1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,000 Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton. Here you'll find practical, relevant, biblical information. 2 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:19,000 The Bible will be broken down verse by verse so that you get the full context of the scripture to better grow in your relationship with Jesus. 3 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:30,000 Hey everybody, welcome to the sanctuary. It is great to have you with us. For everybody joining us and tuning in for the first time, welcome! 4 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:36,000 So this week, we're going to be wrapping up our series on Centurions of the Bible. 5 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:42,000 Before we get started though, let's do a really quick recap of who we've already looked at. 6 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:50,000 We've seen the centurion and the soldiers at the cross. We also looked at Cornelius. 7 00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:55,000 Cornelius, as you recall, was the first Gentile believer to be baptized by the church. 8 00:00:55,000 --> 00:01:07,000 You'll also recall he was so eager to know of God that he had his entire family and several other guests over to his home to hear the word. 9 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:14,000 So he was downright passionate. Then there's a centurion who apprehended Paul. 10 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:21,000 Upon realizing that Paul was a Roman citizen, looked at his superiors as well like, uh oh! 11 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:27,000 It changed the whole narrative of what was going on with Paul at that point, didn't it? 12 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:39,000 Next up, there's the two centurions who acted as a security detail to escort Paul to Felix. 13 00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:51,000 And then there was Julius. Julius is the centurion who was assigned to protect Paul on his journey to Rome. 14 00:01:51,000 --> 00:02:02,000 And if you recall, this was the case when the ship that they were on was caught up in a storm and then wrecked. 15 00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:15,000 And Julius was the ranking officer and was able to save Paul's life from the other soldiers who were looking to kill everybody, all the prisoners and all that were on board so that they couldn't escape. 16 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:22,000 So a big deal there. We've looked at six warriors and their men. 17 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:26,000 Now, we've only scratched the surface. 18 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:36,000 Alright, I'll encourage you to go back, read up on these men again because there's so, so many things that we can learn from each and every one of them. 19 00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:47,000 And I'll remind you that there are several other soldiers that are spoken of in the Bible, but that's exactly what they were, soldiers, not centurions. 20 00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:59,000 Sometimes they're confused as much. When you actually look at the context and everything that these men are spoken in, these seven men that we're looking at in this series are the only centurions that are actually discussed. 21 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:11,000 Which brings us to today. Today, we're looking at the seventh and final centurion discussed in the Bible. 22 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:21,000 And he's actually discussed in two places. Now, the place that we're going to be looking at specifically is Luke chapter seven, verses one through ten. 23 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:29,000 He's also talked about in Matthew chapter eight, verses five through thirteen. 24 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:38,000 We're not going to go back and forth because we don't need to be redundant. We don't need to be repeating everything five times over, trying to go through both. 25 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:43,000 I encourage you to go take a look. You can compare and contrast and all that. 26 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:52,000 However, everything that we need for today anyway, for what we're discussing today, we can find right here in this passage in Luke. 27 00:03:52,000 --> 00:04:03,000 Now, this centurion, he sets an example. And this is an example that was also demonstrated by Jesus. 28 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:11,000 This centurion, he was a servant leader. Now, I know what you're thinking. You're like, what? 29 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:15,000 Trust me, as we read this, you're going to see what I mean. 30 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:21,000 So for those of you with your Bible, those of you with the Bible app, those of you who are taking notes, let's go ahead. 31 00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:28,000 Let's turn to Luke chapter seven and we're going to look at the first five verses, so Luke seven, verses one through five. 32 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:37,000 And the word says, when Jesus had finished saying all this to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum. 33 00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:48,000 There, a centurion servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. 34 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:58,000 The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. 35 00:04:58,000 --> 00:05:05,000 When they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly to help him. 36 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:16,000 This man deserves to have you do this because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue. 37 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:27,000 Wow. So this centurion, who most likely wasn't pagan, generally they were at that time, right? 38 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:38,000 He had someone who was under his ward, who easily could have just been seen as property, who easily could have just been discarded, 39 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:44,000 which wouldn't have been unheard of in those days. It really wouldn't have been like, OK, whatever, bye. 40 00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:53,000 However, this centurion, he didn't do that. Like other warriors that we've looked at the past few weeks, he cared. 41 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:57,000 He was compassionate. He loved others. 42 00:05:57,000 --> 00:06:10,000 In a world, in a society of machismo and bravado, working in a vocation of violence, his heart was there for everyone to see. 43 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:15,000 As we say today, he wore his heart on his sleeve. 44 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:28,000 This is a theme that we've been going back to a lot in this series. The reason why is because it's something that we miss in how the military is often portrayed. 45 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:40,000 They usually put out there as these hardened, violent men. No real sense of humor. If they do, it's just crude. 46 00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:49,000 But they're just these hard, violent types. And people forget, well, yes, these were trained, hard-intested warriors. 47 00:06:49,000 --> 00:07:02,000 They're still human. They still love just like anyone else, even more so because they know the price that they've been called to pay. 48 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:12,000 They've seen it up close and personal. They've seen the ultimate price paid by fellow warriors. 49 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:25,000 And it's a price gladly paid in full when called upon. And I say gladly paid. And it was. Why? Because of a love. 50 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:36,000 In John 15, 13, Jesus said, greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 51 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:45,000 That is a heavy toll. That's a heavy weight that many of our warriors carry daily. 52 00:07:45,000 --> 00:08:06,000 There's something else here that I want to call your attention to. This is very special, because you'll notice the elders said that this man loves our nation and built our synagogue. 53 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:27,000 He was a Jew. The man the centurion was trying to save was a Jew. And Romans, let alone Roman soldiers, they were not known as caring individuals, let alone loving a Jew. 54 00:08:27,000 --> 00:08:45,000 They were known as harsh, vicious, just, you know, bad dudes. So recognizing this, this speaks to how big his heart was, how much he cared for his men. 55 00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:57,000 There was nothing selfish here. There's nothing selfish in this. He wasn't looking for something for himself. He was straight up looking at the welfare of another person. 56 00:08:57,000 --> 00:09:05,000 And this is a common trait among those who have seen combat and looked evil, you know, in the eye. 57 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:16,000 Sometimes you wonder, you know, because we all know veterans, we all have veterans in our lives who struggle to speak about certain things or to get certain words out. 58 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:29,000 And the reason why is because it's something that's affected them so deeply, so passionately, where there's so much love for the people that they're talking about that words no longer do it justice. 59 00:09:29,000 --> 00:09:39,000 So they don't know how to get these things out for others to truly understand and grasp the gravity of the situation. 60 00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:47,000 Desmond Doss was a World War II veteran and Medal of Honor recipient. 61 00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:55,000 In fact, many of you probably know of him from a movie that came out specifically about him a few years back. 62 00:09:55,000 --> 00:10:02,000 It's a great movie. I definitely recommend it. You know, Desmond, he was a very private person. 63 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:06,000 He didn't like doing a lot of interviews. This is something that even his kids attested to. 64 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:13,000 However, he did do an interview and he was quoted as saying, I was praying the whole time. 65 00:10:13,000 --> 00:10:19,000 I just kept praying, Lord, please help me get one more. 66 00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:25,000 When I got this, I said, Lord, please help me get one more. 67 00:10:25,000 --> 00:10:34,000 And other veterans over the years, even in the most current conflicts, Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, 68 00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:44,000 troops have been quoted and recorded several times over, essentially saying that they didn't mind staying in country. 69 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:51,000 They didn't mind doing another tour. They would stay there as long as it took, you know, or go back if they needed to. 70 00:10:51,000 --> 00:11:01,000 If it meant that just one more person could be spared from it, if one more person could be saved, if one more warrior could be at home with their family. 71 00:11:01,000 --> 00:11:09,000 This is love in its purest form. This is that agape love. This is that love like Jesus, you know, love and action. 72 00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:14,000 You know, I remind you, love is an action. It's a verb. It's not an empty hollow thing. 73 00:11:14,000 --> 00:11:22,000 You know, it's not just empty words that are to be uttered. It is an action. We show people that we love them. 74 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:32,000 And these selfless acts and there's there's nothing higher than that that we can do in this life. 75 00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:40,000 You know, now even being a pagan and likely holding on to the common beliefs of the day, this centurion, he was looking for a miracle. 76 00:11:40,000 --> 00:11:50,000 He needed a miracle. He was looking for a way to save one of his men, one of the boys, right? 77 00:11:50,000 --> 00:12:00,000 Because let's face it, this guy, he was in dire straits. He was looking at the end of the tunnel and seeing the end of his life coming up quickly. 78 00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:09,000 It is a dark time indeed. And so when this centurion, he heard of Jesus, he heard of what Jesus had done and he believed. 79 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:18,000 He believed this. This is powerful. You know, Romans 10 verse 17, the word says, 80 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:25,000 So faith comes from hearing that is hearing the good news about Christ. 81 00:12:25,000 --> 00:12:31,000 Again, that's Romans 10, 17. You should look at that. Look that one up, go highlight it or underline it. 82 00:12:31,000 --> 00:12:37,000 You know, this is true. He heard and he believed. 83 00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:45,000 So many today, they want proof. They want to see the proof. You know, they say the proof is in the pudding, right? 84 00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:54,000 You know, God, just do this. God, you know, I need this. Lord, give me a sign. Jesus, if you will change this circumstance, 85 00:12:54,000 --> 00:13:01,000 Father, if you do this, then I'll do this in return. You know, I need to know. 86 00:13:01,000 --> 00:13:09,000 Everyone wants to beg and plead and bargain. Well, you know what? God's not an ATM. 87 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:21,000 That's not how this works. No matter how many times prosperity preachers say otherwise, God's proof is all over the place if you actually pay attention. 88 00:13:21,000 --> 00:13:29,000 And if you want to hear him, read your Bible, even better read it out loud. 89 00:13:29,000 --> 00:13:39,000 He's speaking to you from there. He's speaking to you from so many places. But you need to be still and listen. 90 00:13:39,000 --> 00:13:49,000 This centurion had never met Jesus. He had never seen one of his miracles. He had never heard him preach. 91 00:13:49,000 --> 00:14:05,000 He had never had an interaction with him of any kind. But based upon what he had heard of him, he believed that Jesus could do the impossible. 92 00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:13,000 So he reached out to him. How awesome is that faith right there? 93 00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:26,000 And going back to our reading, Luke 7 verses 6 through 8. So Luke 7 verses 6 through 8, the word says, 94 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:35,000 So Jesus went to them. He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to him to say, Lord, 95 00:14:35,000 --> 00:14:47,000 Don't trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That's why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. 96 00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:56,000 But say the word and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority with soldiers under me. 97 00:14:56,000 --> 00:15:06,000 I tell this one, go and he goes and that one come and he comes. And I say to my servant, do this and he does it. 98 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:14,000 So knowing that Jesus was on the way, the centurion humbled himself even more. 99 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:26,000 We're talking about a man who commanded as he pleases, commanded dozens. He had several people, just troops alone as a centurion. 100 00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:30,000 He commanded a hundred troops and then he still had other people and other servants underneath him. 101 00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:37,000 So this man, he knew what it was. He knew what authority was. He had servants at his beckoning call. 102 00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:45,000 This was a man of great power, great authority, great influence. But as far as he knew, as far as he was concerned, 103 00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:57,000 he was unworthy of asking Jesus for anything or to even have him enter his home. 104 00:15:57,000 --> 00:16:09,000 Jesus was so high up the food chain, so high on the totem pole, so high in stature that this centurion believed he couldn't even look at him. 105 00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:21,000 He understood the power of Christ and he knew that he had nothing in comparison, that he was no one in comparison. 106 00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:33,000 How life-altering do you think it was for him to even realize this, to come to this conclusion, to know how high up he was, 107 00:16:33,000 --> 00:16:39,000 but was nothing in comparison to Jesus? 108 00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:54,000 Looking at it from this perspective, he sent men to ask for Jesus' help. He didn't expect him to actually respond or to even come. 109 00:16:54,000 --> 00:17:01,000 Yet when he got word that Jesus was on his way, he sent messages to him to say, 110 00:17:01,000 --> 00:17:09,000 Hey, since I'm able to get things done with a simple command, I know you're able to do the same. You don't need to bother yourself to come here. 111 00:17:09,000 --> 00:17:18,000 I'm not worthy of it. This is like that scene in Wayne's role. Wayne and Garth get down on their hands and knees. 112 00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:24,000 They start bowing and everything, chanting, We're not worthy! We're not worthy! 113 00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:35,000 It's the same kind of thing. This is a clear demonstration of how great this centurion's faith was in Jesus. 114 00:17:35,000 --> 00:17:47,000 This is huge. Yet we beg for proof in our own lives. 115 00:17:47,000 --> 00:17:59,000 This is a man who wasn't raised knowing about Jesus. He wasn't raised to at least know a little of him like we all have been. 116 00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:09,000 Yet he had greater faith than many today. He didn't have all the technologies and stuff. All he could go off is what he was told by others. 117 00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:24,000 That in itself was enough for him to believe. This amazed Jesus. It blew him away. His mind was blown. 118 00:18:24,000 --> 00:18:32,000 Do you know how awesome something has to be to do this? 119 00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:43,000 Let's look at Luke 7 verses 9-10. The word says, When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him. 120 00:18:43,000 --> 00:19:02,000 And turning to the crowd following him, he said, I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel, than the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well. 121 00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:23,000 The Greek word that's used here is Thalmasyl, meaning amazed or marveled. This specific word, yes it's used other times in the Bible, however it's only used one other time to describe Jesus' reaction to the faith of others. 122 00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:36,000 It is very ironic actually how it is. You see here, we're looking at the centurion and how Jesus' mind is blown because of how massive his faith is. 123 00:19:36,000 --> 00:20:03,000 It's a stark contrast to Matthew 6 verses 6, when Jesus reacts to the LACK of faith of those in Nazareth. Jesus even comments that he hasn't found faith this great among the people who DID know God. 124 00:20:03,000 --> 00:20:24,000 Yet this warrior had such great faith that the greatest religious leaders of the day, PAILED in comparison. PAILED! 125 00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:35,000 Matthew 8 verse 26, Jesus said, You of little faith, why are you so afraid? 126 00:20:35,000 --> 00:20:54,000 And he's asking us all, he's asking you the same question today. You need to do better, WE need to do better. If you're lacking in any part of your life, you need to ask why and you need to look to the Holy Spirit for guidance. 127 00:20:54,000 --> 00:21:06,000 And we all have places where we're lacking, so it bears taking a few minutes, taking a little time and doing some self-reflection and meditating to find out where your weaknesses are. 128 00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:10,000 Because we all have them. 129 00:21:10,000 --> 00:21:28,000 In Matthew chapter 25, in verse 21, and again in verse 23, the word says, His master replied, Well done, good and faithful servant. 130 00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:41,000 You have been faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness. 131 00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:59,000 We should all strive to be like the centurion who had greater faith than most do even today. We should all be looking to be filled with less of the world and filled with more faith. To be good and faithful. 132 00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:14,000 Yes, pun intended. You're welcome. There's so much there. We take things for granted. We need this. Seeing is believing. I need to hear you. 133 00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:19,000 But nobody wants to actually take the time to listen. 134 00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:30,000 The servant was healed. Much like the paralyzed man in Luke chapter 5, verses 17 through 26. 135 00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:38,000 He was healed because of the love and faith of another. 136 00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:43,000 This is why we should all pray for one another. 137 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:50,000 And we should be doing so without the expectation of getting anything in return. 138 00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:55,000 Matter of fact, the expectation should be to get nothing in return. 139 00:22:55,000 --> 00:23:03,000 We should be doing it simply because we love others and we want the best for them. 140 00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:10,000 We need to humble ourselves and we need to put the others as priority in our life. 141 00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:17,000 To love other people just like this centurion and just like others that we've been looking at in this series. 142 00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:23,000 It's one of the greatest ways that we can show love by putting others first. 143 00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:33,000 And it's one of the best ways that we can look, excuse me, that we can be like the centurion that we've been looking at today. 144 00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:36,000 And that we can be more like Christ. 145 00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:43,000 Part of being a warrior is love. It's a big part. 146 00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:48,000 We cannot ever forget that. 147 00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:55,000 Remember, you are blessed and you are loved. Now go and be the church. 148 00:23:55,000 --> 00:24:00,000 Thank you all for joining us here today at Healing Scars with Pastor Burton. 149 00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:07,000 Please like, subscribe, and share our podcast on any platform it is that you tune into us on. 150 00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:14,000 If you do have any questions, any prayer requests, or would like to know more about our ministry, 151 00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:24,000 you can find us on our website at BeTheLightSanctuary.org or on Facebook at BeTheLightSanctuary. 152 00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:30,000 You can also find how to contact us there, whether it's direct message or email. 153 00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:58,000 We look forward to hearing from you all. God bless.