Word of Salvation – September 2021
The Faith of a Centurion
Sermon by Rev. W. P. Gadsby on Luke 7:1-10
Scripture Reading Luke 7:1-10
Introduction
“Now I’ll give you something to believe: I’m just 101, 5 months and a day,’ said the White Queen. ‘I can’t believe THAT!’ said Alice. ‘Can’t you?’ the Queen said in a pitying tone. ‘Try again: draw a long breath and shut your eyes.’ Alice laughed. ‘There’s no use trying,’ she said. ‘One CAN’T believe impossible things.’ ‘I dare say you haven’t had much practice,’ said the Queen. ‘When I was your age, I always did it for ½ an hour a day. Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as 6 impossible things before breakfast.”
(Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass, ch.5)
What is faith? If you ask people that question, you’ll likely get a number of different answers.
Some see faith as a talent or ability possessed by only some: like musical gift. “I wish I had your faith,” they might say. And there are many who would agree with the small boy who said faith is “believing something that you know isn’t true”!
Is this what faith is? Is it believing what is impossible and untrue? So is faith a kind of “leap in the dark”? What is faith?
May I take you to 1st century Palestine to meet a man of faith. We know he was that because of what Jesus said about him. Let’s go to the little town of Capernaum, on NW shores of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus is in town. It’s where he grew up and it’s the town that became his home base during his three years of ministry. Isaiah had prophesied centuries before that this region – Galilee of the Gentiles – would see a great light (Is.9:1). Jesus is the Light of the World.
We’ll think about our subject under three main headings:
A Centurion in the Roman Army
Opinions About Him
His Opinion of Jesus
A Centurion in the Roman Army
Our man of faith was a Roman centurion. Typically, a centurion commanded 1/60th of a legion. A legion was originally 60,000 men, but the number varied. Modern equivalents in rank are a Captain in the army, a Lieutenant in navy and a Flight Lieutenant in the air force.
This centurion was part of the Roman occupation forces in Palestine, possibly seconded to work with the police force of the local ruler, Herod Antipas, who was a son of Herod the Great. (He was the same king who ordered the execution of John Baptist.)
What kind of man was a centurion? The 2nd century BC historian Polybius wrote that they must not be so much ‘seekers after danger as men who can command, steady in action, and reliable; they ought not to be over anxious to rush into the fight; but when hard pressed they must be ready to hold their ground and die at their posts.’
So, a centurion was to be strong, practical and loyal. Not the sort of person to take leaps in the dark, or to believe six impossible things before breakfast! He was a man to be admired.
We are interested in this particular centurion because of what Jesus said about him: “I say to you that not even in Israel have I found such great faith” (Lk.7:9). We can learn much about the nature of faith from this man.
First, it’s instructive to note his opinion of himself compared to the opinions of others.
Opinions About Him
We read that this centurion, though a Gentile, was highly regarded by Jewish people in Capernaum. In fact, some of the Jewish elders actually acted as his emissaries to Jesus (v.2-3). What did they think of the Roman soldier? We see the answer in vs.4-5… READ
He was worthy of Jesus’ attention and help, they said. They didn’t just convey his message, but they earnestly pleaded with Jesus to come and heal the servant.
“He loves our nation,” they said. The Roman occupying armies weren’t noted for their attachment to conquered peoples, but this man was different! Romans worshipped a number of “gods,” but this soldier not only loved God’s people, but he paid for their synagogue to be built.
How can we account for this? It certainly wasn’t taught him by the Roman master race! We can account for this only by the working of God’s grace.
Whatever familiarity he had gained with teachings of the Old Testament, they had influenced him for good. He was a kind, generous and sensitive soul.
As we think about his faith, it is also instructive to compare the elders’ opinion of him with his opinion of himself… see vs.6-7a READ
See how humble he was. Jesus spoke about people like him when he said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” He was not “full of himself” but conscious of his own spiritual bankruptcy, and humble in the presence of the Lord.
Humility is a mark of the work of the Holy Spirit. We are all born proud by nature, all too willing to look down on others. It’s part of what it means to be fallen. In the words of J.C.Ryle, 19th century bishop of Liverpool, England: “Few of our Lord’s sayings are so often repeated as the one which closes the Parable of the Pharisee and Publican: ‘Every one that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.’ To have great gifts, and do great works for God, is not given to all believers. But all believers ought to strive to be clothed with humility.”
For many years we have heard much about the need to have a “positive self-image.” However, it’s far more important to have a realistic self-image. To listen carefully to what God says about us in his Word. For example, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God… There is none righteous, no not even one” (Rom.3:10,23).
That is true of us all… whatever others may say about us, it’s God’s verdict, and he looks into our very hearts. The Roman centurion agreed with God’s verdict: “I am not worthy…” But how many of us think, “I am entitled”?
The person of faith doesn’t think overly much about himself, but when he does, he doesn’t think much of himself! He’d much rather think about someone else… God, or other people, for example. Does that describe you?
This is why in the Bible, faith is so much bound up together with repentance: a turning away in disgust from our sinful nature and from our sins – our failings and our transgressions.
When you come before God, do you commend yourself to him? Think that he is your debtor? That he owes you? Are you tempted to say to God, “I thank you Lord that I am not like other people”?
That brings us to second thing about this centurion’s faith…
His Opinion of Jesus
This highly respected man did not have high opinion of himself, but this did not mean that he resented everybody else. It was not an unhealthy humility that wants to drag others down. We see this in his opinion of the Lord Jesus. READ VS.7B-8
He draws from his own experience as an army captain. He knows what it is to exercise authority over others. He knows how to take orders and how to give them. He understands authority.
What does he think of the carpenter Rabbi? He sees that this man has authority — authority, even to cast out demons and heal the sick. And this was not mere human authority: it went far beyond that. It was divine authority! That’s what he saw in Jesus.
In other words, he recognised that ‘Jesus is Lord.’ He is King over God’s Universe. That is why he knows that Jesus can save the servant simply by saying the word. This is true faith: true faith recognises who Jesus is, and what he is able to do.
How did Jesus respond to what the centurion said? We read that upon hearing those words reported, Jesus was amazed at his faith. “He marvelled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, ‘I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith’.” (v.9).
Unlike the Jews, this soldier had perhaps witnessed no miracles or wonders; he had not even seen Jesus face to face; but, he had heard reports of him, and by God’s grace, he recognised divine authority in those reports, and acknowledged in his heart that ‘Jesus is Lord.’ He is the One with divine authority over the world.
Conclusion: Saving faith
This nameless Roman centurion points the way for us. He enables us to answer the question, “What is faith?”
Faith has three essential elements: knowledge; assent (or agreement); and trust. And the greatest of these is trust!
For there to be faith, there must be knowledge. We must know about Jesus if we are to believe. Where do we find out about Jesus? In the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. The Jesus that you meet in the Bible is the Jesus who is Lord today. The very same. To acquire faith, or grow in our faith, we need to know about him. So read the Bible: study the gospels, immerse yourself in them.
The second element is assent, or agreement. It’s not enough to know about what the Bible tells us about the Lord Jesus: we need to be persuaded that these things are actually true! That they are not “impossible” things, but details that paint a portrait of a real Person who lives today. Do you believe that what you read in Scripture, or hear preached from this pulpit, is actually God’s truth?
The Gospels tell us of a class of beings who quickly recognised Jesus. The demons. They knew that he was the Son of God, and they feared him. They possessed both knowledge and assent! But they were missing the crucial third element of faith – trust. James writes of such beings: “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!” (Jas.2:19). It is not enough to know about Jesus, or even to agree that this knowledge is true. There must also be the third element of faith: trust. Personal trust in a living Person whom we’ve come to know through reading and hearing his Word in the Bible.
The faith that saves a person is not a leap in the dark. Faith humbly recognises my sinfulness and unworthiness. Faith reaches out from a humble heart to a lovely, compassionate Lord. Faith puts its trust in Jesus as he is revealed in Bible. He comes to you and me in pages of Scripture. Look for him there and ask him to show himself to you.
Faith trusts in the Lord Jesus. Faith says, “Jesus is Lord of all” and I trust him to save. That was the faith of the centurion, and we are called to exercise a centurion-like faith. To say to the Lord Jesus, “I am not worthy to come to you. But please save me from my sins. I believe in you; please save me from unbelief.”
“Nothing in my hand I bring,
simply to thy cross I cling;
Naked, come to thee for dress;
helpless, look to thee for grace;
Foul, I to the fountain fly;
wash me, Saviour, or I die.”
If you entrust yourself to him, Jesus promises that he will never fail you nor forsake you, and he gives you eternal life. He can do this because he is Lord! And he invites you to come to him for cleansing. He is saying to you and me, “Come to me.”
Are you a believer today? As the Bible says, “Today is the Day of Salvation.” So repent, and humbly place your trust in him, and he will save you as he saved that centurion long ago.
May you and I have a centurion-like faith in Jesus: the kind of faith that he commended in that soldier long ago. Do you trust in him? Can you say, with all your heart, “Yes, Jesus, you are my Lord and King – I trust you with my life, now and for ever”?