LOJ #46: Living to Amaze Jesus
Andover Baptist Church-November 15th, 2009
Opening
A. Text for today is Luke 7:1-10 and our sermon is titled ‘Living
to Amaze Jesus’
B. Introduction
1. The age old military question: Can you be a soldier and
a godly person?
2. Today Jesus shows us that not only can this take place,
but also that a soldier could be an example all of us
should look to when it comes to faith in Him
3. But before we begin looking at this amazing example of
a Roman soldiers faith, I would like all the faithful men
and women who have served or are serving in our
military to please stand
4. Prayer and blessing
Sermon
READ: Luke 7:1 (Scripture slide)
"When Jesus had finished saying all this in the hearing of the people, He entered Capernaum.
A. Capernaum was Jesus' N ministry headquarters
1. Jesus was likely near Capernaum when He preached the
Sermon on the Mount
2. In fact the suggested mountain I sonly a mile west of
Capernaum (SLIDE:Jesus of the Bible, pg 239 pictures)
B. This event we are looking at took place directly after the
Sermon on the Mount
1. Scripture tells us that the people were amazed at Jesus’
teaching
2. What He said was truly amazing, enough so that we
spent over 3 months looking at them
a. Review?
b. Jesus Himself was going to be amazed shortly
C. Jesus had just taught with authority now He is going to show
He has the authority with His miracles
READ: Luke 7:2-5(Scripture slide)
“2 There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. 3 The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. 4 When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, 5 because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.”
A. The Roman Soldier looking for Jesus
1. Recent archeological evidence has shown that there was
an Roman army outpost at Capernaum
2. Centurion: 'Captain of a hundred'
3. From historical sources we can approximate that there
was about 1500 centurions in the Roman army
4. Special forces of the Roman Army
5. Centurions were paid at least 15x that of a regular
soldier (sometimes as much 60x)
a. Average wages then were a denari a day
b. A centurion would make between 3750 and
15000 a year
c. This help make them socially elite, but they did
not start out that way and likely this soldier
worked his way from the bottom up
6. Honestly when I think of a Roman centurion I think of a
human war machine
a. Bent on war and the making of war
b. Cold, calculated human war tank
c. And yet here before us today is a man who's
kindness is more striking than his sword
7. Scripture attests to this for every time a centurion is
mentioned in the Bible it is in a positive light (in fact
Cornelius, a Roman Centurion, is the first Gentile
Christian…see his story in Acts 10)
B. Why does he seek Jesus out? To help his dying Servant
1. We have seen and will see people come to Jesus for
themselves, their children and even their friends but
this man seeks Jesus for his servant
a. Matthew 8:6 tells us ‘my servant lies at home
paralyzed and in terrible suffering’
b. Could have been a number of things, some
suggest polio which was common in the 1st
century
2. Unique servant master relationship
a. Matthew seems to indicate that this servant was
his personal servant
b. Possible his servant was Jewish
c. Such Roman treatment of servants was rare
1. Aristotle: 'For master and slave have
nothing in common; a slave is a living
tool, just as a tool is an inanimate slave.'
2. Gaius: 'the master possesses the power of
life and death over the slave'
3. To the Romans the only difference
between a slave and a cart was that the
slave could talk
4. But as we shall see this man is no normal
Roman
C. How is it that this solider knows of Jesus?
1. Well the text tells us that this man had only heard of
Jesus
2. News had spread about Jesus, so even the Gentiles (non-
Jews) knew of Him
3. Most likely he had heard of the former miracle Jesus
had performed: the healing of the officials son in
Capernaum (John 4) which we will look at again here in
a little bit
D. The Soldier sent some of his Jewish friends to go to Jesus
1. Most soldiers would have done anything not to have to
go to Israel (like the armpit of the Roman Empire)
a. Roman soldiers would likely feel about being
stationed in Israel as our soldiers today feel about
being shipped to Iraq or Afghanistan
b. History even tells us that some soldiers were
shipped to Israel as a form of punishment
c. And due to the contentious nature of the Jews not
many Roman soldiers would likely claim to even
tolerate them let alone love them
d. In fact Romans referred to Jews often as 'a filthy
race'
2. But for reasons we will never know this soldier had
been within Israel long enough to become interested in
their faith and befriend their people
3. This soldier had made friends with the ‘elders of the
Jews’
a. These guys could have been one of two things
1. Either the ones who ran the synagogue
(local Jewish church)
2. Or the town leaders who were the town ruling body (local Sanhedrin)
b. The fact these men considered this Roman
soldier as a friend is just as shocking as him
liking them
1. Jews favorite term for Gentiles was
was dogs
2. And considering that the Romans were
the worst of the bunch to them because
they were an invading occupying force,
the last person you would think they
would befriend is this Centurion
3. Would you befriend a guy form Al-
Qaida?
4. Despite all of this they had nothing but good things to
say about this foreign soldier
a. His character, to them, is worthy of Jesus to grant
his request
b. He had been good to them and they sought to
extend the favor
E. So why was this man so well liked?
1. Well first off he had built the local synagogue there in
Capernaum (SLIDE picture of)
a. Again the synagogue was the local place of
worship away from the Jerusalem temple
b. According to the text he built it out of his own
expense
c. It’s quality of construction is attested to the fact
that archeologically it is in the best shape of any
building in Capernaum (the base is likely the one
this soldier paid for)
d. Kindness will never be short on friends
2. Second his religious views obviously aligned more with
the Jews than the pagan Romans
a. Jews allowed Gentiles (non-Jews) to attend
synagogue worship as long as they acted
appropriately
b. I feel it is safe to assume that he was what the
Jews called a Godfearer
1. There were two types of converts to
Judaism
a. Proselyte: a follower who gets
circumcised and obeys all of the
dietary laws
b. Godfearer: followed most of the
Jewish ways except for the food
restrictions and circumcision
2. Some suggest that had he been a Jewish
proselyte he would have approached
Jesus himself
3. The Jews viewed Godfearers as the group
that stood between faithful Jews and
pagan Gentiles
F. So why did this soldier not approach Jesus himself?
1. I think something must be said that this soldier did not
impose his military authority over Jesus in an attempt to
force Him to come
2. The centurion was being socially conscious of the fact
that conservative Jews would still not have eaten with
him because he was a Gentile, even if he did build a
synagogue in his town
3. We can see this later in the life of Jesus when the Jewish
leaders who seek Pilate to crucify Jesus have him come
out to see them instead of going into Pilate’s home
4. Another likely reason is that some rabbis were not very
open to Gentiles, possibly why this soldier sent someone
to Jesus (one rabbi said 'Gentile worshipers are as hard
for Israel as a sore.')
a. This may be the reason the elders were begging
Jesus to essentially come quickly
b. Pouring it on to solicited Jesus aide: 'pleaded
earnestly'
c. The only reason for them to do this was that they
thought Jesus would have been reluctant to
come
d. They failed to realize that nobody deserves the
grace of God and that He gives it because He
loves us
READ: Luke 7:6-8 (Scripture slide)
“6 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. 7 That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. 8 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.”
A. 'Jesus went'
1, Matthew’s account has Jesus asking (according to the
Greek) 'Shall I go heal him?'
2. Interesting to note that it was Jesus going to the
centurion and not the other way around, if we call out to
Him He will come to us as well
3. Jesus went not because He had to or because someone
deserved Him to, but because of His love
4. That same love can be yours as well if you have not
already received it, all you have to do is to ask Jesus to
come into your life and He won’t hesitate to do so
B. The Humble Centurion
1. It appears as this soldier must have been watching for
Jesus to come
2. This time notice that he sent friends to Jesus
encouraging Him to not trouble Himself by coming to
his home
a. This seems very odd since according to the text
Jesus was not far from the centurions home
b. What was the reason then? It has everything to
do with the Jewish attitude on Gentiles
1. This attitude stemmed from the Jewish
interpretation of texts like Ezra 6:21
"So the Israelites who had returned from the exile ate it, together with all who had separated themselves from the unclean practices of their Gentile neighbors in order to seek the Lord, the God of Israel."
2. The Mishnah (written down oral tradition)
says, 'The homes of Gentiles are
unclean"
3. Therefore the belief was that any Jew that
entered into a Gentile home would be
unclean themselves
4. A rabbi who went into a Gentiles home
would have to go through a cleansing
ritual which included a bath, before they
could worship God again
5. This explains why the soldier didn’t want
to 'trouble' Jesus in this way
c.In a world that doesn’t want to generally trouble
themselves for Jesus, this humble attitude was a
shocking contrast
3. Here was a manhas done great things for the people of
God, but he does not see that as a reason to be prideful
in his approach to God
a. The Jews said of him 'he is worthy of you doing
this for him'
b. Yet here he says, ‘Lord I am not worthy that you
even enter my home’
c. You can be great in this world, but you cannot
compare to Jesus
Lk 18:14“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
C. This Soldier was the most faithful man in all of Israel
1. He had perfect faith that whatever Jesus said would be
done
2. He had such faith because he knew how orders work
a. As a centurion he took orders from a tribune who
commanded 600 men and six centurions
b. He was responsible to his tribune for training the
men and was likely known, as all centurions
were, for his strict discipline (think of master
sergeants in our military system)
c. They fought alongside and in front of their
soldiers and generally suffered many casualties
d. When they spoke their subordinates listened and
obeyed
e. Terry/Courtney what would happen if your
commanding officer told you to do something
and you said no?
3. Just as the words of the centurion causes his troops to
spring into action, so does creation listen to its Creator's
voice
Ps 148:5"Let them praise the name of the Lord, for he commanded and they were created."
a. To the centurion the emperor on the throne in
Rome commanded him…here he places Jesus on
the throne of the universe
b. The soldier knew Jesus had authority to take his
servants sickness away
1. And he had absolute faith in that
authority
2. He had not met Jesus
3. He had never seen Jesus
4. He had not had deep theological
discussions with Jesus
5. He had not seen Jesus do a miracle and
nor does he seek a sign or miracle to
accept Who Jesus is
6. He had simply heard of Jesus and
believed!
4. Why are we not like him?
READ: (Scripture slide)
"9 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.” 10 Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well."
A. 'amazed…turned to crowd'
1. People had just been amazed by Jesus now He is
amazed at this centurion's faith
2. Only three times do we see Jesus amazed
a. Here at the centurions faith
b. At the Canaanites woman's faith (Mt 15:28)
c. And lastly in Mark 6:5 at the lack of the faith the
Jewish people had in Him at Nazareth
3. In what way are you amazing Jesus?
B. Jesus is amazed because no one in all of Israel, including the
Jews, had showed this much faith in Him'
1. The Jews who should have been the first to accept Him
2. The Jews approached Jesus with pride and doubt over
and over in the Gospels, but here a Gentile sent for
Jesus in humility and in faith
3. Here the people of God who had for centuries been the
benefit of His miraculous grace would not accept Him,
and yet a Gentile who stood at a distance from God's
people did
4. This man did not have all the religious training a Jew
would have, he likely had only a basic knowledge of
the Old Testament Scriptures, yet here he has more
faith in the Son of God than the people the Messiah
came from and for
5. And Jesus had already done a miracle in Capernaum for
a Jewish official who couldn’t seem to get it in his head
that Jesus did not need to see his son to heal him (cf.
John 4:46-53)
6. Even Jesus' own disciples at this time did not even have
this type of faith
Mt 8:26"He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm."
C. Jesus healed his servant
1. Notice that Jesus didn't even need to say a word to heal
the servant
2. There is no greater miracle of Jesus than this…His
authority is so absolute He can heal whenever or
wherever He pleases…without touching, without being
there, without even speaking a word…His mere will is
brought into being at His thought of it
3. If today you have faith in Christ He will come to you
and will make you spiritually well
4. Greatness, as this centurion knew, does not come in the
size of your knowledge, birth, wealth, influence, etc.
but in the size of your faith in Jesus Christ
Invitation
Let us sing our last song #,
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