#53 Lu. 7:1-10 THE HEALING OF A SERVANT OF A ROMAN CENTURION Introduction: Verse one of this text gives the setting. V. 1, "Now when he had ended all his sayings in the audience of the people, he entered into Capernaum." Jesus had finished preaching The Sermon On The Mount. When He first started preaching this sermon He was alone with His disciples at the top of the mountain. However, before He finished the sermon, a large crowd of people came out from the cities and villages to hear Him and they moved down the side of the mountain to a level spot that would accommodate the larger crowd. The Sermon On The Mount contains a lot of information. We have spent several weeks studying the things that Jesus preached in that one sermon. Now The Sermon On The Mount is over. Jesus has finished all that He had to say to the people in this sermon. He now returns into the city of Capernaum, along with His disciples of course. Capernaum is His headquarters city. He will spend a great deal of His time preaching and ministering in this city and then from time to time, He will make tours from there into other parts of the country. The events of this text take place there in Capernaum. I. The healing of the servant of the centurion V. 2 "And a certain centurion's servant, who was dear unto him, was sick, and ready to die." A centurion was a rather high ranking officer in the Roman army. He was in charge of 100 Roman soldiers. This particular Roman centurion had a slave servant who was very sick. Luke said that he was ready to die. Luke does not say what was wrong with him, but Matthew said that he was sick of the palsy and that he was grievously tormented. This apparently means that he was having some kind of convulsions or seizures. At any rate he was very near the point of death. Luke also tells us that this servant who was about to die was very dear to the Roman centurion. This slave servant had been a faithful servant to his master. He had been very kind to his master and very loyal and true to him. His faithfulness to his master had won him a place in his master's heart. His master had come to love him as though he were a son or a brother. He loved him like he was a member of the family. For this reason it was a painful experience for the centurion to see his faithful servant suffer and draw closer and closer to death. The most painful thing to him was that he obviously was going to die and that right shortly. He could not bear the thought of losing him. V. 3, "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." Matthew says that he went unto Jesus and asked Jesus to heal his servant. In view of what Luke said, this is to be understood in the sense that he did not personally go but others went for him and communicated his request to Jesus. Luke says that he sent elders of the Jews to Jesus and it was the Jewish elders who went to Jesus on behalf of the man. That, in itself, is rather remarkable. You see for the most part the Jews hated the Romans who ruled over them. This would especially be true of such a high ranking officer of the Roman army. But this particular Roman centurion had become very close friends to the Jewish elders around him. He had treated them well and had gained their respect and friendship in spite of the fact that he was a Roman officer. Some think that he may have actually joined the Jewish faith to become what is called by the Jews, "A proselyte of the gate." So at his request these Jewish elders went to Jesus to present to Jesus the request of the centurion. V. 4, "And when they came to Jesus, they besought him instantly, saying, That he was worthy for whom he should do this." Luke said that the Jewish elders "...besought him instantly..." That is, they were very earnest in their appeal on behalf of the centurion. They seemed to think that because this man was a Roman that Jesus would have nothing to do with him and would refuse to come to help him. They were judging Jesus by the attitude that most Jews had toward the Romans and, no doubt, by their own attitude toward most Romans. What they did not know is that Jesus did not have the same prejudice toward the Romans that they had. What the Jewish elders said to Jesus to try to persuade Him to come and help their Roman friend is in essence that "He has been a friend to the Jews." It is also apparent that these particular Jewish elders were not aligned with the scribes and Pharisees who were so bitterly opposed to Jesus. In their effort to persuade Jesus that this Roman was really a friend of the Jews they pointed out two things. V. 5, "For he loveth our nation..." They sought to appeal to His patriotism for the nation of Israel. In effect they said, "Since this a Roman who has come to love Israel, we hope that you will not turn him down just because he is a Roman." The second thing they said is, "...and he hath built us a synagogue." One of the two synagogues that existed in the city of Capernaum at that time had been built by this Roman centurion. He had paid for its construction with his own money and these Jewish elders were very appreciative of his generosity toward them. They were hoping that this generosity toward them would persuade Jesus to now go to the home of the centurion and heal the servant. V. 6, "Then Jesus went with them..." What the Jews did not know is that did not need to persuade Jesus. Jesus was very eager to go with them and to heal the servant. They just did not know the compassion that Jesus has for all mankind and for this centurion and his servant in particular.. (V. 6), "...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 shouldest enter under my roof." Apparently the centurion was watching for his Jewish friends to return with Jesus. When he saw them approaching his house he once again sent friends out to meet Him. This time the fiends were to intercept Jesus and ask Him not to come any closer to the house. It was now the request of the centurion that Jesus not enter his home. He had asked Jesus to come and Jesus had come, but now he asks Jesus to stop and not enter his house. Why? Why would there be such a complete turn around? It was not that he had lost his love for his servant. Neither was it that he had lost his confidence and respect for Jesus. The reason was that after having sent his Jewish friends to ask Jesus to come he had realized that he was not worthy of having Jesus to enter his home. His Jewish friends had sought to persuade Jesus that the man is worthy, but he, himself, knew that he was not worthy. It had been his feeling of unworthiness in the first place that had kept him from going in person to Jesus and asking Jesus to come. V. 7, "Wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee..." Now, more that ever he feels unworthy. He is unworthy of having Jesus to darken the door of his home and he realizes this. So he sends some friends out to stop Jesus and ask Him to come no further. But this does not mean that the centurion had lost his faith in Jesus. To the contrary. His faith had now grown stronger than ever. At the first he had been convinced that if Jesus would come to his home that Jesus could heal his servant. Now he realizes that Jesus does not have to come. He can heal his servant without coming. And it is not that he would object to Jesus coming into his home except that he felt unworthy of the presence of Jesus.. Just listen to the expression of his faith in Jesus. (V. 7), "...but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed." "You just say the word---. You just give the command and my servant will be healed even without you entering into my home." He then explains how he had reached that conclusion. V. 8, "For I also am a man set under authority..." He was under the authority of the Roman Caesar. He was under the authority of the Roman governor who ruled over him. As an officer of Caesar's army he carried out the orders of his superior officers. It was not necessary for the Caesar nor the governor to go to the various places and carry out their wishes. They could just give the orders to the centurion and the centurion carried out their orders. Even so it is with Jesus. Jesus does not have to go every place to carry out His wishes. He can give the orders and His wishes will be carried out. (V. 8), "...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." Not only was the centurion accustomed to others having authority over him, but he was accustomed to those under his authority carrying out his orders. He could easily see that so it was with Jesus. Jesus had authority to heal this man without coming into his home. He could simply speak the order and it would be done. V. 9, "When Jesus heard these things, he marvelled at him..." Jesus marvelled at the man because of the man's great faith. I would not have you to think that Jesus was caught off guard and thus caught by surprise at the great faith of the centurion. However, He did marvel at the man's faith. (9), "...and turned him about..." That is, Jesus stopped His progress toward the house of the centurion. He turned and went away the opposite direction. The centurion asked Him not to come on into his house and Jesus didn't. However, before He left He had something to say about the centurion. (9), "...and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel." What made it so marvelous is that here was a Gentile with such great faith in the Lord and nowhere in all of Israel was there such great faith. Jesus was a Jew and He had come to the Jews, but nowhere in all of Israel was there one Jew with such great faith as this Gentile man had. The man had great faith in Jesus and Jesus had a great complement for him. V. 10, "And they that were sent, returning to the house, found the servant whole that had been sick." I assume that this includes both groups who were sent to Jesus. It includes those who were first sent to ask Jesus to come to the centurion's home and it also includes those who were later sent to ask Him not to come into the home. They all went on that very short distance to the home of the centurion and when they arrived they found that the servant was already made whole. From the moment that Jesus had stopped His forward progress toward that home and turned away, the servant had been made whole. II. The saving of the souls of men Now listen, that servant was sick with something that was a lot more dangerous than the palsy. He was sick to the point of death with palsy but that was not what was really bad. He was sick with the sickness of sin. Sin was the real reason the man was about to die. It is the reason that all men will come to the hour of death. The Scripture says that the wages of sin is death. The sickness of sin is a lot worse than the sickness of the palsy. Palsy is a sickness of the body and will send a man to his grave, but sin is a sickness of the soul and will send a man into the fires of hell. Matthew said that this man was tormented by the palsy, but sin will bring the torments of hell-fire upon a man. Our text tells us that Jesus healed this servant from his palsy, but the Bible also tells us that Jesus saves men from their sin. Jesus did not come into the world to heal men from the palsy. He came to save men from their sin. The servant who had the palsy lived nearly two-thousand years ago, but I am talking to people today who live today and some among us still need to be saved. Thank God some of us have already trusted Jesus and been saved, but there are still some right here in this congregation who still have not trusted in Jesus for salvation. Because you have not trusted in Jesus you are still lost and undone. That man with the palsy knew that he was sick and I think that you know that you have sinned and stand in danger of hell. You know that if you were to die in the condition that you are in right now that you would go to hell and burn there forever. The centurion knew that Jesus could heal his servant and I am confident that he made sure the servant also knew. At least he made sure that his servant heard about Jesus and he told him that Jesus could heal him from his sickness. I think also that you know that Jesus can save your soul and keep you out of the fires of hell. I think you know that Jesus has the power to save you and take you to heaven when you die. I know one thing at least. I know that you have been told. You have been told about Jesus and you at least will have the opportunity to trust in Jesus to be saved. Now that servant who was sick of the palsy was healed. Jesus healed him and made him whole. It remains to be seen whether or not you are going to be saved. It all depends on you and what you do about Jesus Christ. If you keep putting off the salvation of you soul, I know what is going to happen to you. You will die without Jesus and you will spend eternity in hell. On the other hand, if you will turn to Jesus today, I know that Jesus Christ will save your soul and the Devil himself cannot take you to hell. Conclusion: I am going to ask your musicians to come forward and prepare for an invitation hymn and I am going to ask you to call on the Lord Jesus Christ and trust Him to save your soul. Who will come while we sing? There may be Christians here who wish to come forward and present yourself for membership in this church. We invite you to come while we sing this hymn. Who will come while we sing?