Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton. Here you'll find practical, relevant, biblical information.
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.
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!
So this week, we're going to be wrapping up our series on Centurions of the Bible.
Before we get started though, let's do a really quick recap of who we've already looked at.
We've seen the centurion and the soldiers at the cross. We also looked at Cornelius.
Cornelius, as you recall, was the first Gentile believer to be baptized by the church.
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.
So he was downright passionate. Then there's a centurion who apprehended Paul.
Upon realizing that Paul was a Roman citizen, looked at his superiors as well like, uh oh!
It changed the whole narrative of what was going on with Paul at that point, didn't it?
Next up, there's the two centurions who acted as a security detail to escort Paul to Felix.
And then there was Julius. Julius is the centurion who was assigned to protect Paul on his journey to Rome.
And if you recall, this was the case when the ship that they were on was caught up in a storm and then wrecked.
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.
So a big deal there. We've looked at six warriors and their men.
Now, we've only scratched the surface.
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.
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.
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.
Which brings us to today. Today, we're looking at the seventh and final centurion discussed in the Bible.
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.
He's also talked about in Matthew chapter eight, verses five through thirteen.
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.
I encourage you to go take a look. You can compare and contrast and all that.
However, everything that we need for today anyway, for what we're discussing today, we can find right here in this passage in Luke.
Now, this centurion, he sets an example. And this is an example that was also demonstrated by Jesus.
This centurion, he was a servant leader. Now, I know what you're thinking. You're like, what?
Trust me, as we read this, you're going to see what I mean.
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.
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.
And the word says, when Jesus had finished saying all this to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum.
There, a centurion servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die.
The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant.
When they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly to help him.
This man deserves to have you do this because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.
Wow. So this centurion, who most likely wasn't pagan, generally they were at that time, right?
He had someone who was under his ward, who easily could have just been seen as property, who easily could have just been discarded,
which wouldn't have been unheard of in those days. It really wouldn't have been like, OK, whatever, bye.
However, this centurion, he didn't do that. Like other warriors that we've looked at the past few weeks, he cared.
He was compassionate. He loved others.
In a world, in a society of machismo and bravado, working in a vocation of violence, his heart was there for everyone to see.
As we say today, he wore his heart on his sleeve.
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.
They usually put out there as these hardened, violent men. No real sense of humor. If they do, it's just crude.
But they're just these hard, violent types. And people forget, well, yes, these were trained, hard-intested warriors.
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.
They've seen it up close and personal. They've seen the ultimate price paid by fellow warriors.
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.
In John 15, 13, Jesus said, greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
That is a heavy toll. That's a heavy weight that many of our warriors carry daily.
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.
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.
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.
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.
And this is a common trait among those who have seen combat and looked evil, you know, in the eye.
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.
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.
So they don't know how to get these things out for others to truly understand and grasp the gravity of the situation.
Desmond Doss was a World War II veteran and Medal of Honor recipient.
In fact, many of you probably know of him from a movie that came out specifically about him a few years back.
It's a great movie. I definitely recommend it. You know, Desmond, he was a very private person.
He didn't like doing a lot of interviews. This is something that even his kids attested to.
However, he did do an interview and he was quoted as saying, I was praying the whole time.
I just kept praying, Lord, please help me get one more.
When I got this, I said, Lord, please help me get one more.
And other veterans over the years, even in the most current conflicts, Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom,
troops have been quoted and recorded several times over, essentially saying that they didn't mind staying in country.
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.
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.
This is love in its purest form. This is that agape love. This is that love like Jesus, you know, love and action.
You know, I remind you, love is an action. It's a verb. It's not an empty hollow thing.
You know, it's not just empty words that are to be uttered. It is an action. We show people that we love them.
And these selfless acts and there's there's nothing higher than that that we can do in this life.
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.
He needed a miracle. He was looking for a way to save one of his men, one of the boys, right?
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.
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.
He believed this. This is powerful. You know, Romans 10 verse 17, the word says,
So faith comes from hearing that is hearing the good news about Christ.
Again, that's Romans 10, 17. You should look at that. Look that one up, go highlight it or underline it.
You know, this is true. He heard and he believed.
So many today, they want proof. They want to see the proof. You know, they say the proof is in the pudding, right?
You know, God, just do this. God, you know, I need this. Lord, give me a sign. Jesus, if you will change this circumstance,
Father, if you do this, then I'll do this in return. You know, I need to know.
Everyone wants to beg and plead and bargain. Well, you know what? God's not an ATM.
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.
And if you want to hear him, read your Bible, even better read it out loud.
He's speaking to you from there. He's speaking to you from so many places. But you need to be still and listen.
This centurion had never met Jesus. He had never seen one of his miracles. He had never heard him preach.
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.
So he reached out to him. How awesome is that faith right there?
And going back to our reading, Luke 7 verses 6 through 8. So Luke 7 verses 6 through 8, the word says,
So Jesus went to them. He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to him to say, Lord,
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.
But say the word and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority with soldiers under me.
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.
So knowing that Jesus was on the way, the centurion humbled himself even more.
We're talking about a man who commanded as he pleases, commanded dozens. He had several people, just troops alone as a centurion.
He commanded a hundred troops and then he still had other people and other servants underneath him.
So this man, he knew what it was. He knew what authority was. He had servants at his beckoning call.
This was a man of great power, great authority, great influence. But as far as he knew, as far as he was concerned,
he was unworthy of asking Jesus for anything or to even have him enter his home.
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.
He understood the power of Christ and he knew that he had nothing in comparison, that he was no one in comparison.
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,
but was nothing in comparison to Jesus?
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.
Yet when he got word that Jesus was on his way, he sent messages to him to say,
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.
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.
They start bowing and everything, chanting, We're not worthy! We're not worthy!
It's the same kind of thing. This is a clear demonstration of how great this centurion's faith was in Jesus.
This is huge. Yet we beg for proof in our own lives.
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.
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.
That in itself was enough for him to believe. This amazed Jesus. It blew him away. His mind was blown.
Do you know how awesome something has to be to do this?
Let's look at Luke 7 verses 9-10. The word says, When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Yet this warrior had such great faith that the greatest religious leaders of the day, PAILED in comparison. PAILED!
Matthew 8 verse 26, Jesus said, You of little faith, why are you so afraid?
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.
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.
Because we all have them.
In Matthew chapter 25, in verse 21, and again in verse 23, the word says, His master replied, Well done, good and faithful servant.
You have been faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness.
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.
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.
But nobody wants to actually take the time to listen.
The servant was healed. Much like the paralyzed man in Luke chapter 5, verses 17 through 26.
He was healed because of the love and faith of another.
This is why we should all pray for one another.
And we should be doing so without the expectation of getting anything in return.
Matter of fact, the expectation should be to get nothing in return.
We should be doing it simply because we love others and we want the best for them.
We need to humble ourselves and we need to put the others as priority in our life.
To love other people just like this centurion and just like others that we've been looking at in this series.
It's one of the greatest ways that we can show love by putting others first.
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.
And that we can be more like Christ.
Part of being a warrior is love. It's a big part.
We cannot ever forget that.
Remember, you are blessed and you are loved. Now go and be the church.
Thank you all for joining us here today at Healing Scars with Pastor Burton.
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We look forward to hearing from you all. God bless.