Scripture: Luke 7:1-10
After Jesus had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the
people, he entered Capernaum. 2A
centurion there had a slave whom he valued highly, and who was ill and close to
death. 3When he
heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and
heal his slave. 4When
they came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy of
having you do this for him, 5for he
loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us.” 6And
Jesus went with them, but when he was not far from the house, the centurion
sent friends to say to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy
to have you come under my roof; 7therefore I did not presume to come to you. But only
speak the word, and let my servant be healed. 8For I also am a man set under
authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to
another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and the slave does
it.” 9When
Jesus heard this he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd that followed
him, he said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” 10When
those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good
health.
Sermon
For several days I struggled
with what Jesus means when he says: “not even in Israel have I found such
faith.” I agonized about how to understand and preach on this, read all kinds
of commentary and scholarship, went back and forth, and then I realized
something, and my debate ended, and I had a good night’s sleep.
What I had
debated is whether or not Jesus is being ironic. The consensus view is that the
words are straightforward. Jesus is praising the Centurion's faith as greater
than any he has seen. Here is a man who, even though he is a gentile and leader
in the army of the Roman Empire, is a great friend and benefactor to the Jewish
people, having built their synagogue. And, he is respectful of Jewish rituals.
When he asks Jesus to heal the dying slave in his household, he respects the
law that prohibits Jews from visiting gentile houses, and he sends word with
his friends for Jesus not to enter the home, trusting that Jesus can heal from
a distance.
When Jesus receives the
message, he is amazed and says “not even in Israel have I found such
faith.” The centurion’s faith is great,
and Jesus heals the slave. And perhaps it is so well remembered in the gospels
because this is what the church would look like after the resurrection. Jews
and Gentiles of faith together in each other’s homes and each other’s care, and
Jesus affirms these relationships in Capernaum by his healing.
Except... What if Jesus is
amazed not at the greatness of faith but at the tragic misunderstanding of
faith? The centurion’s message says “I also am a man of authority. I tell
people to go and they go.” Does Jesus really appreciate being compared to a
military officer giving orders? Is the centurion one of these stuck up people
of privilege who’s calling in favors? “Hey, we’re both important people here,
I’m sure you can help me out. You know, I built that Jewish synagogue.” Is that
any kind of faith? “Give me a break,” Jesus must think, “nowhere in Israel have
I seen such faith as this! I’ll heal the
slave, but don’t anyone take notes on this guy.”
This was my debate: should we
adopt the centurion’s faith or renounce it? But then I realized something. The
centurion is not the point of this story. Read it one way or read it the other,
but Jesus doesn’t heal because of his great faith or in spite of his ridiculous
faith. Jesus heals, just because that
poor man was sick. Healing was a part of what Jesus did. He healed, he taught,
he restored outcasts to community and he resisted the violence of oppression
with love, and each of these was a part of the kingdom of God breaking into the
world before their eyes. That’s what
Jesus was about.
