Luke | Chapter 7

Luke 7:1-10

“The compass of compassion” 

 

 

  • Introduction
  • 1 Location
  • 2-5 Three people in the story
  • 6-10 Three opinions of the same person

 

Introduction

 

As we start the 7th chapter, Luke takes his readers on a journey of what compassion looks like. Some have rightly defined biblical compassion as your pain in my heart and Jesus must have felt the suffering of people in His heart multiple times a day. I’m reminded of the writer of Hebrews words about Jesus’ present ministry in  Hebrews 7:25 where we are told that He always lives to make intercession for us. It is in that passage that we see that Jesus compassion didn’t end during His earthly ministry, nor was it crowned only at His sacrifice on the cross; NO it continues on towards those of faith as the security of our salvation rest upon Jesus’ perpetual intercession for us. What this reveals to us believers is twofold:

  • We can’t keep ourselves saved any more than we can save ourselves!
  • Jesus has the power to not only save us, but He alone also has the power to keep us saved!

Think of this a moment: Jesus is constantly, eternally, and perpetually praying for you before the God the Father! Whenever we sin Jesus says to the Father, “Put that on my account, as I have already paid for that sin!” This is why:

  • According to Colossians 1:22 Jesus is able “to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight.”
  • It is also how He is able to according to Jude 1:24 to “keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.” In Jesus we are now blameless in the Father’s sight and when we are glorified, we will be blameless in His presence!

In this chapter Jesus is confronted with the suffering of four people, and we see His response to all four things, two of which were positive and two were negative and yet His response towards all four was the same in each situation:

  • Verses 1-10 The dying of a young servant: Jesus’ compassionate response to faith
  • Verses 11-17 a grieving widow’s death of her only son: Jesus’ compassionate response to despair
  • Verses 18-35 a perplexed prophet and his disciples in John the Baptist: Jesus’ compassionate response to doubt
  • Verse 36-50 a repentant sinner that the religious didn’t want saved: Jesus’ compassionate response to love

In each of these four cases not one of them was deserving of Jesus’ compassion and you would be hard pressed to decided which one you would choose if you could only pick one. When we see Jesus administer His heart of compassion what we note is that He doesn’t use a tape measure to see who is closest to being worthy instead He uses a compass to guide Him to whomever is in need! Jesus’ compassion NEVER measures it only ministers! So often we Christians want to include justice in our compassion, and we know this as we want to consider the merits of the case prior to distributing compassion, but true compassion only consider need!

 

Vs. 1 Location

Vs. 1 Luke gives us a fuller account of this story but you can also find it in Matthew 8:5-13 but it is Luke that illuminates this story. This of course followed the two sermons and the election of the twelve disciples. Luke gives his readers the proximity in time between the sermon in the valley and the event of the healing of the Roman centurion young servant. There are some manuscripts of Luke that mention that this happened the same day or only a few hours later which makes sense as the next incident in verse 11-17 the raising of the widow of Nain happened the day after the healing of the centurion’s servant and we are told that this took place in the area of Nain which is 25 miles from Capernaum.

Capernaum is mentioned 16 times and only in the gospels.

  • In Mark 2:1 it is called Jesus’ home.
  • In Matthew 9:1 it is called Jesus’ own city.

The city stood on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee and was one of the most prosperous and crowded districts of Palestine. The importance of the city is further demonstrated by the location of a military installation there under the command of a centurion.

This city lay on the great highway from Damascus to Tyre. It has been identified with the Tell Hum, which is about two miles south-west of where the Jordan flows into the lake. They have dug up extensive ruins of walls and foundations and also the remains of what must have been a beautiful synagogue, which it is conjectured may have been the one built by the centurion, the same one that Jesus frequently taught at.

 

Vs. 2-5 Three people in the story

Vs. 2-3 The only real difference between Luke’s account and Matthew’s account is in the solicitation of Jesus from the centurion. Luke in 7:3 tells us that he sent elders of the Jews to Jesus and later in verse 6 he sent his friends to tell Jesus that he was not worthy of Jesus’ presence at his home. In Matthew’s account in 8:5 we are told that a certain centurion came to him pleading. There are critics of the bible that will call this a contradiction, but the reality is that Matthew is pointing out the practical reality while Luke is pointing actual reality. The elders and friends of the centurion were acting on the behalf of the centurion and as such they were in proxy the centurion.

We are given three main people in this story: a certain centurion, a paralyzed servant, and Jesus.

  • A certain centurion: To obtain the position of centurion, one would have to prove themselves in battle. This man was placed in charge of a 100 men because he was a valiant warrior. Luke tells us that he was wealthy and that he loved the nation of the Jews, for he had built them a synagogue. We are further told that he himself did not come to Jesus but rather that he first sent elders of the Jews to Jesus, and when Jesus got close to the house, he sent out some friends with the message. Thus he was a man not only acquainted with Jewish customs but a humble man as well.

So we have three things that stand out in this story that demonstrate compassion:

  • A wealthy Roman seeking a poor Jew
  • A powerful centurion reaching out to a meek carpenter
  • A mighty man of war looking for the Prince of Peace

He did not do this for himself, nor was this some casual request but pleading for his servant. This word means to call alongside to help and is also used for the word pray. This centurion sent some of the leaders to pray that Jesus would come and help.

  • 2 A paralyzed servant: The word for servant here tells us that he was a young servant and that his paralysis was of sickness that left him in great pain. So this centurion sends leaders to plead on his behalf, not for himself but for some young servant who is tormented with being unable to move. Why would he bother? God had touched this centurion’s heart, and this gentile, who was a warrior and hater of people, had now come to the place where he cared for a lowly servant boy. It is this man that God uses to touch this tormented boy.
  • 6 Jesus: Before He is ever asked to come, Jesus says, “He will come and heal him.” He does not say, “I will see what I can do.” There is that perfect confidence in the Lord.

Folks, the Lord is willing to take a hold of any area of your life that is causing you to be paralyzed and unable to serve the master. He will come and heal you!

 

Vs. 6-10 Three opinions of the same person

Vs. 6-8 Notice the centurion’s heart: “I am not worthy that you should come under my roof.” Jews could not come under the roof of any gentile, nor were they allowed to even talk to a gentile. Yet with that said, there was still the need for this servant. Of great interest to me is three views of the character of the centurion:

  • 3-5 The viewpoint of the Jews and his friends is that the centurion is a deserving or worthy man. It is verse 5 that they use the example of his love for the Jews in that he built them a synagogue.
  • 6 The second viewpoint is from the centurion himself as Jesus neared the village and his viewpoint of himself is that he is not worthy that Jesus should even enter his home and that is why he sent his friends and didn’t come in person because he didn’t see himself as worthy to be in Jesus’ presence.
  • 9 The third view is from Jesus himself, and His view is that He had not seen such faith demonstrated in all of Israel. I suggest to you that Jesus’ evaluation of the centurion’s faith was in part due to his inability to see the worthiness others saw in him.

We see two things about this centurion verses 7-8:

  • He was a man who understood that those who exercise authority must themselves be under authority. Notice the word ALSO in verse 8 as the centurion saw a parallel between the way he commanded his soldiers and the way Jesus commanded diseases. No one can rule others well if they themselves are not ruled!
  • He was a man of great faith, for he understood who he was trusting in. Notice his words here in verse 8 and the illustration of this in his own life. “Only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.” There are some who put all the emphasis on what is said rather than who said it. There is no formula here; it is simply that the centurion understood who it was that promised that the servant would be healed. The word is not an activity nor some formula; the word is a person, and His name is Jesus! There is no need for the Lord to be in the exact presence of this servant, for He is the Word, and He won’t go back on His Word!

Vs. 9 There are only two times that Jesus marveled at any person, and both times it involved faith. In this case, he admired the faith of this gentile, and in Mark 6:6, he was taken back by the unbelief of the Jews. I find this interesting, for this is the way we often treat the Lord with our unbelief, not trusting in His word. So here is this gentile totally outside the covenant of Israel demonstrating such profound trust not for himself but for another.

Matthew 8:11-12 tells us that Jesus goes on to say that God would like this centurion to bring forth many from the East and the West into faith like that of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

We are not Christians because of our heritage; we are believers because we have trusted in Christ; just like this gentile, we have been transformed. Oh, how sad it is to see many professing believers not trusting in the Word of Life. Whole churches turn to all sorts of things instead of trusting in the Word of Life.

This centurion was a man whose faith and trust were based upon his philosophy of life. It was true that he ordered his life around; it was not mere talk; it was his walk!

Vs.10 Is this not great? There is no great big deal out of this, as this man believed it was done. The servant was not in the presence of the Lord; in fact, the centurion was not in the presence of the Lord, yet he trusted Jesus at His word.