“God has visited his people!”
Luke 7:1-3
"After he had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. Now a centurion had a servant [bondservant] who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. When [he] the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant."
The scriptures are always picturing the Centurions in a good light. They seemed to be highly esteemed in the culture. They were often kind and respectful of the Jewish people. It seems odd to think of a gentile Roman military person as being anything but brutal, but from what we see in God's word, they hold a very prominent and welcomed position in that Jewish community. On a local level they must magistrate these communities and keep the peace. So, I suppose it's reasonable to imagine that they are very diplomatic and respectful of their neighbors.
Now all that said, in that culture, it was unlawful for a Jew to enter into the home of a gentile. And so, to ask Jesus into his home would place Jesus in a somewhat complicated situation. Recognizing this he sends his servant to prevent Jesus from coming. It's interesting because the gospel writer tells us that they tried to explain to Jesus that this Centurion was a good man, a worthy man. But look what the man says of himself:
Luke 7:6
And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to him, "Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof."
So, let's recap so we can stay on top of this. Verse 2 establishes for us that the centurion, whom we can assume is a Gentile, has a slave; the slave is important to him, but he's sick, and he's about to die. The centurion hears that Jesus is near and he send "elders of the Jews" to appeal to Jesus and fetch him, urging him to come and heal his slave. They truly are respectful of Jesus and his work and aren't demanding anything from him out of authority. They are basically begging him to come. So, Jesus goes with them, back to the centurion’s house.
Now it's interesting to note the words used by the centurion:
“Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy"
He and the Jews address Jesus as "Lord" and tell him he needn’t go to all this effort.
Luke 7:7
"Therefore, I did not presume to come to you. But say the word, and let my servant be healed."
This man is extremely diplomatic and respectful. Very understanding of Jesus' situation and he's very willing to accommodate Jesus were he to deem this situation beyond his ability to cope with the social implications of it all.
Seems like a nice guy. No wonder many respect him and hold him in great esteem. Of course, he could just be a politician who knows his way around people and cultural norms. But I'm going to avoid being cynical about his true heart.
So the centurion, through these elder Jews, goes on to say that he issues orders all the time, and his soldiers and his slaves follow them without question. And so, he just assumes Jesus has this same sort of arrangement of authority, with whatever powers are responsible for healing as he does. He doesn't question how Jesus heals people or even whether or not that power comes from heaven or hell, he just assumes whatever the source, Jesus holds that power in his own hands. And is able to wield it from across the universe if he wills it be.
Thats a HUGE assumption. Knowing nothing at all about the science or scale of Jesus' power, this centurion faith, believes that Jesus doesn't need to do anything physically to his servant in order to heal the affliction. He assumes Jesus doesn't need to even know what the affliction is. So, he's not seeing Jesus as any kind of physician. Likely he's already gone through the gambit of having his servant looked at by many physicians. And it's even more likely that he's reached the end of his Hope that his servant will survive this. So, he's willing to try just about anything. He's willing to even get spiritual now.
So this is really a spiritual healing at the end of the day.
Jesus “wondered” at this – that is, it’s a wonder, a remarkable thing – and then says "even in Israel" he hasn’t encountered such faith.
Luke 7:9
When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, "I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith."
The implication is that Jesus expects faith to be much stronger in Israel and especially among the people of Israel, more than everywhere else. And he's often disappointed by them in this regard.
Now keep in mind, the centurion sent "elder Jews" to fetch Jesus. So when Jesus says this thing about faithless people it's got to sting a bit in the hearing of these elder Jews. But what this shows us is that it is faith alone, not any association with any religious organization, which brings about the healings. Faith, in and of itself does not heal, but the object of that faith brings the healing power. Or in this case, sends it across time and space. But isn't that true of all spiritual healing or any of the heavenly miraculous blessings. Aren't they all coming from heaven above so aren't they all transcending time and space and all the dimensions of the universe? Apparently, the centurion understands this. He understands that faith transcends the physical world. He understands that faith is not limited by any material order or law. And he understands that the one who is, lord over that transcendence, is Jesus, son of the living God. How he came to this understanding we have no idea, but we know he does understand it, and he understands it in ways that even the Jews can't quite wrap their heads around.
And then...
Luke 7:11-15
Soon afterward [the next day] he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, "Do not weep." Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, "Young man, I say to you, arise." And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus [he] gave him to his mother.
Just as Elijah restored the life of a widow’s son in (1Kings 17:17-24), Jesus also gives life to the son of the widow at Nain. But I want to point out one thing in particular about this comparison. In both resurrection miracles, the source of power, the ground of that power was from the same source. The power was from God. And in the case of this widow in Nain, that source is standing there among them.
We know this because Jesus explains this concept of authority and power to his disciples...
John 14:10-11
"Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves."
Jesus points out his powerful supernatural works as the witness to his identity and authenticity. He was doing the works that were prophesied about him and regarding the kingdom age. And so, here we have it. The Messiah has definitely arrived. Not merely a great prophet, but the Son of God himself. The source of all that power is there among them. The Lord that a gentile authority recognizes openly among the people. "God has visited his people!"