The Humble Faith

A Humble Faith

Luke 7:1–10

Jesus Heals a Centurion’s Servant

[1] After he had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. [2] Now a centurion had a servant who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. [3] When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his

servant. [4] And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy to have you do this for him, [5] for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us our synagogue.” [6] And Jesus went with them. 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. [7] Therefore I did not presume to come to you. But say the word, and let my servant be healed. [8] For I too am a man set 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.” [9] 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.” [10] And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well.

This event occurs right after Jesus preached the Sermon on the Plain, where he

challenges the people to put into practice what they have heard. This story is a

beautiful picture of what faith looks like for everyone, whether Jew or Gentile. And I

want to talk about faith: what is faith? Is it belief? Is it trust? As we go through Luke

7, we will see why this story of a centurion teaches us the beauty of having faith in

Jesus Christ.

There are four points I want to highlight from today’s passage: the plea, what the

elders see, what the centurion sees, and lastly, what Jesus sees.

1. The Plea

Luke 7:2-3

Now a centurion had a servant who was sick and at the point of death, who was

highly valued by him. [3] When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent to him

elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant.

So, let’s look at what happens in this passage. The story begins with a centurion who

is in desperate need. Luke doesn’t tell us a lot, but he does tell us that the centurion

had a servant who was sick, near the point of death, and highly valued by him.

Roman centurions did not normally value their servants—much less value them

highly. This centurion certainly cared deeply for his servant. The servant was very

dear to him and could even be described as precious. As Luke was a physician, you

might expect him to elaborate on the servant’s condition, right? But at this point, the

servant wasn’t just sick—the situation was critical. Unless God intervened, the

servant would surely die.

Out of desperation, the centurion decides to ask Jesus for help. He doesn’t go to

Jesus in person but instead sends Jewish elders—who were his friends—to ask

Jesus to come and heal his servant on his behalf. All communication is done through

messengers.

And we’ll see what happens in verse 4.

2. What the elders see

Luke 7:4

And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, “He is

worthy to have you do this for him, [5] for he loves our nation, and he is the one who

built us our synagogue.”

This is also a strange relationship. Here we have a Roman centurion, who was a

Gentile, having a good relationship with the Jewish elders. The elders are more than

willing to help the centurion. They plead with Jesus and argue that this centurion is

worthy of Jesus’ help. Why? Because he loves their nation and built their synagogue.

Do you see how this is a relationship based on reciprocity?

The elders were essentially saying, “Hey, the centurion loves the Jewish nation and

helped build our synagogue—please help him!” “He is worthy to have you do this for

him.” The elders were only describing what they saw, and what they saw was merit.

Their faith was based on merit. They believed that if you lived a good life—if you did

good things—then surely you deserved to receive such blessings; surely you were

worthy. That was the nature of relationships in the ancient world.

There is a custom in Indonesian culture: when you go to a wedding, you give a

gift—often an envelope filled with cash. How much you give depends on where

you’re at in life: your income, your status, or your job. If you’re a student, you would

probably give less than someone who has a full-time job, right? For those who aren’t

married, I’ll let you in on a little secret: the couple will record how much you give so

that, when you get married in the future, they will give the exact same amount at

your wedding. There is very much a “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours”

attitude.

If doing good was enough to earn the favour of God, then the centurion would have

been more than qualified to have Jesus come and heal his servant, right? I believe it

is in our fallen nature that, deep down, we think people who do good things deserve

to have good things. This is the way the world operates. If you do well in your job, of

course you expect to be rewarded. If you do well in your studies, of course you

expect great results.

But we often fall into the trap of thinking this is the way the Christian life works. We

think that if we go to church every week, serve in ministry, read the Bible every day,

or spend time in prayer every night, it will lead us to be good enough for God’s

blessings. Is it wrong to do those things? Is it wrong to serve? Absolutely not. But

when we start to believe that being good will lead us to earn God’s favour, our

relationship with God becomes transactional: “I scratch your back and you scratch

mine.” We treat him like Santa Claus, afraid of being on the naughty list. We say,

“Look at me, Lord. I have been faithful to your ministry all these years—could you

please get me the job I wanted? Or could you please let this beautiful girl fall in love

with me and marry me? Please—I will be eternally grateful.” It’s not wrong to pray

these things, but if we are not careful, we slowly start to think that God owes us. If he

doesn’t answer our prayers, we start to think, “What’s the point of all of this? I have

done my part—why hasn’t God held up his end of the bargain?” This is what a

transactional relationship looks like. But this is not the way God operates.

Paul says in Ephesians 2:8–9:

[8] For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it

is the gift of God, [9] not a result of works, so that no one may boast. [10] For we are

his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared

beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Salvation is a gift from God and not something that we can accomplish ourselves.

Why does Paul say that it is not a result of works? Because if salvation were earned

through our works, then we would be able to boast in our flesh and take a bit of the

glory. Even if we were to say that salvation was 99.9% from God, but we contributed

that 0.1%—I put my hand up to be saved; I did something—then you would have

reason to boast.

Have you ever heard the analogy of salvation where they say you are like a person

drowning during a storm in the ocean of sin, and Jesus is on a boat? He sees you

struggling, comes to you, and throws you a lifeline—one of those little donuts. All you

need to do is cling to it, grab on, and you will be saved. So, my question is: who does

the saving? Is it you, who reached out and grabbed the lifeline? Or is it God? Or is it

both?

A few verses before this passage in Ephesians, Paul argues that you were once

dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked. The reality is that you

were not drowning in the ocean—you were dead. You were lifeless at the bottom of

the ocean. And out of his goodness and mercy, Jesus pulls you from the depths and

breathes new life into you. So which story brings more glory to God: the one where

you reach out to be saved, or the one where God brings new life to you? “For by

grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift

of God.” Salvation is from God, grace is from God and faith is from God.

God demands holy perfection. When we look at the outward appearance of someone

we think is worthy, it will never be enough. Being friends with Jewish elders is not

enough; helping build the synagogue is not enough; being part of the local church is

not enough; serving in ministry every week is not enough; being “good” is not

enough. There is nothing you and I can bring as our own to the living God. Our

salvation is not based on good works, but our good works are the fruit of our

salvation.

What God requires is a perfect righteousness and no one is worthy, not even one

person - except the Lord Jesus Christ. If God were to help us, it would not be from

our effort but only by his goodness, mercy and grace.

The elders did not understand this, they thought they could earn the answer to their

prayers, but the centurion sees differently.

Let’s look at what happens next.

3. What the Centurion sees

Luke 7:6-8

And Jesus went with them. 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. [7] Therefore I did not presume to come to you. But say the

word, and let my servant be healed. [8] For I too am a man set 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.”

Notice “And Jesus went with them.” I love this. Whether or not the centurion was

worthy, Jesus still went with the elders. This shows the great compassion of Jesus.

He is caring. He doesn’t know the centurion, he doesn’t know the servant who was

sick, yet he still went to see them. This is a beautiful picture of what the Gospel looks

like, Jesus reaching out to people that are in desperate need of help, people just like

us. The Lord Cares.

But as Jesus gets closer to the house, the centurion sends friends to meet him with a

message. “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.” The elders were correct in saying that the centurion loved the

people and helped build the synagogue, but the insistence that he “deserves” to

have Jesus heal his servant certainly did not come from the centurion. There are two

different views: the elders think that the centurion is “worthy” enough for Jesus to

heal the servant, but the centurion thinks otherwise and confesses that he is not

worthy even to have Jesus come to his home. This centurion loved his servant; he

loved the people. But there is one thing he did not love: himself. He was showing

humility. I believe the reason the centurion felt unworthy was because he knew

Jesus was worthy. He knew Jesus not only had the power to heal with by word, but

also the authority—and that made Jesus far more worthy than anyone he had ever

known.

There are two important questions that every Christian should ask themselves, how

do you truly see yourself? And how do you truly see Jesus?

Do you remember a few weeks ago, when I preached on Luke 5, where Jesus calls

the first disciples? The moment Peter experienced the holiness of Jesus, he became

so overwhelmed with his awareness of sin that he fell at the knees of Jesus and

cried out, “Go away, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”

The centurion confessed he was unworthy because he knew that Jesus was worthy.

When we truly see ourselves—that we are sinners in desperate need of God’s

grace—then we will see the worthiness of Jesus Christ. Do you see Jesus this way?

Do you see him as Lord and Saviour? As the Son of God? As our Wonderful

Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace? He is our high priest

who has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. He is worthy of all honour,

blessing, glory, and praise.

If that is who Jesus is, then who are we? We are hopeless sinners in need of God’s

grace. The reality is, there is no one worthy enough to meet Jesus. There is nothing

in us that wants to seek God. Paul says in Romans 3:10 “None is righteous, no, not

one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.” We have fallen short of God’s glory

and his holy standard. If we were left to ourselves, we would not be able to solve the

problem of sin. We think our good works will be enough—that if we live a morally

good life, everything will be okay. But our good works and performances are never

enough, because the issue is not merely our behaviour but our hearts. But praise be

to God: he doesn’t leave us there. He sent his Son to die and be resurrected for us,

so that we no longer justify ourselves, but Christ justifies us; so that we no longer

earn but receive his grace. Jesus is worthy.

If “I am unworthy” reveals the humility of the Centurion, then “say the word” reveals

his faith in Jesus.

The elders had faith in good works, but the centurion had faith in the person of

Jesus.

The question I want to ask you is: what do you put your faith in? We’re living in a

generation that has instant access to information through social media and the

internet, and we’re constantly being bombarded with information through our phones.

What do you put your faith in? Is it what the world out there is telling you to do?

Tim Keller said “It is not the strength of your faith but the object of your faith that

actually saves you. Strong faith in a weak branch is fatally inferior to weak faith in a

strong branch.”

Are we like the elders who think that good works will make you worthy? Because if

we are, then we will be tired. Tired of always having to perform good works. It is

never enough. We need to find the place to rest our faith, and that is not in good

works but in the person of Jesus.

 In verse 8, the Centurion recognises the authority of Jesus.

[8] For I too am a man set 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.”

In other words, if the Centurion can do great things with his authority how much more

can Jesus do with his! At this point, the Centurion knew who he was, his limitations,

his unworthiness, but he also knew who Jesus was. He believed that Jesus had

authority that exceeded every earthly authority, it was a supernatural authority. The

centurion understood exactly how authority works! If he commands a soldier, they

obey and do his words because he had authority but there was no one that he knew

who had the authority to heal. This was a higher authority. The centurion had faith

that Jesus had the power to heal his servant and was able to trust in Him. When

Jesus heard these things, he was amazed.

4. What Jesus sees

Luke 7:9

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.”

Wow. This is what amazes Jesus: the centurion’s faith. Yes, he was probably a nice

guy, but what Jesus notices is his faith. If you recall last week, Edrick preached on

the previous chapter, right? At the end of Luke 6, Jesus describes what it looks like

to hear and do his words, compared to hearing them and not doing them. The one

who hears and does them is like building a house with a deep foundation on rock, so

when the storm comes, it cannot be shaken. Whereas the one who hears but does

not do them is like building on the ground without a foundation, so when the storm

comes, it immediately falls. And here in verse 9, Jesus looks back to the crowd and

says, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” Can you imagine this

scene? What was Jesus trying to say? Was this a rebuke to his followers? I don’t

think so. This was a challenge to the crowd to look at this man’s faith and put their

faith and trust in Jesus. You would think that his followers, who have a Jewish

background, would have this faith—but no. It was the centurion, a Gentile, who had

faith that made Jesus marvel. There are only two instances in the bible where it says

that Jesus was amazed, this instance and another in Nazareth where his fellow Jews

rejected him and Jesus was “amazed at their lack of faith”. What could be more

terrible than for Jesus to be amazed at someone’s lack of faith? But what could be

more beautiful for Jesus to be amazed at someone’s faith?

And finally in verse 10, [10] And when those who had been sent returned to the

house, they found the servant well. Jesus did not to be physically present to heal, the

Centurion knew this, and out of his love and compassion, Jesus fully healed the

servant. What an amazing miracle! This is just a foretaste of what is to come.

I want to close with this. Jesus turns to us with the same invitation. The elders put

their faith in good works—where do you put yours? Do you put your faith in good

works, or do you put your faith and trust in Jesus, as the author and perfecter of our

faith who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the

shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God? We are not worthy, but

Jesus is. Jesus can meet our every need: he can comfort our every grief and forgive

whatever sin, simply by putting your faith in him. Trust in Jesus as your Lord and

Saviour for he is your only hope! Let us pray.

Discussion questions:

1. What struck you the most from the sermon?
2. Can you see the tendency in you to have a transactional relationship with God? Give examples from your daily life.
3. Why is it important to view yourself rightly before God?
4. What does this story teach you about the heart of Jesus?