2023 02 05

and and may we be a people God that look to you for you are where our help comes from in Jesus name. Amen. Good morning church. At this time we're going to go ahead and dismiss our three and five year olds and six and seven year olds uh head off to their class. And for the rest of us go ahead and grab your Bible. Uh we're going to be in Luke chapter 7 today.

It's our 31st sermon in uh the book of Luke and um we're walking through it and to see all that uh Luke is um speaking to us and what he's um telling us that Jesus wants us to know uh when it comes to his life and his death and his resurrection. And so, um we're excited to continue walking through this. And this is another one of those transition sermons uh where he's just concluded his sermon on the mount and is now coming back into uh to now kind of his new home which is Capernaum. It's his kind of headquarters for his ministry. And so he's heading back into there. And so we're going to read uh Luke 7 1-10 and then dive in to see what what he would have for us this morning.

Starting in verse one. After he had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. Now a centurion had a servant who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. And when the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant. And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, "He is worthy to have you do this for him, for he loves our nation, and he is one who built our uh built us our synagogue." And Jesus went with them."

And 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. Therefore, I did not presume to come to you, but 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 I say to another, "Come," and he comes. And to my servant, "Do this," and he does it.

And 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." And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant. Well, let's pray real quick. Father, we thank you for this passage. We thank you for this truth, this story that you are allowing us to be able to glean and to see into an event that that you that you did that you encountered, that you experienced when you were walking on this earth.

And we pray Lord that what you did there with this centurion and when this and with this servant, I pray now that we would be able to see exactly what it is that you were accomplishing in this story so that it would also be accomplished among us today. Father, we ask for the spirit to guide us in this truth, to help us understand this, and to help us be transformed from one degree of glory to the next, to become more like your son, Jesus, this morning as we leave than when we first walked in. For it's in your name that we pray. Amen. All right. This is this is truly a fascinating story um from Luke.

And and again, here's kind of the contextual breakdown of what we just read. What we see here is again Jesus is concluding uh the sermon on the mount and moving back into his temporary headquarters of Capernaum. What we also see here is he's introducing uh or we're being introduced to a centurion uh which is just another name for a Roman soldier. They're called centurions because they have at least a hundred uh men that fall under their rank that are under their authority. In addition to that, uh we see that the centurion hears about Jesus and he sends Jewish elders to request for Jesus to come and heal one of his servants, one that he values. Um the eight or the elders that come, they regard the centurion as very worthy and worthy for Jesus to be able to come and do this work for him.

He's considered worthy because again, he loves the Jewish nation and he's also built their synagogue for them. Even then, verse five, uh, verse six, Jesus goes with them, but the centurion responds by saying, "I'm not worthy for you to actually come into my house." Uh, so just stop where you are and do this work for me from afar. That's why the centurion did not come to Jesus, but requested to Jesus to heal by simply just a word. The centurion understands how authority works as well. Recognizes is Jesus's authority over sickness.

And Jesus recognizing this centurion's understanding marvels at what he's experiencing and his understanding and of faith. And then Jesus turns to his followers in the moment and lets them know that he's not seen any faith throughout all of Israel like what he's just experienced in that moment. And then Jesus heals the servant from afar. When you first look at this passage, it almost reads like another one of the examples of Jesus's miraculous ability to heal people. I mean, if you're just looking at it for face value, this is chalk it up as just another story, another one of those ways in which Jesus can heal people. And it's a marvel.

It's it's it's something that is incredible. I mean, Jesus's ability to heal sickness is truly amazing. And it's truly something to marvel at. But honestly, that's not the point of this passage. It's not the the point of this passage is not to just see that look, you don't even have to touch Jesus to be healed. You don't even have to be near Jesus to be healed.

Like he he doesn't even have to be in your vicinity and he can heal you. That that's actually not the point of this passage here. The point of this passage is we must practice faith in such a way that causes Jesus to marvel. We must practice faith in such a way that causes Jesus to marvel. Because what we see here is a humble centurion recognizing the authority of Jesus and requesting for Jesus to use his authority over sickness to heal his valued servant. That that's faith.

That's faith. The main point is faith. The centurion has a sick servant that he can't help. He hears about Jesus and he believes that Jesus can help. What he's essentially saying is, "I can't, but Jesus can." This is faith.

I know I can can't, but I believe you can. I'm unworthy of this, but you are worthy to do this. And it is the faith of the centurion that causes Jesus to marvel. Now, I want us to just think about that for a moment. Jesus is marveling at faith. And yet, from what we know in scripture in Hebrews 12:2, Jesus is the founder and the perfector of faith.

Like, why is he shocked by it? Why why is he surprised by it? Why is it amazing him? Why is he marveling at this? It would be like Jeff Bezos going to Amazon. com and marveling at what he saw.

Wow, look at all these things you can do and buy at any moment. And it can be delivered in two days. Like like it's it's it's it's interesting to see why Jesus is marveling at this. He's the founder of it. He's the perfector of it. Whether you hold to a reformed Calvinistic position and believe that faith was given to you at the point of your regeneration or the hearing of the gospel or being born again to now believe in Jesus.

Whether you hold that position or even if you hold a more of a free will Armenian position where you believe that you're born with faith but it's sort of laying dormant within you and then when you hear the gospel it awakens and then you choose and believe in Jesus. Honestly, regardless of which side you land on when it comes to faith, Jesus is the author of it, the perfector of it, and is the one who has given it to you. That's just biblical. We can we can we can disagree on at what point we get it and receive it, but it's still Jesus's doing. And yet in this moment, he's marveling at it. He's marveling at it.

Faith has been given to us as a gift by Jesus who founded it, perfects it, gifts it, and at times marvels at it. So why why in this instant is Jesus marveling? Let's look closer. Again, Jesus has come off the mountain side to to return to Capernaum, his new home. He's just concluded what would become the most famous sermon in the history of the world. And when Jesus entered the town, he was met by a group of Jewish elders.

And they had an urgent request. Would Jesus come quickly to the home of a Roman centurion soldier whose servant was so ill he was near death. And the centurion had sent these elders to Jesus to make this request. Now this is strange. This is strange. Jewish leaders were not in the habit of being particularly fond of Roman soldiers.

Maybe may maybe even seeing the oddness of this request, the Jewish elders quickly added, "But he he's worthy to have you do this for him for for he he loves our nation and he is the one who built us our synagogue." They're they're trying to help Jesus understand that this centurion is not like the rest of them. He's different. Now, this was also strange for Roman soldiers were not known for being fond of Jews either. Roman soldiers don't go around building synagogues for Jews. So, in this moment, Jesus, trusting the spirit and discerning his father's will, set off with them to the centurion's home.

And after all, Jesus had just been preaching. Think about what we've been looking at over the last month. Not judging, loving your enemies. Jesus seeing this relationship between the centurion and these Jewish elders, these leaders. This is a relationship that he's encouraging. Let me come to this.

Let me see this. And as they neared the house, another group met them, some friends of the centurion. They approached Jesus with a message from the centurion. Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. Therefore, I did not presume to come to you. Now, I love this.

You want to know what humility looks like? It looks like someone who is praised by others but inwardly does not believe they deserve it. This centurion was just spoken of by the Jews that he is worthy for Jesus to come to him and help him. They speak well of him. And yet when Jesus gets closer, the centurion does not see himself that same way. Jesus, don't trouble yourself with me.

I'm not I'm not worthy for you to be in my house. I mean, he sounds like John the Baptist. I'm unworthy. I'm not even worthy enough to untie his sandals, but I'm desperate for you to heal my valued servant. I believe some of the greatest people to be around are those who are awesome, but don't know it. Right?

I mean, there's just something contagious about that. There's a humility there where they're like Christ, but don't see themselves that way. He goes on to say to Jesus, "But say the word and let my servant be healed." And here's where he gets into the faith. For I too am a man said 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. This Roman soldier somehow understands trinitarian theology as well. He knows that Jesus is under the authority of the father and yet possesses his own authority to command whatever he wills and it will be so. He sees this.

He understands this and he's calling on that authority and ability of Jesus. He's He's calling on Jesus to do what Jesus can do, to be what Jesus is. For those walking through the equip class or about to, this is one of the areas that you'll spend a lot of time learning the relationship between Jesus and the father. And this centurion knows of this relationship and also what Jesus is able to do. That's amazing. that that in and of itself is also another strange component to this text because Roman soldiers which are Gentiles don't go around learning and studying the scriptures.

This is the moment. This is what causes Jesus to marvel. This is what caused Jesus, the son of God and the son of man, to stand in wonder. I can picture Jesus kind of flipping through all the scriptures in his memory and knowledge, you know, the ones that he wrote. These words come from a Roman soldier. Jesus might have thought of Isaiah 53:1, "Who has believed what he has heard from us?"

And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? in his wonder and marvel. Maybe Jesus smiled and thought Isaiah 52:15 was being fulfilled in his presence. For that which has not been told them, they see. That which they have not heard, they understand. This ambassador of the Roman Empire, Israel's enemy, understood what even these Jewish elders and leaders did not grasp.

Maybe Jesus looked at the Jewish elders thinking Psalm 118:22-23, the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the Lord's doing. It is marvelous in our eyes. what what he's seeing as he's experiencing the Jewish elders and leaders and Pharisees and so forth as he's walking through his ministry is he's getting nothing but debate and push back and disbelief honestly just rejection he's seeing Psalm 118 fulfilled I am the chief cornerstone and I have come and those who have been sent before me to build are rejecting the very thing that they need in order to actually construct the people of God. They're rejecting it. But yet, there is one here who has not seen and has not heard, but yet sees and understands.

And it's causing him to marvel. It's a marvelous thing in our eyes. That marvelous truth from Psalm 118 is happening in Luke 7. And so then Jesus turns to his to his disciples and the crowd who followed him and he says to them, "I tell you," not even in Israel have I found such faith. See, Jesus marveled at this man's faith. Luke chose the Greek word thalato, which we translate marveled or amazed, to describe Jesus' response to the centurion's faith.

The only other time this word is used to describe Jesus' response to someone else's faith is in Mark 6:6 when he marvels at the lack of faith of the people of Nazareth. Those who should know him best but yet don't believe in him as what they have heard. It is gospel irony that the only one in scripture whose faith caused Jesus to marvel as a Roman soldier. The only reason this man is in Palestine is to help keep the Jews under the doineering rule of pagan Tiberius. It amazed Jesus that a gentile soldier of all people, a stranger to the covenant, a man with limited understanding of the scriptures at best saw what few of the covenant people saw when they looked at Jesus. The son of God.

The son of God. You see, Jewish crowds would flock around Jesus. Jewish leaders and elders lobbyed and debated him. But like Peter in the boat, full of fish back in Luke 5, the centurion recognized divine holiness in Jesus and sinfulness in himself and knew he was not worthy of Jesus's presence. He also recognized Jesus' authority. While Jewish elders asked Jesus questions like, "By what authority are you doing these things?"

And who gave you this authority? In Matthew 21, this foreigner knew exactly who Jesus was. He knew Jesus had authority from the father to command the natural world. He knew proximity was no factor. Jesus could speak disease out of existence from any distance. That's his understanding and that's what he's requesting.

And Jesus marveled that in this centurion he saw a first fruit and foreshadow of what he had come to bring about. The parallel passage of this in Matthew in Matthew 8:11 goes on to say this that many would come from the east and the west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. What he's saying here is that what he's experiencing of this centurion is again the fulfillment that what God was sent or what Jesus was sent to do was not just for Israel. But through the faith of this centurion, he is seeing the fruit, the first fruit of the gospel spreading as far as the east is from the west, those beyond to come and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This man whose faith made Jesus marvel was not a disciple. He did no miracles.

He planted no churches. He had no degree, no religious title. His spiritual resume is just simply unimpressive. The man with the greatest faith in Israel was a Roman soldier who simply knew who Jesus was and he knew what he was able to do. humbly asked him and trusted him that he would receive what he needed. He He believed in Jesus.

He believed in Jesus. I believe it is also worth mentioning that Jesus is marveling at this was not Jesus being caught off guard. I believe it is Jesus in real time experiencing the joy and pleasure of how God has intended relationships between God and man to function to function. It's almost as though Jesus is taking a deep sigh of relief that he is experiencing yes this this is what I am here for. He he trusts my power and my presence. He He believes I am who I say I am and can do for him what I have promised since the Garden of Eden.

This is worship. This is good. Jesus is experiencing this. You see, Jesus is able to enter into the emotional response necessary for the moment he is living in. What I mean by that is Jesus when he walks into a situation knows what's going to happen but is also able to enter into the emotional response of that situation in its fullness. For example, story of Lazarus.

Lazarus is dead. Jesus is walking into the situation, a funeral. Jesus knows, I'm about to raise Lazarus from the grave. this is going to turn from a funeral to a celebration to a party. But yet in that moment, he doesn't jump to y'all stop mourning, stop crying, stop weeping, stop grieving, start laughing, let's have fun. He doesn't jump to that.

He enters into their mourning and their weeping and their grieving because he's enters into the moment to experience it in its fullness. I believe he's doing the exact same thing in this moment. Jesus who is the author and perfector of faith who has founded it. It's his idea. He created it and he gifts it to us. And as he's gifted it to us in the centurion, the centurion is practicing that faith.

He is seeing Jesus and he is responding to Jesus by saying, "I believe you are who you say you are and I believe you are able to do this and so let me request this of you. I'm not worthy enough for you to do this for me, but I'm believing that you will do this because you are worthy." He's practicing faith. And in that moment, Jesus is experiencing worship. worship and it is pleasurable for him. It's exciting for him.

He's amazed by it and he is marveling at it. I mean, this is this is what the whole Bible is all about. We were created to worship God, to praise him, to love him and adore him. And in that, we also receive the most joy and pleasure ourselves. And in this moment, we're seeing that work itself out literally, tangibly in this relationship between Jesus and this centurion. Jesus is experiencing something that he created.

I mean, it reminds me of Clark Griswald when he's putting Christmas lights on his house. Like, he he's envisioning the whole thing. I've got the lights. I'm going to put design it this way. I'm going to put this Santa over here. I'm going to I'm going to string literally every inch of the entire house.

He he can see what it's going to look like, but you don't get to see that look on his face until the lights come on. In this moment, faith being practiced, Jesus is seeing the lights come on and he's marveling at what he's created. He's enjoying every moment of it. every moment of it. What brings God pleasure? What makes Jesus marvel is when we believe and trust God to do good for us and through us to those around us.

When we have faith to love God and to love our neighbor, it is actually God loving us and loving our neighbor through us. Th this that dynamic of relationship is what Jesus is smiling about. We are getting to experience his love and his grace to us while we were also through us experiencing his love and his grace to those around us. The whole thing's been designed that way. It was never meant for God just to love you, me, myself, and my like it's not meant to be just a private relationship. What he's seeing with this relationship with the centurion is that the faith of the centurion is not come and take care of me only.

But the first request of the faith of the centurion is not take care of me, but rather take care of something that I value, someone that I value, someone that I care about deeply. That's what the gospel does is it turns us outward. It it fosters humility. It creates it. It spreads it. So what should we do with this?

What should we do with faith that makes Jesus marvel? We should pray for and practice a faith like this centurion. We should simply pray for and practice a faith like this centurion has. I don't know if you real like we can grow in faith. Every single one of us, we can grow in faith. What that means is doing exactly what this centurion has done in this moment.

Approach Jesus with humility. Recognize Christ's authority and pray according to the son of God's ability. That's faith. That's what we're doing. We're going to practice those three things right now as we enter into receiving communion from the Lord. The band quoted this passage and then the um Grant also read it again for us in the confession.

But Hebrews 12 1 and2 really provides for us exactly what we're seeing worked out in the life of this centurion. It says, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every every weight and sin which clings so closely. Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfector of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Here's what I want us to do. We're going to do three things.

We're going to pray through each of these three steps right now. Just to draw our hearts, our minds, our beings around this idea of what practicing faith looks like. Because I don't want us just to kind of like work it out in our minds and say, "Okay, that I can now understand it a little bit." I want us to work it out. I want us to practice this just as he did. He He could have understood as he heard about Jesus, but if he didn't practice it by sending people and requesting things, then it wouldn't have had it wouldn't have have ever hit the culmination of it.

It wouldn't have completed. And so, this is what we're going to do. We're going to start off by approaching Jesus with humility. So I want us to take a moment right now as we have these scriptures kind of working out in our minds and our hearts. The way we can approach Jesus with humility is by recognizing that I have sin that clings close and it weighs me down. I have sin that clings close and it weighs me down.

Jesus, help me to lay it aside as I look to you. I am unworthy, but you are worthy. Have mercy on me. Take some time and pray this right now. Now recognize Christ's authority. Jesus, you are the founder and perfector of our faith.

And you are seated at the right hand of the throne of God. See Christ as the centurion did. He's worthy because he's the son of God. possesses all authority in heaven and on earth. Recognize that now and tell him I pray according to the son of God's ability. See Jesus for the joy, the marvel that was set before him.

He endured the cross. He died so that I might have faith in life and therefore be able to run with endurance the race that he set before me, my own life. Jesus ran his race and can now give you the faith you need to run yours. Trust him and believe him for this. Pray that his ability to run his race would now grant you the ability to run yours. Pray that Father, we thank you for your son.

Your son that you sent was holy, possesses full authority in heaven and on earth, who's able to heal from afar and who's also able to hold us close. Father, we worship him this morning. May we trust him, believe him, and respond in faith that he will grant us everything we need to run the race that you have called us to. The life that honors you, that pleases you, that continues to spread your good news. all of those around us. Father, that is a difficult life to live and that's why we need your son's ability.

But it's a joyful life to live. Just as Jesus marvels when we trust him, we also marvel when we experience in relationship. Help us on a daily basis to be reminded of this faith that we have received and been granted. And may we grow in it, trusting in your spirit every single day to become more and more like Jesus. It's in his beautiful name that we pray.