Luke 7:1-17

1 When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people, he returned to Capernaum. 2 At that time the highly valued slave of a Roman officer was sick and near death. 3 When the officer heard about Jesus, he sent some respected Jewish elders to ask him to come and heal his slave. 4 So they earnestly begged Jesus to help the man. “If anyone deserves your help, he does,” they said, 5 “for he loves the Jewish people and even built a synagogue for us.”

6 So Jesus went with them. But just before they arrived at the house, the officer sent some friends to say, “Lord, don’t trouble yourself by coming to my home, for I am not worthy of such an honor. 7 I am not even worthy to come and meet you. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed. 8 I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’ they do it.”

9 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to the crowd that was following him, he said, “I tell you, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel!” 10 And when the officer’s friends returned to his house, they found the slave completely healed.

11 Soon afterward Jesus went with his disciples to the village of Nain, and a large crowd followed him. 12 A funeral procession was coming out as he approached the village gate. The young man who had died was a widow’s only son, and a large crowd from the village was with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, his heart overflowed with compassion. “Don’t cry!” he said. 14 Then he walked over to the coffin and touched it, and the bearers stopped. “Young man,” he said, “I tell you, get up.” 15 Then the dead boy sat up and began to talk! And Jesus gave him back to his mother.

16 Great fear swept the crowd, and they praised God, saying, “A mighty prophet has risen among us,” and “God has visited his people today.” 17 And the news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding countryside.

Comments

We have two stories here. The first is found in Matthew, but altered a good bit here. The second is unique to Luke. In Matthew (8.5-13), the centurion comes himself and speaks directly with Jesus. Here, the centurion and Jesus never meet or speak with each other directly. In fact, Jesus says almost nothing in this scene – he does not even declare the servant healed – only the remark about his remarkable faith remains. As Luke tells it, the story bears a lot of resemblance to Elisha healing Namaan of leprosy (2 Kings 5). The second story bears a lot of resemblance to Elijah raising the Sarepta widow’s son from the dead (1 Kings 17). This leads to the crowd recognizing that Jesus is a “great prophet” in v.16. Luke tailored the first story and placed it alongside the second to reinforce this truth.

Here are a few things worth noting:

• The Jewish elders sent by the centurion were local leaders of the synagogue in Galilee, not connected with the elite leadership of Jerusalem and thus not (as much) at odds with Jesus. 
• The centurion has his friends call Jesus “Lord” (v.6) which for Luke is an expression of faith in Jesus.
• In his narration of the second story, Luke himself calls Jesus “Lord” for the first time in his Gospel (v.13). The term has been used before, but only in quotes. Luke was too careful for this to be accidental.
• In the Sermon on the Plain, Jesus instructed his followers to have compassion on people. He displays compassion on the widow in v.13. This reinforces the prior teaching and gives it a narrative context: our hearts should overflow with compassion, just like Jesus.
• Jesus ministers exclusively to outsiders in these stories, people of the reversal. The centurion is racially excluded. The servant is economically excluded and also under the cloud of racial exclusion by being in the centurion’s house. The widow is excluded based on gender and economics. And the boy is dead – the very embodiment of “unclean.” Jesus has no business caring for any of these. Such is the opinion of all the religious leaders, including John the Baptist. But these stories bear out the reversal Mary,  Zechariah, and Simeon prophesied about. These are the people Jesus came for. These are the people who call him Lord.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale HousePublishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Luke 6:39-49

39 Then Jesus gave the following illustration: “Can one blind person lead another? Won’t they both fall into a ditch? 40 Students are not greater than their teacher. But the student who is fully trained will become like the teacher.

41 And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? 42 How can you think of saying, ‘Friend, let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.

43 A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. 44 A tree is identified by its fruit. Figs are never gathered from thornbushes, and grapes are not picked from bramble bushes. 45 A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.

46 So why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord!’ when you don’t do what I say? 47 I will show you what it’s like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then follows it. 48 It is like a person building a house who digs deep and lays the foundation on solid rock. When the floodwaters rise and break against that house, it stands firm because it is well built. 49 But anyone who hears and doesn’t obey is like a person who builds a house without a foundation. When the floods sweep down against that house, it will collapse into a heap of ruins.”

Comments

After telling us not to judge, Luke’s version of the sermon talks about blind guides and then moves to discuss good fruit versus bad fruit. This can seem like it contradicts or balances out the prohibition on judging, but that really misses the point here. Judging is the bad fruit. If you find yourself in a habit of judging others, then you are producing bad fruit. This is a really hard teaching in its own right because we all do this. It’s near impossible to think about these things and compare different interpretations (and the lifestyles that come out of those) without deciding what is good fruit and what is bad fruit. This is a good thing to do with regard to ourselves, but not with regard to others. Those we have entrusted spiritual authority to can also help us examine our fruit, but only carefully and only with permission. If we can’t see the danger of judging others, then we really are blind and have no business trying to guide others.

I think v.46 is one of the most important in this whole sermon. Jesus makes it clear that he is still addressing  disciples – people who are calling him Lord and thus claiming to be his disciple. He says in no uncertain terms we have not made him Lord until we do what he says. Until we give to everyone who begs from us. Until we love our enemies and do good things for them. Until we are compassionate and forgiving and kind – especially to selfish and ungrateful people. If we can do this, we will build lives that are secure against any hardship. If we can’t, it would be better if we had never heard his teachings to begin with. But we have heard. So, let us produce good fruit as Jesus emables us.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale HousePublishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.