​Living in the Light: With or Without

The Centurion & The Widow at Nain

Luke 7:1-17 
After Jesus had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum.  A centurion there had a slave whom he valued highly, and who was ill and close to death. When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave. When they came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy of having you do this for him, for he loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us.” And 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; therefore I did not presume to come to you. But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed. For 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.” When 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.” When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.

Soon afterwards he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went with him. As he approached the gate of the town, a man who had died was being carried out. He was his mother’s only son, and she was a widow; and with her was a large crowd from the town. When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her, “Do not weep.” Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, rise!” The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized all of them; and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen among us!” and “God has looked favorably on his people!” This word about him spread throughout Judea and all the surrounding country

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The Centurion

God is faithful; God is there with us, all of us, no matter what- God's mercies are new every morning…. We need that reminder. We can see the faithfulness of God revealed in and through the life of Jesus- watching him work, following his ministry, learning from his encounters and interaction with people, we can come to understand a little bit more about the character, and the faithfulness of God.
 Luke gives us a glimpse of two of those encounters in this passage- first in the story of the centurion, and then in the restoration of a widow. 
 
First,  the centurion; this is a roman soldier, but also, obviously, a person of wealth.  The scripture says he financed the building of a whole synagogue.  That means he either has worked his way up to a high paying position in the Roman army, or he was wealthy already, perhaps his family was well off.  We don’t know, and I’m not going to jump to a conclusion. It’s part of the beauty of this text-the unknowing.  He could represent anyone with means, anyone who has influence, anyone who has power,  and he is a person who has developed close relationships with people.  We never meet him directly during the story; we’re told first about him through the Jewish leaders who he has sent to find and ask Jesus to come and heal his slave.  
 
It’s noteworthy that the centurion sent the Jewish leaders for Jesus- his relationship with them must have also been close, close enough to have listened to their stories of faith, to perhaps  have developed a faith of his own, but close enough to hope that this Jewish healer he has heard talk of, will be able to save his slave. 
 
That's another weird thing about this passage- We don’t meet the slave during the story either… we don’t know anything about him, or her- what made this particular slave so valuable to the centurion? I mean, honestly slaves were a dime a dozen- we can surmise that the slave was close to the centurion, but we don’t know in what capacity.  Maybe he was a great cook, maybe she had the ability to calm the centurion when he was stressed, maybe the slave was his fastest driver, maybe he brought in money, we don't know- but whatever the reason, this one slave was special enough that when they got sick, the centurion went beyond traditional Roman healing methods and sent for Jesus.  
 
And Jesus went with them… and for the more jaded among us, maybe you’re thinking, ‘sure, he went with them, it would be a chance for Jesus to prove to the Jewish leaders that he really is legit; a chance to silence the naysayers- a great opportunity to show who he was and build up his ministry.’ 
Maybe… except before he gets to his house, he meets a group of the centurion’s friends who he had also sent to meet Jesus, telling him NOT to come after all. And they bore a slightly different message. The Jewish leaders had vouched for the worthiness of the centurion, and gave Jesus reasons why he deserved this visit. But according to his friends the centurion had admitted he was not worthy for Jesus to come to his house at all… "Don’t come, for I am a man of power- who has people do my bidding.... only say the word and my servant will be healed..." 
 
And Jesus is amazed.  “Not even in Israel have I seen such faith!” he exclaims.  Jesus doesn't meet the centurion, he doesn’t meet the slave, but by the time the friends get back to the house, the slave is healed. 
 
Sometimes stories like this feel good-when we see people in the right light- and sometimes they make us uncomfortable- when we don't.  This Centurion, this rich powerful one, who has other people do his bidding for him, gets a “wow” from Jesus and gets the healing he asks for… he even he admitted he had authoritarian-like power over people- "when I call one they come, when I tell another go, they go"… and sure, he said “I’m not worthy” but is that repentance?  Is that a sincere statement? I mean, enough for Jesus to be 'amazed' at his faith and then grant his request?  The Centurion has got one foot and a pretty sizable financial investment and power  in the church, one foot in politics, and obviously a sizable investment in the roman system, once he gets what he wants, I mean how can we be sure? How can we know?

The Widow

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