Luke 7:1

Some difference there is between this story of the cure of the centurion's servant as it is related here and as we had it in Mat 8:5, etc. There it was said that the centurion came to Christ; here it is said that he sent to him first some of the elders of the Jews (Luk 7:3), and afterwards some other friends, Luk 7:6. But it is a rule that we are said to do that which we do by another - Quod facimus per alium, id ipsum facere judicamur. The centurion might be said to do that which he did by his proxies; as a man takes possession by his attorney. But it is probable that the centurion himself came at last, when Christ said to him (Mat 8:13), As thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee.

This miracle is here said to have been wrought by our Lord Jesus when he had ended all his sayings in the audience of the people, Luk 7:1. What Christ said he said publicly; whoever would might come and hear him: In secret have I said nothing, Joh 18:20. Now, to give an undeniable proof of the authority of his preaching word, he here gives an incontestable proof of the power and efficacy of his healing word. He that had such a commanding empire in the kingdom of nature as that he could command away diseases, no doubt has such a sovereignty in the kingdom of grace as to enjoin duties displeasing to flesh and blood, and bind, under the highest penalties, to the observance of them. This miracle was wrought in Capernaum, where most of Christ's mighty works were done, Mat 11:23. Now observe,

I. The centurion's servant that was sick was dear to his master, Luk 7:2. It was the praise of the servant that by his diligence and faithfulness, and a manifest concern for his master and his interest, as for himself and for his own, he recommended himself to his master's esteem and love. Servants should study to endear themselves to their masters. It was likewise the praise of the master that, when he had a good servant, he knew how to value him. Many masters, that are haughty and imperious, think it favour enough to the best servants they have not to rate them, and beat them, and be cruel to them, whereas they ought to be kind to them, and tender of them, and solicitous for their welfare and comfort.

II. The master, when he heard of Jesus, was for making application to him, Luk 7:3. Masters ought to take particular care of their servants when they are sick, and not to neglect them then. This centurion begged that Christ would come and heal his servant. We may now, by faithful and fervent prayer, apply ourselves to Christ in heaven, and ought to do so, when sickness is in our families; for Christ is still the great Physician.

III. He sent some of the elders of the Jews to Christ, to represent the case, and solicit for him, thinking that a greater piece of respect to Christ than if he had come himself, because he was an uncircumcised Gentile, whom he thought Christ, being a prophet, would not care for conversing with. For that reason he sent Jews, whom he acknowledged to be favourites of Heaven, and not ordinary Jews neither, but elders of the Jews, persons in authority, that the dignity of the messengers might give honour to him to whom they were sent. Balak sent princes to Balaam.

IV. The elders of the Jews were hearty intercessors for the centurion: They besought him instantly (Luk 7:4), were very urgent with him, pleading for the centurion that which he would never have pleaded for himself, that he was worthy for whom he should do this. If any Gentile was qualified to receive such a favour, surely he was. The centurion said, I am not so much as worthy of a visit (Mat 8:8), but the elders of the Jews thought him worthy of the cure; thus honour shall uphold the humble in spirit. Let another man praise thee, and not thy own mouth. But that which they insisted upon in particular was, that, though he was a Gentile, yet he was a hearty well-wisher to the Jewish nation and religion, Luk 7:5. They thought there needed as much with Christ as there did with them to remove the prejudices against him as a Gentile, a Roman, and an officer of the army, and therefore mention this, 1. That he was well-affected to the people of the Jews: He loveth our nation (which few of the Gentile did). Probably he had read the Old Testament, whence it was easy to advance to a very high esteem of the Jewish nation, as favoured by Heaven above all people. Note, Even conquerors, and those in power, ought to keep up an affection for the conquered, and those they have power over. 2. That he was well-affected to their worship: He built them a new synagogue at Capernaum, finding that what they had was either gone to decay or not large enough to contain the people, and that the inhabitants were not of ability to build one for themselves. Hereby he testified his veneration for the God of Israel, his belief of his being the one only living and true God, and his desire, like that of Darius, to have an interest in the prayers of God's Israel, Ezr 6:10. This centurion built a synagogue at his own proper costs and charges, and probably employed his soldiers that were in garrison there in the building, to keep them from idleness. Note, Building places of meeting for religious worship is a very good work, is an instance of love to God and his people; and those who do good works of that kind are worthy of double honour.

V. Jesus Christ was very ready to show kindness to the centurion. He presently went with them (Luk 7:6), though he was a Gentile; for is he the Saviour of the Jews only? Is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, Rom 3:29. The centurion did not think himself worthy to visit Christ (Luk 7:7), yet Christ thought him worthy to be visited by him; for those that humble themselves shall be exalted.

VI. The centurion, when he heard that Christ was doing him the honour to come to his house, gave further proofs both of his humility and of his faith. Thus the graces of the saints are quickened by Christ's approaches towards them. When he was now not far from the house, and the centurion had notice of it, instead of setting his house in order for his reception, he sends friends to meet him with fresh expressions, 1. Of his humility: "Lord, trouble not thyself, for I am unworthy of such an honour, because I am a Gentile." This bespeaks not only his low thoughts of himself notwithstanding the greatness of his figure; but his high thoughts of Christ, notwithstanding the meanness of his figure in the world. He knew how to honour a prophet of God, though he was despised and rejected of men. 2. Of his faith: "Lord, trouble not thyself, for I know there is no occasion; thou canst cure my servant without coming under my roof, by that almighty power from which no thought can be withholden. Say, in a word, and my servant shall be healed:" so far was this centurion from Namaan's fancy, that he should come to him, and stand, and strike his hand over the patient, and so recover him, Kg2 5:11. He illustrates this faith of his by a comparison taken from his own profession, and is confident that Christ can as easily command away the distemper as he can command any of his soldiers, can as easily send an angel with commission to cure this servant of his as he can send a soldier on an errand, Luk 7:8. Christ has a sovereign power over all the creatures and all their actions, and can change the course of nature as he pleases, can rectify its disorders and repair its decays in human bodies; for all power is given to him.

VII. Our Lord Jesus was wonderfully well pleased with the faith of the centurion, and the more surprised at it because he was a Gentile; and, the centurion's faith having thus honoured Christ, see how he honoured it (Luk 7:9): He turned him about, as one amazed, and said to the people that followed him, I have not found so great faith, no not in Israel. Note, Christ will have those that follow him to observe and take notice of the great examples of faith that are sometimes set before them - especially when any such are found among those that do not follow Christ so closely as they do in profession - that we may be shamed by the strength of their faith out of the weakness and waverings of ours.

VIII. The cure was presently and perfectly wrought (Luk 7:10). They that were sent knew they had their errand, and therefore went back, and found the servant well, and under no remains at all of his distemper. Christ will take cognizance of the distressed case of poor servants, and be ready to relieve them; for there is no respect of persons with him. Nor are the Gentiles excluded from the benefit of his grace; nay, this was a specimen of that much greater faith which would be found among the Gentiles, when the gospel should be published, than among the Jews.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Luk_7:1-10. Healing of the Centurion’s Servant.

1. in the audience] i.e. in the hearing.

he entered into Capernauni] See Mat_8:5-13. This was now His temporary home. The incident occurred as He was entering the town.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Luk_7:1-10

And a certain centurions servant, who was dear unto him, was sick, and ready to die

The centurion and his servant

A Roman soldier, a stern, unbending man, accustomed to be obeyed absolutely; accustomed to oppress a downtrodden, conquered race, no one daring to raise a murmur; a heathen, too, a man whose religion was odious and contemptible, a man, therefore, without real power over his actions, the creature of caprice: such, at least by instinct and education, must the good centurion have been.

Yet the grace of God is well-nigh irresistible, it triumphs against desperate odds. At first he has nothing but contempt for a religion which, good in itself, was made almost insufferable by its priests and professors. As he looks deeper down; as he begins to think; takes the trouble to examine this old creed, at first it may be with a sort of antiquarian interest, then with growing curiosity, then with an honest desire to learn; God teaches him, the Holy Spirit enlightens his heart, and he begins to love the nation whom he had been sent to trample upon rather than to rule. So between this rough soldier and his neighbour there sprang up mutual confidence, even love; at last, so drawn was he towards the people of God, that with boundless generosity he built the men of Capernaum a synagogue. Nor was this soldiers love only to the inhabitants of Capernaum; his servant, a poor slave, a youth stolen from home and friends, expecting only cruelty and stripes, was dear unto him, and he lay at home sick and ready to die.

1. The wisdom of accepting Gods plan of life as the one by which we can most glorify Him. Who does not often wish that his place in life had been quite differently cast? If we only had had more money, leisure, scope for talents, friends, what could we not have done for God, what might not God have accomplished in us? See the correction of this foolishness in the saintly centurions history. A heathen soldier mixing with men whose actions, however brave they might be, were always cruel and hard, living amongst companions coarse and low, where passion was unbridled, pity unknown; a man sent to serve m despised Galilee, amongst a nation utterly degraded, hopelessly vile; his headquarters one of the most corrupt cities of that land of darkness; how could circumstances be apparently more against him? Yet what seemed hindrances, he turned into helps. If he had not been in the Roman army he had never seen Capernaum; if he had not been quartered near Capernaum, he had never built a synagogue; but for his sorrow he would never have had personal intercourse with the Lord of Life; but for his great need he would never have won so gracious a benediction from Gods Son. So is it with every one born of woman. Where our lot is cast, what our circumstances may be--all this is Gods plan. Therefore it follows, they are the best circumstances conceivable, by which we may mount to Him. Shun discontent. Ourselves, not our circumstances, are our hindrances.

2. There is another line of thought suggested by the relationship which existed between this master and those whom God had placed in his home--his servant was dear unto him. It is difficult for us to realize thestrangeness of the situation. Christianity has taught men pity, tenderness, sympathy for weakness and suffering, yet this centurion was not even a Jew. Somehow the tender heart of this valiant soldier, illuminated by the light of conscience, taught him that his slave lad was brought into his home, in order that he might lift him out of the lower depths of degradation, succour and help him in his need. How clear the lesson to a Christian, to a soldier of the cross. Are we not taught the strange responsibility which is placed on each as, in turn, he becomes a master or a messenger, as parents or teachers--immediately, that is, God gives us any authority? Home, the centre of Christian influence, home, the place where servants, children, guests, are all brought together for this end alone, that by love those in authority may win those over whom they are set, and so God may win them too; this, indeed, is the lesson of the good centurions action. (T. B. Dover, M. A.)

The centurions faith

Notice some of the lessons, naturally lessons touching faith, which this passage is designed to teach.

I. We learn that GREAT SPIRITUAL ADVANTAGES ARE NOT ALWAYS NECESSARY TO GREAT FAITH. Let us never despair of truth-sowing, in waste and unlikely places. The so-called rose of Jericho drops its dried-up germ on the parched desert sand. But Gods mind does not leave it to perish. Swept hither and thither, it finds at last its oasis, some hidden spot of moisture, and there it abides and sprouts, and becomes again a thing of life and beauty. A drifting cocoa-nut, cast by the surf ashore upon some barren limestone reef, seems in itself the very image of failure and utter loss. But see I this apparent waif, under the watchful eye of Providence, becomes the beginning of an earthly paradise. It is faith in sowing that brings the harvest of faith (Ecc_11:6).

II. It is more than hinted, further, that GREAT FAITH IS MOST LIKELY TO BE FOUND IN CONNECTION WITH A NOBLE NATURE. Equity, generosity, sympathy, humility, such traits were prominent here, and they made room for tile working of great faith in Christ. Faith is something that has to do with ideas, and hence holds mere things cheap. It is not so much what they achieve as what they believe in and strive for that makes men noble and great. What I admire, said Turgot, in Christopher Columbus, is not that he discovered the New World, but that he went to look for it on the faith of an idea.

III. Again, GREAT FAITH HERE, AS ALWAYS, IS ACCOMPANIED BY A SENSE OF GREAT NEED.

IV. Further, it follows also from what has just been said, that GREAT FAITH IS ACCOMPANIED ALSO BY GREAT HUMILITY. Its sublimest flights, like those of the birds, are always preceded by a settling low down. There are some beautiful plants whose leaves grow even smaller as the plant grows higher.

V. Still again, THE GREAT FAITH OF THE CENTURION WAS NO UNREASONING FAITH. A great deal is said about believing blindly. And there are times when a simple trust is all that is left us; but generally speaking, we may reason from the seen to the unseen, front ourselves and our finite circumstances to God and His unlimited might. Faith is not blind, except to trifles. It sees! It sees more, not less. It sees with new light and new powers. This earth of ours is but a simple birthplace, a nest of sticks and mud on the swinging bough. It is the point of departure, not the place of rest, and the man of faith has realized this in some degree. He has looked over its borders into the unsounded depths. He has gazed on the immeasurable vault. He has the evidence of things unseen. He knows that though the steps of faith fall on a seeming void, they find the Rock beneath.

VI. It is interesting to notice, in the next place, THE KIND OF MORAL TRAINING THAT SEEMS TO FIT ONE FOR THE EXERCISE OF GREAT FAITH.

1. Obedience. Our centurion, as a soldier, had learned to submit his will, to obey. But it is still better to learn obedience in the family than in the army.

A loving, filial obedience towards Christian parents is of all earthly things the nearest to that service which our heavenly Father claims from us.

2. Liberality. Our centurion was a generous giver, too. There is a really potent moral discipline in giving. Just as the largest ships only venture into the deepest harbours, so it is safe to expect that the Divine blessing--especially an all-conquering faith, one of the greatest--will only there come richest and fullest where the sluices are held widest open, through a noble, perpetual outgush of kindly feeling and generous doing towards ones fellow-men.

VII. GREAT FAITH DOES NOT LIFT ONE OUT OF THE BEACH OF INTERCESSORY PRAYER ON THE PART OF THOSE HAVING LESS.

VIII. GREAT FAITH IS ABLE TO BEAR WITHOUT PERIL GREAT BLESSINGS. Ships that are well ballasted you may load high, and they will not careen or refuse to mind the rudder.

IX. WHETHER FAITH BE GREAT OR SMALL, IT IS THE SAME THING IN ESSENCE, AND INEXPRESSIBLY WELL-PLEASING TO OUR LORD. The principal thing is to have some faith, though it be little. It is that which brings us into the blessed circle of the beneficiaries of Jesus, while the want of it shuts us wholly out. Men have had it who had little else that was good, who had, in fact, much else that was bad, and yet, because they had it, were enrolled among the heroes of Gods shining host. (Edwin C. Bissell.)

Kindness to inferiors

Xenocrates, though a heathen, was pitiful to a poor sparrow, which, being pursued by a hawk, fled to him for succour. He sheltered her until the enemy had flown off, and then, letting her go, said that he had not betrayed his poor suppliant. A Christian should have more pity for a distressed Christian than a heathen has for a bird. A master should be a physician to his servants; as careful to preserve their health and prevent their death, as to provide them work. Another heathen told his wife that it was part of her office, and the most grateful part of it, in case a servant fell sick, to tend him and promote his recovery. This centurion, though a soldier (and their hearts usually are more obdurate and less compassionate than others), was earnest and diligent for the help of his sick servant. (G. Swinnock.)

The increase of faith

I. FAITH IS THE CONDITION OF THE EXERCISE OF GODS POWER UPON US--a condition, let it ever be borne in mind, of Gods own making, and springing wholly out of Gods own wisdom and love to us. For, I ask, What is faith? and I reply that, speaking generally, faith is sympathy with God--it is the receptive attitude of the soul--it is the laying open of the whole being to the influence of God. If I would keep the tender flower from the frost, I must cover it up and wrap it round to shut out the icy touch that would freeze up its life. But would I quicken it with the sun I must take away all barriers and let its blessed rays stream in. Unbelief covers up and closes the soul: faith opens it to the sunshine.

II. FAITH IS THE MEASURE OF GODS GIFTS TO US. The gifts are proportioned to our fitness and our power to receive them. There are partial gifts for partial faith; fuller gifts for fuller faith. To recur to my former illustration, the measure in which the sun streams into a chamber depends on the degree in which all impediments are removed from its entrance. The limit is not in the glorious orb, but in that which receives it. It will enter wherever it can, though it be but through a broken link. Throw wide open the broad shutters, and how it will stream in, till every object becomes beautiful in its rays! If we would have more faith, we must cultivate it; and I will tell you how.

1. There must be conscious desire in your minds for more faith--not a general wish for more grace in a vague and unmeaning way, but a deep sense of your need of a fuller trust in God and an earnest desire for it.

2. Try to exercise faith. The gift, indeed, is all of God; but He works through the human effort. Not the listless idle soul, that folds its hands and takes its ease in Zion, will ever get close to God, but the soul that presses on and up, and, in our Lords vivid language, takes heaven by violence.

3. To assist you in this effort, endeavour to watch and study the dealings of God with you, like one who expects to see God everywhere. Be not like the man who saunters along the road, not caring or thinking whom he shall meet; but like one who is looking out for a friend, and watches on every side to see him. Think of God as a real being, and both in the answers to your prayers and in the details of your life, try to trace His providence.

4. Let us dwell much upon the promises; let us live in them and on them, making them the habitual atmosphere of our religious life. (E. Garbett, M. A.)

The centurion of Capernaum

I. There are three aspects in which this centurion of Capernaum commands our attention; as a MAN, as an OFFICIAL, and as a PROSELYTE. His attraction is thus PERSONAL, POLITICAL, and RELIGIOUS.

1. The personal interest that attaches to him.

2. His political interest, or official significance. As an officer of Rome, the representative of Roman power at a Jewish Court, he draws our notice to himself. The Jew is the worlds representative Religionist; the Greek its representative Thinker; but the Roman its representative Ruler. He is the typical warrior and administrator. Her own greatest poet put into the prophetic mouth of Anchises in the nether world this description of her mission:--Others, I grant, shall with more delicacy mould the breathing brass; from marble draw the features to the life; describe with the rod the courses of the rising stars. To rule the nations with imperial sway, be your care, O Romans; these shall be thine arts--to impose terms of peace, to spare the humble, and to crush the proud. When the Word of God became Incarnate He entered into a world politically prepared for His Advent after a fashion not less perfect for the purpose designed than strange because of the means by which it had been wrought. Of this preparation Rome was the instrument; and of Rome her officer at Capernaum is a representative. Is there not, then, about him, as an official, a deep political significance and interest?

3. His interest as a Proselyte, This term, Proselyte, leads me to call attention to a function of the Jewish Prophets in Messianic preparation, not always adequately measured by us in our estimate of them as divinely ordained to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. Joel thrills him; Jeremiah melts him; Ezekiel elevates him; Isaiah entrances him. The Greek Philosophy, which formed the polite study of every educated Roman, had taught him to look beneath the surface and to gather the truths unseen by the vulgar eye, to see substance under shadow, reality under form, and the truth typified under the typifying symbol. He is thus prepared to pierce beneath the rites and sacrifices to that to which they pointed and which they forecasted.

II. His action, in circumstances which to many men in his station would have been trivial, reveals a new beauty in his character, and demands from us a new admiration. His servant--dear to him in a personal way, as one bound to him by personal links, and not merely, as were his soldiers, by official relations--was sick and ready to die. The manifestation of a noble nature was grateful to the Son of Man. His Divine Humanity rejoiced as the flower of faith blossomed in the hearts of those He loved. (G. M. Grout, B. D.)

The centurion; or, an exhortation to the virtuous

This centurion certainly had a high reputation. Two features of character blend in him which do not often meet in such graceful harmony. He won the high opinion of others, and yet he held a low estimation of himself.

I. To begin, then, here is a HIGH CHARACTER; let us thoroughly appreciate it, and give it a full measure of commendation. This centurion must have been a man of sterling worth. He was not merely quiet and inoffensive like some men who are as insipid as they are harmless. It would appear, too, that his private temperament, as well as his public spirit, contributed to the estimation in which he was held. Next to this, you will observe his generosity. It is not by occasional deeds of showy lustre, but by the habitual practice of comely virtues, that a worthy character is built up. A thousand kindnesses may be nestling beneath the soil, like the many-fibred root of a gigantic tree, when it is said, He loveth our nation; and then the conspicuous fruit appears in its season--He hath built us a synagogue. But, remember, and here I close this point, however good your character, or however excellent your repute, not one word of this is ever to be mentioned before the throne of the Most High.

II. Secondly, in the centurion we see coupled with this high and noble repute, DEEP HUMILIATION OF SOUL--I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come under my root. Humility, then, it appears, may exist in any condition. There are some men who are too mean to be humble. They are too crouching, crawling, sneakish, and abject to be humble. It certainly is not for the least vermin that creep the earth to talk about humility. But a man to be humble, needs to have a soul; to stoop, you must have some elevation to stoop from; you must have some real excellence within you before you can really understand what it is to renounce merit. We have heard of a certain monk, who, professing to be humble, said he had broken all Gods commandments; he was the greatest sinner in the world; he was as bad as Judas. Somebody said, Why tell us that? we have all of us thought that a long time! Straightway the holy man grew red in the face, and smote the accuser, and asked him what he had ever done to deserve such a speech.

III. The main thing I am aiming at, because, after all, the most practical, lies in my third point. However deep our humility, however conscious we may be of our own undeservingness, WE SHOULD NEVER DIMINISH OUR FAITH IN GOD. Observe the confession--I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come under my roof. What then will be the inference?--I fear, therefore, my servant will not be healed? No, no; but--Say in a word, and my servant shall be healed. It is all a mistake that great faith implies pride. Beloved, the greater faith, the deeper humility. The more the glories of God strike your eyes, the humbler you will lie in conscious abasement, but yet the higher you will rise in importunate prayer. But now just imagine what your own case is, and the case of others, and let us apply this principle to it: we are utterly unworthy to obtain the temporal or spiritual mercy which, it may be, we are now seeking: we may feel this, but in asking anything for ourselves, we must still ask in faith in God, in His promise, and in His grace; and we shall prevail. Whatever thy desire may be, only believe, and it shall be granted unto thee if it be a desire in accordance with His will, and in accordance with the promises of His Word; or else Gods Word is not true. Be humble about it, but do not be doubtful about it. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The centurions faith and humility

The greatest light may enter into the darkest places. We may find the choicest flowers blooming where we least expected them. Here was a Gentile, a Roman, a soldier--a soldier clothed with absolute power--and yet a tender master, a considerate citizen, a lover of God! The best of pearls have been found in the darkest caves of ocean. Let no man think that because of his position in society he cannot excel in virtue. It is not the place which is to blame, but the man.

I. THE HUMILITY OF THE CENTURION WAS NOT AT ALL INJURIOUS TO THE STRENGTH OF HIS FAITH. You may have noticed in the biography of some eminent men how badly they speak of themselves. Southey, in his Life of Bunyan, seems at a difficulty to understand how Bunyan could have used such depreciating language concerning his own character. For it is true, according to all we know of his biography, that he was not, except in the case of profane swearing, at all so bad as the most of the villagers. Indeed, there were some virtues in the man which were worthy of all commendation. Southey attributes it to a morbid state of mind, but we rather ascribe it to a return of spiritual health. Had the excellent poet seen himself in the same heavenly light as that in which Bunyan saw himself, he would have discovered that Bunyan did not exaggerate, but was simply stating as far as he could a truth which utterly surpassed his powers of utterance. The great light which shone around Saul of Tarsus was the outward type of that inner light above the brightness of the sun which flashes into a regenerate soul, and reveals the horrible character of the sin which dwells within. Believe me, when you hear Christians making abject confessions, it is not that they are worse than others, but that they see themselves in clearer light than others; and this centurions unworthiness was not because he had been more vicious than other men--on the contrary, he had evidently been much more virtuous than the common run of mankind--but because he saw what others did not see, and felt what others had not felt. Deep as was this mans contrition, overwhelming as was his sense of utter worthlessness, he did not doubt for a moment either the power or the willingness of Christ.

II. I shall want you for s moment to attend while we shift the text to the other quarter. THE CENTURIONS GREAT FAITH WAS NOT AT ALL HOSTILE TO HIS HUMILITY. His faith was extraordinary. It ought not to be extraordinary. We ought all of us to believe as well in Christ as this soldier did. In his heart he enthroned the Lord Jesus as a Captain over all the forces of the world, as the generalissimo of heaven and earth; as, in fact, the Caesar, the imperial Governor of all the forces of the universe. Twas graciously thought, twas poetically embodied, twas nobly spoken, twas gloriously believed; but it was the truth and nothing more than the truth, for universal dominion is really in the power of Jesus to-day. Here is one point to which I recall you; this mans faith did not for a moment interfere with his thorough personal humiliation. Because Christ was so great, he felt himself to be unworthy either to meet Him or entertain Him. The application shall be to three sorts of people.

1. First, we speak to distressed minds deeply conscious of their unworthiness. You feel that you cannot repent, but cannot Jesus make thee repent by His Spirit? Do you hesitate about that question? See the world a few months ago hard bound with frost, but how daffodil, and crocus, and snowdrop, have come up above that once frozen soil, how snow and ice have gone, and the genial sun shines out? God does it readily, with the soft breath of the south wind and the kind sunbeams, and he can do the same in the spiritual world for thee. But, perhaps, it is some bad habit which gives you trouble. You cannot get rid of it. Ah! I know your dreads and despairs; but, man, I ask thee, cannot Jesus deliver? He whose every act is wonderful, can surely do what He will within this little world of thy soul, since in the great world outside He rules as He pleases. Believe in His power, and ask Him to prove it. He has but to say in a word, and this matter of present distress shall be taken away.

2. A second application of our subject shall be made to the patient workers who are ready to faint. The last application I shall make is the same as the second, only on a wider scale.

3. There are many who are like watchers who have grown weary. When He saith, Do it shall be done, and His name shall be praised. O for more faith and more self-abasement. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Motives of humility

I. THE FRUITS OF HUMILITY.

1. Humility keeps us from many sins.

2. Humility preserves the other virtues.

3. Humility attracts Divine grace (Jam_4:6).

4. Humility inflames the heart with Divine charity.

5. Humility exalts us to the height of heaven (Luk_1:52; Luk_18:14; 1Pe_5:6).

II. THE TEACHING AND EXAMPLE OF JESUS CHRIST. Jesus has enjoined on us this duty--

1. By words (Mat_11:29).

2. By example.

(1) In His birth.

(2) In His circumcision.

(3) In washing the disciples feet.

(4) In His death on the cross.

III. OUR OWN MISERY.

1. We find motives in the outer world.

(1) If you look at the earth, you behold your grave.

(2) Beneath the earth, you find hell.

(3) In heaven is God, and the gate of heaven is low.

2. Motives within ourselves.

(1) Concerning our body.

(2) Concerning our soul. (Laselve.)

Of humility

He that would build lastingly must lay his foundation low. The proud man, like the early shoots of a new-felled coppice, thrusts out full of sap, green in leaves, and fresh in colour; but bruises and breaks with every wind, is nipped with every little cold, and being top-heavy, is wholly unfit for use. Whereas the humble man retains it in the root, can abide the winters killing blast, the ruffling concussions of the wind, and can endure far more than that which appears so flourishing. Like the pyramid, he has a large foundation, whereby his height may be more eminent; and the higher he is, the less does he draw at the top; as if the nearer heaven, the smaller he must appear. And indeed, the higher man approaches to celestials, and the more he considers God, the more he sees to make himself vile in his own esteem. He who values himself least shall by others be prized most. Nature swells when she meets a check; but submission in us to others begets submission in others to us. Give me the man that is humble out of judgment, and I shall find him full of parts. Charles

V. appears as great in holding the candle to his departing visitors, as when he was surrounded by his victorious officers. Moses, who was the first and greatest divine, statesman, historian, philosopher, and poet; who as a valiant general led Israel out of Egypt; who was renowned for his miracles, and could roll up the waves to pass his men, and tumble them down again upon his enemies; who was a type of Christ, and styled a friend of God; was nevertheless meek above all that were upon the face of the earth and lest our proud dust should think it a disparagement to be humble, we are assured by our Saviour Himself, that to be so will be rest to our souls. No man ever lost the esteem of a wise man by stooping to an honest lowness when there was occasion for it. I have known a great duke to fetch in wood to his inferiors fire; and a general of nations descend to a footmans office in lifting up the boot of a coach; yet neither thought it a degradation to their dignity. (Owen Felltham.)

A full sail

The full sail oversets the vessel, which drawn in, may make the voyage prosperous. (Owen Felltham.)

To children

If I had seen this centurion only when he was dressed for battle I should not have thought of him as gentle. I should have seen him carrying a sword to kill men with, and a shield to defend himself from being killed by others. And as he had other soldiers under him, I might have heard him speaking to them in a loud commanding way, and telling them to do hard and cruel things. But, as we see him in the Gospels, his sword and shield are hanging on the wall, and he is sitting beside a little bed in his room in the soldiers barracks. After one of his dreadful battles he had got for his share of the spoil a little boy who had been taken captive--a poor little boy, torn away from father and mother, and forced to be aslave. He was the slave of this soldier; he cooked his food, he tidied his room, he polished his armour, he went his errands. Then the rough soldier was as tender as a mother could be. He sat by his bed; he watched over him day and night. One day, as the big soldier was sitting by the little bed, somebody came in and said, A great prophet has come to the town. Jesus of Nazareth has come. Jesus of Nazareth? the soldier said; the Healer of sickness? Oh that He would heal my boy! But then this thought came into his mind, I am a soldier of the nation that is ill-treating the Jews. I am not worthy that a Jew so good as He should do anything for me. Then other thoughts came, and in his great love for the boy, and knowing that Jesus could heal him, he at last ventured to send this humble message: Oh, my Lord, my servant is near to die, and Thou art able to save from dying. I am not worthy that Thou shouldest visit my house. But only speak the word, and he shall live. Now when Jesus received that message, a great joy came into His heart; and He said to health, Go to that soldiers little servant, and make him well, for I have not found a heart so gentle as his masters--no, not in all Israel. And He had no sooner spoken, out on the street, than the thing He commanded was done. Health came back to the sick boy in the soldiers house. And the gentle heart of the master swelled up in thankful joy, as he stooped down and kissed the child whom Jesus had made well again. (A. Macleod, D. D.)

Cues to character

There are three separate spectators of every mans life--himself, his neighbours, and his God. Let us consider concerning this man--

I. WHAT HIS NEIGHBOURS THOUGHT OF HIM--that he was worthy.

1. They formed their opinion of his character from his conduct--He loveth, &c. They judged of his worth, not by his words but by his works.

2. Their estimate of his character was singularly just.

II. WHAT HE THOUGHT OF HIMSELF--I am not worthy. Doubtless this feeling of unworthiness which prompted him to procure the services of the Jewish elders, instead of going direct to Christ himself.

1. A truly good man has a higher standard of moral excellence than other men.

2. A truly good man is conscious of numerous imperfections which other men do not perceive.

III. WHAT THE SAVIOUR THOUGHT OF HIM--I have not found so great faith, &c.

1. Christ estimates a mans character according to the amount of his faith.

2. All true faith prompts to corresponding activity in doing good. Morality without faith is heathenism, and faith without morality is antinomianism. (W. Kirkman.)

The threefold influence of faith

I. THE INFLUENCE OF FAITH UPON SOCIETY--He is worthy.

1. Faith influencing society through the lowest natural means. Stones and mortar. He hath built us a synagogue.

2. Faith influencing society through the highest human means. Philanthropy. He loveth our nation.

3. Faith continuing to influence society independently of the means by which it manifested itself. Every heart says till this day, He is worthy.

II. THE INFLUENCE OF FAITH UPON THE MAN HIMSELF.

1. It gives man a right estimate of himself--I am not worthy.

2. It gives him the right estimate of what he has--Under my roof.

3. It gives man right ideas of God--Speak the word only. He believed

(a) that Christ has authority to speak;

(b) in His willingness to speak;

(c) in His power to accomplish--And my servant shall be healed.

4. It gives to the soul the right idea of duty. Loving the nation and caring for the welfare of his domestics.

5. It gives to the soul the right religious impulse--He hath built us a synagogue.

6. It converts the soul into a most Christ-like aspect. Disinterestedness pervades all the centurions acts. All for others.

III. THE INFLUENCE OF FAITH UPON THE SAVIOUR--I have not found so great faith, &c.

1. The uniqueness of the faith. It took the Saviour by surprise.

2. The clear conception which his faith had of the person of the Saviour.

3. The estimate which his faith had formed of the Saviours feelings. Believed there were sympathy and tenderness in the Saviours heart.

4. The estimate which he had formed of the resources at the Saviours command.

5. His implicit confidence in the Saviour in His absence.

6. The Saviours unreserved compliance with the centurions request, and the desired blessing bestowed. (W. A. Edwards.)

The lessons of the narrative

1. The true Church in the world in all ages is wider than the visible Church.

2. There are in all ages lost characters within the pale of the visible Church. They are not all Israel which are of Israel.

3. True piety always insures membership of the invisible Church.

4. We are led into circumstances at times in which our religious sympathies ought to transcend all the narrow sectional lines of our creeds.

5. True faith presents itself to Christ and the world in very different aspects.

6. True faith never fails to enlist Christs sympathy and help.

7. Devotion to the welfare of others is a safe path to personal happiness and heavens approval. (W. A. Edwards.)

Another treatment

1. Truth may prosper when the Church is not aware of it.

2. Truth prospers at times beyond the expectation of the Church.

3. Truth prospers often where we least expect it.

4. Contact with Christ reveals the true condition of the soul:

(a) Faith in the heart of the centurion;

(b) Unbelief in that of the Jews.

5. The noble influence of religion, conquering the bigotry of the Jew, and inspiring the heart of a Gentile to build synagogues to the service of the living God.

6. Privileges enhance responsibility, and neglect of them involves the saddest consequences.

7. Mans work is ever in proportion to his faith.

8. Mans influence upon society is ever in proportion to the amount of his faith.

9. Mans influence with Heaven is ever in proportion to the strength of his faith. (W. A. Edwards.)

A soldiers training

This centurion was a Roman, a captain in the army, who had risen from the ranks by good conduct. Before he got his vine-stock, which was the mark of his authority over a hundred men, he had, no doubt, marched many a weary mile under a heavy load, and fought, probably, many a bloody battle in foreign parts. That had been his education--discipline and hard work. And because he had learned to obey, he was fit to rule. He was helping now to keep in order those treacherous, unruly Jews, and their worthless puppet-kings like Herod; much as our soldiers in India are keeping in order the Hindoos, and their worthless puppet-kings. This was the great and true thought which had filled this good mans mind--duty, order, and obedience. The message which he sent to Jesus means this: There is a word of command among us soldiers. Has God no word of command likewise? The word of my superiors is enough for me. I say to those under me, Go, and they go. And if I can work by a word, cannot this Jesus work by a word likewise? By some such thoughts as these, I suppose, had this good soldier gained his great faith; his faith that all Gods creatures were in a divine and wonderful order obedient to the wilt of God who made them; and that Jesus Christ was Gods viceroy and lieutenant (I speak so, because I suppose that is what he, as a soldier, would have thought), to carry out Gods commands on earth. This is the character which makes a good soldier, and a good Christian likewise. (Charles Kingsley.)

Paradoxes in the character of the centurion

He was--

1. A soldier accustomed to scenes of bloodshed, yet preserving, amid all the hardening tendencies of his profession, a tender heart.

2. A slave-owner, yet solicitous for the welfare of his slave.

3. A representative of the usurping power, yet one who had secured the respect and affection of the leaders of the subjugated people among whom he lived.

4. A proselyte to the religion of Israel, yet more truly religious than the people whose religion he had adopted.

5. A Pagan by birth, a Jew by conversion, a Christian by faith. The first heathen man of whom we read, that he acknowledged Christ. Learn that a true religious faith is able to overcome in the man who possesses it the untoward influences of

(a) birth;

(b) training:

(c) calling;

(d) circumstances. (J. R. Bailey.)

Faith of the centurion

I. THE FAITH WHICH WAS COMMENDED.

1. First evidence of its existence--His tenderness to his servants. Of course this good act might have existed separate from religion. But we arc forbidden to view it so, when we remember that he was a proselyte.

2. Second proof: His humility.

3. Third: His belief in an invisible living will.

II. THE CAUSES OF CHRISTS ASTONISHMENT.

1. The centurion was a Gentile, and therefore unlikely to know revealed truth.

2. A soldier, and therefore exposed to a recklessness, and idleness, and sensuality, which are the temptations of that profession. But he turned his loss to glorious gain.

III. THE SAVIOURS COMMENT CONTAINED THE ADVANTAGE OF DISADVANTAGES, AND THE DISADVANTAGE OF ADVANTAGES. The former, Many shall come from the east and the west, &c. The latter, The children of the kingdom shall be cast into outer darkness (Mat_8:11-12).

IV. THIS INCIDENT TESTIFIES TO THE PERFECT HUMANITY OF CHRIST. The Saviour marvelled. It was a real genuine wonder. (F. W. Robertson.)

I. THIS FAITH IN ITS AWAKENING IN THE MANS LIFE.

II. THIS FAITH IN ITS EXPRESSION IN THE MANS LIFE. (J. Ogmore Davies.)

Marvellous faith

The faith of the centurion reveals itself.

I. As A POWER OF CONCEIVING GREAT THOUGHTS. His idea is, that just as the hundred men under his command are at his beck to come and go, and do as he pleases, so all the powers of nature arc ready to do the bidding of Christ. Was it not a great original idea? Observe, it was an idea, the credit of which belonged to the centurions faith. To conceive it required more than a clever brain, even the daring spirit of which faith alone is capable. Unbelief cannot entertain such grand ideas of Divine power.

II. AS A POWER OF DWARFING INTO INSIGNIFICANCE MOUNTAINS OF DIFFICULTY. Weak faith makes difficulties, but strong faith annihilates them. (A. B. Bruce, D. D.)

Masters and servants

The centurion was

(1) a man of faith.

(2) He was also a man of liberality.

(3) His charity began at home.

There are many faults noticeable in rulers of families.

1. Injustice in the assignment of duties.

2. Unreasonableness in the expectation of perfection.

3. Negligence in the consideration of religious interests.

(Dean Vaughan.)

He loveth our nation

I. THE PRINCIPLE ON WHICH THE CENTURION ACTED.

II. THE ACTION ITSELF. He hath built us, &c. We estimate love by the service that it renders, and the cost that service occasions. (J. C.Galloway.)

The candour and liberality of the centurion recommended

I. THE SUPERIORITY TO PREJUDICE WHICH HIS LOVE FOR THE JEWISH NATION IMPLIES.

II. THE SOLID GROUNDS ON WHICH HIS ATTACHMENT TO THE JEWISH NATION RESTED. It was such an attachment as it was next to impossible for a good man not to feel. To love the Jewish nation is still a natural dictate of piety.

III. THE MANNER IN WHICH HIS ATTACHMENTS TO THE PEOPLE OF GOD WAS EVINCED. It was not an empty profession, productive of no fruit.

IV. THE HIGHLY PRAISEWORTHY AND EXEMPLARY CHARACTER OF HIS CONDUCT. To assist in the erection of places of worship, providing it proceeds from right motives, is unquestionably an acceptable service to the Most High. (R. Hall, M. A.)

Christ marvelling

I do not know that we ever feel the immense interval between ourselves and the Son of Man more keenly than when we compare that which astonishes us with that which astonishes Him. To us, as a rule, the word miracles denotes mere physical wonders; and these are so wonderful to us as to be well-nigh incredible. But in Him they awake no astonishment. He never speaks of them with the faintest accent of surprise. He set so little store by them that He often seemed reluctant to work them, and openly expressed His wish that those on or for whom they had been wrought would tell no man of them. What does astonish Him is not these outward wonders so surprising to us, but that inward wonder, the mystery of mans soul, the miraculous power which we often exercise without a thought of surprise, the power of opening and shutting that door or window of the soul which looks heavenward, and through which alone the glories of the spiritual world can stream in upon us. Only twice are we told that He marvelled to whom all the secrets of Nature and Life lay open; once at the unbelief of men, and once at their faith. When He came to His own, and they received Him not, He was driven from His wonted calm by an immeasurable surprise: He marvelled at their unbelief (Mar_6:6); and, again, when He came to those to whom He was a Stranger, and they took Him in, He was beyond all measure astonished; He marvelled at their prompt and vigorous faith. (S. Cox, D. D.)

Faith and reason

We are told that this mans faith excited the wonder of the Son of God, and, therefore, everything that belongs to that faith must be interesting to us.

1. Already, then, this man was recognized for his devotedness of character.

2. Since our Lord knew that the character of this centurion was that of a devout, unselfish believer in God, we can easily understand that His expectations must have been large.

3. And yet we are told that His expectations were exceeded. Expecting much, He found more.

4. Some people have thought that the humility of this centurion was so extreme as to be exaggerated, and even unnatural. Yet remember

(1) that he had been taught that the position of a Gentile was that of a profane and unclean person;

(2) that his humility was founded, doubtless, upon moral as well as ceremonial reasons. He realized the greatness of the Lord Jesus.

5. How did he reason with himself? In a way which shows that the basis of true faith is always humility. (Bishop Moorhouse.)

The centurions faith

Faith and humility, my brethren, may be described as two sister virtues, so closely are they connected together, that the one cannot flourish without the other. We are taught that we may possibly have something like a vague hope that, through Gods mercy, our sin may, ultimately, be forgiven, and our souls rescued from ruin: but for a man to say that he knows that salvation is his, that he is in a state of acceptance, that the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ has been applied to his soul, and that now he is the child of God, is presumption, and that no real, humble-minded Christian will speak in this way. Thus we find, that while, on the one hand, faith is, by one class of persons represented as presumption, on the other hand, it is exaggerated into presumption just because people fail to exercise the virtue of humility. There is no humility in my doubting the Word of God. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. Let us take the narrative as it stands, and learn a few practical lessons from it.

I. The first thing I notice about this centurion is, that although he was a man in a considerable social position, HE WAS ALTOGETHER FREE FROM THAT PETTY FORM OF CONVENTIONAL PRIDE, WHICH IS IN TOO MANY INSTANCES THE CURSE OF MODERN SOCIETY. Here is a very practical lesson with respect to humility. My friends, I do not believe much in the humility of man towards his God where his conduct is characterized by pride towards his fellow men. Yet, again, the centurion was free from that miserable form of pride which exhibits itself in national prejudice. The man that really wants to get a blessing from the Lord Jesus Christ must be content to take the lowest place, to think everybody better than himself, to see himself as God sees him, and to be willing to accept from any man whatever reasonable help that man seems likely to offer to him.

II. Well, listen to THE WORDS OF COMMENDATION OF THE MASTER. When Jesus heard it, He marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith: no, not in Israel. I want to ask you, before concluding my sermon this morning, Are you prepared to receive a blessing, dear friends, on those terms? If the Lord Jesus Christ were to stand in this pulpit, looking every one of you in the face, and were to say, Go thy way; as thou hast believed, so be it unto thee, would you reply by a fervent exclamation of grateful joy? Should we be able to say so? or should we not, in common honesty, have to look up, and say. Not so, Lord; I have net believed, or trusted my case into Thy hand; on the contrary, I feel in my own heart, that I have been constantly taking it out of Thy hand, and transferring it from Thee to myself? I have had my own feelings and thoughts; I have been reasoning about possibilities; and, so far as I have been taking it out of Thy hand, I cannot claim Thy blessing. Oh, dear friends, remember that God cannot alter His conditions. They are fixed in the very nature of things. (W. H. Aitken, M. A.)

The centurion at Capernaum

I. HIS PIETY WAS MARKED BY ZEAL AND LIBERALITY. The true secret of this soldiers love for the Jewish nation is thus explained. It was a love founded upon religion, and it expressed itself in religious acts. The conversion of this Roman soldier gives an interesting and instructive view of the power of Divine truth. In scarcely any period of its history was there a more sad declension of genuine piety in the Jewish Church, than in the age to which the text refers. Scepticism, formality, hypocrisy, and sin, seemed to pervade all ranks. Yet, amidst all this degeneracy, the truth remained embodied in the sacred Scriptures, the purity of which was most sedulously guarded; and by means of that truth, however it might be dishonoured by its professors, this heathen soldier was effectually turned from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God. How wonderful are the dispensations of Providence! The Roman army conquered the Jews in battle, and rendered their nation tributary; but the Jews, in their turn, armed with the power of revealed truth, effected a greater victory. They overcame the understandings and the hearts of many of their conquerors, and laid the hardy soldiers of heathen Rome prostrate in prayer before the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob. In connection with this part of our subject I wish particularly to invite your attention to the liberal and generous character of true religion. A good man cannot live to himself. His property, his influence, his person, are freely placed upon Gods altar, and offered in sacrifice to the Lord of all. But the piety of the centurion mentioned in our text was not only characterized by zeal and liberality; it was equally marked--

II. BY KINDNESS AND HUMANITY. He had a servant that was dear to him; and when that servant was sick, and ready to die, the tenderest sympathies of the master were awakened. We are here reminded of that diversity of rank which has prevailed in the world from the earliest ages. While poverty remains, servitude must also continue. This diversity of rank, in consequence of the depravity of human nature, has often given birth to feelings and acts alike dishonourable to God and man. True religion effectually corrects all these evils. It produces a spirit of justice, equity, and love; and it inspires the mind with the fear of God, and a supreme regard for His authority. It renders the rich man the guardian and benefactor of the poor; and it makes the poor cheerful, contented, and honest. And let no one suppose that this spiritual equality and affection is subversive of order and of just authority. The most perfect of all government is the government of holy love. This remark will apply both to families and the Church. His piety and kindness, so far from impairing his authority, seem to have even increased it; and the probability is, that a master more respected, or an officer more efficient, did not then exist. The obedience which he received was remarkable for its promptitude and cheerfulness; so far was his pious kindness from rendering his domestic servants insolent, or his soldiers careless and remiss.

III. THE CENTURIONS DEEP AND UNAFFECTED HUMILITY, Humility consists in lowliness of mind. It is a disposition which becomes creatures of even the highest order. Angels never affect independence. Humility especially becomes fallen man. Humility so profound as this is rarely met with, and argues an extraordinary degree of self-knowledge. The centurion was now converted from the error of his way; bat his conversion was effected by the grace of God, and therefore conferred upon him no proper merit, or worthiness, before the Lord. It was not self-righteous pride, but the want of better knowledge, that led him, under the mingled influence of shame and fear, to shun the presence of his Saviour. Increasing light would discover to him that his own unworthiness constituted the grand reason why he should come to Christ, and entrust all his concerns with Him. Tim simplicity and ingenuousness with which the centurion had already received the truth would prepare him for those further discoveries of the Divine mind and plan which the doctrine of Christ and His apostles was about to present to the world. The spiritual benefits resulting from humility are numerous and great. This temper is especially pleasing in the sight of the Lord. The piety of the centurion was particularly marked--

IV. BY STRONG FAITH. The faith of the centurion was not a blind and presumptuous confidence.

1. The subjects which I have brought before you on this occasion, I fear suggest to many of us matter of shame and humiliation before God. What an example of practical godliness have we in this centurion! and yet how great were the disadvantages under which he laboured!

2. But there is another view to be taken of this subject; and it is one which is full of encouragement. The argument which we have just urged may be changed, and proposed thus: If this heathen soldier, in whose mind there was so much error and prejudice to be overcome, and whose means of instruction and spiritual improvement were so vastly inferior to those which we enjoy, attained to all this religious eminence; what may not we attain to, with all our helps and advantages? (T. Jackson.)

The centurions faith

Now, that we may profit by this example, let us consider these three things--

1. What was his faith, and wherein the greatness of it lay.

2. How this faith was bred and begotten in him.

3. The effects and fruits of it, or how it discovered itself.

I. THE NATURE OF HIS FAITH. It was a firm persuasion that all power and authority was eminently in Christ, and that He could do what He pleased.

1. You must distinguish of the times. In that age there was no human reason to believe this truth. Antiquity was against it, and therefore, when Paul preached Jesus, they said, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange Act_17:18). Authority was against it: Which none of the princes of this world knew, for had they known it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory (1Co_2:8). The universal consent of the habitable world was against it; Only a small handful of contemptible people owned Him: Fear not, little flock (Luk_12:32). At that time it was the critical point, the hated truth, that the carpenters Son should be owned as the Son of God. Those bleak winds that blow in our backs, and thrust us onward to believe, blew in their faces, and drove them from it; those very reasons which move us to own Christ moved them to reject Him. For many ages the name of Christ bath been in request and honour, but then it was a despised way. At His first appearance a certain persuasion, impressed upon the soul by the Spirit of God, of the Divine power and all-sufficiency of Christ, so as to repair to I-lira for help, was faith and great faith; when the veil of His human nature and infirmities did not keep the eye of faith from seeing Him to have a Divine power, though they could not unriddle all the mysteries about His Person and office, this was accepted for saving faith.

2. The speculative belief of this truth was not sufficient then, no more than it is now, but the practical improvement. Grant that truth, that Jesus is the Son of God, and other things will follow, as that we must obey His laws, and depend upon His promises, and make use of His power, and trust ourselves in His hands; otherwise the bare acknowledgment was not sufficient.

II. How was THIS FAITH WROUGHT AND BRED IN HIM? I answer--The groundwork was laid in his knowledge of the omnipotency and power of God, and his acquaintance with the Scriptures of the Old Testament, though he were not a professed Jew. This prepared for his faith in Christ; the report or hearing was the ground of faith: Who hath believed our report? (Isa_53:1.) He had heard by fame of His excellent doctrine: That He taught as one having authority, and not as the scribes Mat_7:29). And he had heard the rumour of His miracles, more particularly the late instance of curing the leper, which was notorious and public; for Christ biddeth him show himself to the priests (Mat_8:4); and also the miracle in recovering the rulers son, an instance near, which was done in time before this: And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum; end he heard that Jesus was come out

of Judaea into Galilee, and he went unto Him, and besought Him that He would come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death Joh_4:46-47). By all which he was moved to ascribe the omnipotency of God, which he knew before, to Jesus Christ. Thus the Spirit of God blessed the knowledge of this centurion, and the rumours that were brought to him of Christs doctrine and miracles.

III. THE EFFECTS OR FRUITS OF IT, OR NOW IT DISCOVERED ITSELF.

1. In that he applieth himself to Christ. They that believe in Christ will come to Him, and put Him upon work, whilst others prize His name but neglect His office. A gracious heart will find occasions and opportunities of acquaintance with Christ, if not for themselves yet for others; for when they have heard of Him, they cannot keep from Him.

2. That He accounteth misery an object proper enough for mercy to work upon. The centurion came to Him, saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented (verse 6), that is, grievously affected with the disease. Alas! what can we bring to Christ but sins and sicknesses?

3. When Christ offereth to come and heal him, I will come and heal him (verse 7), (which was the great condescension of the Son of God to a poor servant), see how the centurion taketh it, He answered, and said, Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come under my roof (verse 8). Humility is a fruit of faith. Why are true and sound believers so ready to profess their unworthiness? They have a deeper sense of Gods majesty and greatness than others have, and also a more broken-hearted sense of their own vileness by reason of sin. They have a more affective light and sight of things; God is another thing to them than before, so is sin and self.

4. He is content with Christs word without His bodily presence: Speak but the word, and my servant shall be healed. Gods word is enough to a believer.

5. Here is Christs power and dominion over all events, and events that concern us and ours, fully acknowledged, and that is a great point gained: He is Lord both of the dead and living (Rom_14:9). Health and sickness are at His command. I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil; I, the Lord, do all these things (Isa_45:7).

6. He reasoneth from the strict discipline observed in the Roman armies, where there was no disputing of commands or questioning why and wherefore: I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me; and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth. Reasoning for God and His promises is a great advantage. We are naturally acute in reasoning against faith, but when the understanding is quick and ready to invent arguments to encourage faith, it is a good sign. Use. Go you and do likewise. From the example of the centurion let me encourage you--

(1) To readiness of believing (Jam_3:17).

(2) To represent our necessity to Christ, and refer the event to Him, to commit and submit all to Him.

(3) To be humble. In all our commerce with Christ, faith must produce a real humility. Faith is most high when the heart is most low (Luk_18:11-14).

(4) To meditate often on the sovereign dominion of Christ, and His power over all things that fall out in the world. (T. Manton.)

Sickness the servant of the Saviour

I. LET US LOOK AT THE PROOFS OF THE STATEMENT.

1. In Christs world-wide love we have the proof of it. Christs love to men is the assurance that He reserves to Himself the entire control of whatever makes them suffer.

2. Then the fact that suffering is the servant of the Saviour is shown in Christs universal sovereignty. He is Lord of all; all authority is given unto Me in heaven and earth. He is therefore Lord of Providence.

3. And we may add that in His miraculous works we have a token of this. When He stood before sickness on earth He could do with it what He liked, it recognized His voice and bowed submissive to His Word.

II. If then, this suggestion of the centurion is an established Scripture truth, let us pass on to see WHAT IT INVOLVES WITH REGARD TO SICKNESS. Our Lord is to sickness what the Roman captain was to the soldiers under him.

1. Then we may say that sickness only comes at His building. Compact, motionless in their ranks, stand all possible pains and sicknesses before Him, until He singles one out and bids it hasten here or there.

2. And this truth implies also that sickness is restrained by His will. Like the centurion to his servant, so says Christ to sickness, Do this, and it doeth it. It can only do what Christ permits.

3. And if sickness is Christs servant, then sickness is sent to do His work. His servant! Then it has some message to bring, some gift to leave behind, some mission to fulfil for its Master; there is a distinct purpose in it. And the sooner that purpose is fulfilled by our discovery and acceptance of it the sooner will the sickness be withdrawn. That invests sickness with great solemnity.

III. These are THREE CLOSING LESSONS.

1. This should teach us the sacred blessedness of sickness.

2. And this should call us to reverential service for the sick.

3. And this should show us the possibility of redemption, to those who are sick. (C. New.)

An endeared servant

She was a special Providence to me, wrote the late Earl of Shaftesbury concerning his fathers housekeeper, Maria Millas. He explains his meaning by stating that this good woman had almost the entire care of him until he was seven years old, when she died. Yet such was the impression she made upon him in those few years, that towards the close of his truly noble life this good man said: I must trace, under God, very much, perhaps all, of the duties of my later life to her precepts and her prayers. What a striking testimony is this confession to the fidelity of an obscure Christian woman! And what a grand result it wrought! Lord Shaftesburys nobility of birth, represented by his earls coronet, when placed beside the moral grandeur of his character, was but as a glowworm to a star. Through his long life his supreme devotion to works of benevolence gave him an undisputed right to say--

Write me as one that loves his fellow-men.

His deeds gave light, hope, comfort, and elevation to many thousands who were born heirs to an inheritance of poverty and woe. And those deeds were the precious fruit of the influence of a servant in his fathers household.

Importance of servants in a household

A worldly man began to taunt a celebrated preacher, and, among other things, told him it was true his congregation was large, but it was chiefly made up of servants and low people. I know it is, said the sagacious divine. My Church is composed of such converts as Jesus Christ and His apostles gained; and as for servants, I had rather be instrumental in converting them than their employers. Why so? inquired the man. Because, observed the minister, they have the care of all the children. (Baxendale.)

Humility always seasonable

I think it was Bernard, or one of the preachers of the Middle Ages, who said, There is one thing to be said for humility, that it never can by any possibility do one harm. For if a man goes through a door, and he has the habit of stooping his head, it may be the door is so high there is no need for stooping, but the stooping is no injury to him; whereas if the door should happen to be a low one, and he has the habit of holding up his head, he may come into sharp contact with the top of the door. True humility is a flower which will adorn any garden. This is a sauce with which you may season every dish of life, and you will find an improvement in every case. Whether it be prayer or praise, whether it be work or suffering, the salt of humility cannot be used in excess. (C. H.Spurgeon.)

Humility does not lessen dignity

A person of great sanctity once paid a visit to the Caliph Haroun. The Caliph rose to receive him, and with every mark of reverence conducted him to his own seat; and when he took his leave the Caliph rose again, and accompanied him a little way. Some of the nobles afterwards observed that such condescension would lessen his dignity, and diminish the awe that belongs to a prince. The Caliph replied, The dignity that is lessened by humility is not worth maintaining; and the awe that is diminished by paying reverence to piety should be got rid of as soon as possible.

Military obedience

The story is told of a young general in the ninth century who, with five hundred men, came against a king with twenty thousand. The king sent word that it was the height of folly in so small an army to resist his legions. In reply the general called one of his men and said, Take that sword and drive it to your heart. The man did so, and fell dead. To another he said, Leap into yon chasm, and the man instantly obeyed. Go, he said to the messenger, and tell your king we have five hundred such men. We will die, but never surrender. The messenger returned with his message--a message that struck terror into the heart of the whole army of the king. (Baxendale.)

Ready to obey

The Duke of Wellington was an eminently magnanimous man, bribes could not buy him, threats could not annoy him. When a lower place was offered him, he said, Give me your orders, and you shall be obeyed.

Great faith

The discovery of the New World, as the continent of America and its islands are called, was not, like many discoveries, an accident; it was the reward of faith--the reward of Christopher Columbuss faith. He found fruits on the shores of Western Europe, cast up by the Atlantic waves, and brought there, as we now know, by the Gulf Stream, perfectly diverse from any that the temperate, fiery, or frozen zones of the Old World produced. So one day, let me say, strolling by the sea-shore, he saw a nut. He takes it in his hand, and looks at it; he takes it into his capacious mind, and out of that little seed springs his faith in another world beyond that watery horizon, where, as he believed, and events proved, the sea had pearls, and the veins of the earth were filled with silver, and the rivers that flowed through spicy groves ran over sands of gold. They thought him mad to leave his sweet bays, and his land, and his pleasant home, to launch on a sea which keel had never ploughed, in search of a land man had never seen. I tell that infidel that I know in whom I have believed; I can give a reason for the faith that is in me; and so he could. And so he launched his bark on the deep, and with strange stars above him and strange seas around him, storms without and mutinies within, no man of all the crew hoping but himself, with a courage nothing could daunt, and a perseverance nothing could exhaust, that remarkable man stood by the helm, and kept the prow of his bark onward and westward till lights gleamed on San Salvadors shore, and as the day broke, the joyful cry Land! rang from the mast-head; and faith was crowned with success, and patience had her perfect work. Now I look on that man, and the world has looked on him, as one of the finest types of a believer; but I cannot read his story without feeling that it puts our faith to the blush, and, as it were, hearing the echo from heaven of that voice that said, I have not found such great faith; no, not in Israel. (T. Guthrie, D. D.)

For he loveth our nation, and hath built us a synagogue

The usefulness of good men

I. LET US CONSIDER WHAT IT IS TO SEEK THE GENERAL GOOD OF SOCIETY.

1. That to seek the general good of society, men must sincerely desire that good as an ultimate object. The worst member of society may desire the general good of society, when he apprehends it will have a favourable aspect upon himself; and he may seek the general good in that view of it.

2. Mens seeking the general good of society, implies their seeking that good in preference to their own.

3. That mens seeking the general good of society farther implies their actually using all the proper means in their power to promote it.

II. THAT IT BECOMES ALL MEN TO SEEK THE GENERAL GOOD OF SOCIETY. This will appear from a variety of considerations.

1. Men were formed for society. It is one important end for which they were created rational beings. No man was made solely for himself; and no man is capable of living in the world totally independent of society.

2. It becomes men to seek the general good of society, because this is the great and valuable end of entering into society. Every body of men, which deserves the name of society, unite together for some valuable and desirable purpose.

3. It becomes men to seek the general good of society, by obeying the general laws of society. Societies are not formed by mere accident.

4. Every society needs the assistance or co-operation of all its members, to promote its general prosperity and happiness.

5. It becomes all men to seek the general good of society, in return for the benefits they receive from it.

6. There is something so amiable and beautiful in seeking the general good, that it commands universal approbation and esteem. For this the Roman centurion was so highly esteemed and applauded by the Jewish nation.

7. It becomes all men to obey the will of their Creator; and it is expressly His will that they should seek the general good. He says to every man, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. The apostle requires the same things under different forms of expression. By love serve one another.

IMPROVEMENT

1. If it becomes men to seek the general good of society, then it becomes them to be truly religious. There is a natural, and even necessary connection between their being religious, and being good members of society.

2. In the view of this subject, parents may learn how much it becomes and concerns them to educate their children in the best manner to qualify them to promote not only their own good, but the general good of society.

3. It appears, in view of this discourse, that all men are morally bound to promote the general good of society, in proportion to the various abilities they possess. Knowledge gives men ability to promote their own good, and the general good. Wealth gives men ability to do good. Men in authority have peculiar ability to promote the general good of society.

4. Since it becomes all men to promote the general good of society, it is unbecoming men to pursue any courses which are either directly or indirectly injurious to the public good. Not only idlers, but all profane swearers, Sabbath-breakers, neglecters and despisers of all religion, act a part highly detrimental to human society.

5. It appears from what has been said, that those who are truly pious are the best men in the world. They are the only men who have true love to God and man.

6. We learn the goodness of God in prolonging the lives of His pious and faithful servants. He is good to His cordial friends in carrying them in His arms, and guiding and guarding their lives, even to old age. He has promised this as a mark of His favour to the godly man. (N. Emmons, D. D.)

The centurions love for Gods house; an example of Christian duty

I. THE POWERFUL FAITH DISPLAYED BY THIS CENTURION.

II. THIS CENTURIONS EXAMPLE OF GREAT LOVE FOR THE PUBLIC WORSHIP OF GOD. We here find his true piety shown in his liberality in building a house of God for public worship. When he knew Divine truth, he loved the people among whom it shone, and he then erected a synagogue for Gods honour.

III. IS IT NOT, THEREFORE, OUR PLAIN DUTY AS CHRISTIANS TO SUPPORT PUBLIC WORSHIP IN THE CHURCH OF GOD AMONG US?

IV. THE WANTS OF THE PEOPLE, WITH THE WISHES OF OUR CHURCH BUILDING SOCIETIES, SHOULD WARMLY EXCITE OUR CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. (J. G.Angley, M. A.)

Religion essentially included in the love of our country

These remarks may be sufficient to illustrate the general principle. We will now attend to its operations.

1. If we love our country, we shall be affected with her dangers and calamities. If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, says the Psalmist; let my right hand forget her cunning.

2. This principle will restrain us from injuring, and prompt us to serve our country. Love works no ill. By love we serve one another.

3. A lover of his country has an affection for the Church of God, and a concern to promote its credit and interest.

4. Love to our country will express itself in prayers for her prosperity. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, says the Psalmist, they prosper that love thee. I have illustrated the nature and operations of love to our country.

I now ask your attention to some reflections which result from the subject.

1. True patriotism is a nobler attainment than some seem to imagine. It includes compassion for the unhappy, hatred of sin, love of virtue, disinterestedness, self-denial, industry, prudence, piety and devotion; yea, everything that is excellent and amiable.

2. There is a great difference between talking warmly in our countrys favour, and really loving it. A man may say much in the praise of his country, its constitution, trade, soil, and climate, and give it the preference to all other countries; he may plead for its rights with great earnestness, and do much to support its credit and respectability; and yet not be a real lover of it not have any pure benevolence, any piety to God, or regard to virtue; but be influenced wholly by ambition and avarice.

3. It appears from our subject, that a people who enjoy, who profess to believe, Divine revelation, ought to make some stated provision for maintaining and preserving the social worship of the Deity. This is a plain dictate of reason, as well as Scripture.

4. If we ought to regard the interest of our country at large, we ought, for the same reasons, to consult the peace and happiness of the smaller societies of which we are members.

5. We see how careful we should be, that no selfish or unworthy motive influence our social or religious conduct. (J. Lathrop, D. D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Luk 7:1-10. When he had ended all his sayings — Namely, those contained in the preceding chapter; in the audience of the people — For though his discourse was immediately addressed to his disciples, he delivered it in the hearing of the people who stood round him in the plain; he entered into Capernaum — Near which town the plain was in which he had preached. And a certain centurion’s servant was sick — See some of the circumstances of the miracle explained on Mat 8:5-10. And when he heard of Jesus — Of his miracles and of his arrival at Capernaum; he sent unto him the elders of the Jews — “Magistratus oppidi, aut præpositos synagogæ, either the magistrates of the town, or the rulers of the synagogue.” — Grotius. For, as it was anciently the custom of the Jews to intrust the management of public affairs to persons advanced in years, as having most wisdom and experience, they called all who discharged those offices elders, even when, in later times, they were admitted to them without any regard to their age at all. It is plain, from the more circumstantial account here given of this miracle by Luke, than that given by Matthew, that when the latter says, There came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, &c., he is not to be understood as signifying that the centurion came in person, but only by his messengers. Indeed, it is usual in all languages, especially in the Hebrew, to ascribe to a person himself the things which are done, and the words which are spoken, by his order. Accordingly, Matthew relates as said by the centurion himself, what others said by order from him. An instance of the same kind we have in the case of Zebedee’s children: from Mat 20:20, we learn it was their mother that spoke those words which, Mar 10:35-37, they themselves are said to speak; because she was only their mouth. In Joh 4:1, Jesus is said to baptize, when he baptized by his disciples. And Joh 19:1, Pilate is said to take and scourge Jesus, when he did it only by his soldiers. Thus, in the following Jewish proverbs, adduced by Le Clerc on this passage, “The messenger of any man is as, or equal to, the man himself. The ambassador of a king is as, or equal to the king.” And nothing is more frequent, even at this day, in our courts of law, than to say that a person comes into the court, and asks a thing, which he asks perhaps only at the third hand, — by the counsel, whom his solicitor has employed in his cause. They besought him instantly, saying, That he was worthy — This centurion seems to have been what they called a proselyte of righteousness; for he was a lover of the Jewish nation, on account of their religion, and therefore had built them a synagogue: which attachment to them, and uncommon generosity, had made him greatly beloved in that country. Hence these elders of Capernaum, where he now resided, heartily espoused his cause on this occasion, presented his petition to Jesus, and urged it also from the consideration of his character. Then Jesus went with them — As he constantly embraced every opportunity of doing good, whether to the bodies or souls of men; so he did not decline this that was now offered him, but cheerfully went with the elders as they desired, in order to heal the centurion’s servant. And when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him — In the way, some of the centurion’s friends, whom he had sent, met Jesus with a message from him, in which he expressed the highest opinion of our Lord’s power, and desired him not to take the trouble of coming, but to order the cure, which he knew he could easily do. When Jesus heard these things he marvelled at him — Admired him, on account of his great humility, and the strength of his faith. See on Mat 8:5. And turned him about, and said unto the people — With great solemnity; I say unto you — What it is of great importance that you should consider and lay to heart; I have not found so great faith — As now appears in this stranger; no, not in Israel — In all my journeys through the country, and converse with its inhabitants. Observe, reader, Christ will have those that follow him to observe and consider the great examples of faith that are sometimes set before them; especially when any such are found among those who do not profess to follow Christ so closely as they do; in order that, by considering the strength of the faith of such, they may be ashamed of the weakness and wavering of their own. And they, returning, found the servant whole — The cure was immediately and perfectly wrought. Observe also, 1st, The kindness of this centurion to his servant, and the anxiety he showed to get him cured, were suitable to the character of a humane master, and exhibit an excellent pattern of duty, very fit to be imitated by Christian masters, with whom it is but too common to treat their servants and dependants as if they were not creatures of the same rank with themselves, but of an inferior order. 2d, Christ will take cognizance of the distressed case of poor servants, and be ready to relieve them; for there is no respect of persons with him. Nor are the Gentiles excluded from the benefit of his grace. Nay, this was a specimen of that much greater faith which would be found among the Gentiles, when the gospel should be preached to them, than among the Jews.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

§ 37. SERVANT OF THE CENTURION’S HEALED, Luk_7:1-10.

Mat_8:5-13.

From the mount of Hattin to the valley of Capernaum; from the sermon to the miracle. The doctrines of the sermon assert their own intuitive truth; but it is the miracles of the Preacher that attest that it is with a true divine mission that he utters them.

The following narrative is a striking instance of variation in word where there is no contradictions in purpose or thought. In Matthew’s account the centurion came unto him, saying. In the present account he sent the elders of Israel. Matthew makes our Lord say, I will come. Luke says, Jesus went with them. Now these variations are, we think, fairly reconciled, on the principle “that what a man does by another he does by himself.” The act of an agent is the act of the principal. So in Exo_18:6, Jethro being himself not present, as appears by the following verse, is made to say, by his messenger, “I, thy father-in-law, Jethro, am come,” etc. In Mat_11:2-3, John sent to Jesus and said. That is, John said by a messenger. In Joh_4:1, Jesus is said to have baptized, though he did it only by disciples. Comparing Mar_10:35, with Mat_20:20, we have it that Zebedee’s children spoke to Jesus, but spoke by their mother. We have no hesitation to say that the king conquers a country, or that Solomon built the temple, though both were done entirely through their subjects. Matthew then gives the briefer substance; Luke gives the details. But Matthew, reading Luke, would not for a moment have supposed himself to be contradicted. He would only have seen the story more explicitly given and some interesting points added.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CRITICAL NOTES

Luk_7:1. In the audience.—Lit. “in the ears of the people” (R.V.).

Luk_7:2. Servant.—I.e. slave. Who was dear unto him.—Or, “who was in much esteem with him.” This is peculiar to St. Luke. Sick,—“Sick of the palsy, grievously tormented” (Mat_8:6). Ready to die.—Rather, “at the point of death” (R.V.).

Luk_7:3. He sent unto Him the elders of the Jews.—Omit “the” (R.V.). St. Matthew represents the centurion as coming to Jesus; the discrepancy may be accounted for on the principle qui facit per alium, facit per se. The mission of the elders (elders, no doubt, of the synagogue built by the centurion) is peculiar to St. Luke.

Luk_7:4. Instantly.—I.e. “urgently,” “earnestly” (R.V.).

Luk_7:5. Built us a synagogue.—Not necessarily the only synagogue in the town, but the synagogue to which the speakers belonged. In the ruins of Tel Hum, which is perhaps to be identified with Capernaum, the remains of two synagogues are to be seen, one of them apparently belonging to the time of Herod. Generosity of this kind is frequently mentioned by Josephus. It is almost certain from this verse and from Mat_8:11-12 that this centurion, though favourably disposed towards the Jewish people and their religion, was not a proselyte. “The existence at this time of the persons who are called in Rabbinical writings Proselytes of the Gate is very doubtful” (Speaker’s Commentary).

Luk_7:7. Say in a word.—It is interesting to notice that Jesus had already wrought a miracle of this kind; by His word, spoken at a distance, the son of the nobleman (or “courtier”) at Capernaum had been healed (Joh_4:46-54). The two miracles are quite distinct events, though some critics have endeavoured to prove that they are one and the same.

Luk_7:8. For I also, etc.—“Being myself under authority, I know what it is to obey; having soldiers under me, I know how they obey my commands. I know, then, from my own experience, that the powers of disease which are under Thy command will obey Thy word” (Speaker’s Commentary).

Luk_7:9. Marvelled.—The only other time when Jesus is said to have been astonished is in Mar_6:6, when He marvelled because of unbelief.

Luk_7:10. That had been sick.—Omitted from the best MSS.; omitted in R.V.

Luk_7:11. The day after.—A better reading, followed by the R.V., is “soon afterwards.” There is just the difference of a single letter between the two phrases in the original. Nain.—This is the only place in the Bible where the village is mentioned. It has been identified with the small village of Nein, at the foot of the Lesser Hermon. The name means “lovely.” It is twenty-five miles distant from Capernaum.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Luk_7:1-11

The Faith of the Centurion.—That upon which the Son of God fastened as worthy of admiration was not the centurion’s benevolence, nor his perseverance, but his faith. And so speaks the whole New Testament, giving a special dignity to faith. By faith we are justified. By faith man removes mountains of difficulty. As the divinest attribute in the heart of God is love, so the mightiest, because the most human, principle in the breast of man is faith: love is heaven, faith is that which appropriates heaven. Faith is that which, when probabilities are equal, ventures on God’s side, and on the side of right, on the guarantee of a something within which makes the thing seem true because loved.

I. The faith which was commended.—

1. First evidence of its existence—his tenderness to his servant. Of course this good act might have existed separate from religion. But we are forbidden to view it so, when we remember that he was a spiritually-minded man. Morality is not religion, but it is ennobled and made more delicate by religion. Instinct may make a man kind to his servant as to his horse or dog. But the moment faith comes, dealing as it does with things infinite, it throws something of its own infinitude on the persons loved by the man of faith; it raises them. Consequently you find the centurion “building a synagogue,” “caring for our (i.e. the Jewish) nation,” as the repository of the truth—tending his servants. And this last approximated his moral goodness to the Christian standard; for therein does Christianity differ from mere religiousness, that it is not a worship of the high, but a lifting up of the low—not hero-worship, but Divine condescension.

2. His humility. “Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldest enter under my roof.” Christ calls this faith. How is humility the result of, or rather identical with, faith? Faith is trust. Trust is dependence on another; the spirit which is opposite to independence or trust in self. Hence where the spirit of proud independence is, faith is not. There was no servility in this, but true freedom. The centurion chose his master. He was not fawning on the emperor at Rome, nor courting the immoral ruler at Cæsarea, who had titles and places to give away; but he bent in lowliest homage of heart before the Holy One. His freedom was the freedom of uncoerced and voluntary dependence, the freedom and humility of faith.

3. His belief in an invisible living will. “Say in a word.” He asked not the presence of Christ, but simply an exertion of His will. He looked not like a physician to the operation of unerring laws, or the result of the contact of matter with matter. He believed in Him who is the Life indeed. He felt that the Cause of causes is a person. Hence he could trust the living Will out of sight. This is the highest form of faith. Through his own profession he had reached this truth. Trained in obedience to military law, accustomed to render prompt submission to those above him, and to exact it from those below him, he read law everywhere; and law to him meant nothing unless it meant the expression of a personal will.

II. The causes of Christ’s astonishment.—

1. The centurion was a Gentile; therefore unlikely to know revealed truth.

2. A soldier, and therefore exposed to a recklessness, idleness, and sensuality which are the temptations of that profession. But he turned his loss to glorious gain. There are spirits which are crushed by difficulties: others would gain strength from them. The greatest men have been those who have cut their way to success through difficulties. And such have been the greatest triumphs of art and science; such, too, of religion. Moses, Elijah, Abraham, the Baptist, the giants of both Testaments, were not men nurtured in the hothouse of religious advantages. Many a man would have done good if he had not had a superabundance of the means of doing it. Religious privileges are necessary especially for the feeble, as crutches are necessary; but, like crutches, they often enfeeble the strong. For every advantage which facilitates performance, and supersedes toil, a corresponding price is paid in loss. The place of religious might is not the place of religious privileges. But where amid manifold disadvantages the soul is thrown upon itself, a few kindred spirits, and God, there grow up those heroes of faith like the centurion, whose firm conviction wins admiration even from the Son of God Himself.

III. This incident testifies to the perfect humanity of Christ.—The Saviour “marvelled”: that wonder was no fictitious semblance of admiration. It was genuine wonder. He had not expected to find such faith. The Son of God increased in wisdom as in stature. He knew more at thirty than at twenty. In all matters of eternal truth His knowledge was absolute. But it would seem that in matters of earthly fact, which are modified by time and space, His knowledge was like ours, more or less dependent on experience. Now we forget this—we are shocked at the thought of the partial ignorance of Christ, as if it were irreverence to think it: we shrink from believing that He really felt the force of temptation; or that the forsakenness on the cross and the momentary doubt have parallels in our human life. In other words, we make that Divine life a mere mimic representation of griefs that were not real, and surprises that were feigned, and sorrows that were theatrical. But thus we lose the Saviour. For if we lose Him as a brother, we cannot feel Him as a Saviour.—Robertson.

SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON Luk_7:1-16

Luk_7:1-10. The Centurion of Great Faith.—The character of the man comes out in his affection for his slave, his reverence for such religious light as he had already attained, his modesty and reticence. Jesus marvelled at his faith. It delighted the heart of the Son of man with a rare joy. He gave it the palm over all such faith as He had already met with, and responded to it even beyond the soldier’s expectation. Wherein consisted the greatness of the faith so signally praised?

I. It was great when we consider the man in whom it was found.—How favourably he contrasts with those who saw many miracles, and yet did not believe. This stranger’s faith was based on the report of others. He had not been present at any of the healings done in the city.

II. It was great in its view of Christ’s power.—His argument is one from less to more. Though it be not all the truth, it goes to the heart of the truth about the power of Christ. It puts the crown of the universe on His head, and the sceptre of universal dominion into His hand. In so thinking and speaking faith acts just as it ought.

III. It was great in its sole dependence upon Christ and His will.—It needed no help from sight or sense. It made nothing of difficulty or distance. In this it was unparalleled in the experience of Jesus.

IV. It was great in its self-forgetting humbleness.—There was not a vestige of desire for honour to himself. Indeed, there was the fullest expression of the opposite. Most striking humility! Men said, “He is worthy.” He says, “I am unworthy.” He would have the Lord get all the honour, and the thing be so done as to keep himself out of sight altogether. How hard it is to be simple, unconscious, and humble in our faith! But this is faith’s true mark: None but Christ!—Laidlaw.

Strong Faith rewarded.

I. The centurion of Capernaum.—a. A good man. b. A good master.

II. The centurion’s humility.

III. The centurion’s faith.

IV. The centurion’s reward.—Watson.

Luk_7:1-16. Power and Compassion.—Why are these two incidents recorded? The first, because of the centurion’s faith; the second, because of the Saviour’s pity.

I. Where was the faith?—It was in the obedience. Obedience is faith. The centurion knew—felt that Jesus was a captain who had but to issue the word, and be obeyed. There is no faith that is not surrender, no faith that does not say, “Bid me do this, Lord, and I will do it.”

II. The meeting of the Prince of life and of the victim of death.—Jesus and His followers stood aside to let the procession pass. But when He saw the twice-bereaved woman, “He had compassion on her.” He said, “Weep not.” He restored the young man to life, and to his mother. It is a little anecdote. It has its “moral.” “I am the resurrection and the life.” Natural death is not the worst calamity. To be “dead in sins” is worse. And Christ has power over spiritual death as well. His power over physical death is only an illustration of His greater power.—Hastings.

Healing the Sick: Raising the Dead.

I. The dying slave healed.—

1. The good soldier.

2. The soldier’s slave.

3. The soldier’s friends.

4. The soldier’s faith.

5. The soldier’s reward.

II. The dead son raised.—

1. The dead Song of Solomon 2. The weeping mother.

3. The loving Saviour.—W. Taylor.

Luk_7:1. “Entered into Capernaum.”—The miracle recorded in this section was one of those “mighty works done in Capernaum” (Mat_11:23) which failed to produce repentance. The unbelief of the inhabitants of that city, as Christ solemnly declared, rendered them more guilty than the people of Sodom. Three lessons may be drawn from this:

1. That it is foolishness to think that faith would necessarily have been excited in us, or would be stronger than it is, if we had been witnesses of Christ’s life and miracles.

2. That we may shudder at the sins of others and at the punishment they may have incurred, and yet be far more guilty ourselves.

(3) According to the measure of light against which we have sinned will be our punishment.

Luk_7:2. “Servant who was dear unto him.”—Luke thus anticipates a doubt which might have arisen in the mind of the reader; for we know that slaves were not held in such estimation as to make their masters so solicitous about their life, unless by extraordinary industry, or fidelity, or some other virtue, they had secured their favour. By this statement Luke means that this was not a low or ordinary slave, but a faithful servant, distinguished by many excellencies, and very highly esteemed by his master; and that this was the reason why he was so anxious about his life, and recommended him so earnestly.—Calvin.

Master and Slave.—This mutual affection of master and slave is very touching, especially when we consider the brutality that so often marked the slavery of the ancients. We may safely conclude that the piety, love, faith, and humility that were so prominent in the character of the centurion had been a good influence upon one who had been for long in daily intercourse with him, and had called forth all the better qualities of the slave. Surely the same holy influence should produce like effects in our own society more frequently than it appears to do.

Master and Man.—The whole mass of men may be classed in two divisions:

(1) we are employers of others, or

(2) we are employed by others. The first may learn—

I. To exercise considerateness and kindliness to those who work for them.

II. The employed may learn to earn respect and attachment by faithful service—no eye-service, no slipshod work—to be loyal, faithful, and true. The employer is not to regard his workman as a mere machine, to be used up and tossed aside; the employed is not to regard his master as a bloodsucker, to be watched and guarded against, lest he should suck blood too freely. Let us adorn our stations, remembering our common origin, our common salvation, our common responsibility.—Hiley.

Luk_7:3. “Sent … the elders of the Jews.”—The respect manifested by the centurion towards Jesus is emphatically marked.

1. He chose the most honourable persons, and those whom he was accustomed to reverence, to convey his message to the Lord.

2. He sent a second deputation composed of his own personal friends (Luk_7:6). A false humility often leads a man to be guilty of real disrespect: true humility is punctilious in the matter of doing honour to the superior.

Luk_7:4. “Besought Him instantly” (i.e. earnestly).—The duty of making intercession for others is commended to us by what is here told of the earnestness with which these elders besought Christ to grant the boon desired by the centurion.

Imperfect Faith effectual.—These elders, although they were not without faith, had, nevertheless, less faith than he who sent them (Luk_7:9). Yet do they not entreat in vain for him.—Gerlach.

Luk_7:5. “He loveth our nation.”—Before Christ healed his servant the centurion had been healed by the Lord. This was itself a miracle. One who belonged to the military profession, and who had crossed the sea with a band of soldiers, for the purpose of accustoming the Jews to endure the yoke of Roman tyranny, submits willingly, and yields obedience to the God of Israel.—Calvin.

Blessings won by the Centurion.—The centurion was attracted by the Jewish religion. The religion of heathen Rome had failed (as well it might!) to supply the wants of such a spirit as his. He had been guided to embrace the purest system of all which existed in his day; and “the Father of mercies and God of all comfort” left him not without further light, but first guided him to the knowledge, and now brought him into the very presence of Him who is the Light itself.—Burgon.

Luk_7:6. “Then Jesus went with them.”—It is noticeable that on another occasion Jesus had a similar request offered to him. A certain nobleman besought him to come and heal his son who was at the point of death (Joh_4:46-47). Jesus did not go, but spoke the word by which the child was healed. His action in abstaining to go to the bedside of the nobleman’s son, and in acceding to the request to come to heal the centurion’s slave, may have some special significance in it. The greater faith of the centurion may explain our Lord’s procedure. In the case of the nobleman His course of action was calculated to strengthen weak faith.

“Trouble not Thyself.”—See note on Luk_8:49. The phrase here used might be translated, “Don’t worry yourself,” and is closely akin to that kind of colloquial expressions which we describe as “slang.” In the two cases where we find it in this Gospel, it is used by plain, ordinary people, by the servants of Jairus, and by the centurion, a man who possibly had risen from the ranks. To say that such a slang use of the word is unworthy of the New Testament is only to say that the evangelists were bound to polish up the diction of servants and soldiers, instead of reporting it in the most lifelike way possible.—R. Winterbotham.

“Not worthy.”—As one who not only contrasted his own sinfulness with the perfect holiness of Jesus, and who regarded Jesus as a superior being, but who remembered that he was himself somewhat of an alien to the race to which Jesus belonged, and to whom He so largely confined Himself.

Yet counted worthy.—Counting himself unworthy that Christ should enter into his doors, he was counted worthy that Christ should enter into his heart.—Augustine.

Luk_7:7. “Say in a word.”—If the Lord Jesus had been a mere creature, could He have suffered such views of Himself to pass uncorrected? But instead of this—as on every other occasion—the more exalted were men’s views of Him, ever the more grateful it war to His spirit.—Brown.

Two Reasons why Christ need not Come.—The centurion gave two reasons why Christ need not take the trouble of entering his house: the first was based upon his own unworthiness to receive so great a guest; the second was based upon the power which he believed that Christ possessed—it was needless for Him to come in person, He had but to speak the word and the servant would be healed.

Luk_7:8. “I also am a man set under authority.”—The faith of the centurion was childlike in its character, but essentially true in the spiritual insight it manifested. He argues from the less to the greater. “Though I am only a subordinate officer, with limited powers’ (“set under authority”), “I can yet give commands to servants and be obeyed. Much more art Thou able to send an angel to heal my servant, or to bid the disease depart.” He had learned from his own life as a soldier a true idea of the Divine government of the world, and saw in the power entrusted to him as an officer an emblem of the power which God exercises over the world. As truly as he could execute his will, did God, as he believed, who is the source of all power, carry into effect beneficent purposes towards mankind.

“Do this,” etc.—Oh that I could be but such a servant to mine heavenly Master! Alas! every one of His commands says, “Do this,” and I do it not: every one of His inhibitions says, “Do it not,” and I do it. He says, “Go from the world,” and I run to it: He says, “Come to Me,” and I run from Him. Woe to me! this is not service, but enmity. How can I look for favour while I return rebellion?—Hall.

Luk_7:9. The Nature of Faith.—This is the first time that faith is mentioned in this Gospel; and it is in accordance with the purpose of St. Luke to lay special emphasis upon the manifestation of this virtue by one who was outside the circle of the chosen people—it was an earnest of the acceptance of the Saviour by the nations of the world. Faith is to be distinguished from “sight” or knowledge: it is a moral quality rather than an intellectual faculty—a laying hold of that which is unseen—a venturing to believe upon evidence which satisfies the heart rather than convinces the reason. It is produced by love, and not by argument.

Spontaneous and Intense Faith.—This was the greatest exhibition of faith which had as yet come under the observation of Christ. Two things distinguish it and give it special value.

I. Its spontaneousness.—It had sprung up without special cultivation: God’s dealings with the Jewish people had been of such a marked character that it was comparatively easy for one of that nation to have faith in Him, but the centurion had been born and brought up in heathen society.

II. Its intensity.—The centurion did not, as the Jews so often did, demand a sign to convince him of Christ’s power: he was fully persuaded that Jesus could with a word perform this mighty deed, whether He chose to exercise His power or not.

“In Israel.”—The name is a significant one (“He who striveth with God”):it was given to the patriarch Jacob in memorial of the faith which gave him power over the angel and enabled him to prevail. With the prevailing unbelief of the Jewish people the strong faith of their great ancestor is, therefore, tacitly contrasted. By a heathen, and not by a son of Abraham, is faith shown in all its strength and beauty. “Christ found in the oleaster what He had not found in the olive” Augustine).

Humility pleasing to God.—As haughtiness is an abomination unto the Lord, so humility is pleasing to Him. “Though the Lord be high, yet hath He respect unto the lowly: but the proud He knoweth afar off” (Psa_138:6).

Roman Soldiers mentioned in the New Testament.—Everything connected with the centurion is remarkable—for a master to have such love to his slave, for a Roman to show such humility, for a heathen to show such reverence to the religion of an alien and subject people. It is interesting to notice that in the New Testament we have various other instances of piety and goodness in the cases of Roman soldiers. There was the centurion at the cross, who confessed that Jesus was the Son of God (Mar_15:39); Cornelius, distinguished by his prayers and alms-giving (Act_10:1-2); and Julius, who treated Paul courteously and interfered to preserve his life (Act_27:3; Act_27:42-43). Probably, it has been remarked, these cases prove that, in the general decay of morals at this time, the Roman army, by its order and discipline, tended to foster some of the primitive virtues which had distinguished the nation at an earlier period.

Luk_7:10. “They that were sent.”—From a comparison of the various narratives of this miracle, it would appear that, after sending two deputations, one of Jewish elders and one of his own friends, the centurion himself came and deprecated any further trouble being taken by Jesus than His merely speaking the word. If this be the case, this verse would imply that he remained with Jesus: “they that were sent returned to the house, and found the servant whole.” This perhaps gives us another indication of the centurion’s faith.

Intercession.—If the prayers of an earthly master prevailed so much with the Son of God for the recovery of a servant, how shall the intercession of the Son of God prevail with His Father in heaven for us that are His impotent children and servants upon earth!—Hall.

The Power of Christ.—The power of Christ to heal bodily sickness by a word may well be taken as a pledge of His power to heal the soul. “So also He rebukes the diseases of the soul, and they are gone. Oh, if we did but believe this, and put Him to it! For faith doth, in a manner, command Him—as He doth all other things” (Leighton).

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

3. The First Return to Capernaum. The First-fruits of the Believing Gentiles (Luk_7:1-10)

(Parallel: Mat_8:5-13.)

1Now when he had ended all his sayings in the audience of the people, he entered into Capernaum.2And a certain centurion’s servant, who was dear unto him, was sick, and ready to die.3And when he heard of Jesus, he sent unto him the [om., the] elders of the Jews,beseeching him that he would come and heal his servant. 4And when they came to Jesus, they besought him instantly [urgently], saying, That he was worthy for5whom he should do this [to have this done for him]: For [said they] he loveth our nation,and he hath built us a synagogue [and our synagogue he himself built]. 6Then Jesus went with them. 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 worthythat thou shouldest enter under my roof: 7Wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee: but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed [let my servant be healed, V. O.1].8For I also am a man set under authority, 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. “9When Jesus heard these things, he marvelled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel [not even in Israel have I found so great a faith].10And they that were sent, returning to the house, found the servant whole [well] that had been sick.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Luk_7:1. He entered into Capernaum.—Comp. Mat_8:1-13, and Lange on the passage. The healing of the Leper, which Matthew places immediately before the recovery of the sick servant, had, according to the more exact account (Luk_5:12-16), preceded the Sermon on the Mount.

Luk_7:2. Servant.—That we are here not to understand the son, but the servant (παῖς here=δοῦλος, עֶבֶד, Act_3:26), appears not only from the statement of Luke, that this sick person was very dear to the centurion, which in the other case would have been superfluous, but also from that of Matthew that he was sick in the house of the centurion, which certainly would have needed no mention if it had been his son. The cause why he so highly valued particularly this servant, apparently his only one, see Luk_7:8 b.—[To refer the centurion’s concern to the mere fear of losing a valuable servant, appears an exceedingly frigid interpretation of the phrase “was dear unto him.”—C. C. S.]

Luk_7:3. Πρεσβυτέρους.—Not necessarily ἀρχισυνάγωγοι (Act_13:15), but elders of the people in the ordinary sense of the word. It need not surprise us to see such πρεσβύτεροι τοῦ λαοῦ come to the Saviour with an entreaty for help; for why should all adherents of the sacerdotal party at that period have been alike hostile to the Saviour? Even if they did not themselves share his expectation and his faith, yet they must have been afraid of turning their friend and protector, by the refusal of his request, into an enemy, since he, moreover,—as Jewish selfishness would easily calculate—if his servant should recover, would not feel himself indebted alone to Jesus, but also under personal obligation to them. They, therefore, bring his request to Jesus, adding commendation and urgent entreaty thereto, assuring Him: “He is worthy that thou shouldest do this for him.” And the Saviour, who had refused the weakly believing βασιλικός at Capernaum (Joh_4:46-54) to make him a visit, refuses this not to the afflicted centurion, and counts him worthy of this honor, not because he had built the synagogue, but because he had shown the heroic courage of faith.

Luk_7:5. And our synagogue he himself built.—There are several examples on record of individuals who had founded Jewish synagogues, see Lightfoot ad loc. Even the founding of one by a heathen suggests no difficulty, since the sanctity of the place did not depend upon the founder, but on the religious consecration. So did Herod also renew the temple. Moreover this centurion was, in all probability, a proselyte of the gate, like Cornelius (Acts 10) and so many others besides.

Luk_7:6. Sent friends.—This second sending is related by Luke alone, whose account supplements that of Matthew, without being in conflict with it. Now, when once the centurion believes that Jesus is on his way to his dwelling, he holds himself bound not only to await the Lord, but also to go to meet Him (πρός σε ἐλθεῖν, Luk_7:7), and it is just this that makes him diffident. Yet now he sends in his place—a very delicate and thoroughly natural touch—no intercessors, for these he needed no longer, but intimate friends of his family, who can in some measure take his place in greeting the highly honored Guest. It is much more probable that the Saviour addressed to the friends of the centurion the praise bestowed upon his great faith, which Matthew and Luke give account of, than that He should have uttered it to his face. Even though he did address himself by others to Jesus, Matthew could very well declare of the centurion, that he came to Jesus and entreated Him, according to the well-known rule: Quod quis per alium facit, ipse fecisse putatur, in the same manner in which it is said of Noah and of Solomon: “He built the Ark, or the Temple.”

Luk_7:7. Say in a word.—Even his affliction about his sick servant redounds to the honor of the heathen centurion, since commonly slaves were hardly treated by the Romans as persons, but rather as things. Still more to his honor is his humility, and most of all his vigorous faith, even though this was not free from heathen superstition. Without doubt he has already heard about Jesus, and represented the matter thus to himself, that the good Genii of health appeared, the evil fled before Jesus like troops at the will of the general. How mighty to him must the help of such a ruler of spirits have appeared. He asks nothing more than the word of command, before which the paralysis shall give way. From the power of his own words he concludes as to the might of the words of Jesus. As to the rest, that this centurion was no other than Chuza, Herod’s steward (Luk_8:3), is a supposition (Sepp) that is entirely without proof.

Luk_7:10. The servant well that had been sick.—There is just as little reason (Lachm., Tischend.) to expunge the phrase τὸν ἀσθενοῦντα, as (Paulus, a. o.) to understand ὑγιαίνοντα only in the sense of recovering. Much better Bengel: “Non modo sanum, sed sanitate utentem.”—According to Matthew as well as Luke, therefore, the healing took place at a distance, as in Joh_4:46-54. This is, however, no good reason for considering these two accounts as different relations of the same miracle. “The distinct character of the Synoptical narrative, the humble power of faith of the stranger in Israel and its deep impression upon Christ, this anti-Judaistic feature, pregnant of the future, if it was once extant in the tradition of the church, could not possibly have been so obliterated by the fourth Evangelist, considering his own character, and have been perverted almost into the opposite” (Hase).—How much attraction, moreover, this miracle must have had for Luke, not only as physician, but also as Paulinist, needs no suggestion. The prophetic declaration of the bringing in of the Gentiles, which the Saviour, according to Mat_8:11-12, uttered on this occasion, Luke gives in another connection, Luk_13:28-29.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. For the first time we find here in the Gospel of Luke witnesses of a miracle at a distance. An example of something of the kind we find in the life of Elisha (2 Kings 5), without, however, discovering a warrant in this agreement for finding here a mythical or legendary narrative in the gospels (Strauss), or for supposing the basis of both narratives to be a parable (Weisse). The point of attachment for the miraculous activity of the Saviour was undoubtedly given in the faith of the centurion and in the sympathy of his friends: “An invisible highway, we may say, for the victorious and saving eagles of the great Imperator.” Lange, Life of Christ, ii. p. 648. But the last ground of all must, however, be sought in the entirely unique personality of the Saviour. If He was really the one whom He affirmed Himself to be, distance in space could not then hinder His holy will, united with that of the Father, from working where He held it needful. What was possible to the prophet with the heathen Naaman certainly could not be impossible to the Son with the heathen centurion. By this very fact He exhibits to us the image of the working of the Father (Joh_5:17; Joh_14:9), which is impeded as little by time as by space. At the same time, we behold here as in a mirror, how He in heaven, exalted above all limits of the material world, can work directly even to the extreme limits of the earth. Much that is beautiful and striking respecting this and other miracles of the Saviour is found in the Notes on the Miracles of our Lord, by Archbishop Trench.

2. Only twice do we read in the Gospel that the Saviour marvelled; He who at other times exercised the nil mirari in Divine perfection; once at the unbelief of His fellow citizens at Nazareth (Mar_6:6), once at the faith of this heathen. And at this His wondering, we need not wonder; it is a proof the more for His true humanity. The whole history of the world may be called a continuous history of faith and unbelief, and by these two is the infallible judgment of the Lord respecting men and sinners determined. The praise which He bestows on this heathen is the more remarkable, because it evidently shows that the Saviour can praise and crown a great faith even where it is yet mingled with erroneous conceptions of the understanding.

3. A strong apologetical value lies in the impression which the report of the miraculous power of the Saviour had made upon a heathen, and in the expectation that a word at a distance would be sufficient to fulfil his wish. Respecting the Christ of the negative criticism, we understand just as little how He could give occasion to such a report as how He could excite so bold a hope in the heart of a heathen.

4. This whole history is a striking proof of the indispensable necessity of faith as a conditio sine qua non, as well of desiring anything of the Lord as also of receiving much from Him. At the same time the character of true humility, in opposition to the counterfeit, is here made evident. False humility suffers itself to be kept back from coming to Jesus by the sense of personal unworthiness; true humility confesses: “I count myself not worthy,” but—comes. Very beautifully Augustine says: “Dicendo se indignum prœstitit dignum, non in cujus parietes, sed in cujus cor Christus intraret.”

5. While the Saviour concedes to the heathen centurion such a benefit, He is not unfaithful to His own principle. (Mat_15:24) More than by his building of the synagogue and the intercession of the elders for him was this centurion by his faith received into the Israel according to the Spirit, and made partaker of the περιτομὴ τῆς καρδίας (Rom_2:29), which is the real requirement in the kingdom of God.

6. The manifestation of faith in a heathen in contrast with the unbelief of the Jews has a strong symbolic side; comp. Mat_8:11-12; Joh_1:11-13.—For a doctrine of prayer also the intercession of the elders and friends has a great significance, as a striking argument for the necessity and blessing of this service of love. Comp. Jam_5:16. “These elders, although they were not without faith, had nevertheless less faith than he who sent them (Luk_7:9). Yet do they entreat not in vain for him. Thus can often less favored ones profit others that are farther advanced more than they do themselves. Even so also the friends” (Luk_7:6). (Gerlach.)

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

The first heathen who experiences the miraculous power of the Saviour.—Great faith: 1. Courageous in entreaty; 2. humble in approach; 3. joyful in receiving the benefit of the Lord.—The entreaty of the Jews for a heathen considered from its singular, touching, and successful side.—No greater love for Israel than the care for its highest interests.—Jesus ready to go wherever need and faith call Him. Urgent intercession the best service of friendship.—Prayer and faith most intimately connected together: 1. How true humility leads to faith; 2. how true faith never forgets humility.—Christ the true Ruler over sin and sickness.—Heathen precede the Jews into the kingdom of heaven.—There is more faith on earth than we know of.—Great faith, by Jesus 1 Remarked; 2. praised; 3. crowned; 4. held up for imitation.—The centurion of Capernaum before a threefold forum: 1. The judgment of man, Luk_7:4 (a): “He is worthy,” &c.; 2. the judgment of conscience, Luk_7:6 : “I am not worthy,” &c.; 3. the judgment of the Saviour, Luk_7:9 : “Such faith,” &c.—The great faith of the master of the house a blessing for all his household.—How distress drives to Jesus and how Jesus comes to the distressed.—Great faith a singularity: 1. This is not otherwise, 2. this cannot be otherwise, 3. this will not be otherwise.—The good which we remark in others, we ought to praise with cordiality.—Time and space no barriers to the helpful love of the Lord.—In order to be highly praised by the Lord, one must be humbled most deeply before Him.—A School of Love: 1. Of a heathen towards Jews; 2. of Jews towards a heathen; 3. of the Saviour towards both together; a, in the deed, b, in the word of His love.

Starke:—God is no respecter of persons. Act_10:34-35.—Nova Bibl. Tub.:—Christian governors ought duly to acknowledge the faithfulness and obedience of their subjects, take their necessities upon them, not leave them in their spiritual and bodily distress.—For their benefits men willingly entreat God and men.—Outward works are by men, on account of their own profit, most praised, but Jesus looks at the heart, and praises faith.—Hedinger:—Become nothing, that thou mayst be something in Christ, 1Co_15:9-10; 1Pe_5:5—“Who has, to him shall be given, that he may have abundance.” The true grace of God is ever in growth and increase.—To the hero in war a heroic faith is well beseeming.—God has, even in the military profession, without doubt, His own.—Our best way to become worthy of the grace of Christ, is to count ourselves unworthy of it.—Majus:—The better a man knows God and himself, the humbler will he be.—Canstein:—Weak faith God does not despise, but a stronger faith nevertheless is more acceptable to Him.

Lisco:—Strong faith, 1. As to its nature; 2. as to its reward.—Coming to Jesus: 1. From what it springs: a. from believing confidence, b. from love to the brethren; 2. how manifested: a. with hearty humility, b. with unreserved confidence; 3. how rich in blessings it is: a. it procures us the applause of Jesus, b. it is salutary for others.—Palmer:—What is the faith which is well pleasing to the Lord, but which He does not find in Israel? 1. It is faith which springs from humility; 2. which is joined with love; 3. which aims after what is highest, and strives to appropriate it.—An entirely original application of Luk_7:8 in Cassianus Collat. Luk_7:5 : One must even so bring his thoughts under military command, summon the good, to the evil at once give their discharge.—Fuchs:—Concerning Christian faith: 1. Its source; 2. its expression; 3. its blessing.—Ranke:—Blessed he who seeks help of Christ, 1. For His love there is no man too mean; 2. for His power there is no wretchedness too great; 3. the condition of His help is for no one too hard.—Thym.—The sick servant at Capernaum: 1. The lord of the servant, 2. the sick man, 3. the Physician.—Bengel:—Faith: 1. Kind and test; 2. profit and praise.

Footnotes:

[1]Luk_7:7.—Tischendorf, after B., L., καὶ ἰαθήτω, instead of the Rec. καὶ ἰαθήσεται. The former appears more agreeable to the humble tone of the suppliant. [And the latter more expressive of his strong faith. This is supported by the other MSS. and by Cod. Sin.—C. C. S.]

Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CHAPTER 7

1. The Centurion’s Servant Healed. (Luk 7:1-10.)

2. The Widow’s Son Raised from the Dead. (Luk 7:11-17)

3. John’s Questions and the Answer. (Luk 7:18-23)

4. The Testimony Concerning John. (Luk 7:24-29)

5. The Unreasonableness of Unbelief. (Luk 7:30-35.)

6. The Woman With the Alabaster Box. (Luk 7:36-40)

7. The Parable of the Two Debtors. (Luk 7:41-50.)

Luk 7:1-10

In Matthew the healing of the Centurion’s servant comes after the healing of the leper. It teaches there the dispensational lesson, that the Gentiles would enter the Kingdom and the children of the Kingdom would be cast out into the outer darkness. As Luke writes for another purpose he omits Mat 8:11-12. Luke tells us that the Centurion sent the Jewish Elders first; when on the road to the Centurion’s house, the friends of the Centurion with the message of unworthiness, met the Lord. Some have tried to explain these differences by making the two accounts, two different miracles. This is not the case at all. The account given by Matthew is more fully explained by Luke. The Centurion first sent messengers to our Lord, and afterwards he came to speak to Him in person. Matthew relates the personal interview and Luke the message. “Speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed,” is a marvelous utterance of faith. The Centurion owned Him as Lord of all, with power over all. To him He is the Creator with omnipotent power. And the Lord marvelled at him. It is an evidence of His true humanity. Twice He marvelled; here at faith and in Mar 6:6 at unbelief.

Luk 7:11-17

The account of the raising of the widow’s son is peculiar to Luke. The story brings out the deep compassion of the Son of Man and that is why it is exclusively reported in the third Gospel. The only son of a widow had died. Here is human sorrow in the fullest sense. A widow losing her only son, her only support. He had compassion on her. How human and filled with sympathy were His words “Weep not.” And the second Word He spoke in touching the bier was “Arise.” And when the young man came back to life, He delivered him to his mother. “Weep not!” the word of His sympathy; “Arise” the word of His power. No wonder that the people declared, “God hath visited His people.” Elijah raised the son of a widow, but he had to humble himself and had to cry to the Lord. Elisha also raised the son of the Shunamite, but only after having stretched himself over the child. But the Lord commands and death has to release its prey at the one word. The Second Man has power to deal with sin and death and man’s need is fully met.

Luk 7:18-35

John, perplexed with doubt, sends to Him two of his disciples. “Honest doubt never stays away from Christ, but comes to Him for solution.” The disciples beheld the miracles the Lord did at that time. Then when John had evidently made shipwreck of his witness bearing, the Lord bears witness to him. He declares the greatness of his person. (Luk 7:27-28). All this is recorded in Mat 11:2-15; but Luke gives an interesting addition. Two classes of people stood there. The people who had heard John, accepted his message of repentance and who had been baptized. They and the tax-gatherers justified God. The leaders of the nation rejected the counsels of God against them, they had testified to that by not being baptized by John.

Luk 7:36-50

The balance of this chapter is again peculiar to Luke. He is seen as the friend of sinners, who had come to seek and save that which is lost. Beautiful sight this woman so sinful, standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, so that she wet His feet with her tears! This incident must not be confounded with the similar one reported by Matthew, Mark and John; nor was the woman Mary Magdalene. She seeks shelter with her burdened soul at the feet of Him, whom the proud Pharisees called “a friend of publicans and sinners.” How great must have been His compassion, how marvelous His lovingkindness, that a woman could come thus in His presence. The loveliness and attractiveness of the perfect Man as the friend of sinners is here fully seen. And the proud host, the Pharisee Simon, doubts that He is a prophet, for would He then not know what kind of a woman she is! The Son of Man at once gives him the evidence of His omniscience. Not alone does He know who the woman is, but He also knows the unspoken thoughts of Simon. The parable the Lord gives to Simon explains the great love of the woman, much had been forgiven her. The consciousness of that forgiveness had produced these blessed actions of the woman. And once more she hears from the lips of the Friend of Sinners, what countless thousands have heard spoken to their hearts by His Spirit; “Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.”

Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

HEALING OF THE CENTURION’S SERVANT

Mat 8:5-13, and Luk 7:1-10. We see here a clear confirmation that the Mount of Beatitudes, on which the sermon was preached, is not Mt. Hattin, west of Tiberias, as many believe, but that great mountain hanging over the city of Capernaum from the north; as He is at Capernaum immediately after descending from the mountain, whereas Mt. Hattin is twenty miles distant by land and ten by sea. “But when He finished all His words in the ears of the people, He came into Capernaum. The servant of a certain centurion, who was valuable to him, being sick, was about to die. And hearing concerning Jesus, he sent to Him the elders of the Jews to ask him that, having come, He may heal his servant. And they, coming to Jesus, continued to entreat Him, earnestly saying, That he is worthy to whom He will do this; for he loveth our race, and he hath built for us a synagogue.” We are quoting Luke. Matthew says that the centurion himself came to Jesus. You see here, Luke says that he sent the elders of the Jews. In this there is no discrepancy, as we must remember that old Roman law, adopted by the English and the Americans, Qui facit per alium, facit per se, “What a man does by another, he does by himself.” This principle is recognized in all Biblical interpretation, and here harmonizes Matthew and Luke. From the fact that both incidents transpired in Capernaum, some have confounded this miracle with that of healing the nobleman’s son (John 4). They are entirely different. In the latter case, Jesus was at Cana, and actually healed him while a day’s journey distant. In the case of the centurion, Jesus is in the city. The nobleman was a Jew, a member of the Herodian family; the centurion a Gentile, an officer in the Roman army. The nobleman is an example of weak faith, increasing and triumphing in the end; while the centurion exhibits very strong faith throughout. When I was in Capernaum they pointed me out the ruin of the synagogue which this centurion built for the Jews. “And Jesus was going along with them. And He being far from the house, the centurion sent his friends to Him, saying, Lord, be not troubled, for I am not worthy that You may come beneath my roof; therefore I did not consider myself worthy to come unto You. But speak in a word, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man placed under authority, having soldiers under me, and I say to this one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. And Jesus hearing these things was astonished at him, and turning, said to the multitude following Him, I say unto you, That I have not found so great faith in Israel. And those who were sent, returning to the house, found the sick servant well.” The faith of the centurion, as you see, received the Savior’s highest commendation, assuring them that He had not found so great faith in Israel, this heathen Roman officer eclipsing the brightest examples in all the Hebrew nation. His faith is beautifully illustrated in the reasons which he gives for not troubling Jesus to come to his house, though He was then on His way, “I am a man under authority,” etc. What is the meaning of the centurion? “Just as I command Roman soldiers, and they are forced by the rigors of military law to obey me or lose their heads, so You command diseases to evacuate the body and devils to come out of the soul, and they are bound by the laws of the universe to obey You. Therefore there is no need of Your coming to my house, as You have nothing to do but command the disease to leave my servant, and it is bound to get away; it can not help itself.” Mat 8:2 : “But I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of the heavens, but the sons of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness; and there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Thus our Lord indulges in these mournful reflections upon the awful doom of the unbelieving Jews, the children of the kingdom, who had waited four thousand years for the coming King, and then, unfortunately, rejecting Him, will make their bed in hell. “Children of the kingdom” does not mean that they are already members of it, but simply that they are subjects for admission into it, this being a peculiar Oriental expression. The wonderful faith of this Gentile seems to remind our Savior of the coming millions from the whole heathen world, destined so speedily, responsive to the gospel call, to hasten into the kingdom, thus filling the vacancy created by the fall of the Jews. “And Jesus said to the centurion, Go, and as you have believed, so be it unto you. And his servant was healed in that hour.” This declaration of the Master is a glorious climax, setting forth the great gospel law of pardon and sanctification, thus recognizing our faith as the measuring line of our experiences, commensurate with what we get from God. While repentance must put you on believing ground, and loyal obedience demonstrate your faith to the world, yet faith is the only receptive and appropriative grace in the Divine economy. Prayer shovels in the coal, but faith generates the steam.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Subdivision 2. (Luk 7:1-50; Luk 8:1-21.)

The Word as the Ministry of Salvation.

We have now the Word as that by which the ministry of salvation is effected; the language being still often; as that of the synoptic Gospels so much is, symbolic, and the healing of the body illustrative of that deeper spiritual healing which it is so well qualified to picture to us, and which is so in the mind of the Spirit to keep before us. This fuller blessing, without which there is none, comes moreover continually into more open view, and its features are revealed with growing fulness.

1. The two narratives with which this part opens show us in the most striking way the power of the divine Word as Christ utters it. The first is the story of the centurion in whom the Lord finds greater faith than He had found in Israel: a faith which owns the Lord’s supremacy, whether present or absent, over all the powers of nature which are obedient to His will. The second is that of the raising of the widow’s son at Nain, which shows that giving way to His word which is the stamp upon the fallen creature; the removal of which is the significant pledge of power come in able to deliver from the condition itself of which it is the stamp. Here then; is indeed a "word living and powerful," as the epistle to the Hebrews calls it (Heb 4:12), and ready as well as competent to meet man’s need.

(1) Matthew gives us the healing of the centurion’s servant, but in another connection; and with certain differences, which have occasioned question. For Luke represents not only the elders of the Jews as first sent with prayer that Jesus would come and heal the sick man, but that, while He is upon the road, the friends of the centurion are sent with a second message, which excuses his not coming in person by his felt unworthiness. In Matthew we are told the centurion came; but his words are to the same effect as those of his friends in Luke. It seems, therefore, that the account in the former is to be explained by the latter: the Gentile Gospel taking care to show fully the humble place that the Gentile took, both in making use of the Jewish elders, and in not actually coming to the Lord Himself. The faith at which the Lord wonders is related in both; while the Jewish writer it is who gives, and in fullest accord with the dispensational character of his book, the warning to the Jews of the rejection of children of the Kingdom, while those of the nations should come in from every quarter to partake in its blessings with the patriarchs of Israel.

The Roman soldier sees everywhere in the world the law and order which Rome so emphasized. But he sees it to draw an argument from it for the absolute authority of Him whom his faith owns as having supreme power over all the powers of nature. He himself, only a man under authority, could speak and be obeyed; it needed not, then; the presence of Jesus -He needed not to put His own hand to the work, when all things served Him. We have only to compare the wonder of His disciples when He calmed the the sea of Galilee, to realize how indeed the faith of the Gentile surpassed that of the Lord’s nearest and chosen followers.

(2) The story of Nain is found in Luke only. Nain means "pleasant," what the world was as God made it; what it is still naturally to the natural man. But at the gate of it, carried out, is a dead man, death being still the way out of the world, as it is the shadow over it. The widowed mother, whose only son he is, and the sympathetic crowd that follows, show in how many ways death affects the survivors. The consequences of it, which lie in another world, are not introduced into this picture, but man’s conscience will not allow him to forget them: "the sting of death is sin," which threatens the soul with judgment.

Thus the pleasant world is become the "valley of death-shade," and as such Christ has come to it in His infinite compassion; as He comes here to Nain. To the sorrowing mother He says, "Weep not," and His is no fruitless sympathy. He touches the bier, as touch it Himself He must, by His death to give His word power over it. Then the word is spoken which abolishes it, and the dead man rises. He "sat up and began to speak; and He gave him to his mother."

Here, then, is man’s need fully met, the judgment which is upon him, all that sin and death imply, has found a remedy. The people fear, and glorify God; and the word goes out throughout all Judea that a great prophet is risen up, and God hath visited His people: a testimony true indeed, but quite below the wondrous truth as to His Person who was there.

2. The twofold testimony of God which man needs and which God has provided is now shown us in John and the Lord: John the preacher of repentance, the witness to man’s condition; the summing up of the Old Testament controversy with man; while pointing forward, as the Old Testament did, to Him who was to come; Christ the Bringer of salvation; the New Testament Voice, the Manifester of God to men; and who opens the way to God for men.

Repentance and faith are the double answer to this double testimony, though neither of these can exist without the other. They are the backward and forward glances of the soul, and which are at the same time its downward and upward ones. Or, conversion being the "turning round" of man, repentance is the back turned upon self, as faith is the face turned toward God in Christ. Repentance is as inseparable, therefore, from faith, as faith is from repentance.

The testimony of John and of Christ come in; then; in this place with perfect naturalness; and in the contrast between them their accord is manifest. In both, divine wisdom will be justified by her children; and the refusal of the one will be seen; as in Israel’s case, to be the refusal of the other.

(1) But first we have to see the Baptist in his prison perplexed with doubt, as to which he sends two of his disciples to Christ, that He may satisfy it. "Art Thou the One that is coming?" is his question; "or wait we for another?" Honest doubt never stays away from Christ, but comes to Him for solution. The Lord points him to the works which at that very time He was doing, the power of God being manifested in various goodness, while the gospel-tidings were being given to the poor. Not wonders alone were evidence, but wonders that were "signs" -significant of the nature and power of Him from whom they proceeded. While all the time the sweet gospel invitation addressed itself to the needy, most Godlike in coming lowest down.

The Lord adds one gentle word for the conscience of His fore-runner: "And blessed is he who shall not be stumbled by Me." (See pp. 122, 123, notes.)

(2) The messengers departed with this, and now, when John may seem to have failed entirely in his witness, the Lord bears witness to him. Be it that he had failed, was it in vain that crowds had gone out into the wilderness after him? Was he then but a reed shaken with the wind? Was he a courtier of men; clothed in soft raiment? did they look for such in the wilderness, rather than in the courts of kings? Certainly, his whole life proved him far other than these. But what was it, then; that drew men after him? Was he a prophet? Yea, says the Lord, and more than a prophet: he was one of whom the prophet had spoken; as the messenger of God before Messiah’s face, to prepare His way before Him.

Such then was John, the prepares for the Kingdom of God; as great in this position as any of women born; yet the one comparatively little, actually in the Kingdom thus announced, would be greater than he. (See pp. 123, 124, notes.)

But in fact John’s message had been rejected by the leaders of the nation; the Pharisees and lawyers, while only those classed by these as "sinners" had heard and been baptized by him. These owned the righteousness of God in pressing upon them through John their need of repentance; but the others rejected for themselves the counsel of God, and were not baptized of him. Thus a remnant only of the people, and these the outcasts, were ready for the grace which now addressed itself to them. As to that generation at large, they could only be compared to children sitting in the market-place, triflers who would have had John dance to their piping, and the Lord and His disciples weep when they mourned. They understood not, for they were too careless to understand, either the one or the other. To them John was but a demoniac; Christ a gluttonous man and a wine-bibber, to be judged according to the company He kept. The children of wisdom alone justified wisdom’s ways: and who, then; were these children of wisdom? The answer to this is given us in what immediately follows now.

3. That which follows is one of those stories peculiar to Luke and characterizing it, the story of the woman in the Pharisee’s house: the woman a "sinner;" the Pharisee one of those "ninety and nine just persons" of whom the Lord afterwards speaks, and whom He puts there in contrast with the "lost." Here it is the Pharisee who invites the contrast.

They had called Him the "Friend of sinners." We see here how truly He was that, and in what manner: what sinners gained from that wondrous friendship. We see a spiritual transformation wrought, and wisdom justified in a child of wisdom, a sinner transformed. We see how sanctification comes from salvation, or, indeed, is the internal part of it; and that there is nothing holier than the gospel grace.

Asked by a Pharisee to eat with him, Jesus enters the house and takes His place at table. And there it is -strange place for such a meeting -a woman in the city who is a sinner, having heard that He is in the house, draws near and stands behind Him weeping, her tears falling upon His feet. With the hairs of her head she wipes them off, and kissing His feet, anoints them with the ointment which she has brought with her.

Sinner she is, yet the knowledge of it does not keep her back; rather it gives her boldness to be there where of all places, perhaps, she would find the most unsparing judgment. But His shield shall be over her -the Friend of sinners: how differently does that sound to her, and to the Pharisee whose house she has entered!

Indeed he is already astir, his mind drawing its conclusion against One who can permit the familiarity that a woman like this is showing. But even He, he reasons, must be ignorant of her character. A prophet would have known; but a prophet could not have permitted defilement such as this. The Lord answers his unspoken thoughts and makes him judge of himself as compared with this woman whom he condemns; a sinner, truly, but a forgiven sinner. Surely, he too could not deny himself to be a sinner! and if so, did he not know for himself the sweet sanctifying power of forgiveness, -the outflow of heart to God who has forgiven? Perhaps, indeed, he had not sinned as she: could God then forgive the debt of fifty pence, but not the five hundred? And if to her the larger debt had been remitted, could he not recognize in these tears, this abandonment of ecstatic emotion, in contrast with his own cold treatment of the Guest he had invited, the sense of that larger debt which made her in a Pharisee’s eyes a sinner indeed?

But remitted! Yes, it was the consciousness of that remission which had wrought in her after this manner. Even he should understand -could understand in the case of a common debtor; though himself having been forgiven little, he loved but little.

Thus the Pharisee is set in the light of God, and his inmost heart searched out, while He who reveals Himself in doing this, openly takes the place which the woman’s faith before had given Him, and confirms to her that which she in her simplicity had appropriated already. "And He said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven." If they murmur at His words, only the more positively does He reiterate them: "And He said unto the woman; Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace."

4. (1) We have seen; then, the power of the Word in the soul of one that receives it; all the more that, as we saw her first, she had as yet bad no word distinctly addressed to herself to assure her of the blessing which she grasps with such effect. We now go on to see how the fruits produced characterize the reception of it, -how the seed tests the soil. This is shown in that familiar parable of the Sower, which we have had already in the two previous Gospels, here given a slightly abbreviated form, and without the parables which accompany it in them. As an introduction to it, however, we are shown as fruit of the Word the company of disciples who now follow the Lord, and some of whom minister to Him of their substance. It is here first we find those faithful women who follow Him to the cross itself, and at the sepulchre greet Him first in resurrection. Their own deliverance has attached them to Him, and He on His part receives their services, emancipating them from the harsh restrictions of Rabbinism, which put the woman into a not merely inferior but a degraded place. The twelve are also with Him, and throughout all Galilee, with the testimony of word and work, goes also that of the new communion of faith and love which Christianity was fully and universally to establish.

(2, 3) People gather together to Him out of every city around; and in the midst of such a multitude it is that the Lord searches out the heart (as so commonly He does where the crowds follow Him) by the parable of the Sower.

No fruit is to be got from man for God, except as the word of God produces it; but with the same seed and the same Sower, how different are the results! The devil, the flesh, and the world are in triple league against God and His word, and man is traitor to himself in listening to them. All this, however, has been already dwelt upon. The closing verses are substantially as in Mark (4: 22-25).

(4) The following verses are also in both the other Synoptists, though here somewhat briefer and in different connection. They complete, in the place in which they stand in Luke, G the view of the relation of the word of God to salvation and fruitfulness for God, and carry us on in principle to Christianity, which develops and manifests this.

F. W. Grant, The Numerical Bible (4th ed., 1903) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Chapter 12

THE FAITH OF THE CENTURION.- Luk_7:1-10

OUR Evangelist prefaces the narrative of the healing of the centurions servant with one of his characteristic time-marks, the shadow upon his dial-plate being the shadow of the new mount of God: "After He had ended all His sayings in the ears of the people, He entered into Capernaum." The language is unusually weighty, almost solemn, as if the Sermon on the Mount were not so much a sermon as a manifesto, the formal proclamation of the kingdom of heaven. Our word "ended," too, is scarcely an equivalent of the original word, whose underlying idea is that of fullness, completion. It is more than a full-stop to point a sentence; it is a word that characterizes the sentence itself, suggesting, if not implying, that these "sayings" of His formed a complete and rounded whole, a body of moral and ethical truth which was perfect in itself. The Mount of Beatitudes thus stands before us as the Sinai of the New Testament, giving its laws to all peoples and to all times. But how different the aspect of the two mounts! Then the people dare not touch the mountain; now they press close up to the "Prophet like unto Moses" to hear the word of God. Then the Law came in a cluster of restrictions and negations; it now speaks in commands most positive, in principles permanent as time itself; while from this new Sinai the clouds have disappeared, the thunders ceased, leaving a sky serene and bright, and a heaven which is strangely near.

Returning to Capernaum-which city, after the ejection from Nazareth, became the home of Jesus, and the center of His Galilean ministry-He was met by a deputation of Jewish elders, who came to intercede with Him on behalf of a centurion whose servant was lying dangerously ill and apparently at the point of death. The narrative thus gives us, as its "dramatis personae," the Sufferer, the Intercessor, and the Healer.

As we read the story our thought is arrested, and naturally so, by the central figure. The imposing shadow of the centurion so completely fills our range of vision that it throws into the background the nameless one who in his secret chamber is struggling vainly in the tightening grip of death. But who is he who can command such a service? Around whose couch is such a multitude of ministering feet? Who is he whose panting breath can throw over the heart of his master, and over his face, the ripplemarks of a great sorrow, which sends hither and thither, as the wind tosses the dry leaves, soldiers of the army, elders of the Jews, friends of the master, and which makes even the feet of the Lord hasten with His succor?

"And a certain centurions servant, who was dear unto him, was sick and at the point of death." Such is the brief sentence which describes a character, and sums up the whole of an obscure life. We are not able to define precisely his position, for the word leaves us in doubt whether he were a slave or a servant of the centurion. Probably-if we may throw the light of the whole narrative upon the word-he was a confidential servant, living in the house of his master, on terms of more than usual intimacy. What those terms were we may easily discover by opening out the word "dear," reading its depths as well as its surface-meaning. In its lower sense it means "valuable," "worthy" (putting its ancient accent upon the modern word). It sets the man, not over against the tables of the Law, but against the law of the tables, weighing him in the balances of trade, and estimating him by the scale of commercial values. But in this meaner, worldly mode of reckoning he is not found wanting. He is a servant proved and approved. Like Eliezer of old, he has identified himself with his masters interests, listening for his voice, and learning to read even the wishes which were unexpressed in words. Adjusting His will to the higher will, like a vane answering the currents of the wind, his hands, his feet, and his whole self have swung round to fall into the drift of his masters purpose. Faithful in his service, whether that service were under the masters eye or not, and faithful alike in the great and the little things, he has entered into his masters confidence, and so into his joy. Losing his own personality, he is content to be something between a cipher and a unit, only a "hand." But he is the masters right hand, strong and ever ready, so useful as to be almost an integral part of the masters self, without which the masters life would be incomplete and strangely bereaved. All this we may learn from the lower meaning of the phrase "was dear unto him."

But the word has a higher meaning, one that is properly rendered by our "dear." It implies esteem, affection, transferring our thought from the subject to the object, from the character of the servant to the influence it has exerted upon the master. The word is thus an index, a barometrical reading, measuring for us the pressure of that influence, and recording for us the high sentiments of regard and affection it has evoked.

As the trees around the pond lean towards the water which laves their roots, so the strong soul of the centurion, drawn by the attractions of a lowly but a noble life, leans toward, until it leans upon, his servant, giving him its confidence, its esteem and love, that golden fruitage of the heart. That such was the mutual relation of the master and the servant is evident, for Jesus, who read motives and heard thoughts, would not so freely and promptly have placed His miraculous power at the disposal of the centurion had his sorrow been only the selfish sorrow of losing what was commercially valuable. To an appeal of selfishness, though thrown forward and magnified by the sounding-boards of all the synagogues the ears of Jesus would have been perfectly deaf; but when it was the cry of a genuine sorrow, the moan of a vicarious pain, an unselfish, disinterested grief, then the ears of Jesus were quick to hear, and His feet swift to respond.

It is impossible for us to define exactly what the sickness was, though the statement of St. Matthew that it was "palsy," and that he was "grievously tormented," would suggest that it might be an acute case of inflammatory rheumatism. But whatever it might be, it was a most painful, and as every one thought a mortal sickness, one that left no room for hope, save this last hope in the Divine mercy. But what a lesson is here for our times, as indeed for all times, the lesson of humanity! How little does Heaven make of rank and station! Jesus does not even see them; He ignores them utterly. To His mind Humanity is one, and the broad lines of distinction, the impassable barriers Society is fond of drawing or setting up, to Him are but imaginary meridians of the sea, a name but nothing more. It is but a nameless servant of a nameless master, one, too, of many, for a hundred others are ready, with military precision, to do that same masters will; but Jesus does not hesitate. He who voluntarily took upon Himself the form of a servant, as He came into the world "not to be ministered unto, but to minister," now becomes the Servant of a servant, saying to him who knew only how to obey, how to serve, "Here am I; command Me; use Me as thou wilt." All service is honorable, if we serve not ourselves, but our fellows, and it is doubly so if, serving man, we serve God too. As the sunshine looks down into, and strews with flowers, the lowest vales, so the Divine compassion falls on the lowliest lives, and the Divine grace makes them sweet and beautiful. Christianity is the great leveler, but it levels upwards, and if we possess the mind of Christ, His Spirit dwelling and ruling within, we too, like the great Apostle, shall know no man after the flesh; the accidents of birth, and rank, and fortune will sink back into the trifles that they are; for however these may vary, it is an eternal truth, though spoken by a son of the soil and the heather-

"A mans a man for a that."

It is not easy to tell how the seed-thought is borne into a heart, there to germinate and ripen; for influences are subtle, invisible things. Like the pollen of a flower, which may be carried on the antennae of some unconscious insect, or borne into the future by the passing breeze, so influences which will yet ripen into character and make destinies are thrown off unconsciously from our common deeds, or they are borne on the wings of the chance, casual word. The case of the centurion is no exception. By what steps he has been brought into the clearer light we cannot tell, but evidently this Pagan officer is now a proselyte to the Hebrew faith and worship, the window of his soul open towards Jerusalem while his professional life still looks towards Rome, as he renders to Caesar the allegiance and service which are Caesars due. And what a testimony it is to the vitality and reproductive power of the Hebrew faith, that it should boast of at least three centurions, in the imperial ranks, of whom Scripture makes honorable mention-one at Capernaum; another, Cornelius, at Caesarea, whose prayers and alms were had in remembrance of Heaven; and the third in Jerusalem, witnessing a good confession upon Calvary, and proclaiming within the shadow of the cross the Divinity of the Crucified. It shows how the Paganism of Rome failed to satisfy the aspirations of the soul, and how Mars, red and lurid through the night, paled and disappeared at the rising of the Sun.

Although identifying himself with the religious life of the city, the centurion had not yet had any personal interview with Jesus. Possibly his military duties prevented his attendance at the synagogue, so that he had not seen the cures Jesus there wrought upon the demoniac and the man with the withered hand. The report of them, however, must soon have reached him, intimate as he was with the officials of the synagogue; while the nobleman, the cure of whose sick son is narrated by St. John, {Joh_4:46} would probably be amongst his personal friends, an acquaintance at any rate. The centurion "heard" of Jesus, but he could not have heard had not some one spoken of Him. The Christ was borne into his mind and heart on the breath of common speech; that is, the little human word grew into the Divine Word. It was the verbal testimony as to what Jesus had done that now led to the still greater things He was prepared to do. And such is the place and power of testimony today. It is the most persuasive, the most effective form of speech. Testimony will often win where argument has failed, and gold itself is all-powerless to extend the frontiers of the heavenly kingdom until it is melted down and exchanged for the higher currency of speech. It is first the human voice crying in the wilderness, and then the incarnate Word, whose coming makes the wilderness to be glad, and the desert places of life to sing. And so, while a sword of flame guards the Paradise Lost, it is a "tongue" of flame, that symbol of perpetual Pentecost, which calls man back, redeemed now, to the Paradise Restored. If Christians would only speak more for Christ; if, shaking off that foolish reserve, they would in simple language testify to what they themselves have seen, and known, and experienced, how rapidly would the kingdom come, the kingdom for which we pray, indeed, but for which, alas, we are afraid to speak! Nations then would be born in a day, and the millennium, instead of being the distant or the forlorn hope it is, would be a speedy realization. We should be in the fringe of it directly. It is said that on one of the Alpine glaciers the guides forbid travelers to speak, lest the mere tremor of the human voice should loosen and bring down the deadly avalanche. Whether this be so or not, it was some unnamed voice that now sent the centurion to Christ, and brought the Christ to him.

It was probably a sudden relapse, with increased paroxysms of pain, on the part of the sufferer, which now decided the centurion to make his appeal to Jesus, sending a deputation of Jewish elders, as the day was on the wane, to the house to which Jesus had now returned. They make their request that. "He would come and save the servant of the centurion, who was now lying at the point of death." True advocates, and skilful, were these elders. They made the centurions cause their own, as if their hearts had caught the rhythmic beat of his great sorrow, and when Jesus held back a little-as He often did, to test the intensity of the desire and the sincerity of the suppliant-"they besought Him earnestly," or "kept on beseeching" as the tense of the verb would imply, crowning their entreaty with the plea, "He is worthy that Thou shouldest do this, for he loveth our nation, and himself built us our synagogue." Possibly they feared-putting a Hebrew construction upon His sympathies-that Jesus would demur, and perhaps refuse, because their client was a foreigner. They did not know, what we know so well, that the mercy of Jesus was as broad as it was deep, knowing no bounds where its waves of blessing are stayed. But how forceful and prevalent was their plea! Though they knew it not, these elders do but ask Jesus to illustrate the words He has just spoken, "Give, and it shall be given unto you." And had not Jesus laid this down as one of the laws of mercy, that action and reaction are equal? Had He not been describing the orbit in which blessings travel, showing that though its orbit be apparently eccentric at times, like the boomerang, that wheels round and comes back to the hand that threw it forward, the mercy shown will eventually come back to him who showed it, with a wealth of heavenly usury? And so their plea was the one of all others to be availing. It was the precept of the mount evolved into practice. It was, "Bless him, for he has richly blessed us. He has opened his hand, showering his favors upon us; do Thou open Thine hand now, and show him that the God of the Hebrews is a God who hears, and heeds, and helps."

It has been thought, from the language of the elders, that the synagogue built by the centurion was the only one that Capernaum possessed; for they speak of it as "the" synagogue. But this does not follow, and indeed it is most improbable. They might still call it "the" synagogue, not because it was the only one, but: because it was the one foremost and uppermost in their thought, the one in which they were particularly interested. The definite article no more proves this to be the only synagogue in Capernaum than the phrase "the house" {Luk_7:10} proves the house of the centurion to be the only house of the city. The fact is that in the Gospel age Capernaum was a busy and important place, as shown by its possessing a garrison of soldiers, and by its being the place of custom, situated as it was on the great highway of trade. And if Jerusalem could boast of four hundred synagogues, and Tiberias-a city not even named by the Synoptists-fourteen, Capernaum certainly would possess more than one. Indeed, had Capernaum been the insignificant village that one synagogue would imply, then, instead of deserving the bitter woes Jesus pronounced upon it, it would have deserved the highest commendation, as the most fruitful field in all His ministry, giving Him, besides other disciples, a ruler of the Jews and the commandant of the garrison. That it deserved such bitter "woes" proves that Capernaum had a population both dense and, in the general, hostile to Jesus, compared with which His friends and adherents were a feeble few.

In spite of the negative manner Jesus purposely showed at the first He fully intended to grant all the elders had asked, and allowing them now to guide Him, He "went with them." When, however, they were come near the house, the centurion sent other "friends" to intercept Jesus and to urge Him not to take any further trouble. The message, which they deliver in the exact form in which it was given to them, is so characteristic and exquisitely beautiful that it is best to give it entire: "Lord, trouble not Thyself: for I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come under my roof: wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto Thee: but say the word, and my servant shall be healed. For I also am a man set under authority, having under myself soldiers: and I say to this one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it."

The narrative of St. Matthew differs slightly from that of St. Luke, in that he omits all reference to the two deputations, speaking of the interview as being personal with the centurion. But St. Matthews is evidently an abbreviated narrative, and he passes over the intermediaries, in accordance with the maxim that he who acts through another does it per se. But both agree as to the terms of the message, a message which is at once a marvel and a rebuke to us, and one which was indeed deserving of being twice recorded and eulogized in the pages of the Gospels.

And how the message reveals the man, disclosing as in a transparency the character of this nameless foreigner! We have already seen how broad were his sympathies, and how generous his deeds, as he makes room in his large heart for a conquered and despised people, at his own cost building a temple for the exercises of their faith. We have seen, too, what a wealth of tenderness and benevolence was hiding beneath a somewhat stern exterior, in his affection for a servant, and his anxious solicitude for that servants health. But now we see in the centurion other graces of character, that set him high amongst those "outside saints" who worshipped in the outer courts, until such time as the veil of the Temple was rent in twain, and the way into the Holiest was opened for all. And what a beautiful humility is here! What an absence of assumption or of pride! Occupying an honored position, representing in his own person an empire which was world-wide, surrounded by troops of friends, and by all the comforts wealth could buy, accustomed to speak in imperative, if not in imperious ways, yet as he turns towards Jesus it is with a respectful, yea, a reverential demeanor. He feels himself in the presence of some Higher Being, an unseen but august Caesar. Nay, not in His presence either, for into that audience-chamber he feels that he has neither the fitness nor the right to intrude. All that he can do is to send forward his petition by the hands of worthier advocates, who have access to Him, while he himself keeps back out of sight, with bared feet standing by the outer gate. Others can speak well and highly of him, recounting his noble deeds, but of himself he has nothing good to say; he can only speak of self in terms of disparagement, as he emphasizes his littleness, his unworthiness. Nor was it with him the conventional hyperbole of Eastern manners; it was the language of deepest, sincerest truth, when he said that he was not worthy even to speak with Christ, or to receive such a Guest beneath his roof. Between himself and the One he reverently addressed as "Lord" there was an infinite distance; for one was human, while the Other was Divine.

And what a rare and remarkable faith! In his thought Jesus is an Imperator, commanding all forces, as He rules the invisible realms. His will is supreme over all substances, across all distances. "Thou hast no need, Lord, to take any trouble about my poor request. There is no necessity that Thou shouldest take one step, or even lift up a finger; Thou hast only to speak the word, and it is done"; and then he gives that wonderfully graphic illustration borrowed from his own military life.

The passage "For I also am a man set under authority" is generally rendered as referring to his own subordinate position under the Chiliarch. But such a rendering, as it seems to us, breaks the continuity of thought, and grammatically is scarcely accurate. The whole passage is an amplification and description of the "word" of ver. 7 {Luk_7:7-8}, and the "also" introduces something the centurion and Jesus possess in common, i.e. the power to command; for the "I also" certainly corresponds with the "Thou" which is implied, but not expressed. But the centurion did not mean to imply that Jesus possessed only limited, delegated powers; this was farthest from his thought, and formed no part of the comparison. But let the clause "I also am a man set under authority" be rendered, not as referring to the authority which is above him, but to that which is upon him-"I also am vested with authority," or "Authority is put upon me"-and the meaning becomes clear. The "also" is no longer warped into an ungrammatical meaning, introducing a contrast rather than a likeness; while the clause which follows, "having under myself soldiers," takes its proper place as an enlargement and explanation of the "authority" with which the centurion is invested.

The centurion speaks in a soldierly way. There is a crispness and sharpness about his tones-that Shibboleth of militarism. He says, "My word is all-powerful in the ranks which I command. I have but to say Come, or Go, and my word is instantly obeyed. The soldier upon whose ear it falls dare not hesitate, any more than he dare refuse. He goes at my word, anywhither, on some forlorn hope it may be, or to his grave." And such is the obedience, instant and absolute, that military service demands. The soldier must not question, he must obey; he must not reason, he must act; for when the word of command-that leaded word of authority-falls upon his ear, it completely fills his soul, and makes him deaf to all other, meaner voices.

Such was the thought in the centurions mind, and from the "go" and "come" of military authority to the higher "word" of Jesus the transition is easy. But how strong the faith that could give to Jesus such an enthronement, that could clothe His word with such superhuman power! Yonder, in his secluded chamber, lies the sufferer, his nerves quivering in their pain, while the mortal sickness physicians and remedies have all failed to touch, much less to remove, has dragged him close up to the gate of death. But this "word" of Jesus shall be all-sufficient. Spoken here and now, it shall pass over the intervening streets and through the interposing walls and doors; it shall say to these demons of evil, "Loose him, and let him go," and in a moment the torturing pain shall cease, the fluttering heart shall resume its healthy, steady beat, the rigid muscles shall become pliant as before, while through arteries and veins the life-blood-its poison all extracted now-shall regain its healthful, quiet flow. The centurion believed all this of the "word" of Jesus, and even more. In his heart it was a word all-potent, if not omnipotent, like to the word of Him who "spake, and it was done," who "commanded, and it stood fast." And if the word of Jesus in these realms of life and death was so imperative and all-commanding, could the Christ Himself be less than Divine?

To find such confidence reposed in Himself was to Jesus something new, and to find this rarest plant of faith growing up on Gentile soil was a still greater marvel, and turning to the multitude, which clustered thick and eager around, He said to them, "I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel." And commending the centurions faith, He honors it too, doing all he requested, and even more, though without the "word." Jesus does not even say "I will," or "Be it so," but He works the instant and perfect cure by a mere volition. He wills it, and it is done, so that when the friends returned to the house they found the servant "whole."

Of the sequel we know nothing. We do not even read that Jesus saw the man at whose faith He had so marveled. But doubtless He did, for His heart was drawn strangely to him, and doubtless He gave to him many of those "words" for which his soul had longed and listened, words in which were held, as in solution, all authority and all truth. And doubtless, too, in the after-years, Jesus crowned that life of faithful but unnoted service with the higher "word," the heavenly "Well done."

William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.

7:1-10 This episode shows God’s message of salvation is for Gentiles as well as Jews.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Luk_7:1-10. See on Mat_8:5-13. In the present form of Marks Gospel the section must have been lost at the same time with the Sermon on the Mount, Luk_3:19 (Ewald, Holtzmann); both are supposed to have existed in the primitive Mark. Comp. on Mar_3:19.

ἐπλήρωσε] cum absolvisset, so that nothing more of them was wanting, and was left behind. Comp. 1Ma_4:19 (cod. A); Eusebius, H. E. iv. 15 : πληρώσαντος τὴν προσευχήν. Comp. συνετέλεσε, Mat_7:28.

ἀκοάς] as Mar_7:35.

The healing of the leper, which Matthew introduces before the healing of the servant, Luke has inserted already at Luk_5:12 ff.

Luk_7:3. πρεσβυτέρους] as usually: elders of the people, who also on their part were sufficiently interested in respect of the circumstance mentioned at Luk_7:5. Hence not: chiefs of the synagogue; ἀρχισυναγώγους, Act_13:15; Act_18:8; Act_18:17.

ἄξιός ἐστιν, ᾧ] equivalent to ἄξιός ἐστιν, ἵνα αὐτῷ. See Kühner, § 802. 4; Buttmann, Neut. Gr. p. 198 [E. T. 229].

ἐλθών] Subsequently, in Luk_7:6, he changed his mind; his confidence rose to a higher pitch, so that he is convinced that he needs not to suggest to Him the coming at all.

Luk_7:4. παρέξῃ] The Recepta παρέξει, as the second person, is not found anywhere; for ὄψει and βούλει (Winer, p. 70 [E. T. 89]) are forms sanctioned by usage, to which also is to be added οἴει; but other verbs are found only in Aristophanes and the tragic writers (Matthaei, p. 462; Reisig, ad Soph. Oed. C. p. xxii. f.). If παρέξει were genuine, it would be the third person of the future active (min.: παρέξεις), and the words would contain the utterance of the petitioners among themselves.

Luk_7:5-6. αὐτός] ipse, namely, of his own means.[106] The Gentile builder did not prejudice the sanctity of the building, because that came by means of the consecration. See Lightfoot, p. 775.

φίλους] as Luk_15:6; Act_10:24, kinsfolk, relatives; see Nägelsbach, Anm. z. Ilias, ed. 3, p. 374.

Luk_7:7. διό] on account of my unworthiness.

οὐδέ] not at all.

ἐμαυτόν] in reference to those who had been sent, who were to represent him, Luk_7:3.

παῖς] equivalent to δοῦλος, Luk_7:2. According to Baur, it is an unmerited accusation against Luke that he erroneously interpreted the παῖς of his original source, and nevertheless by oversight allowed it to remain in this place (Holtzmann).

Luk_7:8. ὑπὸ ἐξουσ. τασσόμ] an expression of military subordination: one who is placed under orders. Luke might also have written τεταγμένος, but the present depicts in a more lively manner the concrete relation as it constantly occurs in the service.

Luk_7:10. τὸν ἀσθενοῦντα δ. ὑγιαίν] the sick slave well (not: recovering). ἀσθενοῦντα, present participle, spoken from the point of view of the πεμφθέντες, Luk_7:6. Ού γὰρ ἅμα … ὑγιαίνει τε καὶ νοσεῖ ὁ ἄνθρωπος, Plat. Gorg. p. 495 E. As an explanation of this miraculous healing from a distance, Schenkel can here suggest only the extraordinary spiritual excitement of the sick person.

[106] He was such a friend of Judaism, and dwelt in the Jewish land. This was a sufficient reason for Jesus treating him quite differently from the way in which He afterwards treated the Syrophoenician woman. Hilgenfeld persists in tracing Mat_8:5 ff. to the supposed universalistic retouching of Matthew. See his Zeitschr. 1865, p. 48 ff.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Luk 7:1-10 . The Centurion of Capernaum (Mat 8:5-13 ).

Luk 7:1 . εἰς τὰς ἀκοὰς , into the ears = εἰς τὰ ὦτα in Sept [73] (Gen 20:8 ; Gen 50:4 , Exo 10:2 ). To show that it is not a Hebraism, Kypke cites from Dion. Hal.: εἰς τὴν ἀπάντων τῶν παρόντων ἀκοὴν . εἰσῆλθεν , entered, not returned to, Capernaum.

[73] Septuagint.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Chap.

7:1-10.] Healing of the centurion’s servant. Mat 8:5-13. In Matt. also placed after the Sermon on the Mount, but with the healing of the leper in our ch. 5:12 ff. interposed. Our narrative is fuller than that in Matt. in the beginning of the miracle, not so full at the end. See notes on Matt.

1.] τὰ ῥήματα … εἰς τ. ἀκ. for τὰ ῥηθέντα εἰς.… This, though there is no art. after αὐτοῦ, is better than to connect εἰς with ἐπλήρωσεν.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

7:1. The division of the chapters is misleading. This verse forms the conclusion of the preceding narrative quite in Lk’s manner. Comp. 4:30, 37, 44, 5:11, 26, 6:11, etc. It is not the introduction to what follows, for Jesus must have been in Capernaum some time before the centurion heard about Him. Lk. says nothint. about the impression which the discourse made upon the people (Mat 7:28), or about their following Him (Mat 8:1).

Ἐπειδὴ ἐπλήρωσεν πάντα τὰ π̔ήματα αὐτοῦ . This is the only place in N.T. in which ἐπειδή is used in the temporal sense of “after that, when now.” Hence Ἐπεἰ δέ is found in many texts. K has Ἐπειδὴ δέ, while D has Καἰ ἐγένετο ὅτε. In the causal sense of “since, seeing that,” ἐπειδή occurs only in Lk. and Paul (11:6; Act 13:46, Act 13:14:12, Act 13:15:24; 1Co 1:21, 1Co 1:22, 1Co 1:14:16, 1Co 1:15:21). See Ellicott on Php 2:26. For ἐπλήρωσε, “completed,” so that no more remained to be said, comp. Act 12:25, Act 13:25, Act 14:26, Act 19:21.

εἰς τὰς ἀκοὰς τοῦ λαοῦ The εἰς marks the direction of what was said: comp. 1:44, 4:44; Act 11:22, Act 17:20. Both in bibl. Grk. and in class. Grk. ἀκοή has three senses. 1. “The The thing heard, report” (1Sa 2:24; 1Ki 2:28; Joh 12:38; Rom 10:16). 2. “The sense of hearing” (2Sa 22:45; Job 42:5; 1Co 12:17; 2Pe 2:8). 3. “The ear” (Mar 7:35; Heb 5:11; Heb_2 Mac. 15:39).

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2. The Centurion’s Servant: Luk 7:1-10.

This was the most striking instance of faith that Jesus had met with up to this time; and what was more astonishing, He was indebted for this surprise to a Gentile. Jesus instantly perceives the deep significance of this unexpected incident, and cautiously indicates it in Luk 7:9, while in Mat 8:11-12 it is expressed with less reserve. We should have expected the reverse, according to the dogmatic prepossessions which criticism imputes to our evangelists. It is obliged, therefore, to have recourse to the hypothesis of subsequent interpolations.

This cure is connected, in Matthew as well as in Luke, with the Sermon on the Mount. This resemblance in no way proves, as some think, a common written source. For, 1. The two passages are separated in Matthew by the healing of the leper, which Luke assigns to another time; 2. The narratives of the two evangelists present very considerable differences of detail; lastly, 3. There was nothing to prevent certain groups of narrative, more or less fixed, being formed in the oral teaching of the gospel, which passed in this way into our written narratives. As to Mark, he omits this miracle, an omission difficult to account for, if he copied Matthew and Luke (Bleek), and equally difficult if, with them, he derived his narrative from an original Mark (Ewald and Holtzmann). Holtzmann (p. 78), with Ewald, thinks that “if he cut out the Sermon on the Mount, he might easily omit also the passage which follows, and which opens a new section.” But on other occasions it is asserted that Mark purposely omits the discourses, to make room for facts. Now, are we not here concerned with a fact? Bleek does not even attempt to explain this omission.

Vers. 1-6 a.The First Deputation.

The Alex. reading ἐπείδη, since assuredly, has no meaning.

There is something solemn in these expressions: ἐπλήσωσε, had fulfilled, and εἰς τὰς ἀκοάς, in the ears of the people. The proclamation which had just taken place is given as something complete. The circumstance that this miracle took place just when Jesus returned to Capernaum, after this discourse, was remembered in the traditional account, and has been faithfully preserved in our two evangelical narratives.

The centurion (Luk 7:2) was probably a Roman soldier in the service of Herod; he was a proselyte, and had even manifested special zeal on behalf of his new faith (Luk 7:5).

Instead of δοῦλος, a slave, Matthew says παῖς, a word which may signify either a son or a servant, and which Luke employs in the latter sense at Luk 7:7. Bleek and Holtzmann prefer the meaning son in Matthew, “because otherwise it would be necessary to admit that the centurion had only one slave.” As if a man could not say: “My servant is sick,” though he had several servants! The meaning servant is more probable in Matthew, because it better explains the reluctance which the centurion feels to trouble the Lord. If it had been his son, he would doubtless have been bolder.

The malady must have been, according to Matthew’s description, Luk 7:6, acute rheumatism. And whatever criticism may say, this malady, when it affects certain organs, the heart for instance, may become mortal.

The words: who was very dear to him, serve to explain why a step so important as a deputation of the elders should have been taken.

The latter are doubtless the rulers of the synagogue, whose duty it was to maintain order in the congregation. They could more easily explain to Jesus the honourable facts which made in favour of the centurion, than he could himself.

Frédéric Louis Godet — Commentaries on Luke, John, Romans, and 1 Corinthians — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1870s–1890s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Christ admonisheth the Jews, by setting before them the example of the Centurion, that for their obstinacy and rebellion, he will go to the Gentiles.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

CHAPTER VII.

Christ heals the servant of a centurion, who is commended

for his faith, 1-10.

Raises a widow's son to life at Nain, 11-17.

John Baptist hears of his fame, and sends two of his disciples

to inquire whether he was the Christ, 18-23.

Christ's character of John, 24-30.

The obstinate blindness and capriciousness of the Jews, 31-35.

A Pharisee invites him to his house, where a woman anoints his

head with oil, and washes his feet with her tears, 36-38.

The Pharisee is offended 39.

Our Lord reproves him by a parable, and vindicates the woman,

40-46;

and pronounces her sins forgiven, 47-50.

NOTES ON CHAP. VII.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

VII.

(1) In the audience of the people.—Better, in the hearing, or, in the ears, the older sense of “audience” having become obsolete.

He entered into Capernaum.—The sequence of events is the same as that in Mat_8:5-13; and, as far as it goes, this is an element of evidence against the conclusion that the Sermon on the Mountain and that on the Plain were altogether independent. Looking, however, at the manifest dislocation of facts in one or both of the Gospels, St. Matthew placing between the Sermon on the Mount and the healing of the centurion’s servant, the healing of the leper, which St. Luke gives in Luk_5:12-16, the agreement in this instance can hardly be looked at as more than accidental.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1 Now when he had ended all his sayings in the audience of the people, he entered into Capernaum.

Ver. 1. See Mat 8:5.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

In the audience of the people - In the hearing of the people.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

It was not immediately after he had spoken the preceding words that Christ entered Capharnaum, for in the interim he healed the man afflicted with the leprosy, according as St. Matthew related it in its proper place. (St. Augustine)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

See Poole on "Mat 8:5", and following verses to Mat 8:13, where we have considered all the differences between Matthew’s and Luke’s relation of this miracle. We have in it remarkable,

1. The humanity of the centurion to his servant, to teach us Christians to do the like.

2. The profitableness of good works: the centurion’s love to the Jews in building them a synagogue gains their applications to Christ for him.

3. The humility of the centurion: he did not think himself worthy to appear in Christ’s presence, nor to receive Christ into his house.

4. His faith in Christ’s Divine power and goodness. It doth not appear that he believed that Christ was the eternal Son of God, but he did at least believe that he was clothed with a Divine power, or had a Divine power communicated to him from God, by which he was able, at a distance, and by no more than a word, without application of human rational means, to command off the distemper of his servant.

5. The power of faith in God, and its acceptableness to him. Christ doth not only effect the cure, but predicate his faith to be greater than he had found amongst the generality of the Jewish nation, who went for the only people of God at that day, and had much more light, and means to discern that Christ was sent of God for the good of men, than this Roman captain had.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Raising of the Widow's Son. The Woman who was a Sinner

1-10. Healing of the centurion's servant. See on Mat_8:5.

11-17. The raising of the widow's son (peculiar to Lk). On the credibility and significance of Christ's miracles of resurrection, consult Mat_9:18; Joh_11:1.

11. Nain] 25 m. SW. of Capernaum on the hill 'little Hermon' as it slopes down to the plain of Esdraelon: now a squalid collection of mud-hovels. Much people] RV 'a great multitude.' Lazarus also was raised in the presence of a multitude of witnesses.

12. Carried out] Jewish tombs were always outside the walls, and burials were required to be performed within 24 hours. Only son] see Jer_6:26; Zec_12:10; Amo_8:10.

14. The bier] a mere pallet, not a coffin.

I say unto thee] Elijah and Elisha raised the dead with difficulty, and after strong wrestlings with God in prayer (1Ki_17:20-21; 2Ki_4:33-34), Christ without effort, by a single word of power: cp. Joh_11:43.

16. A great prophet] or, 'even the prophet' (Deu_18:15), for only the very greatest prophets had raised the dead.

18-23. A deputation from John the Baptist. See on Mat_11:2.

24-35. Christ's opinion of John. See on Mat_11:7.

29, 30. Peculiar to Lk.

30. Rejected] RV 'rejected for themselves the counsel of God.' God's 'counsel,' or design, was that they should be prepared for the coming of Christ by receiving John's baptism.

36-50. Christ anointed at the house of Simon the Pharisee (peculiar to Lk). Placed here as an illustration of how 'Wisdom' (i.e. the Gospel) is justified by the changed life of one of 'her children' (this sinful woman). 'We are still in that epoch of transition when the rupture between our Lord and the Pharisees, although already far advanced, was not yet complete. A Pharisee could still invite Him without difficulty. It has been supposed that this invitation was given with a hostile intention. But this Pharisee's own reflection, Luk_7:39, shows his moral state. He was hesitating between the holy impression which Jesus made upon him, and the antipathy which his caste felt against Him' (Godet). The woman at the time of the incident was no longer a 'sinner'; she had been converted by Jesus, but the Pharisee did not know this.

This anointing is probably quite distinct from that at Bethany (Mat_26:6; Joh_12:2), and the woman is not to be identified either with Mary Magdalene, or with Mary of Bethany, who were clearly women of good position and character (see on Mat_26:6; Joh_12:2).

36. Sat down] or, rather, 'lay down,' 'reclined.'

37. A sinner] i.e. a woman of ill fame, or, rather, one who had been such. She would have no difficulty in entering the house, as banquets in the East are generally public functions. An alabaster box (RV 'cruse')] 'We have evidence that perfumed oils—notably oil of roses, and of the iris plant, but chiefly the mixture known in antiquity as foliatum—were largely manufactured and used in Palestine. A flask with this perfume was worn by women round the neck' (see on Son_1:13).

38. As Jesus was reclining (not sitting) with His head towards the table and His feet stretched out behind Him, the woman could easily act as indicated. Tears] She was overwhelmed by penitent recollections of her past life, and gratitude to Him who had saved her from it. Hairs] To appreciate this act we must remember that it was one of the greatest humiliations for a woman to be seen with her hair dishevelled. Similar acts of respect were sometimes, but rarely, paid to rabbis. A man once came to kiss the feet of Rabbi Jonathan, because he had induced filial reverence in his son. Anointing the feet was common among the Jews, the Romans, and the Greeks, especially at banquets.

39. This man, if he were a prophet] One good MS reads 'the prophet.'

40. Jesus answering] The Pharisee thought that Jesus did not know the woman's history. Jesus shows the Pharisee that He can discern even the thoughts of his own heart. Simon] the same as Simeon, or Symeon. It is a mere coincidence that the other anointing took place at the house of a man of the same name. There are eleven Simons in the OT., nine in the NT., and twenty in Josephus.

41. Pence] i.e. denarius According to weight a denarius was about 8d., but according to purchasing power 2s. or more. The two debts were, therefore, about £50 and £5.

44. No water] cp. Gen_18:4; Jdg_19:21; 1Sa_25:41 and see on Joh_13:5.

46. Oil] which was cheap, as opposed to ointment, which was dear.

47. 'Thou canst see that she is a reformed character and that her many sins have been forgiven, because of the love she bears to Me, who have saved her from her sinful life.' It should be carefully observed that the woman loved because she was forgiven, not forgiven because she loved.

To whom little is forgiven] i.e. 'Thou, Simon, like this woman, hast also been My disciple, but it is plain from the little love thou showest Me that, unlike her, thou hast not been brought to repentance through My ministry.'

48. Thy sins are forgiven] Christ had forgiven her before, when she turned from her old life. He now for her greater comfort renews the absolution. For the bearing of Christ's absolving power upon His divinity, see on Mat_9:1-8.

49. Sins also] RV 'even sins.'

J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 1-10. The servant (or slave) of the centurion of Capernaum is healed.

Now when he had ended all his sayings. This clearly refers to the sermon on the mount. That great discourse evidently occupied a position of its own in the public ministry of the Lord. Its great length, its definite announcement of the kind of reign he was inaugurating over the hearts of men, its stern rebuke of the dominant religious teaching of the day, its grave prophetic onlooks, all marked it out as the great manifesto of the new Master, and as such it seems to have been generally received. He entered into Capernaum. The residence of Jesus, as we have before pointed out, during the greater part of his public life. It was, as it were, his head-quarters. After each missionary tour he returned to the populous, favoured lake-city which he had chosen as his temporary home.

Vers. 1-10. The centurion.

He is a Roman, whose inclinations were naturally" opposed to all that seemed Jewish. He is a heathen by birth, whose early education was wholly removed from the worship of the Father. He is a soldier with a charge in the garrison of Capernaum, tempted, therefore, to indulgence in a domineering spirit, and to the following of that voice which whispers, "Take thy fill ere death; indulge thee and rejoice." What is the portrait presented? A man deeply in earnest about religious things, seeking a fuller satisfaction for his need than heathenism can furnish; and on an occasion when human feelings are stirred, showing such kindliness, such gentleness, such deference along with his trust in Jesus, that, having regard to these qualities, the testimony is given, "I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel." Notice some of the features of this great faith.

I ITS HUMILITY. He does not himself go to Jesus. He is only a Gentile. He will not so far presume as personally to make a request. He sends the elders of the Jews. Nay, further still, as the time of Jesus" approach draws near, another feeling arises. Is it not too great an honour that the Son of the Highest should come to his house? Other messengers are despatched, begging the Master not to trouble himself; it is too much to ask him to come under the roof of one who is not worthy to come to him. Say in a word, and my servant shall be healed." Great faith sees the greatness of its object. This heathen soldier has seen the hidden glory of Jesus. The disciples saw power; he saw, felt, holiness; and herein he is our teacher. On the very day of the preaching of the sermon, he is the illustration of its first Beatitude. What is the response of Christ? He entered under the roof of the Pharisee and sat at his table, but this to the Pharisee was condemnation. We do not know whether he entered the house of the centurion, but he came into his soul. As St. Augustine says, "In counting himself unworthy that Christ should enter into his door, he was counted worthy that Christ should enter into his heart." "To this man will I look... even to him that is humble and contrite in spirit.

II ITS SIMPLICITY. "Say in a word, and my servant shall be healed." Observe how far he is in advance of the faith even of those who knew Christ best. The sisters of Bethany, e.g., "If thou hadst been here, my brother had not died." His soldier experience and habits have come to his aid. Is not Christ the true King of Israel? Are not legions of angels at his bidding? Reasoning from himself, with soldiers under him, he argues A sentence will suffice. The faith lies in his discernment of Jesus" real character, and his ready, implicit trust. Note two features in his word. Law: "I am under authority." Will: "I have under me soldiers, and I say to this one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh." These features are transferred to the conception of Jesus. Grand for its simplicity is this inner apprehension of Jesus" Person. The value of faith is that it opens the mind to the Lord. It is a poor, empty hand, but it lays hold of the law and the will. It is the "Amen" in which the soul appropriates the health of God"s countenance.

III ITS INFLUENCE. See the directions along which it wrought.

1. Zeal for the worship of God. "He loveth our nation." This of itself is sufficiently strange. But "he hath bulk us a synagogue." There was a spiritual want in his neighbourhood. What excuses he might have offered! "Help these Jews? I don"t belong to their nation. I am here only for a time," etc. But he loved the God of the Jews; and the grace of God had educated the conviction that wherever the opportunity of usefulness opens there is the door of service. Faith is always evidenced by a similar zeal, by a desire to give as we have received, to witness for him to whom we owe ourselves. Andrew finds Simon. The woman of Samaria hastens to the city to preach Christ. The centurion builds the synagogue. "I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart: I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation. I have not concealed thy loving-kindness and thy truth from the great congregation.

2. An affectionate interest in the slave. "Dear to him." Cicero apologized in one of his noblest orations for being concerned about a slave. This soldier"s heart is bound up in the menial who waits on him. May not this menial have been the instrument of the centurion"s enlightenment? In the first Christian centuries the slaves were often thus blessed. If so, no wonder that he was grateful. Be this as it may, a true faith is a new bond of union with men. It gives a higher grace and character to every relation, because it invests the human life with a new sacredness, and reminds us of the equality of all in the love of God. In receiving God we receive one another. How does St. Paul write of the slave Onesimus? "A servant, but above a servant, a brother beloved." The sketch in the gospel is interesting, as a picture of both the good master and the good servant. "Dear to him," remarks Bengel, pointing to ver. 8, "because of his obedience." The master"s interests are the servant"s care. And to the master the dependent is more than "a hand." A nobler tenderness elevates the connection, and secures a place in the sympathies of the heart. Is there no homily in this touch of sanctified nature for our time?

HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON Vers. 1-10. Faith in its fulness.

The greatness of the centurion"s faith is attested by our Lord himself; he declared that it was superior to anything he had "found in Israel." We see evidence of its fulness in that

I IT TRIUMPHED OVER NATIONAL PREJUDICE. Here is a Roman exercising the most perfect confidence in a Jew putting one in whom he was closely and deeply interested into the hands of an Israelite. We must remember all the pride of the Romans as such, and all their hatred as well as contempt of the Jews, to realize the fulness of this triumph.

II IT WAS BASED ON COMPARATIVELY SLENDER EVIDENCE. "When he heard of Jesus, he sent." Clearly, then, he had not seen him, had not witnessed his works, had not listened to his wisdom; he was without the larger part of the evidence which was before the people of that neighbourhood. He had but "heard of" him, and yet he believed in him.

III IT WAS CHERISHED IN SPITE OF CONSCIOUS UNWORTHINESS. He took a very humble view of himself. This we gather from his action in sending the elders of the Jews to intercede on his behalf (ver. 3), and from his language in stating that he was not worthy that Christ should "enter under his roof" (ver. 6). Yet had he such an assurance of our Lord"s kindness of heart that he was persuaded he would pity and help him, notwithstanding this undeservedness on his part.

IV IT ASSUMED THAT CHRIST WOULD RESPOND TO A RESPECTFUL AND EARNEST PLEA.

V IT SHOWED A WONDERFUL CONFIDENCE IN HIS ABILITY TO HEAL. The sending of the deputation, in the first instance, showed the confidence of the centurion in the power of Christ. But the fulness of his faith in this direction was manifested in the sending of the second deputation in charging them with that most striking message (vers. 6-8). It is interesting to notice how the soldierly profession, which might well seem to be most unlikely to help a man to discipleship to the Prince of peace, did, in fact, serve him in good stead. It enabled him to grasp fully the idea of Divine authority. He was, he said, a man who knew well what was meant by command and obedience. He was accustomed to obey implicitly those who were over him in position, and he was also in the habit of receiving the full and immediate obedience of those who were under him. To them he said, "Come," and they came; "Go," and they went. Whatever forces of nature this Divine Healer might wish to employ, he had only to do the like; he had but to command, and they would instantly obey. Thus his military training helped him to a faith in the authority and power of Christ which distinguished him above others, and which brought down the blessing he sought (ver. 10). We learn:

1. That unbelief in Jesus Christ is wholly inexcusable in us Consider how, in contrast with this centurion, we have no prejudice to overcome, but have been baptized into (or brought up in) the faith of Jesus Christ. Consider also how, in contrast with this man, we have had constant access to the Saviour, and are the children of privilege in the fullest sense of the word. And consider also what evidence we have had before us of Christ"s willingness and power to save in all that we have heard, read, and seen.

2. The validity of any sincere belief, weak or strong. It may be that something in our spiritual constitution or in our religious training may make us incapable, at the beginning, of exercising so strong a faith as that here illustrated. This need not, and must not, keep us from making an appeal to the Saviour. Not all that sought his aid had faith like this; yet he healed them also. We must come as we are and as we can. He is One that "does not break the bruised reed." A faith that is feeble, but sincere, will not go home unblessed. C.

HOMILIES BY R.M. EDGAR Vers. 1-17. The Saviour of sick and dead.

On returning to Capernaum after the sermon on the mount, the Saviour is confronted with a deputation from a centurion about his sick servant. To the miracle of healing in vers. 2-10 we turn first; and then we shall consider the miracle of resurrection (vers. 11-17), by which it is followed.

I THE SAVIOUR OF THE SICK. (Vers. 1-10)

1. Let us observe the self-abasement of the centurion. And in this connection we must notice the devotedness he had shown to the Jewish religion. As a proselyte, he had not only espoused Judaism, but built a synagogue to accommodate his fellow-worshippers. Hence he had an excellent reputation with the ecclesiastical authorities. But all this did not lead to any boasting on his part or exaltation of spirit. He remains the humble man before God after all his liberality. Hence he organizes no less than two deputations to Jesus Christ rather than obtrude himself upon him. And

(1) he sends a deputation of Jewish elders, to ask from Jesus the cure of his sick servant. He esteems these ecclesiastical rulers as better than himself; he values them as highly almost as they do themselves! In reality he was spiritually far ahead of them; but he was unconscious of this, and conscious only of his great personal unworthiness. The elders come, and in their self-righteous spirit speak of his worthiness to Jesus. He was worthy, they declared, and had proved his worthiness by building the synagogue. They thought more of the centurion, and more of themselves, than the centurion did. Yet Jesus recognizes the humility which dictated the sending of the deputation, and responds to their entreaty by going with them towards the centurion"s house.

(2) He sends a second deputation of friends to entreat Jesus not to give himself so much trouble in the matter, seeing he was utterly unworthy of a visit from Jesus. His idea was that, as Christ could heal his servant without the trouble of coming to see him, could heal at any distance, then he ought to take things as easy as he could. So strong is his conviction on this subject, that he gives a military illustration in proof of it. "Evidently," says Robertson, "he looked upon this universe with a soldier"s eye; he could not look otherwise. To him this world was a mighty camp of living forces, in which authority was paramount. Trained in obedience to military law, accustomed to render prompt submission to those above him, and to exact it from those below him, he read law everywhere; and law to him meant nothing unless it meant the expression of a personal will. It was this training through which faith took its form. "Christ was, therefore, to the soldier"s eye, the centurion of all diseases, and they obeyed him, so that he might have sent the disease of the servant away by a simple word of command, and so have saved himself all the trouble. Now, it is important to remember that our Lord did not take the easiest way always. He preferred to show his sympathy and thorough devotedness by taking sometimes the most irksome way. His idea was not to save himself trouble; "he spared not himself." He will not use his power to save himself trouble.

2. Let us notice Christs admiration of the centurions faith. We have seen how great humility is accompanied by great faith. The graces grow proportionally. There are no monstrosities in the spiritual world. And we have to notice what an eye Jesus has for faith. It is the most lovely product in this vale of tears. Hence he is wrapt in admiration of it. He recognizes it as greater in this Gentile than it has yet been in any Jew. The house of Israel had given him as yet no such believer as he had now found in the simple soldier. Clearly faith is not always in proportion to opportunity and advantages. How weak the faith of many who have been all their lives long in the enjoyment of the means of grace!

3. Christ responds to strong faith by a word of power. Had he continued to press himself upon the centurion"s attention and household, it might have led the humble believer to suspect the power of Jesus to save at a distance, In other words, if Jesus had advanced, it might have hurt the centurion"s faith, instead of ministering to him any additional sense of sympathy. Hence he spoke, and the disease of the servant departed instantly. Now, this miracle is designed to show the beauty of Christian sympathy, the power of intercession, and the tender grace of the Saviour as he responds to the appeals of his servants. Let us take a similar interest in those who serve us, or are in anywise related to us; let us bring their case before the Lord, and he will help them for our sake, and for his own Name"s sake too! ()

II THE SAVIOUR OF THE DEAD. (Vers. 11-17) We next turn to the raising of the widows son at Nain (vers. 11-17). And here let us notice:

1. The terrible sorrow which presented itself to Jesus. (Ver. 12) It was the death of a widow"s only son. She stood before Jesus in all her loneliness more lonely through the proximity of the crowd. Now, it is to a social Saviour she has come, One who lay in the bosom of the Father, a member of the "social Trinity," who enjoyed fellowship from all eternity. Hence her case did not appeal to him in vain. He does not need any intercession. His sympathetic heart takes up the case. Hence we have:

2. The consolatory word our Saviour spoke. "Weep not!" Sometimes, as Gerok has remarked, this word is spoken in a well-meant, yet unchristian sense, by many children of the world, as if weeping and mourning ought to be put away as out of place; in other cases, the word is spoken with a good Christian intention, but without much human tenderness; but Jesus shows us here when it ought to be spoken. He wants the widow not to weep, for he can put all her sorrow away. Truly it is he who can wipe away the tears from off all faces. (Rev_7:17) If we have such consolation to offer, welt may we say, "Weep not." But if we only repeat the words, without offering any consolation, they are not likely to be of much avail. It is a striking contrast, our Lord"s conduct on this occasion, and on the occasion of Lazarus"s resurrection, where he wept himself, instead of commanding others not to weep. (Joh_11:35)

3. The mighty word which backed up his consolation. (Ver. 14) This was, "Young man, I say unto thee, Arise!" He does so as the Prince of life. The result is that he that was dead first sat up, and then began to speak. Life was thus restored to him, and intercourse with others followed. Jesus thus demonstrated that he was "the Resurrection and the Life.

4. The restoration of the young man to his mother. (Ver. 15) The purpose of the resurrection was the restoration of those relationships which death had so rudely severed. The bereaved mother is enabled to rejoice in her son again, and to see her home-circle restored. The great truth of recognition and restoration through resurrection is thus set before us. ()

5. The effect of the miracle upon the people. (Vers. 16, 17) They feared, because the miracle demonstrated that God was awfully near. Yet the fear inspired them to glorify God for the advent of such a Prophet, and the gracious visitation which he brought. They felt that the miracle was eminently worthy of God. An eminent scientific man, who doubts revealed religion, yet accepts spiritualism, has said, "Few, if any, reputed miracles are at all worthy of a God." But in face of such a tender and touching work of grace as this at Nain, no such declaration could be made by an impartial mind. It was worthy of God, and tended to his glory.

6. Consider, lastly, the type and promise it affords of what Christ will do in the world at last. For, as a poet has suggested, this earth is the "bier whereon our race is]aid," and to it will Christ at last come, and, arresting the long procession of the dead, will say, "Arise!" when lo! a race shall wake from clay, "young, deathless, freed from every stain." And the "Weep not I" shall also be heard then, for from his people"s faces every tear shall be wiped away. The miracle thus throws a clear and steady light upon those last things which perplex so many people now. R.M.E.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Matt. viii, 5.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

The Centurion of Capernaum.

The prayer of the centurion:

v. 1. Now when He had ended all His sayings in the audience of the people, He entered into Capernaum.

v. 2. And a certain centurion’s servant, who was dear unto him, was sick, and ready to die.

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.

v. 4. And when they came to Jesus, they besought Him instantly, saying, That he was worthy for whom He should do this;

v. 5. for he loveth our nation, and he hath built us a synagogue.

Jesus brought His long discourse to a close. It was addressed to the hearing of the people; they were not merely to listen inattentively and forget all the precepts within a few minutes, but their hearing, their understanding, was to take hold of the great truths, in order that they might become the property of the mind, and be received into the heart. Sometime afterward, Jesus entered into Capernaum. In this city there lived a certain centurion, officer of a Roman garrison stationed there, probably on account of the great highway that led through here from Damascus to the Mediterranean Sea. This Roman officer had become acquainted with books of the Jews and with the hopes of the Messiah, of whom they were always speaking. He had also come to the conclusion that Jesus, by whose hand such great miracles were being performed throughout Galilee, must be the promised Messiah. This centurion had a servant who, though a slave, was very dear to him, for he was a humane master. This servant had been taken ill and was at the point of death. Since the reports concerning Christ’s activity, which reached the officer from time to time, had given him the conviction that here was the great promised prophet of the Jews, he sent a delegation to Jesus at this time. The men whom he sent were carrying out his embassy, speaking in his name; he spoke through them, Mat 8:5. They were elders of the people, probably officers of the synagogue, for not all Jewish leaders joined in the campaign of hate against Jesus. These men carried out the centurion’s wishes in a very able manner. They not only stated the earnest prayer that the Lord would come and restore to full health the servant, but they also added some reasons why Jesus ought to grant the request. They declared the centurion to be worthy of help, since he was not one of the proud Romans that vexed and oppressed the Jews upon every occasion, but rather loved the nation. He had lived among them for so long that he had conceived a genuine liking for their doctrine and for their religious institutions. This affection had taken the form of building a synagogue for the Jews as a token of regard. "The Deutsche Orient gesellschaft, which was carrying on excavations in Egypt, Babylonia, and Assyria, undertook the investigation of the remains of ancient synagogues in Galilee and the Jaulan. Among these they excavated the ruins of the synagogue at Tell Hum on the Sea of Galilee, the probable site of Capernaum. Here they found the remains of a once beautiful synagogue which was probably built in the fourth century A. D. Beneath this is the floor of a still older building. The last is probably the synagogue in which so many of the incidents of the ministry of Christ in Capernaum took place, the one built by a Roman centurion."

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Luk 7:13

I. It were vain to inquire why human nature requires sympathy; we can only appeal to experience, and we find it to be so. And let the compassionate see in the conduct of their Lord, and in the perfect example of compassion which He sets before us, how they ought always to act in their compassion for a friend. Though full of the deepest feeling, how calm the blessed Jesus stands before the bier of the young man, the only son of a widowed mother. What we require in a friend is not the mere verbal expression of sympathy, or what the cold world, in complimentary language, calls condolence; but with the sympathy we look also for the advice and suggestions of which we are conscious, our minds being paralysed the while with grief, that we stand so greatly in need.

II. Grief is not sin. The sin consists only in the excess of grief; and grief is excessive when it incapacitates us for the duties of our station, or leads us to distrust of our God. This in truth is the struggle of human nature, during the threescore years and ten of its trial—to bring the human will into subjection to the Divine. The question is not as to the amount of pain and grief which it may cost us to obey; but whether, notwithstanding the pain and grief, we are ready to submit, and from our trust in God’s goodness, through faith to acquiesce with thankfulness in the dispensations of Providence, however painful they may prove to be. When God takes away the friend of our bosom, or the child of our affection, He does not call upon us to rejoice; but He simply requires us to be resigned—that is, submissively to yield what God requires of us under the conviction suggested by faith, that it is best that so it should be. There is no sin in praying, "Father, let this cup pass from me," for so prayed our sinless Lord; but there would be sin in failing to say, "Father, not my will but Thine be done," when the will of the Father that the cup should not pass from us, is declared.

W. F. Hook, Sermons on the Miracles, vol. i., p. 174.

References: Luk 7:13.—J. Oswald Dykes, Sermons, p. 340. Luk 7:13, Luk 7:14.—Preacher’s Monthly, vol. iv., p. 177. Luk 7:13-15.—Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. v., p. 32. Luk 7:14.—J. E. Vaux, Sermon Notes, 2nd series, p. 32; R. W. Evans, Parochial Sermons, vol. i., p. 41; J. Thain Davidson, Forewarned—Forearmed, p. 275; W. H. Cooper, Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. iii., p. 195. Luk 7:14, Luk 7:15.—R. D. B. Rawnsley, Village Sermons, 1st series, p. 278; J. Vaughan, Sermons, 14th series, p. 37.

Luk 7:15

I. Note the mournful occasion which called forth this miracle: a widowed mother following the corpse of her only son.

II. Observe the sympathy which was shown for the widow’s affliction. "Much people of the city was with her."

III. Our Saviour addressed the broken-hearted mother in words of comfort.

IV. The same Divine Lord who wrought this miracle shall hereafter awaken not one but all the dead, and restore all who have fallen asleep in Him to the beloved who have mourned their loss.

J. N. Norton, Golden Truths, p. 405.

Luk 7:15

"He delivered him to his mother." That is the Saviour’s one comment in act on His miracle. Life has many purposes. Death has many secrets. Here was a soul, one among the very few that have recrossed the great gulf, have been in the world of substance, and come back to the world of shadows. What would we give to ask questions of it! But we cannot. "Something sealed the lips" of all concerned in the story. We know not if that momentary glimpse of another life faded as a dream fades when we wake and seem to remember vividly for a moment, and then all vanishes and cannot be recalled. Did life look changed to him? Had temptation lost its power? We might have thought that such a recall from eternity to time would have been the prelude to some great demand on faith and resolution, some great renewal of spirit and life. But our Lord does not say, "You know now what in life is worth anything; sell all that thou hast, and come, follow Me." "He delivered him to his mother." That was the aspect of the young man’s life most in the Saviour’s thoughts. The son’s place was by his mother’s side—his place of duty, his place of safety. If his life was to be lived again, the first note of its renewal would be truer filial devotion, more complete filial service. Note—

I. A mother’s love. What else is like it? in its tenderness, its unselfishness, its inexhaustible patience; the love that finds no tasks too humble or too exacting; the love that waits for us, unchanged, even deepened, by the sorrows which strike deepest, by fears, by wrong.

II. A mother’s claim. It is a claim which grows more urgent as her need grows sorer; when her burdens are no longer divided; when the greatest desolation that life can bring has fallen upon her; but it is a claim that belongs to her from the first, resting on nature, on God’s primal law.

III. A mother’s sorrow. Death is not the only one, not perhaps the saddest. Death, the death of the dearest, is not to us, if we are Christians, what it was even to the widow of Nain in that hour of desolation. There is to us light and love behind the veil. But a mother may lose a boy in another way, and one in which it is harder to gain trust and peace. Her son is going a way that she cannot follow him, a way that never meets again the way he has left.

E. C. Wickham, Wellington College Sermons, p. 181.

References: Luk 7:15.—R. D. B. Rawnsley, Village Sermons, 2nd series, p. 205. Luk 7:17, Luk 7:18.—C. C. Bartholomew, Sermons Chiefly Practical, p. 89. Luk 7:17-19.—Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. iii., p. 293; Luk 7:18-23.—Homiletic Magazine, vol. xii., p. 286; Ibid., vol. xiv., p. 305. Luk 7:18-24.—E. de Pressensé, The Mystery of Suffering, p. 191. Luk 7:19.—Preacher’s Monthly, vol. ii., p. 107. Luk 7:19-28.—Ibid. vol. i., pp. 128, 211.

Luk 7:22

The description of His own work which Jesus returned for the instruction and encouragement of the Baptist presents these three features: (1) it is a ministry of abundant charity to the temporal needs of needy men; (2) it is a ministry of Divine promise and help—"the poor receive glad tidings;" (3) these two are blended naturally and simply together.

I. On part of this ground we are at one; it is that of desire to minister to the good and increase the happiness of our fellowmen. To ask in what good and happiness consist might seem pedantic and abrupt. But on the way in which these things may be increased men feel that they have learned something. We have two results of present teaching: (1) that happiness is a harmony between man and his surroundings; (2) the rule or method of charity, making charity to consist in giving our personal help and service, and in bringing to the needy those things which, for ourselves, have given brightness and interest and worth to life. Can we bring the two into relation with one another, and then with Christ’s type of ministry as suggested in the text?

II. Turn back your thoughts upon the history of human happiness, and think of its earlier stages. Under simple and primitive conditions, nature seems to provide man with a stock of happiness, or of material for happiness; he gains happiness from his harmony with his surroundings, as proved in the pleasures of the bodily instincts or functions, in the glad response of vital energy, in muscle and limb, to moderate demands for exertion, in the earliest forms of human intercourse in family or clan, and by degrees in the exercise of skill or resource, and in the power to appreciate beauty or grandeur in nature around him. In proportion as consciousness becomes articulate, and reflection awakes, man must, by the very nature of his mind, grasp all that is outside himself into a whole. He must look before and after and above. What then if there comes a time when the world’s face is darkened? Civilisation has developed, but man seems to be no gainer. The effect of increased wealth and knowledge seemed to have only sapped old-fashioned simplicities and virtues, and substituted the power of money for the power of loyalty and right. What can we do to minister to men’s needs. The answer has been forming in men’s minds, even when they have not realised all its meaning. Make it possible for men to believe in happiness; make it possible for them to believe in love. Give them the things which will brighten their life, glimpses of the beauty of nature or art or intellect; recover for them the simple pleasures of the poorest and humblest thing that can be called a home. Make impossible regions of human life visited by no light of human sympathy, or lightened by no hope of human succour. Open to them possibilities of aspiration. Restore in this way gently a sense of harmony with the order of things into which they have been born. Soothe the dumb exasperation which comes of having to live in a world that means nothing but darkness and want and fear. And then give yourself, your personal help; use your freedom of time, your money if you have it, your acquirements of understanding, knowledge, still to convince them that there is such a thing as unselfish and compassionate love. And leave the inference to them. The very poverty and misery which have once blossomed for them with the miraculous fruit of a true charity will never seem the same again. You have gone among them to carry as far as in you lies whatever of bright and beautiful, of good and pure, of loving and tender, could bear witness that life carries hope with it. And thereby you have given them an alphabet by which to read the witness of the beauty, the greatness, the tenderness of Christ. You can speak to them of Christ, not only as a witness of what may be or what shall be, but as a present Giver of all precious gifts. Or, more truly, of one gift which implies the rest—the gift of God’s love certainly known, and with a joyful confidence of faith actually received and welcomed into their souls.

E. S. Talbot, Oxford and Cambridge Journal, Jan. 31st, 1884.

References: Luk 7:22.—Parker, Hidden Springs, p. 316. Luk 7:23.—Preacher’s Monthly, vol. i., p. 135. Luk 7:24.—Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. i., p. 39.

Luk 7:28

What can these words mean? Well, let us consider what constituted the highest, that is, the spiritual greatness of the prophets, and try to discover whether in relation to all these things it is not true that the very least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than the greatest of the prophets.

I. They were inspired men. Some of them had great natural genius. All of them received the supernatural illumination of the Holy Ghost. They had revealed to them the eternal principles of righteousness by which God governs the world. But your knowledge and view of the Divine character and will is far larger than theirs was. The very least knows what they did not know—the story of the Lord Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh.

II. But the prophets, you may say, were illustrious for their sanctity. How can the very least in the kingdom of heaven be greater than they were? Here again we must distinguish between what may be called the natural force of moral character and supernatural holiness. There is a genius in some men for heroic forms of goodness, as there is genius in others for poetry, music, eloquence, and art. The magnificent energy of Elijah, the chivalry of David’s better days, the stately dignity of Abraham—these may not be ours; but the very least in the kingdom of heaven has an element and a spring of holiness which did not belong to any of them. In the sense in which we are in Christ they could not be; and in the sense in which we are regenerate they were not. The Spirit that Christ possessed is granted now to us. We have possibilities of holiness higher and greater far than belonged to the saints of the old dispensation.

III. The third element in the greatness of the prophets consists, no doubt, in the intimacy of their relations to God. They were God’s chosen servants; they were trusted by God with great duties: some of them were called God’s friends, but a nobler title belongs to the very least in the kingdom of heaven than belonged to the very greatest of them. We belong to the race that has sprung from the Second Adam, and the very least of those who have sprung from the Second Adam must be greater than the greatest of those that sprang from the first.

IV. They had close access to God. This was an element of greatness in the old prophets, and yet remember that their access to God was access to God under the conditions of the old economy. It was to be had, not as we may have it now, by the immediate approach of our soul to the eternal Father, through Christ Jesus our Lord, but it was to be had through the ministry of the priests, and through the efficacy of sacrifice. Now we are greater in all this than the prophets were, for God is nearer now to the least in the kingdom of heaven than He was to the greatest in the old days.

R. W. Dale, Penny Pulpit, new series, No. 394.

References: Luk 7:24-28.—Preacher’s Monthly, vol. i., p. 208. Luk 7:28.—Homiletic Quarterly, vol. v., p. 89. Luk 7:29.—Ibid., vol. x., p. 99. Luk 7:29-35.—W. Hay Aitken, Mission Sermons, vol. ii., p. 183. Luk 7:31-34.—D. Fraser, Metaphors of the Gospels, p. 127. Luk 7:31-35.—Homiletic Quarterly, vol. xiv., p. 91; R. Lorimer, Bible Studies in Life and Truth, p. 293. Luk 7:33-35.—G. Calthrop, Pulpit Recollections, pp. 57, 69.

Luk 7:35

Wisdom is justified, i.e. approved, of all her children.

I. None but the children of Wisdom can justify her. What a really unread page is the whole page of nature; what a riddle is providence; what an inscrutable mystery is the method of Divine grace in saving a sinner; what an unreality is the inner life of a spiritual man to anyone in whom there has not yet taken place a certain inward transformation—a teaching, purifying, assimilating process. Hence every heart, in its natural state, is always mistaking God, always misjudging Him in everything God says and everything God does. And the misconstruction is always deepening, just in proportion as the subject rises. In the outer circle of God’s works there is ignorance, and in the inner circle of His glorious Gospel utter blindness and universal distortion. Just like the children in the market-place, in the music of God’s love they see nothing but melancholy; and in the solemn denunciations of His wrath they find no fear.

II. In God’s great universe—the house of creation—all are either servants or children. Everything serves Him. Some of His servants serve as His children. Here is the difference. The servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth; the child does. Wisdom, all wisdom, is justified, vindicated, honoured, loved, understood, of all her children. Therefore, be one of Wisdom’s children, and sooner or later the blessed consequence must follow. The dark place in the experience of life, the hard passage of Scripture, the difficulty in the character of that Christian, the offensive doctrine, will all be cleared up. Be the enigma and the difficulty what they may, the declaration is that they shall all be justified in Christ. And the justifying process will go on and on, more and more, till that very wisdom shall come again in His unveiled beauty. At that moment the series will be consummated, when no longer shall He be justified only but glorified in His saints, and admired in all them that believe.

J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons, 2nd series, p. 303.

Luk 7:36-50

I. The narrative encourages sinners of every name and degree to go at once to Christ. He will in nowise cast them out. There are no more touching stories in the Gospels than those which tell how Jesus dealt with the most degraded class of sinners. Recall His conversation with the woman of Samaria, at the well of Sychar. Bring up before you once again that scene in the Temple, where the scribes and Pharisees dragged in before Him the woman who had been taken in the very act of sin. Then read anew this narrative, and say if the prophecy regarding Him was not true, "A bruised reed shall He not break; the smoking flax shall He not quench." Where man perceived no promise of success, and would have been tempted to give up the individual as hopeless, He would labour on until the reed which had given forth a note jangled and out of tune was restored to its original condition, and gave its own quota to the harmony of Jehovah’s praise.

II. If we would be successful in raising the fallen and reclaiming the abandoned, we must be willing to touch them and be touched by them. In other words, we must come into warm, loving, personal contact with them. What an uplift Christ gave to the soul of this poor woman, when He, the pure and holy, let her thus approach Him. When the Lord wished to save the human race, He touched it by taking on Him our nature, without our nature’s pollution. So we must take the nature of the degraded, without its impurity, if we would help Him.

III. If we wish to love God much, we must think much of what we owe to Him. Low views of sin lead to a light estimate of the blessing of pardon, and a light estimate of the blessing of pardon will lead to but a little love of God.

W. M. Taylor, The Parables of Our Saviour, p. 210.

References: Luk 7:36-50.—Phillips Brooks, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxi., p. 342; Homiletic Quarterly, vol. iv., p. 75; A. B. Bruce, The Training of the Twelve, p. 28; W. Hanna, Our Lord’s Life on Earth, p. 184; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. i., p. 214; Expositor, 1st series, vol. vi., p. 214. Luk 7:37, Luk 7:38.—Homiletic Quarterly, vol. iii., p. 129; Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xiv., No. 801; Christian World Pulpit, vol. iii., p. 312; E. Blencowe, Plain Sermons to a Country Congregation, vol. ii., p. 153. Luk 7:38.—Spurgeon, My Sermon Notes: Gospels and Acts, p. 90.

Luk 7:39

Christ in Simon’s House; the Pharisee’s Mistake.

I. As it regarded Christ. (1) He could not read Christ’s nature, and undervalued it; (2) he mistook also Christ’s way of rescuing from sin.

II. As it regarded the woman. (1) The Pharisee thought that as a sinner she was to be despised; (2) he did not see that into her heart a new life had entered.

III. As it regarded himself. (1) The Pharisee showed that he did not know his own heart; (2) he did not see that in condemning this woman he was rejecting the salvation of Christ. (a) Those who profess religion should be careful how they give a false view of it, by uncharitable judgments and by assumptions of superiority. (b) We must remind those who profess to be seeking religion, that they are bound to form their judgment of it from its Author.

J. Ker, Sermons, p. 16.

Reference: Luk 7:39.—J. Armstrong, Parochial Sermons, p. 323.

Luk 7:40-43

A State of Sin a State of Debt.

I. We are all debtors to God. Having failed to discharge the debt of obligation, we now owe a debt of punishment.

II. We are debtors in different degrees.

III. We are unable to pay our debts. Not only debtors, but bankrupts.

IV. God is willing, for Christ’s sake, freely to forgive us all.

V. Our love to God should be proportioned to the amount of the debt which He has forgiven.

G. Brooks, Five Hundred Outlines, p. 55.

The Forgiveness of Sins the Remission of a Debt.

I. Sin is a debt—that is the primary idea of this parable. But I can well understand a thoughtful person saying, "I can see the beauty and truth of this illustration. There is a burden which each man bears—the burden of the sense of sin, from which he yearns to be delivered. But there are other aspects of sin which the parable of a money-debt does not seem to me to include or to cover, because such an obligation lies altogether outside the sphere of morals. A debtor need not be a sinner; the creditor may have no cause for anger against him. Moreover, if the money were paid, the obligation would be at an end. I want to know how far offences of another kind, moral derelictions of man against man, are analogous in nature and in remedy to our sins against a just and righteous God?"

II. We are all debtors. We owe to God that which we can never pay for ourselves. What we need, therefore, is a remission of the debt. If we bear this well in mind, we shall look upon sin and death with truer eyes. Exemption from any penalty, supposed to be incurred by non-payment of the debt, could not benefit us. "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." Here the word debtors is clearly used for all who have failed to pay us our due, whether that due be money or the commoner obligations of everyday life. Every time an offence is committed against us, it is a debt that is incurred. Our friend owes us something which he has not paid. The language of the Lord’s Prayer, as recorded by St. Matthew, strictly accords with that of the parable of the two debtors. A friend does us a wrong. It is for us either to retain or remit the debt he has incurred. We are willing to remit his debt, if he is willing that it should be remitted. It is impossible to forgive where forgiveness is not desired. I cannot remit the debt of sin which my brother has incurred unless he is willing that it should be remitted. His debt is love, and no suffering or penalty could restore that broken link. Reconciliation is a bond of righteousness. The offender cannot be forgiven without penitence on his side. If it pleased God to save us from hell-fire, still He could not save us from an avenging conscience. It is idle, and worse than idle, for us to murmur against a revelation of hell. If there is a heaven, there must be a hell. If the pure in heart see God, the vision of the impure must be sin and Satan.

A. Ainger, Sermons in the Temple Church, p. 115.

Reference: Luk 7:41-44.—W. Hay Aitken, Mission Sermons, vol. iii., p. 218.

Luk 7:42

Our State of Debtorship before God.

I. What does the Saviour mean by representing sin as a debt? We can well understand in the abstract what a debt is. In looking at our state of debtorship towards God, we should take the simplest and the most meaning view of the subject first. We look simply at ourselves as being creatures of God’s creation. "It was He that made us, and not we ourselves." Everything that we have comes from God—our existence, our friends, our blessings, our indulgences, our faculties, our powers; everything that we have has come from the same hand, poured plenteously upon us by our God. And if all this be so, we have a foundation here of obligation. Let the relationship be admitted and the consequence follows, that we are placed in a state of subserviency to God, and that God has a simple right to our services.

II. Look next at man’s state of utter insolvency. You will see at once that the parable is constructed according to the usages of the courts of law. There is a certain charge for a debt incurred lying against the debtor, and a demand that that debt should be paid. When we look to the question of the liquidation or the removal or satisfaction of crime, there are four ways in which it may be done: (1) we may traverse the indictment altogether; (2) we may plead palliation; (3) we may propose to offer an atonement; and (4) failing these three, we may throw ourselves on the mercy of the court. In none of these ways is it possible that man can be cleared of his offences. God can only afford to be merciful through Christ Jesus. There must be a compensation given to offended justice, otherwise God cannot be just and the Justifier of those who believe. When the Saviour came into the world and took our transgressions upon Himself, when He looked upon the mountain of iniquity that was crushing us down, and shed His own precious blood as an atonement, then justice was satisfied, and mercy was open to plead along with justice. It is in this way that the Gospel makes clear to us the only method by which any sinner can expect mercy.

A. Boyd, Penny Pulpit, new series, No. 121.

References: Luk 7:42.—Spurgeon, My Sermon Notes: Gospels and Acts, p. 93; Ibid., Sermons, vol. xxix., No. 1,730.

Luk 7:44-50

The Forgiveness of Sin the Remission of a Debt.

I. There are a peculiar tenderness and quiet pathos about this narrative which have commended it to many, even of those who have no taste for dogmatic religion. It is one of those incidents which, like the sickness and death of Lazarus, can be separated from the general Gospel narrative; little idylls, if the expression be allowable, of human sorrow, and the aspirations which arise out of it. We know nothing of this woman save that she lived a profligate life in the city: she had been a sinner; she is now a penitent; and that is all we know. There had been something which was a part of this woman, and which had kept her distant from God; and this was sin. It was not that she was on earth and God in heaven—this was not the gulf between them; nor that He was a powerful despot and she a weak slave; but that He was holy and she unholy. And now her old waywardness and pollution, which had hung like a millstone about her neck, had dropped off. She had become sorry and ashamed of self, through companionship with a holy life, and through being admitted to share a love which was the love of God. The debt which she had not paid He could pay and was paying.

II. A question about a simple Greek conjunction, that which in the English version is rendered "for"—"her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much"—has introduced doubt into the meaning of a passage which is otherwise quite free from difficulty. The whole drift of the story, and the parable introduced to interpret it, point to the true meaning. The love is the fruit of the discovery that reconciliation is possible. For it is impossible to separate forgiveness from reconciliation. If forgiveness were the remission of a penalty, it would be possible to be forgiven and yet to be unreconciled. For the exemption of a soul from penal suffering does not and cannot unite a soul with God. In the case before us, forgiveness was only valued by the woman, as it was the beginning of a new life. Till she had met Christ, sin seemed no sin to her; but it rested with unutterable bitterness upon Him. She had not grieved for herself, but He had grieved for her, and for every sinner who was living in exile from God. Surely He had borne the griefs and carried the sorrows of the world, and was bearing them; and as she awoke to feel this, she was abased with shame which showed itself in tears, but filled also with the surest sign of humility, the gratitude which brought Him of her costliest and best.

A. Ainger, Sermons in the Temple Church, p. 130.

Luk 7:47

We learn from this story that such love as the Magdalene showed to our blessed Lord is the point of forgiveness, of forbearance, and of service. "Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much."

I. Now it is this which differences the Gospel from all other systems of religion, that it promises reconciliation only to the loving. One code of morals declares that obedience is the only avenue to pardon; but this may be merely deistic. Another code of morals asserts that repentance is the only road to forgiveness; but that may be merely Jewish. Jesus Christ proclaims that absolution is only pronounced upon the affectionate. Now there is in this no confusion between right and wrong, no pretence that guilt is as beautiful as grace; but since all men sin, and since all need pardon, they gain the richest, the blessedest gift of forgiveness, whose hearts are warmest of love for the Saviour.

II. Love is the fountain of reverence. This woman was conspicuous for the earnest, devout, uncalculating veneration which she paid to the Redeemer. The Pharisee had his notion of the proprieties which belong to reverence; but they were very unlike the unaffected, the passionate, worship of the Magdalene. The fastidious Pharisee would have been quite shocked to start aside, even by a hair’s breadth, from religious decorum and etiquette; but the woman’s heart was all aglow with the gifts and the sense of pardon; and with the vision of a higher life she can only tell her veneration in the accents of reverence which were too real to be restrained. Like her, we must go boldly to the throne of grace, blending confidence with worship, respect with affection, and reverence with rapture.

III. Love is the fountain of service. The Pharisee had his idea of this service. He had coldly and carefully regulated all his obligations. He paid tithe of mint and anise and cummin. He could set down in order his notions of duty, and formulate them into a code of morals; but all this obedience was as a cold light shining upon his intellect and not in his heart. But one single feature in his character attracted the notice of Christ—he had no heart filled and overflowing with love. It was not an enormity; it was a lacking. But this woman, who is only known to us by her contrition and her reverence, won the Saviour’s heart by the simplicity and the beauty of her service. Only the heart of a woman could have conceived a service or a gift so full of tender pathos, so fragrant, so exquisite. It was her best—it was her all; for it is the instinct of love to give not only largely, but also sweetly. Her generosity had no stint, and her method had no rudeness.

H. White, Penny Pulpit, new series, No. 964.

The point to which we specially direct our attention is the self-accusing spirit of this woman; its necessity and its blessedness.

I. For, first of all, it may be said, that the kingdom of Christ is founded upon those who accuse themselves of their sins. It has both an exterior and an interior foundation, an outer and an inner court. On His part it is a perpetual ministry of absolution; on our part, a perpetual confession. In. the midst of the visible Church, Christ numbers, by direct intention, the fellowship of true penitents. In them He dwells, and to them He listens. He has no communion with those who do not know their need of His absolving pity. The law of repentance is laid on all, even on the greatest saints; it often seems to press more heavily on them than on others; for as they have more of sanctity, they have more of love; and as they have more of love, they have more of sorrow. As the light rises upon them, they see more clearly their own deformities. It is the greatest light of sanctity that reveals the least motes of evil; as things imperceptible in the common light of day float visible in the sunbeam.

II. Self-accusation is the test which separates between true and false repentance. Under all the manifold appearances of religion and of repentance, there are at last two, and only two, states or postures of mind; the one is self-accusation, the other self-defence.

III. The true source of the self-accusing spirit is love. A heart once touched with the love of Christ no longer strives to hide its sin, or to make it out to be little. To excuse, palliate, or lighten the guilt even of a little sin grates upon the whole inward sense of sorrow and self-abasement. So long as we defend ourselves, and God accuses us, we go heavily all the day long, our hearts glowing and smouldering within; so soon as we accuse ourselves at His feet, God and all the powers of His kingdom shelter and defend us. This is our true solace and relief. Now there are two signs by which we shall know whether our confessions are the self-accusations of penitent and loving hearts. (1) The first is, that our confessions be humble; (2) the other is, that it be an honest self-accusing. Where these two signs are, we may be strong in hope that the grace of a loving and penitent heart has been bestowed by the Spirit of God.

H. E. Manning, Sermons, vol. iv., p. 135.

I. From the doctrine that God is personal, and as personal the object of love, flows out the unique character of the Christian as against other forms of penitence. For other moral systems tell us that the only true repentance consists simply and entirely in amendment of life for the future, and that all the energy which, instead, is spent in sorrow for the past, is merely a waste of labour that might be otherwise employed. "The only true repentance," says a great philosopher, "is moral amendment." But still, the Christian Church, in her age-long ministry to the souls of men, has gained a deeper, truer insight into the springs of human action than is possible to speculative thinkers or to average men of the world. And as the result of her thinking, she proclaims repentance based on sorrow as not only far truer, but far more fruitful in noble practice, because born of the great desire to atone for wounded love.

II. The problem of the life of penitence is how contrition may be gained. God, men say, though we believe in Him, seems very far away from us, and the sufferings of the Cross are past and over long ago. There is no present object to help me realise that I have wounded the love of God. Go back to the history recorded in my text, and see what kind of love it was which there merited forgiveness. This poor woman in her misery did not know that she was worshipping the everlasting Son of the Father, very God of very God. But she felt, as she looked and listened, that there was a presence in humanity, on which her life of sin had been an outrage and a shame; and in the rock-like shelter of that presence, overshadowing the weary world, the faded instincts of her true womanhood revived and blossomed into action; and her sins, which were many, were forgiven her; for she loved much. We are not bold enough in realising how true it is that the knowledge of God must be learned inductively from His presence among men.

III. Though contrition is only the first part of penitence, it is one of those halves that contains in itself the whole. For real contrition must express itself first in word and then in deed; and so it leads us onward to confession and satisfaction.

J. R. Illingworth, Sermons in a College Chapel, p. 90.

I. We have Christ here standing as a manifestation of the Divine love coming forth among sinners. (1) He, as bringing to us the love of God, shows it to us, as not at all dependent upon our merits or deserts. "He frankly forgave them both" are the deep words in which He would point us to the source and the ground of all the love of God. God, and God alone, is the cause and reason, the motive and the end, of His own love to our world. (2) Whilst the love of God is not caused by us, but comes from the nature of God, it is not turned away by our sins. He knew what this woman was, and therefore He let her come close to Him with the touch of her polluted hand, and pour out the gains of her lawless life and the adornments of her former corruption upon His most blessed and most holy feet. (3) Christ teaches us here that this Divine love, when it comes forth among sinners, necessarily manifests itself first in the form of forgiveness. (4) Here we see the love of God demanding service. God’s love, when it comes to men, comes that it may evoke an answering echo in the human heart, and "though it might be much bold to enjoin, yet for love’s sake it rather beseeches us to give unto Him who has given all unto us."

II. Look next at "the woman" as the representative of a class of character—the penitent lovingly recognising the Divine love. All true love to God is preceded in the heart by these two things: a sense of sin and an assurance of pardon. There is no love possible—real, deep, genuine, worthy of being called love of God—which does not start with the belief of my own transgression, and with the thankful reception of forgiveness in Christ. (1) Love is the gate of all knowledge. (2) Love is the source of all obedience.

III. A third character stands here—the unloving and self-righteous man, all ignorant of the love of Christ. He is the antithesis of the woman and her character. Respectable in life, rigid in morality, unquestionable in orthodoxy; no sound of suspicion having ever come near his belief in all the traditions of the elders; intelligent and learned, high up among the ranks of Israel! What was it that made this man’s morality a piece of dead nothingness? This was the thing: there was no love in it. The Pharisee was contented with himself, and so there was no sense of sin in him; therefore there was no penitent recognition of Christ as forgiving and loving him, therefore there was no love to Christ.

A. Maclaren, Sermons Preached in Manchester, p. 28.

Note:—

I. That gratitude in a living heart rises with the occasion.

II. Gratitude cannot be the same in two individuals of equal spiritual sensitiveness, but of different conditions.

III. Strong gratitude is very free in its utterance. It breaks the laws of propriety which a formalist would recognise.

S. Martin, Westminster Chapel Pulpit, 2nd series, p. 147.

References: Luk 7:47.—J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons, 1874, p. 256; E. Bickersteth, Church of England Pulpit, vol. v., p. 149; J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons, 1881, p. 37; Homiletic Magazine, vol. xv., p. 288; J. M. Neale, Sermons in a Religious House, vol. ii., p. 535. Luk 7:50.—Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. 111., p. 283; Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xx., No. 1162; Homiletic Magazine, vol. xii., p. 321. Luke 7—F. D. Maurice, The Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven, p. 126; Parker, Christian Commonwealth, vol. vii., p. 89. Luk 8:1.—Homiletic Magazine, vol. xiv., p. 297. Luk 8:1-3.—Homiletic Quarterly, vol. iii., p. 230. Luk 8:1-4.—G. Macdonald, The Miracles of Our Lord, p. 87. Luk 8:2.—Preacher’s Monthly, vol. vii., p. 56. Luk 8:2, Luk 8:3.—A. Maclaren, Christian World Pulpit, vol. ix., p. 273. Luk 8:3.—J. Baines, Sermons, p. 214. Luk 8:4—H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, The Life of Duty, vol. i., p. 114. Luk 8:4, Luk 8:5.—C. Girdlestone, A Course of Sermons, vol. i., p 227. Luk 8:4-8.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. vi., No. 308; H. R. Haweis, Church of England Pulpit, vol. iv., p. 132. Luk 8:4-15.—Homiletic Quarterly, vol. i., p. 55; Ibid., vol. xvi., p. 107; Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. ii., p. 84; A. B. Bruce, The Training of the Twelve, p. 40. Luk 8:5.—J. B. Mozley, Sermons Parochial and Occasional, p. 141; J. M. Neale, Sermons in Sackville College, vol. iv., p. 72. Luk 8:5-8.—Homiletic Quarterly, vol. ii., p. 50. Luk 8:7.—H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, Sunday Sermonettes for a Year, p. 44. Luk 8:8.—Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. iv., p. 89; Homilist, new series, vol. iv., p. 233. Luk 8:10.—Homiletic Magazine, vol. x., p. 77.

The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

In our Saviour’s miraculous cure of the centurion’s servant, we have several particulars very observable:

1. The person applying himself to our blessed Saviour for help and healing: he was a Gentile, an Heathen, a Roman soldier, an officer and commander; yet he believes in, and relies upon the power of Christ.

Note, that such is the freeness of divine grace, that it extends itself to all sorts and ranks, to all orders and degrees of men, without exception; even the bloody trade of war yields worthy clients to Christ: he does not so much regard what we are and which we are, as with what dispositions and the desires, with what purposes and inclinations, we come unto him.

Observe, 2. The person whom the centurion came to Christ for: not for himself, nor for his own, but for his servant. His servant was sick; he does not drive him out of doors, nor stand gazing by his bedside, but looks out for help and relief for him: a worthy example of humanity! Some masters have not so much regard to their sick servants as they have to their oxen and their swine. But he is not worthy of a good servant that in a time of sickness is not willing to serve his servant.

Observe, 3. Unto whom the centurion seeks, and with what zeal and application; he seeks not to wizards and conjurers, but to the physician, for his sick servant; yea, to Christ, the chief Physician; and this not with a formal relation in his mouth, but with a vehement aggravation of his disease. My servant lies sick of the palsy, grievously tormented, Mat 8:6 Where the master’s condolency, and tender sympathy, with his afflicted servant, is both matter of commendation and imitation.

Observe, 4. The happy mixture of humility and faith which was found in this centurion. See his wonderful humility in not thinking himself worthy to come into Christ’s presence, or that Christ should come under his roof. The best men have always the lowest thoughts of themselves; when we esteem ourselves unworthy of any favors, Christ accounts us worthy of all.

See also his faith in Christ’s divine power; he believed that Christ was able at a distance, and by a single word, to command off the distemper of his servant; he tells him, that diseases were as much at Christ’s command, as his servants were at his command.

Humility, we see, is both the fruit of faith, and the companion of faith. An humble soul has evermore an high esteem of Christ’s power, and a low esteem of itself.

Observe, 5. How our blessed saviour exceeds not only the centurion’s desires, but his expectations. Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. Mat 8:7.

O wonderful condescension. In Joh 4:47 we read of a certain nobleman and ruler that twice entreated our Saviour to come to his house and heal his son, but our Lord refused. Here the centurion does but barely tell Christ of his poor servant’s sickness, and Christ, both unasked and undesired, says, I will come and heal him.

O how far is Christ from seeming in the least to honor riches and despise poverty! He that came in the form of a servant goes down to visit a sick servant upon his poor pallet bed, who did not come near the rich couch of the ruler’s son.

Observe, 6. The notice and observation which our Saviour takes of the centurion’s faith: he wondered at it from him. Admiration agreed not to Christ as God, but as man it did. Christ wrought faith as God, and wondered at it as man. What can be more wonderful than to see Christ wonder? We find not our Saviour wondering at worldy pomp and greatness: when the disciples wondered at the magnificence and stately buildings of the temple, Christ rather rebuked them than wondered with them; but when he sees the gracious act and exercise of fatih, he is ravished with wonder.

Let it teach us to place our admiration where Christ fixes his; let us be more affected with the least measure of grace in a good man, than with all the gaities and glories of a great man; let us not envy the one, but admire and imitate the other.

Observe, lastly, Christ does not only admire the centurion’s faith, but publishes it: Verily I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel; that is, amongst the generality of the Jewish nation.

For, as to particular persons, several had showed a greater faith that this, as Joseph and Mary. This expression lets us know, that where the means of faith are but small, the nobler act and exercise of faith are wonderful and soul amazing.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

J. W. McGarvey's The Fourfold Gospel [XLIII. Healing the Centurion's Servant].

XLIII. HEALING THE CENTURION'S SERVANT. (At Capernaum.) aMATT. VIII. 1, 5-13; cLUKE VII. 1-10.

c1 After he had ended all his sayings in the ears of the people, a1 And when he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. che entered into Capernaum. [Jesus proceeded from the mountain to Capernaum, which was now his home, or headquarters. The multitudes which are now mentioned for the third time were not wearied by his sermon, and so continued to follow him. Their presence showed the popularity of Jesus, and also emphasized the fact that the miracles which followed the sermon were wrought in the presence of the vast throngs of people.] a5 And when he was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion [The context shows that this centurion or captain of a hundred men was a Gentile, but whether he was in the employ of Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee, or an officer in the Roman army, is [270] not clear, neither is very important. The army of Antipas, like that of other petty kings, was modeled after that of Rome], c2 And a certain centurion's servant [slave boy], who was dear unto him, was sick, and at the point of death. 3 And when he heard concerning Jesus [The sequel shows that the centurion had probably heard how Jesus had healed the son of his fellow-townsman-- Joh_4:46-54], he sent unto him elders of the Jews [To reconcile Matthew and Luke, we have only to conceive of the centurion as coming to the edge of the crowd about Jesus, but modestly refraining from coming into the Lord's immediate presence.] asking him that he would come and save his servant. abeseeching him, 6 and saying, Lord, my servant lieth in the house sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. [Because palsy is not usually accompanied with suffering, some think that in this case it was combined with tetanus or lockjaw, a combination not infrequent in hot climates. But Sir R. Bennet, M.D., speaks thus: "In this instance we have probably a case of progressive paralysis, attended by muscular spasms, and involving the respiratory movements, where death is manifestly imminent and inevitable. In such a case there would be symptoms indicative of great distress, as well as immediate danger to life." As to palsy generally, see Luk_18:8). The elders, little knowing the wideness of our Lord's vision and sympathy, supposed that Jesus would look upon the splendid synagogue erected for the Jewish people as a sufficient motive for granting their request. Even the apostles were slow to learn that at heart Jesus knew neither Jew nor Gentile.] c8 For I also am a man set under authority, having under myself soldiers, and I say unto one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant [not a soldier, but a household slave], Do this, and he doeth it. [Having those over him, he knew how to obey, and [272] having those under him, he knew how to be obeyed. He was familiar, therefore, with all the principles of obedience. Knowing from the healing of the nobleman's son, or from other reports concerning Jesus, that the realm of nature obeyed Jesus, he judged from his knowledge of earthly obedience that Jesus had those who could come and go for him, and who could carry his messages and enforce obedience to them. He felt that the presence of Jesus was not at all necessary to the healing.] a10 And when Jesus heard it, cthese things, he marvelled at him, and turned and said unto athem cthe multitude that followed him, aVerily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. [To some it seems strange that Jesus could marvel, but he had all the actual feelings of a man. However, we should note that Jesus is never said to have marveled but twice. In this case it was because of belief, and in the other ( Mar_6:6), it was because of unbelief. Those who think that Jesus gave or gives faith should note this fact. If Jesus had given the centurion faith, he could not have been surprised to find that he had it; and, if he failed to bestow it upon the people of Nazareth, it would have been inconsistent in him to express surprise at their lack of it. It would seem, however, irreconcilable with the character and affectionate nature of Christ, to bestow faith in such profusion upon this Gentile stranger, and withhold every spark of it from his near kinsmen and fellow-townsmen. Faith is no miraculous gift. Faith means no more nor less than belief; and a man believes the Scripture facts in the same manner and by the same processes that he believes any other facts.] 11 And I say unto you, that many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven [Jesus here predicts the conversion of the Gentiles, since that fact is suggested to him by the faith of this centurion. The east and the west represent the extreme points of the compass in the directions in which the world was most thickly inhabited. But Jesus refers rather to spiritual separation than to [273] geographical distances-- Mal_1:11, Isa_49:19, Jer_16:19, Zec_8:22.] 12 but the sons of the kingdom [The child of anything in Hebrew phraseology expressed the idea of special property which one has in the thing specified, as, for instance, children of disobedience ( Eph_2:2). Jesus here means, then, the Jews, to whom the kingdom belonged by hereditary descent-- Rom_9:4] shall be cast forth into the outer darkness: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth. [In this paragraph Christ's kingdom is set forth under the simile of a great feast, a familiar simile with Jesus ( Mat_26:29, Luk_22:30). The Jews were accustomed to speak of the delights of the Messianic kingdom as a feast with the patriarchs ( Luk_14:15), but lost sight of the fact that Gentiles should share in its cheer and fellowship ( Isa_25:6). Marriage feasts and other great feasts of the Jews were usually held in the evening. Inside, therefore, there would be joy and light and gladness, but outside there would be darkness and disappointment, tears and bitter self-reproach ( Mat_25:10-13). The despised outcasts should be brought in and placed at the festal board, while the long-invited guests--the natural and fleshly heirs of Abraham's invitation--would be excluded ( Mat_21:43). Hell is absence from spiritual light, separation from the company of the saved, lamentation and impotent rage.] 13 And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; as thou hast believed, i so be it done unto thee. And the servant was healed in that hour. [In the moment when Jesus spoke, the servant was healed--not relieved, but healed.] c10 And they that were sent, returning to the house, found the servant whole. [The centurion, long before this when he was building the synagogue, had doubtless heard with delight concerning the wonderful works wrought by the mighty prophets in the olden time; he little dreamed that his own eyes should see them all surpassed.] [274]

[FFG 270-274]

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Luke Chapter 7

Hence, after this, we find the Spirit acting in the heart of a Gentile (chap. 7). That heart manifested more faith than any among the children of Israel. Humble in heart, and loving the people of God, as such, for the sake of God, whose people they were, and thus raised in his affections above their practical wretched state, he can see in Jesus One who had authority over everything, even as he himself had over his soldiers and servants. He knew nothing of the Messiah, but he recognised in Jesus [22] the power of God. This was not mere idea; it was faith. There was no such faith in Israel.

The Lord then acts with a power which was to be the source of that which is new for man. He raises the dead. This was indeed going beyond the pale of the ordinances of the law. He has compassion on the affliction and misery of man. Death was a burden to him: Jesus delivers him from it. It was not only cleansing a leprous Israelite, nor pardoning and healing believers among His people; He restores life to one who had lost it. Israel, no doubt, will profit by it; but the power necessary to the accomplishment of this work is that which makes all things new wherever it may be.

The change of which we speak, and which these two examples so strikingly illustrate, is brought out in treating of the connection between Christ and John the Baptist, who sends to learn from the Lord’s own mouth who He is. John had heard of His miracles, and sends his disciples to learn who it was that wrought them. Naturally the Messiah, in the exercise of His power, would have delivered him from prison. Was He the Messiah? or was John to wait for another? He had faith enough to depend on the answer of One who wrought these miracles; but, shut up in prison, his mind desired something more positive. This circumstance, brought about by God, gives rise to an explanation respecting the relative position of John and Jesus. The Lord does not here receive testimony from John. John was to receive Christ upon the testimony He gave of Himself; and that as having taken a position which would offend those who judged according to Jewish and carnal ideas-a position which required faith in a divine testimony, and, consequently, surrounded itself with those whom a moral change had enabled to appreciate this testimony. The Lord, in reply to John’s messengers, works miracles which prove the power of God present in grace and service rendered to the poor; and declares that blessed is he who is not offended at the humble position He had taken in order to accomplish it. But He gives testimony to John, if He will receive none from him. He had attracted the attention of the people, and with reason; he was more than a prophet-he had prepared the way of the Lord Himself. Nevertheless, if he prepared the way, the immense and complete change to be made was not itself accomplished. John’s ministry, by its very nature, put him outside the effect of this change. He went before it to announce the One who would accomplish it, whose presence would bring in its power on the earth. The least therefore in the kingdom was greater than he.

The people, who had received with humility the word sent by John the Baptist, bore testimony in their heart to the ways and the wisdom of God. Those who trusted in themselves rejected the counsels of God accomplished in Christ. The Lord, on this, declares plainly what their condition is. They rejected alike the warnings and the grace of God. The children of wisdom (those in whom the wisdom of God wrought) acknowledged and gave glory to it in its ways. This is the history of the reception both of John and of Jesus. The wisdom of man denounced the ways of God. The righteous severity of His testimony against evil, against the condition of His people, shewed to man’s eyes the influence of a devil. The perfection of His grace, condescending to poor sinners, and presenting itself to them where they were, was the wallowing in sin and the making oneself known by one’s associates. Proud self-righteousness could bear neither. The wisdom of God would be owned by those who were taught by it, and by those alone.

Thereupon these ways of God towards the most wretched sinners, and their effect, in contrast with this pharisaic spirit, are shewn, in the history of the woman who was a sinner in the Pharisee’s house; and a pardon is revealed, not with reference to the government of God in the earth on behalf of His people (a government with which the healing of an Israelite under God’s discipline was connected), but an absolute pardon, involving peace to the soul, is granted to the most miserable of sinners. It was not here merely the question of a prophet. The Pharisee’s self-righteousness could not discern even that.

We have a soul that loves God, and much, because God is love-a soul that has learnt this with regard to, and by means of, its own sins, though not yet knowing forgiveness, in seeing Jesus. This is grace. Nothing more touching than the way in which the Lord shews the presence of those qualities which made this woman now truly excellent-qualities connected with the discernment of His Person by faith. In her were found divine understanding of the Person of Christ, not reasoned out indeed in doctrine but felt in its effect in her heart, deep sense of her own sin, humility, love for that which was good, devotedness to Him who was good. Everything shewed a heart in which reigned sentiments proper to relationship with God-sentiments that flowed from His presence revealed in the heart, because He had made Himself known to it. This, however, is not the place to dwell upon them; but it is important to remark that which has great moral value, when what a free pardon really is is to be set forth, that the exercise of grace on God’s part creates (when received into the heart) sentiments corresponding to itself, and which nothing else can produce; and that these sentiments are in connection with that grace, and with the sense of sin it produces. It gives a deep consciousness of sin, but it is in connection with the sense of God’s goodness; and the two feelings increase in mutual proportion. The new thing, sovereign grace, can alone produce these qualities, which answer to the nature of God Himself, whose true character the heart has apprehended, and with whom it is in communion; and that, while judging sin as it deserves in the presence of such a God.

It will be observed, that this is connected with the knowledge of Christ Himself, who is the manifestation of this character; the true source by grace of the feeling of this broken heart; and also that the knowledge of her pardon comes afterward. [23]

It is grace-it is Jesus Himself-His Person-that attracts this woman and produces the moral effect. She goes away in peace when she understands the extent of grace in the pardon which He pronounces. And the pardon itself has its force in her mind, in that Jesus was everything to her. If He forgave, she was satisfied. Without accounting for it to herself, it was God revealed to her heart; it was not self-approval, nor the judgment others might form of the change wrought in her. Grace had so taken possession of her heart-grace personified in Jesus-God was so manifested to her, that His approval in grace, His forgiveness, carried everything else with it. If He was satisfied, so was she. She had all in attaching this importance to Christ. Grace delights to bless, and the soul that attaches importance enough to Christ is content with the blessing it bestows. How striking is the firmness with which grace asserts itself, and does not fear to withstand the judgment of man who despises it! It takes unhesitatingly the part of the poor sinner whom it has touched. Man’s judgment only proves that he neither knows nor appreciates God in the most perfect manifestation of His nature. To man, with all his wisdom, it is but a poor preacher, who deceives himself in passing for a prophet, and to whom it is not worth while to give a little water for his feet. To the believer it is perfect and divine love, it is perfect peace if he has faith in Christ. Its fruits are not yet before man; they are before God, if Christ is appreciated. And he who appreciates Him thinks neither of himself nor of his fruits (except of the bad), but of the One who was the testimony of grace to his heart when he was nothing but a sinner.

This is the new thing-grace, and even its fruits in their perfection: the heart of God manifested in grace, and the heart of man-a sinner-responding to it by grace, having apprehended, or rather having been apprehended by, the perfect manifestation of that grace in Christ.

Footnotes for Luke Chapter 7

22: We have seen this to be precisely the subject of the Holy Ghost in our Gospel.

23: To explain the expression, “Her sins are forgiven, for she loved much,” we must distinguish between grace revealed in the Person of Jesus, and the pardon He announced to those whom the grace had reached. The Lord is able to make this pardon known. He reveals it to the poor woman. But it was that which she had seen in Jesus Himself, which, by grace, melted her heart and produced the love she had to Him-the seeing what He was for sinners like herself. She thinks only of Him: He has taken possession of her heart so as to shut out other influences. Hearing that He is there, she goes into the house of this proud man, without thinking of anything but the fact that Jesus is there. His presence answered, or prevented, every question. She saw what He was for a sinner, and that the most wretched and disgraced found a resource in Him; she felt her sins in the way that this perfect grace, which opens the heart and wins confidence, causes them to be felt; and she loved much. Grace in Christ had produced its effect. She loved because of His love. This is the reason that the Lord says, “Her sins are forgiven, because she loved much.” It was not that her love was meritorious for this, but that God revealed the glorious fact that the sins-be they ever so numerous and abominable-of one whose heart was turned to God were fully pardoned. There are many whose hearts are turned to God, and who love Jesus, that do not know this. Jesus pronounces on their case with authority-sends them away in peace. It is a revelation-and answer-to the wants and affections produced in the heart made penitent by grace revealed in the Person of Christ. If God manifests Himself in this world, and with such love, He must needs set aside in the heart every other consideration. And thus, without being aware of it, this poor woman was the only one who acted suitably in those circumstances; for she appreciated the all-importance of the One who was there. A Saviour-God being present, of what importance was Simon and his house? Jesus caused all else to be forgotten. Let us remember this. The beginning of man’s fall was loss of confidence in God, by the seducing suggestion of Satan that God had kept back what would make man like God. Confidence in God lost, man seeks, in the exercise of his own will, to make himself happy: lusts, sin, transgression follow. Christ is God in infinite love, winning back the confidence of man’s heart to God. Removal of guilt, and power to live to God, are another thing, and found in their own place through Christ, as pardon comes in its place here. But the poor woman, through grace, had felt that there was one heart she could trust, if none else; but that was God’s. God is light and God is love. These are the two essential names of God, and in every true case of conversion both are found. In the cross they meet; sin is brought fully into the light, but in that by which love is fully known. So in the heart light reveals sin, that is God as light does, but the light is there by perfect love. The God who shews the sins is there in perfect love to do it. Christ was this in this world. Revealing Himself, He must be both; so Christ was love in the world, but the light of it. So in the heart. The love through grace gives confidence, and thus the light is gladly let in, and in the confidence in the love, and seeing self in the light, the heart has wholly met God’s heart: so with this poor woman. This is where the heart of man and God always and alone meet. The Pharisee had neither. Pitch dark, neither love nor light were there. He had God manifest in the flesh in his house and saw nothing-only settled that He was not a prophet. It is a wondrous scene to see these three hearts. Man’s as such resting on false human righteousness, God’s, and the poor sinner’s-fully meeting it as God did hers. Who was the child of wisdom? for it is a commentary on that expression. And note, though Christ had said nothing of it, but bowed to the slight, yet He was not insensible to the neglect which had not met Him with the comm on courtesies of life. To Simon He was a poor preacher, whose pretensions he could judge, certainly not a prophet; for the poor woman, God in love, and bringing her heart into unison with His as to her sins and as to herself, for love was trusted in. Note, too, this clinging to Jesus is where true light is found: here the fruitful revelation of the gospel; to Mary Magdalene, as to the highest privilege of saints.

John Nelson Darby — Synopsis of the Books of the Bible: the New Testament (c. 1857–1862) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1–10. A certain centurion's servant. For notes on the healing of the centurion's servant, see Matt. 8:5–13.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

General Information:

Jesus enters Capernaum where Jesus heals a centurian's servant.

in the hearing of the people

The idiom "in the hearing" emphasizes that he wanted them to hear what he said. AT: "to the people who were listening to him" or "to the people who were present" or "for the people to hear" (See: Idiom)

he entered Capernaum

This begins a new event in the story. (See: Introduction of a New Event)

translationWords

Jesus

Capernaum

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

1–10. HEALING OF THE CENTURION’S SERVANT

1. ἐπειδή, ABC. This seems to be the best reading, for D has καὶ ἐγένετο ὅτε, and K, ἐπειδὴ δέ.

1. ἐπειδή. Where. This is the best reading. Luk 11:6 is the only place where it occurs (undisputedly) in the Gospels. Elsewhere it is only used once or twice in the Acts and by St Paul.

ἐπλήρωσεν. ‘Quum absolvisset.’ The words shew the solemnity attached to the previous discourse.

εἰς τὰς ἀκοάς. Mar 7:35; Act 17:20. See Mat 8:5-13. Capernaum was now His temporary home. The incident occurred as He was entering the town.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Sayings [ρηματα] . See on ch. Luk 1:37.

In the ears [εις τας ακοας] . Lit., into the ears. See on ears, Luk 4:37.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.