 When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant. 4 And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy to have you do this for him, 5 for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us our synagogue.” 6 And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. 7 Therefore I did not presume to come to you. But say the word, and let my servant be healed. 8 For I too am a man set under authority, with 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.” 9 When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” 10 And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well.
Introduction
Several years ago, I was in a class at another church that was led by the pastors of that church (I was a member of the church, not a pastor). The class was on God’s grace, the nature of salvation, and how God keeps Christians believing the gospel. And I remember a lady from the back of the room shot her hand up.And she tells this story about a guy—as I recall it, he was her brother. She tells the class that this guy followed Christ as a young man, and then later he bailed on his family, turned away from God, and lived however he wanted to live for a good length of time. And then, near the end of his life, he turned back to God. “However, the family and I,” she says, “never really knew whether his turning back to God was sincere or not.” So her story went.Then she asks: “Pastor, does this guy deserve to have God welcome him into his kingdom?”In silence and great anticipation, every head turned from facing this woman in the back row to Keith, the pastor in the front of the room.He paused, and responded: “Deserve? What do you mean deserve? Of course he does not deserve it,” he said. “But the way you ask the question makes me think that you think that you deserve grace?”I don’t remember all that happened next, but I do remember a long awkward pause.Until this woman vocalized her story and her question, she probably didn’t understand how deep in her heart she really misunderstood how salvation works. This woman was probably a Christian; I’m not saying she wasn’t. But deep, deep down, under layers of soil, under layers of bedrock, there were false understands of grace. There were portions of her heart where the gospel of free, undeserved grace had not yet penetrated . . . at least until that moment.In this story in Luke’s gospel, the religious leaders have a similar experience. They are confronted with why God gives us his grace, and the answer is not because we deserve it, though we often think that’s why he does.I don’t have a specific outline this morning that I’m going to follow, or any special questions to ask of the passage. Instead, I want to just move through the passage slowly a few verses at a time and then offer a few comments at the end of the sermon about grace. As we go back through the story, we’ll do so in four “acts.”
Act I: The Setup
In vv. 1–2, we have the set up to the story. I suppose we can call this “Act I.” Let’s read these verses again.
1 After he had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. 2 Now a centurion had a servant who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him.
There aren’t too many things I want to point out yet, though there’ll be more as we keep going. For now, notice just two things. First, this story mentions Capernaum. That’s going to become important because something previously took place in this city, specifically in the synagogue of Capernaum.Next, notice a centurion is mentioned. A Roman centurion was in charge of one hundred men. A centurion, so I read, was higher in the military than a decurion, who oversaw ten men, and a centurion was lower in military rank than a chiliarch, who oversaw one thousand men. That makes centurion sounds like something of a middle-class rank, but I’m told they were very well paid1. This also is important for later.
Act II: The 1st Delegation
Let’s keep going. Follow along with me as I read vv. 3–6a.
3 When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant. 4 And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy to have you do this for him, 5 for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us our synagogue.” 6 And Jesus went with them. . .
Now the story starts to pick up. Note this section begins with this centurion hearing about Jesus and then sending the elders of the Jews to Jesus to ask for healing. Then we get the detail from the lips of the Jews as they speak to Jesus that this centurion was no ordinary Roman but one friendly toward, even helpful to, the people of Israel. He built their local synagogue. (By way of clarification, this is not the Temple, which is in Jerusalem. Instead, a local synagogue would have some similarities to a local church in size and function.) In fact, I heard a story contemporary story about this recently in new members’ class. Neil’s father donated land to a church plant, and did this before he was a Christian. That decision led eventually to the salvation of his entire family.Let me show you how that detail from the first section about Capernaum becomes more important. Go back with me just a few chapters in Luke’s gospel. Follow along with me as I read Luke 4:31–37.
31 And he went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And he was teaching them on the Sabbath, 32 and they were astonished at his teaching, for his word possessed authority. 33 And in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, 34 “Ha! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” 35 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm. 36 And they were all amazed and said to one another, “What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!” 37 And reports about him went out into every place in the surrounding region.
Do you see why the detail about Capernaum matters? Notice again what v. 3 in our passage says: “When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews . . .” At the end of the story in chapter 4, we read, “And reports about [Jesus] went out into every place in the surrounding region.”So, can we presume that it was the elders of the Jews who told this centurion about the healing of the demon-possessed man in Capernaum? We can’t know for sure, but it does seem plausible. And if this is so, let’s imagine for a moment how this conversation might have gone between the Jews and the centurion.The Jews to their unlikely Roman patron: “Mr. Centurion, you know our synagogue—the one you helped us build—well, you won’t believe what happened there yesterday. It was the Sabbath, as you know, so we were all gathered together to hear a reading from the Law and Prophets and to worship, and there was a man there, a special man. We all knew the man, of course, but we didn’t know what to do with him. No one did. He was possessed in some way by a demon. He was out of control. No one could bind him, no one could control him, no one could make him do anything, even for his own good!” The centurion nods. They continue. “But Jesus healed him. Jesus commanded the demon to come out, and it did. He gave the evil angel an eviction notice, and it just left! What power! Honestly, we’re still trying to make sense of all this.”As their story is told, the centurion’s eyes grow wider and wider. He scoots forward on his seat; he begins to fidget with the handle of his sword. When the Jews finished speaking, the centurion looks over his shoulder to a back room. It was a room where a favorite servant was resting, a servant who had likely been in his house for years and was likely a personal assistant to him. (I say this because when the centurion refers to his servant in the passage, he does so using a more endearing term than mere servant.2) But to be clear, the servant in the back room wasn’t really “resting.” He was waiting to die. Everyone one else was waiting for the same thing. It was hopeless.The centurion looks back at the Jewish leaders. “Do you think . . .” he starts a sentence but doesn’t finish it.“What?” they ask. “ ‘Do you think’—what?”“Forget it,” the centurion says. “He’d never make time for me. A man with that kind of power, well, I . . . I . . . I’m not worthy to have him come here, nor for that matter, for me even to go out to him.”But they Jews protest. “No, no, no. It’s not like that. You’ve done some much for us, for God. You’re worthy. We’ll go speak to him. What do you need?”“It’s my servant,” he says. “He’s beyond sick. He’s so young too.”“We’ll go,” they say. “We’ll go right away.” And so they go, and they plead with Jesus earnestly, saying “He is worthy to have you do this for him, for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us our synagogue” (vv. 4b–5). Worthy? No one is worthy, but the way you make the statement makes me think that you think that some are.
Act III: The 2nd Delegation
Now we pick up in vv. 6b–8. Follow along with me.
6 . . . When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. 7 Therefore I did not presume to come to you. But say the word, and let my servant be healed. 8 For I too am a man set under authority, with 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.”
The Jews had said that the centurion loves their nation. It’s an unlikely statement, to be sure. Let me try to put that into terms more familiar to us. I don’t think this is like an American government official falling in love with Russia during the Cold War. That was war and animosity expressed between two very large countries to see who would be the greatest superpower, so I don’t think that’s the best comparison. This Roman centurion loving Israel would be more like a US military general stationed in Baghdad who becomes endeared to the Iraqi people, perhaps even pleasantly intrigue by Islam and helping to build a Mosque (see what I mean by unlikely?).This might help explain why the centurion sends the second delegation. One scholar notes, “Perhaps the centurion perceived that starting off by telling Jesus not to come might suggest that he was embarrassed to have Jesus come to his home”3You see the tightrope this centurion is walking—he’s navigating all sorts of religious, national, and social pressures. And yet, he has heard about Jesus, he wants Jesus to heal, and he believes Jesus can do it, but he doesn’t want to be a bother to Jesus nor risk putting him out, never mind how he’ll be looked at by his peers.So he sent the Jewish leaders and then waits. He waits watching. We know he was watching because when they were off in the distance, he sees a crowd coming. Perhaps they come over a little hill and begin to walk up Main Street of Capernaum. Let’s pretend the centurion’s house is on a hill at the other end of Main Street in a gated community. The centurion starts rushing around. “Oh no, oh no. He’s actually coming. He’s actually coming. But I know about the clean-uncleaning issues. And I know I’m not worthy to have him come here. I . . . I helped with the synagogue, but that’s nothing. He can’t come here. He speaks, and demons flee.”So he gathers some friends as quickly as possible, and he scribbles a note on a piece of paper. “Here, here. Take this. Go read it to Jesus. But whatever you do, don’t let him come here. Don’t let Jesus think that I think Jesus should come here to serve me. I’m not worthy of that. If he comes—which he should never do—I would serve him. Please, please. Just go. I’m not being rude, but don’t let him come here.”So he sends his friends with the message: “Say the word, and let my servant be healed. For I too am a man set under authority, with 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 is something of a cryptic, enigmatic phrase, but his point is simple. To paraphrase, the centurion says, “Jesus, I’m a centurion. I’m not a decurion or a chiliarch. I boss people around, and I get bossed around. I understand authority. And you, you don’t have to come here to do stuff. You can boss around death and disease. You can say, ‘Go,’ and death goes. You say, ‘Leave,’ and disease leaves.”
Act IV: The Healing
Keep reading with me.
9 When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” 10 And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well.
It’s not often that the Bible records Jesus marveling, in fact, this is the only place where he does so positively. In Mark 6:6, Jesus marvels at the lack of faith of those in his hometown of Nazareth. But here Jesus doesn’t just marvel positively to himself; this isn’t internal dialogue. Notice the phrase, “and turning to the crowd.” What does he say to this crowd? What does he say, as it were, to us? He says, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” Not even among the religious elites who “know” everything there is to know about the greatest God on earth have I found faith worth marveling over. Oh, that smarts a little. No faith: faith believes you are unworthy, believes Jesus can heal, and makes a risky appeal to Jesus to do so. That kind of faith wasn’t happening in large part among the Jewish people.Now, notice how the passage ends. “And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well.” When those who had been sent? Think about this. The centurion’s friends were sent, but so were the Jewish leaders. The crowd goes back over the hill at the end of Main Street and both delegations, friends and Jewish leaders, go to the centurion’s house at the other end of Main Street. When they get there, my guess is that preparations for the feast have already begun. “He’s better! He’s better!” the centurion keeps shouting. His friends are shouting too.Then, the centurion catches the sad look on the face of the Jewish leaders. “What, what?” he asks them. “Why are you not celebrating? It’s just like you said about that demon. It’s like I said—Jesus didn’t even have to come here. He can heal from wherever he’s at!” Perhaps the Jews just smiled at their patron and told them they’d talk later. And then they went home.
Conclusion
And when they went home, what do you think they thought about? I don’t think we have to guess. Jesus turned to them and said, “Not even in Israel have I found such faith.” They had a choice. It is the same choice that each time we come to church we are confronted with. It’s a choice (or better, an invitation), to embrace our unworthiness of God’s grace and stop pretending we are worthy of grace. What a great reason to come to church each week.The Bible says that when Abraham was called by God, it wasn’t because he was special. In fact, his family worshiped the stars (Joshua 24). Abram, the prototype Israelite, was a man who didn’t love God but was saved by God, not because he was worthy, but because he was unworthy. The Jews said, “Jesus, do this for the centurion because, even though he is a Gentile and categorically someone we hate, he’s actually not so bad. He helped us do stuff. And now we feel indebted to him, just like God should feel indebted to him for all the stuff he did for God’s people.”It’s just a few sentences, but do you see the system of worthiness that these leaders are operating out of? If we do right, and if I’m a good person, then God should do stuff for us. And if we do wrong, well, we don’t, so let’s not think about that.When you look at yourself this way—as worthy of grace—you’ll also always have someone that you look at the way they frequently looked at Gentiles. Their statement, “He’s a Roman centurion, but a good one” betrays their racism. If think of yourself as worthy of stuff from God, you’ll always think of others, often whole groups of people, as unworthy. And that’s wrong.To their racism, Jesus says, “Of course I’ll go to his house because I don’t think in these categories. My grace is for all.” And that’s why Jesus is so special. That’s why the gospel is so unique. Romans 5:8, “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” He dies for the unworthy. Friends, remember you are never so far from God that Jesus won’t come into your life and change you. And remember, when he changes you, it wasn’t because you were worthy of change!And let’s talk about that for a minute. This story would have been a great encouragement to the first readers of Luke’s gospel, and it should be a great encouragement to us. You see, Luke addresses his gospel to a man named Theophilus. Luke tells him, “I’ve researched everything about Jesus, Mr. Theophilus, and I’m writing to you so that you can know with certainty the things you heard about Jesus are true” (a short paraphrase of 1:1–4). But Theophilus was never going to meet Jesus, not in person anyway (Jesus was in heaven when Luke wrote to him). Just like this centurion never actually met Jesus. And just like you and I never will never met Jesus in person in this life (all Christians will meet Jesus in the life to come). But this story is telling readers, telling us, to have faith that Jesus can heal from wherever he is and wherever we are . . . as long as we acknowledge our unworthiness, as long as we ask for his help.
1 Darrell L. Bock, Luke, 635.
2 Pias in 7:7 (cf. 2:43 where it’s said of Jesus, or 8:54 where it’s used of another young person). In the Matthew parallel, the word is used several times (8:6, 8, 13) . Also, cf. “servant” of the Lord passages in Isaiah.
3 Bock, Luke, 639.
