Luk 7:7 | KingComments | STEP | The Lord has finished His teaching for His disciples, but the people have listened also. They too have been addressed by Him. The words, His words, are words of spirit and life ( ). When we hear His words, we cannot remain neutral. Then the Lord enters Capernaum. In the history Luke describes, we see what faith in His word means in practice, and that with a heathen centurion. In Capernaum is a centurion who has a slave who is highly regarded by him. That is a touching relationship. Normally, a slave was a ‘thing’. That the slave is highly regarded by the centurion says something about the centurion and it says something about the slave. Now this slave is sick and even about to die. The centurion will have done all kinds of things to get his sick slave healthy, but nothing has helped. In his extreme distress, he resorts to the Lord Jesus, Who has just entered the city. He has already heard of Him. He looks high up to Him, as it appears further on ( ). Therefore he does not go to the Lord himself, but sends elders of the Jews to Him. This is an acknowledgment of the election of that people as the mediator between God and the Gentiles. Using the elders of the Jews to get the blessing of the Lord is a picture of what will happen in the future, when the nations will acknowledge that God is with His people ( ). These elders are impressed by the power of Christ. They believe that He is able to heal the sick slave. They beg Him to do it because according to their judgment the centurion is worth it. They give a good testimony of him. This is not a confession by force. Both their faith in the Lord Jesus and their appreciation for the centurion is real, but they judge the heathen entirely according to his love for them. That is typically Jewish. Instead of seeing that their own law condemns them, they see themselves as above the Gentiles. They are ‘I’ oriented. The centurion loves God and he loves the people of God. This is evident from his building of the synagogue. God’s Spirit has already touched him. We see how he not only uses the elders, but also his friends, who speak more the language of his own heart. When he let speak the pure feelings of his heart and lets his friends intercede as his second envoy, he says: “Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not worthy for You to come under my roof.” Here we see two things: the deep awareness he has of the glory of the Lord Jesus and the corresponding deep awareness of his own smallness. The centurion sees himself as not worthy (cf. ). The elders have highlighted his building of their synagogue as a merit. The centurion himself did not appeal to his building of the synagogue for the Jews as a merit which would have made him acceptable to the Lord and would have Him to act. He fully relies on the authority of the Lord’s Word and His grace to provide for his needs. For us it must also be sufficient that He “says the word”. It is faith that simply takes Him at His word, without regard to feeling or experience. He sees in Christ a Person Who has authority over all things, just as he himself has authority over his soldiers and slaves. He also sees in the Lord a Person Who is under the authority of Another, just as he is. He knows nothing about the Messiah, but in Christ he recognizes the dependence on God and the power of God. This is not just any thought, this is faith, and there is no such faith in Israel. Luke also mentions the great result of the faith of the centurion. The elders and friends see the sick slave in good health when they come home. From this acting of the Lord a great testimony has gone forth. Many are witnesses to it. There will also have been faith and much gratitude toward Him.

‏ Luke 7:7

A Centurion of Capernaum

The Lord has finished His teaching for His disciples, but the people have listened also. They too have been addressed by Him. The words, His words, are words of spirit and life (Jn 6:63). When we hear His words, we cannot remain neutral.

Then the Lord enters Capernaum. In the history Luke describes, we see what faith in His word means in practice, and that with a heathen centurion. In Capernaum is a centurion who has a slave who is highly regarded by him. That is a touching relationship. Normally, a slave was a ‘thing’. That the slave is highly regarded by the centurion says something about the centurion and it says something about the slave.

Now this slave is sick and even about to die. The centurion will have done all kinds of things to get his sick slave healthy, but nothing has helped. In his extreme distress, he resorts to the Lord Jesus, Who has just entered the city. He has already heard of Him. He looks high up to Him, as it appears further on (Lk 7:6). Therefore he does not go to the Lord himself, but sends elders of the Jews to Him. This is an acknowledgment of the election of that people as the mediator between God and the Gentiles. Using the elders of the Jews to get the blessing of the Lord is a picture of what will happen in the future, when the nations will acknowledge that God is with His people (Zec 8:23).

These elders are impressed by the power of Christ. They believe that He is able to heal the sick slave. They beg Him to do it because according to their judgment the centurion is worth it. They give a good testimony of him. This is not a confession by force. Both their faith in the Lord Jesus and their appreciation for the centurion is real, but they judge the heathen entirely according to his love for them. That is typically Jewish. Instead of seeing that their own law condemns them, they see themselves as above the Gentiles. They are ‘I’ oriented.

The centurion loves God and he loves the people of God. This is evident from his building of the synagogue. God’s Spirit has already touched him. We see how he not only uses the elders, but also his friends, who speak more the language of his own heart. When he let speak the pure feelings of his heart and lets his friends intercede as his second envoy, he says: “Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not worthy for You to come under my roof.” Here we see two things: the deep awareness he has of the glory of the Lord Jesus and the corresponding deep awareness of his own smallness. The centurion sees himself as not worthy (cf. Lk 7:4-5).

The elders have highlighted his building of their synagogue as a merit. The centurion himself did not appeal to his building of the synagogue for the Jews as a merit which would have made him acceptable to the Lord and would have Him to act. He fully relies on the authority of the Lord’s Word and His grace to provide for his needs. For us it must also be sufficient that He “says the word”. It is faith that simply takes Him at His word, without regard to feeling or experience.

He sees in Christ a Person Who has authority over all things, just as he himself has authority over his soldiers and slaves. He also sees in the Lord a Person Who is under the authority of Another, just as he is. He knows nothing about the Messiah, but in Christ he recognizes the dependence on God and the power of God. This is not just any thought, this is faith, and there is no such faith in Israel.

Luke also mentions the great result of the faith of the centurion. The elders and friends see the sick slave in good health when they come home. From this acting of the Lord a great testimony has gone forth. Many are witnesses to it. There will also have been faith and much gratitude toward Him.