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The Centurion’s Faith, Raising a Boy from the Dead

John the Baptist, and the Sinful Woman

Last week’s lesson focused on the "Sermon on the Plain," in which Jesus gathers 12 newly-designated apostles around him for what may be his first comprehensive teaching about the contrast between God’s laws under the New Covenant of the Messiah, and under the oral law of the Pharisees. Jesus says in summary his followers must have a "righteousness (which) surpasses that of the Pharisees" (Matt 5:20) by doing, in general, more than is required (or expected) to help others, and by following behavioral guidelines for interpersonal relations—rather than the strict, inflexible legalism of the oral law.

Jesus then returns to Capernaum—just a few miles away—where he has his first encounter with a Gentile recorded by Luke. It’s a Roman centurion . . . we might think of him as a colonel in the Roman army.

The centurion is a remarkable man. Although a member of a military occupation force and a Gentile, he loves the Jews and financed building their synagogue (7:5). He may be one of those people the book of Acts refers to as a "God-fearing Gentiles," who studied and believed the Jewish scriptures, even though they didn’t convert to Judaism. (Recall from our introductory session: most people found Greco-Roman paganism spiritually unfulfilling, and many Gentiles sought out the God of the Jews.)

This story focuses on the centurion’s remarkable faith. He has a much-valued servant, who is on the verge of death. When Jesus arrives in Capernaum, the centurion requests Jewish elders to ask Jesus to heal him. Immediately Jesus starts out toward the centurion’s home . . . but while he’s on the way, the centurion sends a message:

This is an astonishing statement from a high-ranking Roman officer to a peasant Jewish holy man! Imagine a WWII British army colonel sending such a message to an Indian holy man . . . one of the people the British deprecated as "Wogs"; that’s the context in which I read it. But let’s consider the many interacting factors at work here.

The first is that—although we think of the centurion as powerful and influential and Jesus as a poor Jewish peasant—the centurion is the one in need. And he knows a devout Jew will be ceremonially defiled by entering the home of a Gentile . . . and he surely also knows—even if only from gossip—the story in John 4 that Jesus already healed the son of a "royal official" (or "nobleman") in Capernaum from a distance with only a word. The centurion knows Jesus has the power to do what he requests.

But—as Jesus says—the most important thing is the remarkable faith of the centurion: "I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel" (7:9). Think how great this faith is. If we were in the centurion’s place—even believing in Jesus’ healing power—most of us would want to keep some degree of control . . . maybe bring the servant to Jesus and stick around as he laid on hands or something. But we show the greatest faith in Jesus’ healing powers by standing back and saying: "No worries; I know you’ll take care of my needs; I’ll just leave it with you, Jesus" . . . and this is the faith of the centurion. The bible doesn’t record any Jews with such faith—even though lots of Jews must have known about Jesus and the nobleman’s son. That may be what Jesus is referring to with his lavish praise of the centurion’s faith (7:9). And this faith is rewarded, because the servant is healed by the time the centurion’s messengers return home (7:10)!

The centurion’s faith also reflects the point Jesus has been making throughout his early ministry: that as Messiah he is the son of God, with the authority and power of God. Part of God’s power is to heal from afar. Human healers come to lay on hands the sick . . . but not God. The centurion calls attention to Jesus’ authority, and his faith allows Jesus to demonstrate again he God’s authority.

Lastly, this story teaches us about the kind of faith we latter day Christians must have. For a brief period in 1^st century Israel, people were able to come to God in the form of a man, and be healed by God in person. Since Jesus’ crucifixion, that has not been possible. Today, we must have the centurion’s faith . . . that we can pray to Jesus . . . that he hears our prayers . . . and that he will heal our hurts. The story of the centurion shows us that such faith is well placed.

In the next story, Jesus travels south of the Sea of Galilee to the village of Nain, in a region bordering the land of the Samaritans, and a place well away from Jesus’ usual wanderings around the NW shore of the Sea of Galilee. Why does Jesus come here? Perhaps strictly for the symbolism of the event we are about to discuss.

Just outside the village, Jesus encounters a funeral procession for a widow’s only son. This is really bad news for a widow; if her son is dead, she may be forced to live on charity. But Jesus fixes her problem by raising the young man from the dead!

The people’s reaction is interesting: "A great prophet has appeared among us," they said. "God has come to help his people" (7:16). Why did they react in this particular fashion?

There’s a story in 2 Kn 4 about of Elisha the prophet raising to life the only son of a woman from Shunem. Nain is very close to Shunem! This makes it seem Jesus came to Nain to reinforce his Messianic credentials by repeating a miracle Elisha performed almost 900 years earlier. Why is this important?

We have discussed that Jesus needs to prove he has the power and authority of God . . . and he does this by performing miracles the Jews believe only God can do. Another way to prove this claim is to repeat miracles performed in past times by Old Testament prophets; everyone believed the Old Testament prophets came from God . . . so who can deny the same thing for Jesus if he duplicates their miracles. And that’s what the people’s unusual remark is affirming . . . that they recognize Jesus as Messiah in this miracle!

Luke next records a discussion between Jesus and John the Baptist’s disciples. Recall from lesson 3 that when Herod Antipas stole and married his brother’s wife Herodius, John accused Herod of adultery. Herod didn’t like the bad PR; and he put John in prison in Machaerus, on the east side of the Dead Sea, the most formidable fortress in Herod’s domain.

The dialog is brief, so we need to fill in some detail. John knows Jesus is the Messiah; this was supernaturally revealed to him when the dove descended on Jesus when he was baptized (John 1:32-34). But so far, Jesus has just gone around preaching and healing . . . there’s no indication he’s raising an army or doing anything else to accomplish the violent overthrow of Rome that the Jews expect of the Messiah. Therefore, from his cell in Machaerus, John sends two disciples to ask Jesus the crucial question: "Are you really the Messiah . . . or aren’t you? (7:19-20).

Jesus’ answer is pure genius in making the point with great precision, yet in a way not everyone will recognize—because "the walls have ears," and the Romans would view a Messianic claim as sedition . If I may paraphrase Jesus’ return message—and add some spin of my own—he says: "Hey, John, I know the Jews believe the Messiah is supposed to be a military leader. The bible doesn’t say that; it only says he is a king, and the son of David. But the bible does say the Messiah will give sight to the blind, heal the lame, cure leprosy, give hearing to the deaf, raise the dead, and preach the gospel (cf 7:22). As you can see, I’m doing what the bible promises the Messiah will do. And this stuff about the Messiah being a military leader . . . he’s not; our forefathers just didn’t get it."

After the messengers leave, Jesus talks to the crowd about John. Luke 7:29-30 reminds us that the common people—including the tax collectors—believed in John the Baptist; but the Jewish religious leaders rejected him. One reason they gave seems to be that John was . . . weird. Quoting from Matt 3:4: "John's clothes were made of camel's hair, and . . . his food was locusts and wild honey." That seems to be Jesus’ point in 7:24-27. If I may again paraphrase his words—and add my own "spin"—Jesus says: "We know God promised the prophet Elijah would return to prepare the way for the Messiah. And what do you think he’d be like? . . . well-dressed and urbane? No! . . . we should expect the prophet to be like Elijah: ‘a man with a garment of hair’ (2 Kn 1:8) who lived in the desert. And I tell you John the Baptist is the spiritual reincarnation of Elijah . . . and the forerunner of the Messiah, me."

Then Jesus heaps extraordinary praise upon John: "I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John" (7:28a). But then he goes on to add: "Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he" (7:28b). John the Baptist is considered an Old Testament prophet because—although he lived in New Testament times—he was called by God and prophesied prior to the crucifixion of Jesus, which is the dividing line between Old Testament law and the New Covenant of the Messiah. Hence Jesus’ main point is that as great as John was, those living under the New Covenant of the Messiah are greater than any who died under Old Testament law.

Jesus ridicules the Jewish religious leaders who rejected John the Baptist . . . and who now reject him. He compares them with peevish children who just don’t want to play—no matter what the game is (7:32). John the Baptist came as an Old Testament prophet: a man from the desert shouting "repent or be damned" (cf 3:8), drinking no wine, and fasting regularly; the Jewish authorities say he is just weird and must be demon-possessed (5:33). Now Jesus comes, also preaching repentance (5:32, Matt 4:17), but with a more low-key style, drinking wine, and not fasting continually; yet the Jewish authorities say Jesus is "a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of . . . ‘sinners’" (7:34). These objections are contradictory . . . but that doesn’t matter to the Jewish leaders, because they aren’t real reasons. The Jewish authorities don’t object to the style of John the Baptist and Jesus . . . they object to their message . . . the message that salvation comes through repentance, not through following the strict "legalism" of the oral law. Yet the spiritually discerning can see right through the duplicity of the Jewish authorities (7:35).

The last story—the Pharisee and the Sinful Woman (probably a prostitute)—reinforces the hypocrisy of the Pharisees . . . and emphasizes Jesus’ message of repentance. Jesus is invited to a banquet at the home of a Pharisee named Simon. We might ask: why was Jesus invited to this banquet . . . and why did he go? The similarity with the story of Jesus’ healing a paralytic makes me conclude that Simon the Pharisee invited Jesus as part of the ongoing investigation by the Jewish authorities; Simon doesn’t want dialog with Jesus . . . he wants to trap him into saying something that can be used to against him. So why does Jesus go? He probably knows how the story ends . . . but he also never seems to miss an opportunity to preach the gospel—even knowing his host is trying to entrap him.

The story is best understood in the context of 1^st century middle eastern eating habits; a sketch is shown on the web site. Diners don’t sit on chairs or benches in front of a table as we do; they "recline at (a low) table" (7:36): resting on their left elbows and eating with their right hands, their feet stretched out away from the table. Thus when the sinful woman learns Jesus is eating at Simon’s house (7:37) she can come in and "stand behind (Jesus) at his feet" (7:38) without disrupting the other diners. The woman weeps and "wet his feet with her tears, then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them"—expensive perfume from an alabaster jar (7:37-38). She is apparently overcome with repentance over her sinful life.

Simon the inquisitor thinks bad thoughts about Jesus, but says nothing; "he said to himself, ‘If (Jesus) were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner’" (7:39). Simon expected Jesus to send the woman away—as he would have done, since Pharisees avoided any contact with such a woman!

In response to Simon’s thoughts, Jesus tells a parable about two men, who owe money to a moneylender. One owes him the equivalent of 2 years’ salary, and the other 2 months’ salary. The moneylender forgives both debts, and Jesus asks who is the more grateful. Simon responds—correctly—that it is the one who had the larger debt forgiven.

Jesus then criticizes Simon for his lack of hospitality—which is another reason to infer Simon invited Jesus in an effort to entrap him. The Jewish code of behavior required a host to show hospitality to a guest by washing his feet, giving him a welcome kiss, and/or putting oil on his head. Simon had done none of these for Jesus, thus sending the message Jesus is an unwelcome guest. By contrast, the woman has welcomed Jesus lavishly . . . doing all three things, and doing them to excess. She reflects Jesus’ instructions in the Sermon on the Plain: his followers should do more than required to do good to others.

There is also a more subtle message in this story, which ties in with Jesus’ comments about John the Baptist. Self-righteous Pharisees like Simon commit the sin of pride, and did not recognize or welcome the Messiah . . . but people like this woman who are aware of their sin did. Repentant sinners are the ones who—in the end—will experience salvation by being restored to fellowship with God by the Messiah and inheriting eternal life; yet self-righteous Pharisees who fail to acknowledge their sin will be left out.

Jesus says to the woman: "Your sins are forgiven" (7:48). "The other guests" to say to themselves: "Who is this who even forgives sins?" (7:49)—which probably reflects one of the few things Jesus’ followers and his opponents agree upon: "Jesus is claiming to be God!" That’s right!

Jesus concludes with these words to the woman: "Your faith has saved you; go in peace" (7:50). She has repented of her sins; and she has faith Jesus will forgive and save her. And he has. As he will for all who come to him in faith and repentance.

Next week Jesus tells the important parable of the sower. He takes a rare trip into Gentile territory on the other side of the Sea of Galilee, and Satan pulls out all the stops to defeat him—without success. But most significant, Jesus experiences opposition from his family to his ministry . . . and we’ll see how Jesus addresses that.