Luke

7:1-10

The mission of the Messiah, 1:5-9:50

4. The dawning of the kingdom in the acts of Messiah, 6:12-7:50

iii] Entering the kingdom by faith alone - a Gentile's faith

In this passage Luke recounts how an army captain's faith issues in the healing of his servant. For Luke, the story serves as a modal for a proper response to Jesus; "the issue is one of faith and the Centurion is his prize example", Danker.

Ellis argues that the episodes which make up the The dawning of the kingdom in the acts of Messiah, 6:12-7:50, serve to reveal the nature of the kingdom. The selection of twelve apostles, 6:12-16, identifies Israel as the "framework upon which the Israel of the new age is to be formed", Ellis, so also Creed. The sermon on the plain, 6:17-49, identifies the covenant, the promise of God's unmerited grace, as the basis of kingdom membership. The sermon is followed by the story of an army captain's faith, 7:1-10. This story establishes that the covenant, and thus kingdom membership, is accessed by faith, even the faith of Gentiles and prostitutes (cf. 36-50).

Although this episode is recorded in Matthew's gospel, Luke's account is much more detailed. The focus of the story is not the healing, but rather the faith of the army captain. He may well be a God-fearer, but he is a Gentile and this serves to reinforce the worth of his faith-response to Jesus, a fact noted by Jesus himself. Although the Jewish authorities call him a "worthy" man, he says of himself that he is "not worthy". For Luke, this response fits logically with the "law" of the sermon, 6:32-42, which establishes that all have built their house on shifting sand and so face ruin, 6:49. In simple terms, although covenantal law establishes the direction of a lived-out faith, it primarily establishes our state of sin/loss and thus our total dependence on grace alone, 6:17-31. So, this story defines the means by which we can access that grace, namely faith in Christ.

epeidh "when" - This conjunction most often expresses reason/cause, and rarely, as here, is temporal. So, introducing a temporal clause; "when he had concluded all his words/sayings."

autou "-" - [all the words] of him. Expressing the idea "everything he wanted to say."

eiV + acc. "in [the hearing of the people]" - to [the ears of the people]. Here expressing direction; "when Jesus had finished telling the people what he wanted them to hear", Barclay.

ekatontarcou (hV ou) "a centurion's [servant]" - [a slave] of a centurion. A person in the employ of Herod Antipas in charge of 100 men, either a mercenary soldier, tax soldier, or policeman, cf. Fitzmyer.

autw/ dat. pro. "[whom his master]" - [who was highly regarded] by him. Dative of reference/respect; "dear with regard to him / the master." "Who was highly regarded as far as the centurion was concerned."

entimoV adj. "valued highly" - precious. The sense is unclear, either "valuable" in the sense of monetary value, or "esteemed / honored / respected / dear".

ecwn (ecw) pres. part. "was [sick]" - having [badly]. The participle is adjectival, limiting "servant/slave"; "a certain centurion had a servant who was ill."

teleutan (teleutaw) pres. inf. "[and about] to die" - [was about] to die. The infinitive is complementary, completing the sense of the imperf. verb "was about". "Was on the point of dying and would have done so without intervention", Plummer. "Whose slave was so ill there was no hope of recovery", Barclay.

akousaV (akouw) aor. part. "heard [of Jesus]" - having herd [concerning / about Jesus]. The participle is adverbial, possibly temporal; "when the captain heard about Jesus", Moffatt. Obviously the captain has heard of Jesus' reputation as a miracle worker.

presbuterouV twn Ioudaiwn "some elders of the Jews" - Given that "elders" is without an article, "some" is intended. Possibly members of the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem is implied, or just "leading citizens", Plummer, Ellis.

erwtwn (erwtaw) pres. part. "asking [him]" - asking, beseeching. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "he sent"; "he sent .... and asked."

elqwn (ercomai) aor. part. "to come" - having come. The participle forms a dependent statement, indirect speech; "he .... asked him that he would come."

oJpwV + subj. "and heal" - so that [he may bring safely through = heal]. Forming a final clause expressing purpose; "in order that he might save his slave's life."

oiJ .... paragenomenoi (paraginomai) aor. part. "when they came [to Jesus]" - [and] the ones having come. The participle, with the article, most likely functions as a substantive, but many translators treat it as adverbial, temporal, with the article referencing the elders; "and they, when they came to Jesus", Weymouth.

oJti "-" - [were begging him earnestly saying] that. Introducing a dependent statement, direct speech, expressing what they were "saying".

axioV adj. "deserves" - [he is] worthy. The captain is highly regarded presumably because he "respected Jewish customs", Fitzmyer.

w\/ "-" - to whom [you will grant this]. Introducing a relative clause which is classed as a qualitative-consecutive relative viewed by linguists as a latinism, BDF 5[3b], 379; "this man is worthy so that this request should be granted him", Bock.

gar "because" - for. Expressing cause/reason.

agapa/ (agapaw) pres. "he loves" - The present tense is durative expressing a permanent attitude. Plummer notes that if he were a God-fearer then Luke would have used "he loves our God", but this is a bit of a stretch. He is probably not a proselyte, but is certainly a Gentile who respects Israel and its customs, even to the extent of building a synagogue for the local Jewish community. This indicates that the captain is a person of substance since a captain's wage was not that outstanding. "For a centurion to have sufficient wealth for such benevolence is surprising", Nolland.

de "so" - and. Here an uncommon use where the conjunction expresses a summary statement, "and so, accordingly".

hdh "-" - now, already. "And when he was now not far from the house", AV.

ou ... apecontoV (apecomai) gen. pres. part. "not far [from the house]" - not [far] distant [from the house]. Genitive absolute participle usually translated as a temporal clause, as AV above.

legwn (legw) pres. part. "to say [to him]" - saying [to him (dative of interest)]. The participle agrees with "the centurion", not "friends" implying that it modifies/limits "the centurion", so adjectival. The words belong to the centurion and are but relayed by his friends. The message is expressed in the Gk. as if it was the centurion who speaks. So, "the centurion sent some friends with a message to him", Barclay. Some translators treat the participle as adverbial, final; "the captain sent some friends in order to tell him." This may indicate that a dependent statement is intended; "the captain sent some friends to tell him that he was not worthy ...." although this is unlikely. Possibly best just treated as a finite verb: "the centurion sent some friends to him; Do not put thyself to any trouble, Lord, he said", Knox.

kurie "Lord" - Possibly just "Sir", but more likely "Lord" indicating an awareness of Jesus' person.

gar "for [I am not worthy]" - for. Expressing cause/reason.

ou .. ikanoV eimi "I do not deserve" - I am not worthy - Possibly because he is a Gentile, but "more probably it reflects his high estimate of Jesus", Ellis.

iJna + subj. "to [have you come]" - that [you should enter]. The construction here functions as an epexegetic infinitive explaining / completing the adjective "worthy"; "I am not worthy that you should come under my roof." Jesus being a Jew, the captain "does not want to expose an eminent person like Jesus to undue criticism", Danker.

oude "-" - nor, neither, [therefore, did I consider myself worthy to come to you]. The clause serves to emphasize the expression of the captain's unworthiness. Not only is he unworthy of a visit from Jesus, he is unworthy of visiting Jesus, which is why he has made contact with Jesus through the local elders.

dio "that is why" - therefore.

oude .. hxiwsa (axiow) aor. "I did not consider [myself] worthy" - I did not considered worthy. "I did not consider myself fit", Moffatt.

elqein (ercomai) aor. inf. "to come [to you]" - The infinitive takes the sense of the participle above and so is epexegetic explaining in what sense the captain is not worthy; "not fit even to approach you."

alla "but" - but, and. Adversative, as NIV.

logw/ (oV) dat. "the word" - a word. The dative is either local or instrumental, "say in/by a single word." Not only does the captain believe that Jesus can heal his servant, but he can do it with a single word iaqhtw, and from a distance. It is for this reason Jesus declares that the captain has "great faith".

oJ paiV "[my] servant" - child, son. Obviously he is a "servant", but possibly a young one.

iaqhtw (iaomai) aor. pas. imp. "will be healed" - let be healed. The use of the imperative here reflects the actual word the captain wants Jesus to utter, so "say the word [`be healed / let him be healed'] and my servant will be healed." A variant future does actually exist iaqhsetai although is unlikely to be original, cf. Metzger. Zerwick suggests that the two imperatives eipe and iaqhtw together express Hebraic idiom giving the sense "say ... so that he may be healed." The kai "and", may well support a consecutive sense, "and so ...." ("conditional", Marshall, ??).

kai gar "for" - and for. Here explanatory; "for indeed", but also possibly "for I am also ...", Evans.

anqrwpoV (oV) "a man" - Possibly "a man" in a general sense so "a person", Plummer; "I am someone ..."

tassomenoV (tassw) pres. pas. part. "-" - being appointed, placed. The participle is adjectival limiting "man"; "I am a man who is put/placed under authority." The present tense is durative giving the translation offered by Phillips below. A concessive adverbial sense is also possible; "although I am a man under authority I have soldiers under me", Marshall.

uJpo acc. "under [authority]" - under. "I am used to working under orders", Phillips.

ecwn (ecw) pres. part. "with [soldiers under me]" - having [soldiers under myself]. The participle is again adjectival, limiting "man", "a man who has soldiers under him."

toutw/ (ouJtoV) pro. "this one" - he, this one. Dative of direct object; "I say to this one." The force of the demonstrative pronoun is lost, so "to someone".

poreuqhti kai poreuetai "'go,' and he goes" - The imperative "go" is aorist and the ind. "he goes" is present, but this does not imply a time difference, but rather relates to aspect. The command is punctiliar and presupposes the durative response; "when I say .... `go,' ... he goes", TH. The captain is making a minor-to-major comparison. "Surely if he, as a member of the government's army, is obeyed, so also the spiritual forces that are subject to Jesus will obey his word", Bock.

akousaV (akouw) aor. part. "when [Jesus] heard [this]" - [and Jesus] having heard [these things]. The participle is adverbial, temporal.

eqaumasen (qoumazw) aor. "he was amazed" - was amazed, marvelled, wondered. Not an expression of admiration, but like the crowds faced with Jesus' miracles a response of surprised wonderment; "Jesus was astonished to hear this", Barclay.

strafeiV (strefw) aor. pas. part. "turning" - having turned. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "he was amazed"; "he marveled and turned." Such "turning" in Luke serves to describe Jesus focusing his attention on an individual or group.

legw uJmin "I tell you" - Serving to emphasize the following words.

tosauthn pro. "such great [faith]" - so much, so great. Obviously here in a qualitative sense and referring to a reliance (faith) on Jesus' power and authority. Not throughout Israel (probably geographical Israel = "in all the land of Israel") "have I found a faith such as this", Cassirer.

uJpostreyanteV (uJpostrefw) aor. part. "then [the men who had been sent] returned" - having returned. The participle is adverbial, temporal, as NIV.

oiJ pemfqenteV (pempw) aor. pas. part. "the men who had been sent" - the ones having been sent. The participle functions as a substantive.

uJgiainonta (uJgiainw) pres. part. "well" - being healthy, sound. The participle is adjectival, describing "the servant"; "they found the servant healthy / with new-found health". Yet, as already noted, the story does not concentrate on the cure itself, but on the pronouncement of Jesus as regard the captain's faith.

Luke Introduction

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