Luke's Gospel, chapter seven,
and we're going to read from verse one through to verse 10. Now this is the Lord Jesus Christ
that is being spoken about, and Luke tells us, now when he had
ended all his sayings in the audience of the people, he entered
into Capernaum. And a certain centurion's servant,
who was dear unto him, was sick and ready to die. And when he
heard of Jesus, he sent unto him the elders of the Jews, beseeching
him that he would come and heal his servant. And when they came
to Jesus, they besought him instantly, saying that he was worthy for
whom he should do this, for he loved our nation, and he hath
built us a synagogue. Then Jesus went with them, and
when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent
friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself, for
I am not worthy that thou shouldst enter under my roof. Wherefore,
neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee, but say in
a word, and my servant shall be healed. For I also am a man
set under authority, having under me soldiers. And I say unto one,
Go, and he goeth, and to another, Come, and he cometh, and to my
servant, Do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard these things,
he marvelled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the
people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so
great faith, no, not in Israel. And they that were sent returning
to the house found the servant whole that had been sick. Amen. May the Lord bless to us
this reading from his word. This account of the faith of
a Roman soldier and the healing by the Lord Jesus Christ of his
servant brings an end to Luke's summarised account of the Lord's
teachings that are sometimes called the Sermon on the Mount.
So that's us moved beyond that now. The Lord has come off the
mountain and he has returned into the city of Capernaum and
that is where this event takes place. So the Lord's back in
Capernaum and it's a place that he often visited. It's a place
where Peter had accommodation and it seems that the Lord stayed
there from time to time. In fact, Capernaum was called
his own city because it was a base for the Lord during his ministry
after he was rejected at Nazareth. And the Lord performed many miracles
here in Capernaum, and he healed many who were sick. However,
despite these evidences of Christ's power and the teaching that accompanied
these miracles, The Lord was not generally welcomed in this
place either. He had been rejected at Nazareth,
remember they tried to throw him off of the cliff in Nazareth,
and he was also rejected here in Capernaum. In fact, the hardness
and the unbelief of the inhabitants of Capernaum, after many examples
of Christ's mercy, brought down on them great criticism from
the Lord. And in Matthew chapter 11, we
read there that the Lord says of this city, thou Capernaum
which are exalted unto heaven, it had been exalted because of
the miracles and the teaching that had been given in that town,
in that city. Thou Capernaum which are exalted
unto heaven shall be brought down to hell. For if the mighty
works which have been done in thee had been done in Sodom,
it would have remained until this day. This account that we have before
us today is one of the mighty works which had been done in
Capernaum, one of the mighty works of the Lord in this city. And in this context, it is perhaps
significant to note that even on this occasion, the faith of
the centurion was rare and exceptional. In fact, the faith of this man,
who was not a citizen of the town, nor even a Jew, but a Gentile
soldier, tasked with administering and protecting this coastal tax
office for the Roman Empire. It was so rare and exceptional,
this man's faith, that the Lord testified to his followers, I
say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. So there's no doubt that this
man was a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and every part of
his dealings with the Saviour is conducted in humble faith
and revealed evidence of divine mercy in this centurion's soul. There was a meekness in his character,
doubtless placed there by God's grace. And he recognised Christ's
divinity with astonishing perception, although he was a Gentile. At
the very time the Lord Jesus was generally despised and rejected
by his own people, by the Jews, This man was bearing witness
and testifying to the divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ. John
chapter 1 verse 11 tells us, he came unto his own and his
own received him not, but as many as received him, to them
gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe
on his name. And here, this centurion was
just such a son of God and he was with the Son of God. I don't know when this centurion
first met or encountered the Lord Jesus. Perhaps in his role
as centurion in Capernaum, he had seen a miracle or he had
heard the Lord preach. As far as I know, it's not recorded
how he first encountered the Lord. But on this occasion, When
his servant was dying, this Roman went to great lengths to approach
the Lord and solicit his help, and he did so in faith. And I think it's worthy to note
that this centurion's character already displayed that transformation
that had already occurred in his life even before this incident
takes place. He clearly was not a brutish
man like a soldier might be. He had nurtured close ties with
the Jewish religious leaders and he clearly tried to keep
peace with them. He'd facilitated, that might
actually mean that he had paid for, a synagogue to be built
and he had earned a reputation of being worthy of their esteem. Furthermore, he was a man who
was sensitive for the well-being of his servant, to such an extent
that he was prepared to seek out the Lord at this sudden opportunity
granted to him by the Lord's presence in the city. This centurion was a saved man,
and we know that salvation is a gift of God's grace. and we know that it is received
and experienced by faith. Faith too is a gift from God. For by grace, says Paul, ye are
saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the
gift of God. It is the work of the Holy Spirit
to implant faith, to convert and to call forth spiritual life
in a sinful creature. and that is what happened here.
This man had a great portion of faith given to him, which
we should note was given to him to be exercised, and it was recognised
by the Lord. Here's how it was exercised.
The centurion had confidence that the Lord would heal his
servant. He saw in Christ one who was
able to do what no one else could. One who had power over life and
death. To give the one and to banish
the other. And faith in Christ still has
that confidence. And it's true in matters of our
own sicknesses and in the sicknesses of those for whom we pray. We
pray asking the Lord to hear our prayers for the sick because
we believe he is both able to heal and able to restore. Now, let us realise this. This
servant did not live forever as a result of this healing.
He died sometime later, no doubt. But in this moment, at this juncture,
the Lord gave such faith to the centurion as to trust him for
deliverance from death and to believe that in seeking it, it
would be obtained. And I think there's a lovely
parallel here. We also pray, asking the Lord
to bestow spiritual life of which physical healing is a type and
a picture. And I want us to just pause and
think about this for a moment. I've mentioned this before, but
I'm going to say it again. I always think how merciful of
the Lord to supply the church with these examples, examples
where the faith of one person has been so conducive to secure
the well-being of another person. Now just think about that in
the Gospels. The frequency with which the
Lord blesses the faith of one person by doing for them good
for another person. The fathers that brought their
children, the mothers that brought their daughters, the parents
who frequently were blessed in their families because of the
Lord's mercy to them for their faith. Is there not a spiritual
encouragement here for us? Of course, we cannot believe
for another person to the saving of their souls, but if we can
seek the Lord for the healing and deliverance of a friend's
sick body, then why not seek the same healing for their soul?
and let us uphold and let us persist in upholding the souls
of those that we love before the Lord. The Lord placed faith
in the heart of this man to be exercised for the benefit of
his servant, friend, and he does not deny what is asked for in
faith. Not only did the centurion have
faith, he also had humility. When the Lord approached his
house, the centurion, for shame at his own sin and unworthiness,
to receive Christ, the Son of God, into his home, requested
the Lord simply speak with authority and the sickness would be removed.
And he explained it beautifully in the context of his own experience
of military life, where the command of authority is at once obeyed
and soldiers and servants do their duty. The centurion, knowing
Christ to be the Son of God, suggested that the Lord simply
speak the command. and his power would be sufficient
to accomplish what was requested. There would be no need for the
Lord to associate with one so unworthy as him, or even enter
the home of one so unfit for his presence. What a great difference
in this attitude compared to those who treated the Lord so
meanly and who so proudly asserted their own power and position
over him, these religious Jews and scribes and Pharisees. And
again, again, it's seen in the context of this centurion's faith. This humility was a function
of faith. Faith leads us to know our own
unfitness. because of sin and our complete
need of grace and mercy. A sinner under conviction is
even fearful that the heart where Christ has pledged to dwell is
too black, too devious, too unsuitable for such a one as Christ to enter. That's what we think, we think
we're unworthy and so we are. But praise God, the Lord Jesus
Christ takes away the heart of stone and he gives a heart of
flesh. He takes the old heart and he
gives a new one. He cleans out the old filth and
garbage and he makes all things new and fit for his presence. Let me make this point too. This
man had a great portion of faith given to him. which he exercised
accordingly, because that's what faith does. Faith believes in
Christ. So when we have faith, we are
called to exercise that faith and trust the Lord Jesus. And
I just want to end on this note, that the Lord Jesus Christ graciously
acknowledged and recognised this man's faith. He healed the servant
according as faith desired and requested. He owned the centurion
as one of his own people who would sit in the kingdom with
the people of God. And he used the centurion's Gentile
ethnicity to confirm the imminent expansive nature of the Kingdom
and the blessing that would flow to unbelieving Gentiles by the
preaching of the Gospel. Brothers and sisters, this centurion
was an early recipient of the great privilege of grace that
the Lord Jesus Christ has gifted to sinners of every tribe and
tongue and nation on this earth, including you and me who believe. This centurion was one of the
early entrance into the family of God from amongst the Gentiles. The faith of the centurion was
great faith but it was faith that had come from Christ and
it was the faith of Christ and it was directed again to Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
author and the giver and the object of faith. He gave it to
the centurion and he drew it from him and he gives it still
and we can pray that he will give it still to those we pray
will come to a knowledge of him. We can pray that he will heal
their soul and cleanse their heart and bring them to a knowledge
of sins forgiven. This is just the final thing
and then I'm done. This miracle is also recorded in Matthew chapter
8. And there the Saviour says of
this Gentile man, he says, References like this to Abraham
and Isaac and Jacob is just shorthand for the covenant of grace and
peace and the covenant promises of mercy that were given to the
patriarchs. The Jews jealously reserved these
promises for themselves and they generally despised the Gentiles. But here the Lord Jesus Christ
confirmed to his disciples that the gathering of the church and
the expansion of the kingdom would be from the east to the
west and many would be saved. So let us right now re-pledge
our faith and confidence in the words of the Lord Jesus Christ,
both for ourselves and others, and tell him in our prayers that
we believe that many shall still come and we await his word of
power in the preaching of the Gospel. Amen.