Preacher: Jesse Gollan
Passage: Luke 7:1-17
Marike: 0:03
starting It looked up to seven. This one after Hey, that is Jay's is had finished all his sayings In the hearing of the people he entered Capanna. Now Centurion had a servant who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. When the century and heard about Jay's is he sent to him elders of the Jews asking him to come and heal his servant. And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him honestly saying he is worthy Toa Have you do this for him? For he loves our nation And he is the one who built us how synagogue and Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, The Centurion sent friends saying to him, Lord, do not trouble yourself for I am not worthy Toa have you come under my roof? Therefore, I did not presume to come to you but say the word and let my servant be healed for I too am a man set under authority with soldiers on the main And I say to one guy and he goes and to another Come and he comes and to my servant do this, and he doesn't. When Jesus had these things, he marveled at him and, turning to the crowd that followed him, said, I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith. And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well. Soon afterward. Hey, those J's is went to a town called nine, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him as he drew near to the guy to the town. Behold, a man who had died was being carried out. The only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. When the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, Do not wait. Then he came up and touched the buyer, and the bear is stood still and he said, Young man aside to you arrives and the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying a great prophet has arisen among us and God has visited his people, and this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country here ends the reading.
Jesse: 3:33
Thank you, America. Let's pray before we start looking at the scriptures. Heavenly Father, please make plain the scriptures to us. Please help us to see what you want us to see. No, please encourage us through your word. Please help us to understand the truth. I ask that you would speak through me. Amen. Sickness, Death. That's what these two, um, stories about Jesus highlight. That's what they're about Sickness and death. And Jesus. When I say story, I mean historical actually happened story, historical narrative, these air heavy topics. Um and, um, you'll notice on your screens. There's actually a little invitation asked for prayer. We actually have people that are willing to pray for you if, over the course of this service or any service in the future, you would like prayer. Um, and we invite you to click on that button and and be prayed for. It's a heavy topic this morning at the start of the year, when I was preparing the sermon, Siri's laying it out. I could see that the Corona virus was on the horizon and I specifically ordered the sermon series so that on the fifth of April we would be looking at this passage, which is about sickness and death and Jesus, because I thought it would be an appropriate thing to be looking at in this time. What? What I didn't plan for was quite how close to home this sermon would hit this week. The Lord has been ministering to me as I as I studied this passage in my preparation time. Um, because, um what? One of my closest friends passed away of symptoms consistent with the growing of iris. But it's it's likely that many if not all of us will will be faced with sickness on with death in the coming months, either our own or that of people whom we love dearly. And this is such a good passage for us to be looking at in this time as an added church, it will be helpful to you if you have your if you have your Bibles in front of you. If you're at home, maybe jump up. Run! Grab it, Bring it, bring it. Bring its opening up in front of you. Looking at Luke. Chapter seven versus 1 to 17 um if you have your phones, maybe you wanna open it up there on what we have is too, um two passages which are interlinked, that they're meant to be read together and understood together. Which is why we're looking at both of them this morning. What Luke is doing as we progress through through his gospel, is he's revealing Maur and Maur about who Jesus is. A couple of weeks ago, we looked at in Chapter six How Jay's has healed the man who had the withered hand. We looked at Jesus spiritually battle with Satan. We looked at how Jesus is Lord over the Sabbath. And, um, in this passage, Luke is highlighting that Jesus is not only Lord over Satan. He's not only lawyer over the Sabbath, but Jesus is Lord over sickness and even death itself. The first stories about a foreign soldier censuring and the second is about a Jewish widow just about opposites in their world. It's a man and a woman, a rich man and a poor woman. A man for whom life is going well and a woman for her life is being hard. A centurion was a position in the Army not the Jewish army, which didn't exist because Israel was an occupied country occupied by their enemies. Ah, but a Roman position and the Centurion was in charge of 100 men. Which is easy to remember because in cricket you get a century which is 100 runs century censuring. It's where it's the same root word. It's insurance of the day, normally made 50 times what a normal soldier would have made, which meant that this guy was stupendously wealthy. Probably This is why we we read he was able to build the synagogue for the Jews of his area. Onda synagogue is just the Jewish place where they'd come together to study the Old Testament together. I'm similar kind of idea to our church building, and this man had presumably funded the construction of the Jewish synagogue. Anyway, what we see and in verse three is he's got this the servant who's sick to the point of death. This man is about to die and he sends messengers to Jay's This toe ask for help, way see in Verse three and ah, and actually pretty influential people that their leaders of the Jews and they come to Jesus and they say, Please heal this man servant. He's a good man. He's done all this stuff. He's built our synagogue. He's well thought. He's respected for an occupying commander. He's pretty good. Come hell his servant. He's worthy of being hell of being helped and said J. Zzyzx. We raid at the end of verse at the start of Verse six. He gets up and he started traveling with them to this insurance house, Onda. As we go through the story, we see this insurance sends Mawr friends on these friends come to Jesus and they say, Um, this ensuring wants us to tell you I'm not worthy. Don't come to my house house. He's directly contradicting what these influential Jewish people have been saying, he says. At the end of her six. He says, Lord, which is an interesting way of addressing Jesus Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof for just one second. Let me jump across in the Scriptures to Ephesians, Chapter two, where we're going to read verse eight and nine. Here's what God says through Paul's, through Paul's words in Ephesians for by grace, You have been saved through faith and this not of your own doing. It is the gift of God, not a result of works so that no one can boast. And what we see is is that this centurion had the attitude of I'm not worthy. I need your Grace. This centurion wasn't coming to Jesus to say because of all of these amazing things that I've done, you owe me. I've done all this stuff for your people. Now you need to heal me. The city was saying I'm not worthy, but please come and help me. He's got exactly the attitude which, which Paul outlines, is the correct attitude and effusion. Step two. And what we see is remarkable because he actually goes on to describe the kind of power that he believes Jesus has the kind of faith that he has in Jesus. And this is probably why he calls him Lord at the start of his address. Lord Verse six Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. Therefore, I did not presume to come to you but say the word and let my servant be healed, and he explains that he was a commander of men. When he says something, they do it. That's the way the Roman army worked for, Commander said. Jump. The soldiers jumped. But he says he says, Jesus, I believe you have that same kind of power and that you can heal my servant without even coming into my home. You can say the word from a distance and the sickness that is troubling my servant, which unless you do something, will kill my servant will be gone. I have faith that you can do that, and I ask that you will. We raid Jesus. Amazed this man's faith, he commends him. He says This man has remarkable faith. At the end of Verse nine, he says, I told you, not even in Israel have I found such faith. This is the kind of faith that we should have the faith that God can heal, that Jesus is powerful, including over sickness, including from a distance. Oh, and we raid in verse 10 that Audrey's did heal the Chevron from a distance, a revealing that he isn't some cheap magician who uses tricks to heal people or even a fancy doctor who uses smelling salts to revive someone or whatever kind of medicine they had in their day. But he has absolute power over sickness, and they can make it go away even without physically being present. We're doing any kind of magical ritual. Jesus is absolute Lord over sickness. This is Luke's big message with this first story. Jesus is Lord over sickness, and he can remove it in the second story, which ties into this 1st 1 which Luke tells us in Chapter 11. Happened soon afterwards is the story of how Jesus raised a man toe life again. And there's a couple of things which are worth taking note of when we think about this story about Jesus on the widow things which will enhance our understanding of what's going on. Firstly, this is a widow whose husband has already died. That's the definition of a widow is someone whose husband has already died, and now we find out in Verse 12 that her only son has now also died is being carried out on a beer on what a beer is. It's It's an open coffin. It's ah, it's a plank which put the body on and then they'd carried out. Two graves had their graves outside of their inane archaeologists have actually discovered graves outside of name in the hills. The somber possession, a depressed procession, a morning procession. This is tragic. This is painful, the loss that this winter must have been experiencing. But it was even worst than just losing the two people whom she loved most in the world. Because in Jesus's Day there was no welfare. There was no pension. When you were elderly, you relied on your Children to provide for you. If you did not have Children and you were elderly, your future was bleak, physical hardship away. Did you? On top of this deep emotional pain, which she was feeling, her quality of life had just gone through the floor. And there's so much that we can be focusing on in these passages on in this passage. Ah, but what's really looks focus here. What he's trying to highlight for us to see is Jesus is compassion. He sees the woman, and we read in verse, Verse 13 when the Lord saw her. This is the first time Luke is the new radiator calls Jesus the Lord. When the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and he said to her, Do not wait. What we see here is Jesus's heart. Hey, feel her pain, her misery, her sadness. And he has compassion. And without her even asking. He goes to her son and he raises himto life from the from the dead resurrection. This wasn't ah, false kind of resurrection. This wasn't a ghostly resurrection. En door was about Nane The town where this takes place was about 20 minutes away from en door. And I don't know how many of you know your Bible trivia but end? Or was the place where Saul went to a witch to try to raise Samuel from the dead to ask for advice from him about 1000 years before this happened on the Which kind of raise some kind of ghost who spoke to saw. But this was not that kind of raising from the dead. This was complete and final and good, wholesome. And this son was truly alive. We read in verse 15 on the Dead Man, sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. This is amazing. This woman this woman's height would have been so filled with thankfulness. Jesus reveals his heart of compaction in this passage and God's heart of compassion, Jesus says in the scriptures. If you want to know God, the father is like, Look at me and Jay's this Waas compassionate Jesus is compassionate and Jesus healed this woman. There are only two stories of of someone being raised from the dead in the in the Old Testament, which the Jews would have been familiar with, and one was by a lot. Elijah, who raised a boy from the dead and the other is Alicia, who also raised another boy from the dead. The two greatest profits of Israel's history and Jesus had just healed a boy. Which is probably why we read in chapter in verse 16 that the people say, Ah, great prophet has arisen among us on God has visited his people. They don't yet fully understand that Jesus is Lord. They don't have have the understanding of the Roman Centurion yet, but they're they're getting their they're beginning to understand. Jesus is not just a man. He's not just a healer, he's a great profit. And we know, of course, is the people of God have read the Bible who know the scriptures. The Jesus is more than just the great prophet. Here's the great savior. Jesus is lord over death. Even death is no match for JSE's power and God's power. They can restore people toe life from beyond the grave. Jay's this Jesus is God. That's what Luke is revealing as we work through the Gospel Luca's progressively revealing Maur and Maur and more power the Jesus has because Jesus is God and God can raise people from the debt. And they're a couple of implications which are, are worth drawing out some some application, which I believe will really being encouragement to us. Um, firstly, the censuring was a rich and a powerful and a successful foreigner who came to Jesus and humbly asked for his help. He said, Please help me. I don't deserve your help. But I need your help and Jesus had compassion on him. And secondly, Luke shows us how the opposite kind of person, the poor, the powerless, the unsuccessful widow also brings forth jse's compassion. And here's here's the point. Jesus is not focused on gender. Jesus is not focused on wealth Jesus is not focused on race or ethnicity or language, and Jesus is not focused on works. The widow didn't even ask him for help. Jesus is compassionate, Jesus is caring. And this means that if you're Chinese or Ukraine in or South African or even Australian, you can come to Jesus. You can ask him for help. This means that if you serve ah, locked in your church or if you don't, you can come to Jesus and ask for help. This means that if you're a man or woman or if you have a job or you don't have a job, if you're poor or you're rich, you can come to Jesus because he's compassionate. This is so encouraging, friends. No one is too great or too unimportant for Jesus on Dhe. Secondly, Jesus is all powerful. The Lord is all powerful, and when he was on earth in his physical body, he healed people. Miraculously, he was the ambassador of God and as such, when he saw suffering, his custom was toe help. To heal his attitude was was against suffering and against sickness and against death, which I results of the fall, which are results of human sinfulness of the fact that humans have spit in the face of God. Actually, his mission was to come to Earth to create a way out of the Missouri the human sinfulness has created. He came to Earth to defeat death two feet sickness by dying yourself. It's actually very appropriate that we should be looking to passage like this in the week before Easter, when we remember Jesus's death and resurrection because Jesus willingly submitted to the cross. Jews is himself died, what he did not have to and not to spoil Easter, anything but God. The father raised him to life again. There's actually a parallel here, which which I believe Luke wants us to see, because I know that at the time of Jesus's death, Mary was also widow Mary. His mother was a widow, and she lost her son and God. The father raised her son back to life, raised Jesus back to life, restoring hope. Tow her on not only to her, but all of humanity. Because our hope rests in Jesus. In the fact that Jesus, the fated death Jesus is our pathway through death. Jesus is our resurrection, and our resurrection is better than an earthly resurrection. We're not just resurrected back to life here on Earth, where there is still pain and suffering and death until Jesus's return. But two new our resurrection is too new, imperishable, unde dying, eternal bodies in paradise with the Lord himself. I just like to close by reading what Paul has to say on the topic from first Corinthians Chapter 15 in a raid vs 50 to 58 then just so appropriate. So what we're looking at this morning. So ring from first Corinthians chapter 15 vs 50 to 58. I tell you this, brothers flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep. And by sleep he means be dead forever. But we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable and we shall be changed for this perishable body must put on the imperishable and this mortal body must put on immortality when the parachute puts on the imperishable and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written Death is swallowed up in victory. Oh, Death. Where is your victory, O death? Where is your sting? The sting of death. It's sin in the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Then he closes out with some application because of because of this truth that we will be resurrected to an imperishable body in paradise. He closes out in verse 58 by saying, Therefore, my beloved brothers be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord, your labor is not in vain. God's promise to us if we're his Children, is that our labor is not in vain. It will not be over. When we die, we will be raised. Life will continue and it will be better. That is the Lord's promise to us. Death has been defeated by Jesus Christ and we get to share in his victory on dhe friends. In a minute, I'm gonna laid us it in our congregational prayer. But first take a minute. If you need to do business with God. Take the opportunity if you are not a child of God. If you do not know Jesus, do business with God so that Jake's victory by becoming your victory and if you are already a child of God, be still and meditate on his goodness if you're already his child and living in a right relationship with him, thank him for what he has done is doing and will do for you. And if you have people who do not know Christ, pray for them. Ask the Lord that the blessing which he has given to you he might also be given to them friends take a minute and come before the Lord in prayer.