Amazing Faith

Faith brings us to Jesus on our knees with empty but open hands.

Have you ever been super excited to show someone something but they didn’t really react to it? Have you ever worked really hard on something then showed someone but they weren’t impressed? If an audience isn’t very responsive to a performer’s talent on stage or to a comedian’s jokes, they may say, “Tough crowd.” They are difficult to impress.

Consider this: what impresses you? What does it take to amaze you? What would someone have to do for you to stand back and say, “Wow!” We are often impressed with great accomplishments. If something is difficult or challenging but someone is able to do it, we might say, “Wow, I’m impressed!” Maybe someone does something we didn’t think they were able to do. Maybe in a marriage, one spouse always does the cooking. But then the other spouse says, “Don’t worry about dinner tonight, honey. I’ve got it.” With some hesitancy the other spouse says, “Ok…” Then when dinner time comes, they see a table beautifully set with a spread of delicious food and they say, “Wow, I’m impressed!” What makes something worthy of your amazement?

What do you think it takes to impress Jesus? What is worthy of his amazement? Do you think he’s ever impressed with you? Do you ever think he looks at you and says, “Wow! I’m amazed!”

In the passage we are looking at today in The Gospel According to Luke, we will learn what impresses Jesus. In Luke chapter 7, people are wrestling with who Jesus is. Ever since chapter 4 when Jesus outlined his kingdom agenda in his inaugural sermon, Jesus has released people from what burdens them and restored them to wholeness. Now in chapter 7, we will see people either seeing Jesus for who he is or still trying to figure out who he is. The question we need to ask ourselves is: are we seeing Jesus clearly?

Two people have an encounter with Jesus in this story. First we are going to look at the centurion’s encounter with Jesus and answer the question: what amazes Jesus? Then we are going to look at the whole passage, including the widow’s encounter with Jesus, to answer the question: who is Jesus?

The Centurion (7:1-10)

After finishing his sermon in chapter 6, Jesus went to Capernaum which was on the Sea of Galilee and was Jesus’ home base of ministry. It was a Jewish center with an economy of agriculture and fishing. A road going by Capernaum made it important, which explains why Jesus meets a Roman centurion there.

What’s a centurion? A centurion was a commander of about 100 soldiers in the Roman army. A centurion was a non-Jewish Gentile and a Roman citizen. They served as Caesar’s representative wherever they were stationed, functioning as an intermediary between the people and the Empire.

The centurion in Capernaum had a problem. He had a servant whom he highly valued or another way to translate it is a servant whom he highly esteemed. This servant had become sick and was at the point of death. Upon hearing about Jesus, he sent elders of the Jews to Jesus to request that Jesus come and heal his servant.

Let’s take a moment to recognize the dynamics of this situation. Jesus is a Jew whose ministry and message up to this point have been focused on Israel. After all, Israel’s Scriptures, the Old Testament, are what predicted Jesus’ coming. He is the Messiah, whom they’ve been waiting for, God’s chosen King who will rescue his people.

What will he rescue them from? Zechariah’s song in chapter 1 praised God for raising up a King who would save them from their enemies, from the hand of all who hate them. Zechariah says the promise given to Abraham was that God would deliver them from their enemies so that they might serve him without fear.

And who are Israel’s enemies at this point? The Romans! Many in Israel believed that the Messiah would lead them to military victory over Rome and set up his political kingdom in replacement of the Roman kingdom. This centurion is not only a Gentile, but he is a Roman Gentile, and not only a Roman Gentile but a captain in the Roman army. He’s part of the problem the Jewish people believed the Messiah would eliminate. But then again, Jesus just preached a sermon about loving your enemies.

The elders of the Jews that the centurion sent give Jesus reasons why he should help the centurion by healing his servant. They pleaded with Jesus earnestly, saying, “He is worthy to have you do this for him, for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us our synagogue.” Perhaps they are saying: “He isn’t like other Romans. He doesn’t hate us. He loves our nation. The proof is that he built us our synagogue.” Jesus just preached a sermon about loving your enemies, doing good, and lending while expecting nothing in return. These elders are telling Jesus that the centurion has done good so he is worthy of a return. Perhaps this is their way of repaying him: appealing to Jesus on his behalf. Perhaps the centurion believes this is how they can pay him back: talk to Jesus on my behalf. This is how the culture worked: I scratch your back, you scratch mine. They were transactional relationships, which isn’t too different from ours. People in a position to help others did it expecting something in return.

Jesus agrees to go with them, but when he wasn’t far from the house, the centurion sent friends with a message for Jesus. It becomes clear that the centurion isn’t operating in the same system as the elders are, at least when it comes to Jesus. The centurion doesn’t think, “Because I’ve done this good thing, now I deserve something in return.” The centurion’s friends bring this message to Jesus:

“Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. 7 Therefore I did not presume to come to you. (Luke 7:6b-7)

The elders of the Jews told Jesus: “Look, here’s what makes him worthy to have you do this for him.” But the centurion says the exact opposite. He says: “I am not worthy to have you come to me and I am not worthy to come to you.” He doesn’t think Jesus owes him. He doesn’t tell Jesus why he is worthy. He doesn’t bring Jesus his resume of good things he has done so that he can get something in return. Instead of demanding from Jesus, he humbles himself.

The message from the centurion continues:

But say the word, and let my servant be healed. 8 For I too 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 servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” (Luke 7:7b-8)

He’s describing his position as an army captain. He has officers above him and he has soldiers under him. He understands how authority works. People do what he says. If he wants something done, he just has to say the word.

Verse 9 tells us Jesus’ response:

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.” 10 And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well. (Luke 7:9-10)

Jesus marveled at the centurion. He was astonished by him. He was impressed with him. Then he turned to the crowd following him and held the centurion up as an example of faith.

Usually people marvel at, are astonished by, and impressed with Jesus. But there are two key incidents where Jesus marvels at people and both have to do with faith. Josue just covered one in his testimony last Sunday. While in his hometown of Nazareth, Jesus marveled at their unbelief - their lack of faith (Mark 6:6). Here, Jesus marvels at this man’s faith. He turned to those who were following him and said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” To Israelites who are supposed to be the people of faith, Jesus points to a Gentile and basically says: “He has more faith than I’ve found in any of you!”

What is commendable about the centurion? What is it about the centurion that impresses Jesus? First, he approaches Jesus by faith, not by works. He does not appeal to Jesus based on what he has done. The Jewish elders commended the centurion’s works. They held up his resume and said, “He is worthy to have you do this for him because he has done these things.” Jesus commends his faith, not his works. The centurion knows he is unworthy, but he approaches Jesus by faith not by works.

How do you approach Jesus? By your works or by faith? When you come to him in prayer, do you tell him all the reasons you deserve something?

Second, the centurion sees who Jesus really is. The centurion sees more of Jesus than other people are seeing. The centurion sees Jesus as more than someone with the ability to heal. He sees Jesus’ authority. He not only sees Jesus’ power to heal but his position of authority. The centurion sees Jesus as a man with authority who simply has to say the word for something to be done. The crowds seek to touch Jesus in order to be healed (6:19). The centurion trusts Jesus can do it simply with a word. The centurion treats Jesus as a king, as someone with authority over him and even over life and death. The centurion’s servant is sick and at the point of death but he knows that Jesus can take care of that with a word. And Jesus marvels at him. Jesus is impressed with him. Jesus is astonished. “I have yet to see faith like this.”

Faith is not just about believing Jesus can help you or do stuff for you. The crowds coming to Jesus for healing believe that. That’s why they are coming to him. But Jesus commends the centurion for his faith in comparison to what he is seeing in others. The centurion believes Jesus can help him. But there’s more.

The centurion doesn’t just see Jesus’ power but Jesus’ position. The centurion actually sees Jesus, not just Jesus’ ability or what Jesus can do for him. He sees who Jesus is. He treats him as a King. Others don’t see this. They treat him as a miracle worker who can help them.

And the centurion sees himself in relation to Jesus. He is unworthy of Jesus. He is unworthy to have Jesus come to him and he’s unworthy to come to Jesus. So he doesn’t approach Jesus just to get something from him or thinking he has done enough to make himself worthy of Jesus’ help.

Here is a powerful man, commander over 100 soldiers, putting himself in a place of submission and need before Jesus. He knows he is unworthy so the only thing he can trust in is Jesus himself to help him. He trusts in who Jesus is as a person to help him - his mercy, his compassion, his love.

So how do we answer the question: what amazes Jesus? Jesus is amazed by faith. But what kind of faith is amazing? Here’s a definition: Faith brings us to Jesus on our knees with empty but open hands. Jesus is amazed by faith that brings us to him on our knees with empty but open hands. This is the position of faith: on our knees, nothing in our hands, but they’re open before him.

Here’s another way to think of it:

• Jesus is impressed when we’re impressed with him.
• Jesus is amazed when we’re amazed by him.
• Jesus marvels when we marvel at him.

In this story, Jesus was not impressed with what the man had done. He was impressed with his faith - faith in who Jesus is and what he can do. The man brings no resume of impressive things he has done. He comes empty-handed, impressed with Jesus.

When do you think Jesus is amazed by you? When you have a good Bible reading streak? When you haven’t missed your prayer times for a week? When you did a lot of good to help someone out? When you have kept yourself from sinning? When you’ve talked to someone about Jesus?

Certainly these are things we can do to please Jesus, but do you ever think Jesus could be amazed by your faith? This story shows us that Jesus marvels when we come to him on our knees with empty but open hands. We come on our knees, bowing before him as our King. He is worthy of our praise but we are unworthy of his presence. We do not bring anything with us to say, “Look Jesus at what I’ve done or what I have! This makes me worthy.” We come with empty hands, but they are open to receive from him. That’s the only posture we can take before him - the empty hands of faith. That’s what the posture of faith looks like.

Often, I think Jesus is tough to please. When I’m not living in line with the gospel, I imagine that I show Jesus what I’ve done and he shrugs his shoulders and goes “meh”. He’s not impressed. Actually, he is mostly disappointed with me for not measuring up. I feel like I’ve never done enough and what I’ve done isn’t good enough.

Is that how you live? Do you think you are a constant disappointment to Jesus? Like you never measure up? Like you can never do enough and what you’ve done isn’t good enough? Are you trying to do more to be worthy of Jesus’ attention? To be worthy of Jesus’ affirmation? This story shows us that it’s the admission of our unworthiness before Jesus that is the first step toward faith that Jesus marvels at. When we come to him with nothing to offer and recognizing him as the one worthy of our trust and allegiance, we are living by faith. We come to him with our weakness, our need, our sin, our unworthiness.

Richard Lovelace was church history professor at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and one of the topics he researched and wrote about was revival and renewal. What does a spiritual revival look like? What are the conditions that lead to revival? Lovelace wrote about how God’s people can be renewed. Do you feel like you need to be renewed? Do you feel run down and broken down? Do you feel like your spiritual life is a little dead, bland, and mediocre? Then consider what Lovelace says.

The centurion is a perfect example of what Richard Lovelace called the preconditions for continuous renewal. Let me share three short quotes from Lovelace that describe what the centurion experienced:

• “[O]ur first coming to Christ and the strength of our expression of new life in him are dependent on our accurate apprehension of our own need and of the character of the true God.” (Dynamics of Spiritual Life, 81)
• “Acceptance of Christ and appropriation [taking something for one’s own] of every element in redemption is conditional on awareness of God’s holiness and conviction of the depth of sin.” (Dynamics of Spiritual Life, 81)
• “What men wake up to in the light of a revival is their own condition and the nature of the true God.” (Dynamics of Spiritual Life, 82)

Here are the two conditions needed before we can experience personal spiritual renewal and corporate revival: awareness of God and awareness of ourselves. We need to wake up to who God is: his nature, his attributes, his character, specifically his holiness, righteousness, power, and authority. We also need to wake up to who we are, specifically our sinfulness and our neediness.

The centurion is a perfect example of someone who is clearly seeing who Jesus and who he is in relation to Jesus. He sees Jesus’ authority and worthiness and his own unworthiness. And that produces faith.

There’s a chart that demonstrates this called "the cross chart" (Source: The Gospel-Centered Life). Coming to Christ as our Lord and Savior requires an awareness of God’s holiness and our sinfulness. When we see the gap between him and between us, we long for something to fill it. That brings us to Jesus and what he has done for us on the cross. It turns us to God’s grace, mercy, compassion, kindness, generosity, and forgiveness. We know we can’t fill it on our own. The centurion had this. This is how we approach Jesus with faith.

The next question we are going to answer is: who is Jesus? Who is this Jesus that we come to in faith? What is he like? We’ll start by looking at the second story.

The Widow (7:11-17)

This second story is about a widow. She is in a much different position than the centurion. The centurion would not be considered “poor”. He isn’t vulnerable or lacking resources and doesn’t have low social status. He’s in a position of power. But he humbles himself before Jesus. The widow, on the other hand, is part of what scholars call the quartet of the vulnerable in the Old Testament: the poor, orphan, widow, and immigrant. She has lost her husband who would provide for and protect her. But these stories are linked together because they show Jesus’ authority over life and death.

From Capernaum, Jesus went to the Galilean town of Nain which was twenty-five miles south of Capernaum and six miles southeast of Nazareth. His disciples and a great crowd followed him.

What scene do Jesus and those with him experience as they come to Nain? Outside the gate of the town, they were met by a group of people in a funeral procession. A widow had lost her only son and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. Jesus and those with him hear flutes playing and a woman wailing, both of which cover the weeping of the mourning. They see people who have torn their garments as a sign of mourning. They see a widow weeping over the death of her son. They see men carrying a plank with a corpse wrapped in cloth on it. Because of the warm climate, a speedy burial was necessary to prevent deterioration. Usually the corpse would not remain in the house overnight, so this man most likely died in the last several hours. This isn’t a funeral service or memorial service scheduled days, weeks, or even months later. Members of this funeral procession witnessed this man die just hours ago.

So what does Jesus do? When he sees the woman, he has compassion on her. Then he interrupts the funeral procession and tells her: “Do not weep.” What a strange thing to say to a weeping mother who just lost her son. It would be cruel, insensitive, and inconsiderate to say such a thing if Jesus were not about to do something to change her situation. The words take us back to the beatitudes: “Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh” (Luke 6:21b). What Jesus is about to do is a foretaste of his future kingdom where death is defeated.

Then Jesus touches the bier to make the carriers stop. This action put Jesus in contact with a corpse which would make him unclean according to the Old Testament Law (Num 19:11). Then Jesus does something even more strange than telling the widow not to weep at her only son’s funeral: he speaks to the dead man! He gives the dead man a command: “Young man, I say to you, arise.” Then Luke says in verse:

15 And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. (Luke 7:15)

Jesus restores the son to his mother, calling him from death simply by saying so. Death does not make Jesus unclean; instead he defeats death!

Jesus is a King with supreme authority and he’s also a King with deep compassion. Do you think Jesus enters into your most terrible situations with compassion? Do you think he draws near - without you even asking? Let his response to this grieving widow be a picture of what this King is like toward you. He is drawn toward you with compassion in your distress, grief, and sadness. He is not repelled by it. You don’t have to get it together. One day he will touch all that is broken and wrong. He will put a stop to all of it and he will reverse it all.

This event causes those present, both those following Jesus and those with the funeral procession, to be seized with fear and to glorify God saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!” Fear is a common reaction to displays of God’s power and presence. They recognize Jesus as a prophet through whom God is present and active on behalf of his people. When Zechariah sang his song of praise in chapter 1, he praised God for visiting his people. This isn’t a social visit, but God coming to save and rescue like he did in the Exodus.

The people are trying to grapple with who Jesus is so they put him in the category of prophet. The great prophets, Elijah and Elisha, did mighty miracles like this. Elijah even brought back a widow’s son from the dead. When Jesus asks his disciples who people say he is in Luke 9, they report that some say he is Elijah and others “that one of the prophets of old has risen.”

People are trying to find a category for Jesus. They’ve seen what he can do. They’ve heard him teach. They are trying to answer the question: who is Jesus? And that’s the question for us. Who is Jesus to you? The way you approach him and address him shows who you think he is. Jesus is impressed with faith that brings us to him on our knees with empty but open hands. So who is this Jesus that we place our faith in? We see from these two encounters:

• Jesus is King. The centurion addresses him in this way.
• Jesus is willing to help. He goes with the Jewish elders to the centurion.
• Jesus has authority. He is in charge. What he says happens. He works by his word, like God.
• Jesus is worthy of honor.
• Jesus commends and affirms faith.
• Jesus is compassionate. He has compassion on the widow.
• Jesus initiates and moves toward the hurting. The widow doesn’t ask for anything. He just moves toward her on one of the worst days of her life.
• Jesus has authority over death.
• Jesus brings healing and life where there is sickness and death.
• Jesus is for all people, Jew and Gentile.

This passage gives me hope because it shows me that it’s possible to be commended by Jesus. It’s possible for him to affirm me. As someone who feels like they are falling short, it’s good news to hear that Jesus can actually be pleased with me. And it’s not hard. There aren’t a bunch of hoops to jump through. There isn’t a list of things I need to get done. If I want to be commended by Jesus, I don’t need to focus on doing more but on trusting more. I need to focus on seeing Jesus for who he is and trusting him. Jesus is impressed with faith that brings us to him on our knees with empty but open hands.

This is also what humility looks like. The opposite is pride. Pride is an inflated view of self. Pride replaces God with ourselves. Pride says “I deserve this; you owe me.” Pride feels entitled to receive and resentful and bitter when it doesn’t receive. Pride makes us rely on ourselves and live for ourselves. Pride says it’s all up to me and it’s all about me. A truth that is repeated in The Gospel According to Luke is that everyone who exalts themselves will be humbled and all who humble themselves will be exalted (14:11, 18:14).

This passage encourages us to see Jesus as King, as our Lord with supreme authority. So consider this: How much authority do you think Jesus has? And over what? In this passage he has authority over life and death. He has the power to change someone from almost dead to healthy and someone from dead to living. Do you go to Jesus as someone who has authority over your marriage? Over your job? Over your health? Over people in your life that you want to come to know Jesus? Do you come to Jesus as the one who can make all things new?

I always seek to preach these sermons to myself before I preach it to you guys. During the week, I was telling Katie how this passage was all about Jesus’ authority and his ability to just say the word and make something happen but I wasn’t seeing or feeling how it makes a difference to me. She asked me whether I see Jesus as both able and willing. Often we may see Jesus as able but not willing. Or we may see him willing but not able. I think I often see him as able but not willing. This passage shows us that Jesus is both able and willing. He has authority to just say the word and he is compassionate.

The centurion gives us a model of prayer. He comes to Jesus confessing his unworthiness and Jesus’ worthiness. He trusts Jesus is able to do whatever he wants simply by saying the word. Do you pray like that? Do you bow before Jesus with empty but open hands? The truth is that Jesus has the authority and power to work miracles in our life according to his will.

Prayer is how we approach Jesus. I have found the acronym ACTS to be a great prayer model.

• Adoration: “God, you are…”
• Confession: “I’m sorry…”
• Thanksgiving: “Thank you…”
• Supplication: “Please…”

This puts us in a position and posture where we are praising God, confessing our unworthiness, and expressing gratitude for what he has already done in our lives before we ask for anything. This will reshape your prayers. Because before you ask for anything, you have praised and thanked God and received forgiveness for your sin, selfishness, and pride. This brings our prayers in line with what’s true about God.

What if we really saw Jesus like the centurion, with all authority in heaven and on earth? What if we also saw him as compassion, moving toward us in our distress, affliction, and sorrow? What if we felt he was near us and that his heart goes out to us when we experience difficulty? The good news is that Jesus is our compassionate King who has defeated death.