Good morning church here in Cambridge joining us online
those who are joining us at our Kitchener location.
So glad to be starting this new year with you're going to ask
you to open your Bibles to Luke Chapter 7 verse one through 10
is where we're going to be today.
You know if I if I do my math right and I'm not always a great
at math. My wife is a math teacher.
I am a math failure. The average Canadian gets 81 to
82 opportunities to welcome a new year during the course of
their lifetime. I don't know about you.
I don't remember the first eight.
I can very distinctly remember the 8th 1:00 because I was at my
grandma's house as the first time I ever stayed up past
midnight. It was super exciting.
We had Olie Bola and Appa Flappa and dipped it in the icing and
it was so good. And then I passed out.
It was wonderful. So maybe, maybe, maybe you get
73 or 74, maybe 75 New Year's that you ring in that you
remember. And I think that's a reminder
that every year that we get, as we come to a day like this,
every year that we get, it's a gift.
We don't know how many lay in front of us.
We should never take them for granted.
And so I want to start by getting us to consider this
question, How are you going to spend that gift of a new year?
How are you going to spend 2026? And as you think about this
question, I want to give you an encouragement.
Would you make a commitment wherever you are in your
spiritual journey, would you make a commitment to join us and
make it a priority to be with us for at least the 1st 10 weeks?
I think if you make it for the 1st 10 weeks, you'll be into a
habit anyhow. I feel strongly about that.
But for the 1st 10 weeks, you would set aside every Sunday to
be present and to worship and to come together.
Because, because I think as we enter into this new series,
there's no better investment that you could make then to
grapple with the question that we're going to grapple with as
we walk through Luke 7 and Luke 8 of who is Jesus, Who is Jesus?
I think that's the most important question that anybody
could ever answer in their life. Because if you're going to take
the next 10 weeks to answer that question with us and to hear
what Luke has to tell us about this and, and to firm up for
yourself who Jesus is, here's what I'll tell you.
The answer to that question will change all the other weeks in
your life. How you answer the question, who
is Jesus? It changes everything if you
come to a point where you decide Jesus is just a man, maybe even
a great man, maybe a wonderful teacher.
But at the end of the day, just a man that can and I would argue
should change and settle your life in a certain direction.
If that's all, who, if Jesus is just some guy who was a great
teacher, you should live that out.
But if you decide, as I've decided, as I know so many of us
in this room have decided, as billions of Christians
throughout history and across the world have decided, that
Jesus is no mere man, then that should shape everything, not
just in this life, but it changes everything for eternity.
There's no more important question than we can ask then
who is Jesus? Because changes everything.
And so this morning we're going to start by looking at this
first encounter in Luke 7 chapters or verses 1 to 10 of
Jesus and a Roman centurion. And I want to start by reading
through the whole encounter, walking through it, and then
we'll jump into it in detail and explore what it teaches us about
who Jesus is. So let's let's read these first
10 verses together. When he had concluded saying all
this to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum.
And I just do want to pause here and give you a reminder of where
we were. Remember, Jesus had just given
his teaching on the plane. That's where we ended off.
And Luke, Jesus has given a whole bunch of teaching on what
it means to be a follower of his and to live in his Kingdom.
So that's the setting. We're coming straight out of
that. So he's now entered into a
capernaum and a centurion servant who was highly valued by
him was sick and about to die. When the centurion heard about
Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, requesting him to
come and save the life of his servant.
When they reached Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly,
saying He is worthy for you to grant this because he loves our
nation. He's built for us a synagogue.
So Jesus went with them, and when he was not far from the
house, the century and sent friends to tell him, Lord,
don't, don't trouble yourself, since I'm not worthy to have you
come under my roof. That's why I didn't even
consider myself worthy to come to you.
But say the word and my servant will be healed.
For I too am a man placed under authority, having soldiers under
my command. I say to this one, go, and he
goes to another one come, and he comes and to my servant do this
and he does it. Jesus heard this, he was amazed
at him, and he turned to the crowd and followed him.
He said, I'd tell you I've not found so great a faith even in
Israel. When those who had been sent
returned to the house, they found the servant in good
health. May God bless the reading of his
Word. So this encounter, I think,
teaches us two things. The first that I want us to see
is this. Jesus is the one whose authority
amazes, that Jesus is one of incredible authority.
We have to stop by first considering the person that
Jesus is speaking to. Who is this guy that Jesus is
interacting with through intermediaries, through his
friends? Who is this centurion?
Well, little background for you. Centurions were the background
or the backbone of the Roman army.
So in a fully staffed legion or section of the Roman army,
there'd be 6000 soldiers. That means that there would be
60 centurions in each legion. Because if I do my math, there's
a lot of math this morning, this is 10 cohorts of 600 and you
would need 60 centurions because each centurion looked after 100
or had authority over 100 men. So I, I believe my math is right
on this, 60 centurions in a legion, just to give you a sense
of, of, of the space and place that centurions took up in the
Roman army. Polybius, the, the Roman
historian described centurions this way.
He said centurions are not so much venturesome daredevils as
natural leaders of a steady and sedate spirit, not so much men
who will initiate attacks and open the battle as many who will
hold their ground when worsted and hard pressed and be ready to
die at their post. These are the guys who make up
the fighting force of Rome and keep it knitted together.
They're not the big picture guys.
They're not the grunt on the ground, but they're holding the
whole thing together. They're the glue.
This man in particular we learned a few things about.
First of all, we learned that he's a Gentile.
So he's not a Jew, right? You see that in verses 4:00 and
5:00. And then in verse 9, Jesus says,
here's this Gentile and I haven't met anybody in all of
Israel with faith like this. He's likely given the reality of
whose centurions were likely. He was a career soldier,
probably from a, a, a, a region around the area of Judea, maybe
a Syrian. He, he would have probably just
risen through the ranks as one who had been a faithful, loyal
soldier who who men responded to as a natural leader, a guy who
had proven himself to be brave in battle.
And so his role in this place in Capernaum as a centurion, was to
make sure that peace was kept. And where peace wasn't kept,
that order was restored. They were there to enforce the
Pax Romana, the peace of the Roman Empire.
Most important for us, I think in this story, though, and as
he's going to point out to us, he's a man who understood
authority. He's a man who knew what it was
like to live life in a command structure.
Most of us don't know anything about what that's like.
Like we, yes, we know what it's like to have a boss, but we
don't know what it's like to live in a space where
disobedience means death. That's the reality of life as a
Roman soldier. That's the reality in life
throughout history. In the military world, up until
very recently, the punishment for any soldier who disobeyed
directors, especially in a battle, was immediate execution.
That's how that world that that world of chain of command, of
authority, how it functions. I mean, even up until World War
One. Do you recognize that in World
War One, thousands of British and French soldiers were
summarily executed in the battlefield for deserting their
posts, that that is how armies and soldiers have fun?
That's definitely how he functioned.
And that means this man, he knows what real authority looks
like. What say the word do the word
looks like right? And that's what he says.
He says, Lord, hey, don't trouble yourself.
I'm not worthy to have you come under my roof.
I didn't even consider myself worthy to come to you.
But here's what I know about you.
Jesus, you say the word, My servant will be healed.
And how do I know this? Because I am a man placed under
authority. I know what authority looks
like. I know what it's like to have
soldiers under command. I say to this one, go.
He goes. I say to another one, come, He
comes. I say to my servant, do this.
He does it. That's what authority looks like
in Jesus. You're a man of authority.
In fact, you're a man of authority such that if you just
say the word that my servant would be healed, he'll be
healed. That's the type of authority
that you have. See, he understands this.
He understands Jesus is 1 whose authority must be obeyed.
And I think that leads to a question for us.
Do we believe that to be true about Jesus?
Do you believe that Jesus is 1 whose authority must be obeyed?
Do you? Do you see Jesus not merely as a
guy who's worthy of respect, not just someone who typically in
most situations, his advice would be good advice to listen
to? Do you see someone?
Do you see Jesus as the one who has ultimate and all authority
in all things? How do you respond to the
authority of Jesus? Do you respond like this man?
You know we sang a song to start, right?
I'll take you at your word. If you said it, I'll believe it.
There are way too many times in my life, at least, where I
should probably be singing. I value you, I value your word,
and if you said it, I'll consider it.
That's how I think at least. I so often respond to Jesus.
Maybe that's true for you too. Do we actually take Him at His
word? Believe that His word is
authority? It must be obeyed when He
commands to forgive and to forgive and to forgive again, as
Matthew 1822 says, to forgive 70 * 7, which is basically
infinite, infinitely, to just continue forgiving in your life.
Do you take that as a commander? Take it under advisement when he
says that you need to love your enemies and pray for those who
persecute you. Do you take Him at His word?
Do you treat sin in your life with such severity that you will
do whatever it takes to stop it? Because that's what Jesus said
we ought to do in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 527 to 30.
He says, man, if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off.
If your eye causes you sin, pluck it out.
He's just saying sin so severe, do whatever you need to take
care of it. Do you follow Jesus so fully in
everything that you can honestly say?
When Jesus says deny yourself, take up your cross, die to
yourself and follow Him, that that's the pattern of your life
and my life. When he says go make disciples
of all nations and we see our neighbors who need Jesus, do we
consider or do we obey? Do you believe Him when He
promises that if you are weary and you come to Him, He will
give you rest? In Matthew 1128, do you believe
the truth that He spoke in John 1427 in that upper room as He
was given final instructions to His disciples before His death,
that He gives peace to His followers?
Do do you trust Him when He says in Luke 748 that He offers a
clean slate and a new beginning to everybody who comes to Him?
Would you keep on listening to the voices in your head that
call you back to the shameful things that you did in your past
and live in shame instead of in freedom?
Do you believe Him when He says that He'll use you if you follow
Him and you put down roots in Him to have a lasting impact,
even if you don't necessarily see that impact right now, but
He promises that you will bear fruit, fruit that will last.
We looked at that back in the beginning, in September, the
beginning of this church year, John 1516.
Most importantly, do you believe that if you place your faith in
Him, death is not the end resurrection is that it's true
in John 14/19 He says because I live you too will live because
here's the thing. Jesus authority is so amazing
that whatever he says comes to be.
He says the century and understood this right.
He said just say the word Jesus, my servant will be healed.
The amazing, astonishing truth of Jesus's power and authority
is that he speaks and reality comes into existence that that's
that's what we just celebrated at Christmas in John one.
We celebrate the incarnation. John one starts out this way.
He says in the beginning was the word.
The word was with God. The word was God.
He was with God in the beginning and all things were created
through him. Apart from Him, not one thing
was created that has been created.
The word John says is Jesus right in verse 14 he says that
this word, that word that created all things, became flesh
and dwelt among us, and we observe His glory, the glory as
the one and only Son from the Father.
The word is Jesus. The Word was there at creation
and Jesus speaks and the stars are made.
This is the wonder of the incarnation.
St. Augustine said it this way.
Think about this man's maker was made man, that he, ruler of the
stars, might nurse at his mother's breast.
That's incredible. Here's the one who by a word
puts the stars, and yet he enters into his creation as a
humble baby. Jesus just has to speak the
word. Genesis 1 is the account of God
speaking. And there was.
That's the whole thing. Let there be and there is.
When Jesus speaks, it's not something that might happen.
It's not a strong probability or possibility.
It's what will happen. Because the words that Jesus
speaks speak reality into being, believing this reality to be
true about Jesus, His amazing incredible authority is
ultimately foundationally what it looks like to have faith.
And so it leads to the second thing we learned from this
encounter. We learned that amazing faith
recognizes as Jesus authority and trusts it.
Look at the response of Jesus in verse 9 to the message the
centurion's friends delivered to him.
Says Jesus heard this and he was amazed at him.
Turning to the crowd following, he said, I tell you, I haven't
found so great a faith even in Israel.
Now, in the Gospels, there are all sorts of times where people
are amazed at or by Jesus. We're going to see so many
accounts in Luke of people being amazed at who Jesus is and what
he does and what he says. Do you know there's only two
times recorded in all of Scripture where Jesus is amazed?
The first time is found in Mark 66 and in that instance Jesus is
amazed in the unbelief of the people of Nazareth that they
wouldn't be able. They couldn't see him for who he
was despite everything he had done amongst them.
They just couldn't wrap their head around Jesus being the
promised Messiah. But here is the second time that
Jesus is amazed by people and he's amazed.
He's stunned at the faith of this non Jewish Roman soldier.
Because this guy sees him so much more clearly than anybody
else around saw Jesus because he saw his authority.
Now what does this amazing faith look like for us?
What are what are the markers? If one is to have amazing faith?
What would be showing up in our lives if we had amazing faith in
the authority of Jesus? I think we see 4 markers here in
the life of the centurion. The first is this amazing faith
is marked by an incredible love for people, for others.
You see the Centurions uncommon love twice in this story, and we
probably don't see it because it's pretty veiled to us.
We don't understand the culture of the time.
But the first way we see it is in His compassion towards His
servant. You and I might think of course,
well anybody, if they had somebody who they knew they
would go and they would try and get the help for them that they
need. But that is not the way that
Romans viewed slaves. Luke actually uses 2 Greek words
that show us how great the centurion's esteem was for this
servant. And, and servant is a mild word.
It really should be slave. This word servant is found in
verse 7. It's the word the the Greek word
pace which also can be translated as son that he had a
deep affection towards and which is why he doesn't call him a
slave even though he functioned as a slave to this man.
Verse 2 entemos it's it's the word highly valued that you'll
see in your in your in your Scripture, in your Bible.
But what it really connotes is a distinguished guest at a
banquet. In fact, Peter uses this exact
word to describe Jesus in first Peter 2 four and six.
This this is this is the the esteem which he's giving.
He he's an esteemed guest. He's not just deeply valued for
his use, but but but the centurion has great affection
and esteem for him, which is completely countercultural to a
Roman view of slaves. The Roman writer Vero said the
only difference between a slave, an animal and a cart was that
the slave talked. That is how Roman citizens saw
slaves. They were there for their use,
at their disposal, for their pleasure, and that's how it
functioned. So he's marked by this deep
concern and care that is totally uncommon for his servant and
then in his love for the people of God.
Do you know anti-Semitism is not a new thing.
It's it's been around a long time.
The Romans viewed Jews as a filthy race.
They viewed Judaism as a barbarous superstition, and to
be fair, Jews for their part refused for the most part to
engage with Gentiles in any way, shape or form for fear of
becoming unclean. But the centurion here overcomes
those prejudices, and he acts with love towards the people of
God. Would the people around you be
amazed by the way that you love others?
Do you have a love that is countercultural towards people
who really, maybe you wouldn't be expected or or have no reason
to love? Amazing faith is marked by
incredible love, uncommon love. Second, amazing faith is marked
by generosity. How do we know that he loved the
people of Israel and the Jewish people?
Well, he built the synagogue. He these, these, these Jewish
men come and say, hey, listen, Jesus, he's worthy for you to
come and heal his servant because he loves our nation.
He's built us a synagogue. As proof, he, he believed in
what the Jewish scriptures taught.
He believed the truth of God so deeply that he actually put his
money where his mouth was. There was a time where I I came
to a pretty sobering realization that if I spent my money on what
I loved, it meant that I loved Big Macs more than I loved
Jesus. I looked at my my finances.
I realized I spend more money on fast food than I give to the
cause of Christ that that was deeply humbling to me.
If if we believe Jesus is the way, the truth and the life and
no one comes to the Father except through him, would that
be borne out by giving to make sure that as many people as
could possibly hear about this Jesus got to hear about him.
His Jewish friends here they point to his amazing generosity
is the reason reason for why Jesus should come and heal his
servant. But what's truly amazing is
that's not how the man saw himself.
In fact, he specifically says Lord, don't trouble yourself.
I'm not worthy Jesus. She says, I'm not worthy for you
to come under my roof. So the third thing I want us to
see is that it's not just marked by amazing love and amazing
humility or amazing generosity, also by amazing humility.
True faith, real faith, the type of faith that can really bring
the healing that we need is marked by a realization of just
how unworthy we are. He sees who Jesus is as clearly
as anybody has been able to see Jesus before the Christ.
He sees who Jesus is, and he sees who he is in light of the
Jesus that he sees, and he's brought to ultimate humility.
No, I'm not worthy. I'm not worthy to have you come
into my house. The guy built an entire
synagogue. What have you done for Jesus?
What have you done for God? If he's not worthy, how am I
worthy? One of the marks of true faith.
We saw it in the last chapter. Jesus starts with it, is that we
realize that we are spiritually poor.
We're spiritually bankrupt. We got nothing to offer God on
our own. We don't get ourselves worthy
before Him in order to have Him except us.
Do you understand that the only way that you can be made whole,
that you can be saved, that you can be healed, that you can
receive salvation as this man's servant was saved and healed, is
by acknowledging that you have nothing in and of yourself to
make you worthy of receiving it? The fourth thing we see is this,
that Jesus faith is marked by trust in Jesus amazing
authority. It just brings us back to where
we started. The centurion believed in the
authority of Jesus. Do you believe in Jesus
authority? Do you really believe that Jesus
is not just merely an authority, but that he is the one who holds
all authority? See, if you see Jesus for who he
is, one who has amazing authority, the one who can heal,
the one who can bring life, the one who speaks and creation
comes into existence. If you come to him in humility,
recognizing that you have nothing to offer him, but
believing that He can give you life and healing, then John 316
is true for us. Everyone who believes in him
will not perish but have eternal life.
That's what it looks like to have saving faith in Jesus, to
recognize that he is Lord, he is God, he is Savior, and he is
worthy of my full surrender, my full abandonment to Him.
That Jesus offers life and life to the full, and that he calls
for me to offer my life in surrender to him as the
authority. Because if he's the one who
saves, he's also the one who commands.
Are you living with Jesus as the commanding officer in your life?
Or are you treating Jesus like the occasional advisor, inviting
him in for some advice when you need it, when you're in a
pickle? But go in your own way, doing
your own thing until you hit those points?
Do you believe that He's the one whose promises will prevail in
the midst of your struggles to see hope in where you're at
right now? In the midst maybe of your
weariness today, your discouragement?
Will you take Him at His word? Will you believe that when He
speaks, his speech is reality, so his promises are unbreakable?
Will you believe that Jesus word is enough?
As we begin this year, as we begin this season, as we begin
this series, the question before us is the most important
question any of us are ever going to answer.
Who is Jesus to you? Not in the abstract.
This is not an academic question process.
It's foundational. Because who we actually believe
Jesus to be will shape every moment of our life.
Here. Today we see that Jesus is the
one whose authority amazes. May we be people who have such
an amazing faith that we can believe that and allow that
faith to change us in all the areas of our life that we've
talked about. Let's pray.
Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for the opportunity
today to get a glimpse into this encounter between Jesus and the
century and Father as we walk through your word over these
next now nine weeks. God, don't let this be an
academic exercise to us. Don't let it be a matter of
trying to get the right questions on a quiz.
But allow these truths to be truths that shape our heart,
that shape our lives, that shape what we do, that shape how we
live, that shape every aspect of what our days look like.
God, we don't want to just go through 2026, going through
another year, plotting through another gift that you have
granted us and not living in the fullness of the reality of what
is truly true. Father, for anyone who's here
who does not yet know and understand who Jesus is, who
hasn't seen his amazing authority, who hasn't come to a
point of recognizing and surrendering to that and
claiming him as Lord and Savior. Lord, I just pray today would be
the day would they were call out and they say I believe you
Jesus, I take you at your word. If you said that you and you
alone can save me that you are the way the truth of the life
that no one comes to the Father except for you.
I believe that I receive that I put my faith in that I don't put
my faith in my works. I don't put my faith in the
things that I've done the things that I think make me worthy of
you receiving me in put all my faith in the fact that Jesus is
worthy. He died on the cross for me and
he is raised to new life. And Father, I thank you that
when we believe that you are true to your promises because
your word is true and we've received eternal life forever
starting now. And God for all of us who know
you, who love you, who've cried out and and said that we trust
that, help us to see your authority.
Don't allow us to live like you're our advisor this year,
but that we would live as if your word is true, your promises
are true, your commands are true, and they are the only way
to life and through life and God where we fall short.
Help us to fall into the truth that as Pastor Kevin started us
off with this morning, if we confess our sins, you're
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from
all out and righteousness and to lean back into your goodness and
your grace and receive your forgiveness.
God, we love you, we trust you. Jesus, you are commanding
authority. Help us to obey you.
Amen.