In the fourth gospel, the Apostle John made this statement: “Many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; And that believing ye might have life through his name.” Matthew and Luke seem to be trying to do the same thing as John. They seem to hit us with combination punches to show us the power and grace of God. They both seem to say – “You can, and must, trust this Saviour.”
In Luke 7 we read that John Baptist sent some friends to question Jesus about his purpose and authority. “Art thou he that should come? Or look we for another?” “And in that same hour he cured many of their infirmities and plagues, and of evil spirits; and unto many that were blind he gave sight. Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.” In that chapter Luke bunches together the healing of the Centurion’s servant, the resurrection of the boy at Nain, and a multitude of other miraculous healings in order to prove that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God. “Blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended (or scandalized) by this.” I hope that you aren’t put out at me for looking once again at this same sort of subject as this morning. Because we need the kind of faith that both the leper and this Centurion possessed. And judging from the statements and collections that we have in the scripture, we would be justified to preach from these theme every week for three months. They are given to us in bunches, so our study of them could be in bunches as well. If I thought that it was practical and possible, I’d preach from things like this every Sunday until that faith was duplicated in us.
The subject of our message this afternoon was a centurion. And that must have meant that he was a Roman. He was a professional, career soldier sent to the province of Judah to protect Roman interests there. I have often wondered if centurions were always Romans, and after checking several sources I couldn’t ever find any statement to the contrary. Centurions commanded anywhere from thirty to a hundred thirty men. But generally, as the name implies, it was around a hundred. There were usually 60 centurions in a legion, but they were not always bivouacked in legions. This man’s duties were to drill and train his men, to make sure that they had the arms and supplies that they needed, and then to command them in the carrying out the duties which his superiors ordained. This particular centurion was probably under the authority of the puppet king, Herod.
There are two centurions who are actually named in the Bible – Cornelius and Julius. Julius was the man who rescued and protected Paul from the lynch mob in Jerusalem. And Cornelius was the proselyte to whom Peter brought the gospel in Acts 10. Surprisingly there is not a purely evil centurion to be found in the Word of God. This particular man, like so many of the heathen of that age, grew unsatisfied with the sham of religion. His commission had brought him into proximity with Judaism and the moral law of God. We can’t positively say whether or not he was a proselyte, but he was certainly leaning in that direction. And we can’t be sure that he gave of his own money to help build the synagogue in Capernaum. But he had somehow won the friendship of the Jews in that area. He might have simply used his influence to bring in government money or something like that. But then again, he may have actually been independently wealthy.
This brings us up to where our real lesson begins. The man shows us something about faith, which we didn’t quite see in our study of the leper. Maybe we could say that he adds to our lesson from this morning. I’d like you to think about a “centurion kind of faith.”
First, he believed that HE WAS UNWORTHY of any kindness from the Lord.
That might seem to be the opposite of faith, but not really. Humility is an essential part of genuine faith. If it was possible for me to instill this one fact into the hearts of every church-going American today, I would gladly sacrifice my right arm to get that done. The depravity, the sinfulness, the wickedness, the unworthiness of the human heart is one of the rudimentary, foundational truths of genuine, Heaven-sent religion. The Lord Jesus “came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” The problem with the Jews, two thousand years ago, and almost everybody else since – is that: “We are ignorant of God’s righteousness, so we go about trying to establish our own righteousness, Instead of submitting ourselves unto the righteousness of God” – Romans 10:3.
Here was a man who had seen the foolishness, sinfulness and insanity of his homegrown religion. Perhaps he had practiced the equivalent of going to church and Sunday school as a child. He had learned to pray some memorized prayers, to cross his chest and genuflect appropriately. He had seen his elders commit terrible things, but then to hear them demand forgiveness – over, and over, and over again. Perhaps he had even learned to ask for forgiveness prior to the commission of his own sins. He knew that his clergy were committing abominable sins without the least bit of shame or impunity. When he learned of the moral standards of Jehovah he was drawn to it, despite the realization that he was a sinner himself.
He also knew that just because he had helped to build a house of worship and became a friend of Israel that this didn’t make him a friend of God. He didn’t believe that he was worthy of a direct approach to Christ. So he sent some of the elders of the Jews to contact the Saviour on his behalf. And then after they were sent, he had second thoughts about the Lord actually visiting his house. The Jews said that he was worthy, and he said that he wasn’t worthy. Oh, how I wish that was the testimony that we all had. We should be living our lives so kindly, generously and honestly that the world is forced to say that we are good, very good people. But at the same time we should be comparing our lives and hearts to the Lord Himself and coming to the conclusion that we are unfit for the least of His blessings. The centurion kind of faith believes that even the believer is unworthy of the Lord.
This man also believed that the Lord JESUS IS GREATER than DEATH and DISEASE.
The man’s servant was sick and ready to die, but definitely not “ready” to die. Matthew says that he was sick of the palsy, or some sort of paralysis. In other words, his malady was either making his body rigid, or it simply means he was unmoving. He may have been comatose. Before things reached this state, the centurion had probably sent this servant to the local doctors. Perhaps he had commanded doctors come to house to try to help – but it was useless. This sickness was unto death – “for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.”
When everything else failed, this Roman soldier sent to Jesus, asking Him to heal his servant. Obviously, there was a grain, or more than a grain, of faith in this stranger. He believed that Christ Jesus could do what the physicians with all their skill and medicine could not do. He believed, or at the very least hoped, that Jesus was the great and Heavenly physician. And the fact is the Lord Jesus can solve any riddle and correct any problem. There are no diseases which Christ cannot cure; there are no bones which He cannot mend. It was the God-proscribed commission of Christ that: “The Spirit of the Lord GOD be upon Him; Because the LORD anointed him to preach good tidings unto the meek; he had sent him to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, And to open of the prison to them that are bound.” – Isaiah 61:1. And the Lord Jesus had said, that this scripture was fulfilled in him. This centurion believed that Jesus could heal his servant. We need to believe that as well.
There is something ironic in this event. The centurion asked some of the elders of the Jews to approach the Saviour for help. He believed in Jesus’ divine ability, but it is highly doubtful that those Jews agreed. It was probably with great reluctance that they came calling on Christ that day. But they were forced by the man’s generosity and relationship to Israel to make that humbling journey.
The centurion also believed that the LORD JESUS CARES about the human condition.
The relationship that the centurion had with his servant is an interesting one. The servant was a servant, a “doulos,” – he was basically a slave – a piece of property. But that didn’t keep this centurion from loving this person.
I was in the world of business long enough to see how some people treat their faithful employees. For example, I have seen people injured on the job, and then cast aside because of their injuries. I have seen people fired for tiny offenses apparently so that they could be replaced by cheaper labor. This centurion had opportunity to treat his servant in a manner like that, but his heart wouldn’t permit it. Perhaps this servant was but a child when he began employment in this house. Perhaps he was still a child. He was dear to the heart of the centurion. And whether or not he actually thought about it, he believed that the Lord loves too.
Here is an area where the faith of the centurion was greater than the faith of the leper. We remember that the leper was convinced of Jesus’ ability but not of his desire to bless. The centurion was reasonably sure of both. If the Lord only acted in kindness towards us because we deserve that kindness, we’d be dead before the clock strikes three today. “The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy.”
And here is another area of this man’s faith which drew the praise of the Saviour. “I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.”
The centurion believed in AUTHORITY.
He said, “I 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.” The matter of authority is an extremely critical subject in the Word of God. This takes us back to last Sunday evening’s message. This is a subject horribly neglected by man in general and by modern Christendom in particular. In Paul’s important chapter on human government and the Christian’s responsibility to that government he says in Romans 13:1-2 – “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.” As in Matthew 7:29 the word translated “power” is “exousia” and refers to power in the sense of “authority” in contrast to power in the sense of “ability.” And notice again that Paul says, “There is no power, but of God.” That is ultimately one of the biggest problems in this world. Human beings do not like the fact that God is the ultimate authority. If some tiny minion possesses just a little authority, it has been given to him by the Lord. But generally, most of us want to believe that we have all power at least in some special areas. And we either created it or earned it by our own strength. This explains the great love that science has for godless evolution. It eliminates the problem of genuine authority. And this explains why governments think that they can enact laws which are contrary to the Bible. This is a terrible mistake, because as much as people may try, the Lord is still King over his creation.
The centurion stated his belief in authority. “I have men who are my superiors and I must obey their commands. And I have about a hundred soldiers under me, and I expect them to obey my commands. And I have a sick servant who has been faithfully obeying my orders for some time. And I believe that Jesus Christ is God with authority over things as difficult to understand as disease.”
It is one thing to believe that Christ has authority over a demon which was afflicting someone. But its something much greater to believe that Christ has authority over an inanimate (?) disease. Remember that in those days there was no understanding of bacteria, viruses and itty-bitty pathogens. This man only saw the working of a fatal disease. But he believed that Christ Jesus had power to demand the obedience of even that disease. “I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.” Centurion-type faith is both humble and beyond the limits of human wisdom and science.
Of course, this illustration doesn’t deal with the subject of sin.
There is no direct proof that this Roman centurion is now in Heaven, although there is evidence that points us toward that conclusion. This event doesn’t directly deal with the subject of salvation from sin. But what we see here can be, and should be, applied in that direction as well.
What do you suppose this centurion might have expected if he had chosen to rebel against the orders of his superiors? He might expect a summary execution for treason or mutiny. That is precisely the case in which everyone else in this world find themselves. The God of the Bible has issued a great many orders, many of which we have chosen to ignore or disobey a thousand times. We are under the death penalty as a result. “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” And “the wages of sin is death.” Furthermore, the observant and thinking man should realize that in his rebellious condition he has no grounds upon which to approach the Lord.
But as the Lord Jesus said himself, “They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” And based upon the authority given to Him in the eternal covenant. And by the sacrifice of Himself which Jesus made on the cross, He possesses authority to forgive sins. And every time that he healed a paralytic man, or leper, he proved His authority over sin as well.
Far more importantly than these healings is the Lord Jesus’ grace towards us unworthy sinners. He said, “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” from the penalty of their sins.
This man and his servant should encourage us all to come to the Saviour to be cured of our far worse condition. We are all sinners and in great need of salvation. And Jesus – just as quickly, just as willingly, just as completely – cleanses from sin today, as He did from palsy two thousand years ago. Among the lessons on faith in general, there is the lesson here to repent and acknowledge your sinful condition, and trust in Jesus’ authority, grace and will.