Sunday 9C, Gospel

Introduction
In our passage for study Luke records the healing of an army captain's servant. Although the servant is healed completely, gaining new-found health, and although Jesus demonstrates his authority by healing the servant from a distance, the focus of the story is on the captain's faith. As Jesus says of this man's faith "not even in Israel have I met a faith like this."

The passage
v1. Jesus has just concluded the Great Sermon which serves to renew the covenant and so it is appropriate for Luke to record a miracle story which emphasizes the basis of the covenant, namely faith. Leaving the countryside Jesus enters Capernaum.
v2-3. Living in Capernaum at the time was a Gentile centurion, an army captain in charge of 100 men who is probably in the employ of Herod Antipas, the king of Galilee and Peraea. One of his servants, someone he highly regarded, is close to death. So, when he hears that Jesus is in town he sends a delegation of leading Jewish citizens to Jesus to plead his cause.
v4-5. When they get to Jesus they tell him how worthy the captain is of his help. The captain obviously favours the Jewish faith, is possibly even a God-fearer, an associate member of the local synagogue, although not a full member. He had even paid for the construction of the local synagogue. So, the captain is a godly man of independent means.
v6-8. As Jesus sets out to meet the request, the captain sends word that he really didn't expect Jesus, a Jewish rabbi, to come into his home, the home of a Gentile. The members of the delegation may think he is "worthy", but he knows he is not. He didn't even think it was appropriate for him to approach Jesus on the matter, which is why he had sent a delegation to him. As a man of authority, the captain is well acquainted with giving commands and therefore he expects nothing more of Jesus than a healing command.
v9. Jesus is astonished. From his own kith and kin some have struggled to put their faith in him, but for most it is wonder, doubt or unbelief. "I have yet to meet a person in all of Palestine with a faith such as this."
v10. On returning to the captain's home the delegation finds the servant with new-found health.

Faith
We often find that when we read the gospels the context of a story - what goes before and what goes after - sheds new light on the story itself. The story of the captains faith is probably Luke's prize example of faith in Jesus. Yet, it is what precedes this story that makes it so profound.
In the preceding chapter Luke records the Great Sermon, often called the sermon on the mount, although in Luke's gospel it is on a plain. The Great Sermon is the New Testament version of a covenant renewal document. A covenant is a legal agreement between two parties and the most detailed example of a covenant renewal document in the Old Testament is the book of Deuteronomy which details God's agreement with his people Israel. In the sermon Jesus restates the basis of the covenant, namely divine grace, and then outlines the law which first of all serves to remind us that it is only by grace that we can stand before God, and then second serves to give direction to the Christian life.
The Great Sermon ends with the illustration of the wise and foolish builder. The wise builder hears the words of Jesus and lives them out. He is the person who builds his house on rock such that his house stands firm. The foolish builder hears the words of Jesus and does not live them out. He is the person who builds his house on sand and so faces ruin. Of course, none of us live out the words of Jesus and so our life rests on unstable foundations and faces inevitable ruin.
Given this fact, on what basis can we gain and retain covenant membership? In God's agreement with his people he freely promises the kingdom, he promises his eternal gracious reign, but how do we access this reign? How do become a child of God? How do we live as a child of God? The story of the captain's faith answers the question for us. Faith in Jesus is the way we become a child of God and is the way we continue as a child of God.
So, the business of being a Christian, of daily living for Jesus, is not so much about living a godly life, it's about living by faith, living our lives in dependence on Christ. Trusting Jesus is the business of our daily life. Of course, faith tends to promote godliness, but the fundamental element of the Christian walk is faith. This then must be our cause, to replicate the captain's faith.

Discussion
1. What elements in the story of the captain's faith indicate that the story focuses on the point made by Jesus' in v9 rather than the healing in v10?
2. What is the point of the story?
3. Explain how this story relates to the Great Sermon, 6:17-49, and apply.

Lectionary Bible Studies and Sermons

Luke