Wednesday
Evening Bible Study
November 1, 2000
Introduction
Jesus has finished a message that was similar to the Sermon on the
Mount. He ended by challenging the
people to learn obedience.
(Luke 6:46 KJV) And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not
the things which I say?
:1-10 Healing the centurion’s
servant
:1 Now when he had ended all his
sayings in the audience of the people, he entered into Capernaum.
ended – pleroo – to make
full, to fill up, i.e. to fill to the full; to render full, i.e. to complete
sayings – rhema – that
which is or has been uttered by the living voice, thing spoken, word; speech,
discourse; subject matter of speech, thing spoken of
:2 And a certain centurion's servant, who was dear unto him, was sick, and
ready to die.
centurion – hekatontarches –
an officer in the Roman army
The Roman centurions were special men. They are mentioned several times in
the scriptures, and always in a favorable light. They were always it seems
outstanding men.
servant – doulos – a
slave, bondman, man of servile condition; devoted to another to the disregard
of one’s own interests
sick – kakos – miserable,
to be ill; improperly, wrongly; to speak ill of, revile, one
to die – teleutao – to
finish, bring to and end, close; to have an end or close, come to an end
dear – entimos – held in
honour, prized, precious
:3 And when he heard of Jesus, he sent unto him the elders of the Jews,
beseeching him that he would come and heal his servant.
sent – apostello (“apostles”)
– to order (one) to go to a place appointed; to send away, dismiss
elders – presbuteros –
elder, of age,; among the Jews; members of the great council or Sanhedrin
(because in early times the rulers of the people, judges, etc., were selected
from elderly men); of those who in separate cities managed public affairs and
administered justice
beseeching – erotao – to
question; to ask; to request, entreat, beg, beseech
heal – diasozo – to
preserve through danger, to bring safely through; to save, i.e. cure one who is
sick, bring him through; to save, keep from perishing; to save out of danger,
rescue
This man sent messengers to Jesus because he had an idea that Jesus could
do something for his servant.
Some doctors are pretty wise when it comes to diagnosing a problem …
Illustration
The Disguise...
A young brunette goes into the doctor’s office and says that her body hurts
wherever she touches it. “Impossible,” says the doctor. “Show me.” She takes
her finger and pushes her elbow and screams in agony. She pushes her knee and
screams. She pushes her ankle and screams—and so it goes on. The doctor says, “You’re not really a
brunette are you?” Surprised by the
doctors observation, she says, “No, actually I’m really a blonde.” “I thought so,” he says. “Your finger is
broken.”
Lesson
A man of faith goes to the right
doctor
His name is Dr. Jesus.
I’m not saying that we don’t go to earthly doctors, but I am saying that
when we’ve got problems, no matter what they are, we need to go to Jesus FIRST.
:4 And when they came to Jesus, they besought him instantly, saying, That
he was worthy for whom he should do this:
besought – parakaleo – to
call to one’s side, call for, summon; to address, speak to, (call to, call
upon), which may be done in the way of exhortation, entreaty, comfort,
instruction, etc.; to admonish, exhort; to beg, entreat, beseech
instantly – spoudaios –
hastily, with haste; diligently; earnestly
worthy – axios – weighing,
having weight, having the weight of another thing of like value, worth as much;
befitting, congruous, corresponding to a thing; of one who has merited anything
worthy; both in a good and a bad sense
should do – parecho – to
reach forth, offer; to show, afford, supply; to be the authors of, or to cause
one to have; to give, bring, cause one something either favourable or
unfavourable, to occasion; to offer, show or present one’s self; to exhibit or
offer on one’s own part; to render or afford from one’s own resources or by
one’s own power
:5 For he loveth our nation, and he hath built us a synagogue.
loveth – agapao – of
persons; to welcome, to entertain, to be fond of, to love dearly
he hath built – oikodomeo –
to build a house, erect a building
Lesson
A man of faith does good works
This man’s works included loving the Jews and building a synagogue for
them.
This is part of learning obedience to the Lord. If He is truly our “Lord”, then we’ll DO the things that
He says.
James writes,
(James 2:14-20 NLT) Dear brothers and sisters, what's the use of
saying you have faith if you don't prove it by your actions? That kind of faith
can't save anyone. {15} Suppose you see a brother or sister who needs food or
clothing, {16} and you say, "Well, good-bye and God bless you; stay warm
and eat well"--but then you don't give that person any food or clothing.
What good does that do? {17} So you see, it isn't enough just to have faith.
Faith that doesn't show itself by good deeds is no faith at all--it is dead and
useless. {18} Now someone may argue, "Some people have faith; others have
good deeds." I say, "I can't see your faith if you don't have good
deeds, but I will show you my faith through my good deeds." {19} Do you
still think it's enough just to believe that there is one God? Well, even the
demons believe this, and they tremble in terror! {20} Fool! When will you ever
learn that faith that does not result in good deeds is useless?
:6 Then Jesus went with them. And when he was now not far from the house,
the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself:
for I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof:
friends – philos – friend,
to be friendly to one, wish him well; a friend; an associate
Lord – kurios – he to whom
a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding; master, lord;
the possessor and disposer of a thing; the owner; one who has control of the
person, the master; in the state: the sovereign, prince, chief, the Roman
emperor; is a title of honour expressive of respect and reverence, with which
servants greet their master; this title is given to: God, the Messiah
It’s interesting that a Roman centurion would be calling Jesus “Lord”.
trouble – skullo – to
skin, flay; to rend, mangle; to vex, trouble, annoy; to give one’s self
trouble, trouble one’s self
worthy – hikanos –
sufficient; many enough, enough; sufficient in ability, i.e. meet, fit
Lesson
A man of faith knows his own
unworthiness
He knows that he is unable to do anything on his own, therefore he must
come to the Lord for help and trust in the Lord’s abilities.
Illustration
If we’re ever going to become useful to the Lord, we need to get to the
place where we are yielded to Him and allowing Him to work through us, and not
trying to do everything by ourselves.
Jesus said,
(John
15:4-5 KJV) Abide in me, and I in you.
As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more
can ye, except ye abide in me. {5} I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that
abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me
ye can do nothing.
Paul said,
(Phil 4:13
KJV) I can do all things through Christ
which strengtheneth me.
:7 Wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee: but say in
a word, and my servant shall be healed.
thought myself worthy – axioo –
to think meet, fit, right; to judge worthy, deem, deserving
say – epo – to speak, say
word – logos – of speech;
word
servant – pais – a
child, boy or girl; infants, children; servant, slave; an attendant, servant,
spec. a king’s attendant, minister
The century looked with great fondness upon this servant. He called the person his “child”.
healed – iaomai – to cure,
heal; to make whole; to free from errors and sins, to bring about (one’s)
salvation
Lesson
A man of faith looks to Jesus to
just say the word
I think we express this in prayer.
A measure of whether we are willing to trust Jesus with our problems is
whether or not we’re actually spending time praying about our problems, or
whether we are just spending our time trying to figure out our own answers.
In his book “Lectures to My Students” (pg.47),
Charles Spurgeon is talking about pastors who don’t pray when he writes,
“The minister who does not earnestly pray over his work
must surely be a vain and conceited man.
He acts as if he thought himself sufficient of himself, and therefore
needed not to appeal to God. Yet what a
baseless pride to conceive that our preaching can ever be in itself so powerful
that it can turn men from their sins, and bring them to God without the working
of the Holy Ghost. If we are truly
humble-minded we shall not venture down to the fight until the Lord of Hosts
has clothed us with all power, and said to us, “Go in this thy might.”
:8 For I also am a man set under authority, having under me soldiers, and I
say unto one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my
servant, Do this, and he doeth it.
under – hupo – by, under
authority – exousia –
power of choice, liberty of doing as one pleases; the power of authority
(influence) and of right (privilege); the power of rule or government (the
power of him whose will and commands must be submitted to by others and obeyed)
set – tasso – to put in
order, to station; to place in a certain order, to arrange, to assign a place,
to appoint; to assign (appoint) a thing to one. This verb, when combined with hupo forms the word hupotasso,
the word we translate as “submit”.
Lesson
A man of faith understands the
Lord’s authority
This centurion understood the issue of submission.
He was both a man who was in submission to those in rank over him, as well
as being over those who were assigned to him.
He understood that a person in the place of authority should be able to say
something, and those under him should respond.
Keep in mind, this man is not trying to order Jesus to do anything.
He has called Jesus “Lord”. The
centurion understands that Jesus it the one who is issuing commands here.
I think it is understood here that this man is yielded to Jesus. Whatever Jesus does is okay with him.
But he is saying that he knows that if Jesus simply gives a command,
it will be done.
Just as he, the centurion, has authority over soldiers and servants, Jesus
has authority over diseases.
:9 When Jesus heard these things, he marvelled at him, and turned him
about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not
found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
marvelled – thaumazo – to
wonder, wonder at, marvel; to be wondered at, to be had in admiration
turned – strepho – to
turn, turn around
followed – akoloutheo – to
follow one who precedes, join him as his attendant, accompany him; to join one
as a disciple, become or be his disciple; side with his party
This is probably His own disciples He’s going to talk to.
people – ochlos – a crowd;
a multitude of men who have flocked together in some place; a throng
so great – tosoutos – of
quantity: so great, so many
found – heurisko – to come
upon, hit upon, to meet with; after searching, to find a thing sought; without
previous search, to find (by chance), to fall in with; to find by enquiry,
thought, examination, scrutiny, observation, to find out by practice and
experience; to find out for one’s self, to acquire, get, obtain, procure
Lesson
Jesus is looking for faith
He’s looking for people who will trust Him.
(Luke 18:8b KJV) …Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh,
shall he find faith on the earth?
(2 Chr 16:9 KJV) For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro
throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose
heart is perfect toward him.
He’s looking for people who will be willing to put their lives, their
futures, into His hand, knowing that He’ll do what’s best for them.
Again, I think one of the greatest measures of faith is our prayer
life. Do we really trust Him enough to
be asking Him directly for help?
Illustration
Years ago, a pastor of a small church in rural Pennsylvania decided to
convert the two hours a night he spent watching TV into prayer time. As he began to labor in prayer, God gave him
a vision to reach out to some New York City gang members who had been involved
in a brutal, senseless murder. The
pastor was David Wilkerson, who is now pastor of Times Square Church in
Manhattan, a vital assembly in the heart of Manhattan. God used his simple obedience to bring some
hardened gang members to Himself,
including Nicky Cruz, a notorious young hoodlum. David Wilkerson started a ministry, Teen
Challenge, which eventually went nationwide; and he wrote about the story in
his classic book The Cross and the Switchblade. It’s an incredible story, and it all began
when he converted TV time into prayer time.
Imagine what would happen if more and more Christians took that
challenge seriously.
:10 And they that were sent, returning to the house, found the servant
whole that had been sick.
found – heurisko – to come
upon, hit upon, to meet with; after searching, to find a thing sought; without
previous search, to find (by chance), to fall in with; to find by enquiry,
thought, examination, scrutiny, observation, to find out by practice and experience;
to find out for one’s self, to acquire, get, obtain, procure
This is the same word, even in the same exact form as that in verse 9,
“found”.
Lesson
When Jesus finds faith, you find answers
Jesus just wants us to trust Him.
Faith isn’t some sort of magical twinkle dust that we have to conjure
up. It’s simply trusting Him.
Illustration
Blondin the tight rope walker.
He was able to walk across a tightrope over Niagra Falls.
He would go slowly across, then build up speed. He could do all sorts of amazing tricks, carrying all sorts of
objects across the Falls. For his
finale, he would carry someone on his shoulders across the falls. “Am I the
greatest?” “Do you believe I’m the
greatest?” “For my next act, I’m going
to need a volunteer, I need somebody to get on my shoulders.”
You don’t have to be a tightrope walker to get across the
falls of life. You just need to trust
Jesus enough to get on His shoulders.