Luke 7
The thing that always stands out in this passage to me is that the man who is described as having "great faith" is a Gentile, and not a Jew. In fact, he is most probably not even a Roman. It must have been a reproach to any Jews in the the crowd that was following Jesus that there was "not found such great faith even in Israel." In other words, even those not so familiar with the God of Israel (i.e., Gentiles) had faith stronger than those who were very familiar with God.
Another interesting phrase is in verse 5, where the Jews sent on behalf of the Centurion assert, "This man deserves to have you do this, 5because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue." I wonder what kind of mindset or thinking these people had, to think that one could ever actually deserve to be healed by Jesus, as if it was almost earned. Ironically, the Centurion sends word in the end of verse 6 (ironically, only one verse after), "Lord, don't trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. 7That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you." The Centurion did not count himself worthy, and understood and had faith in the authority of Jesus. That is why he compared his own authority ("Go" and his servant would go) to the authority of Jesus, with the difference that Jesus had authority over everything.
So, I think, and wonder, two things (ask yourself these):
1) Do I have this kind of faith, that I believe in the absolute authority of Jesus Christ in my life?
2) Do I count myself, like the Centurion, undeserving and unworthy of all that God has done for me?
Jumping down further in the passage, and switching gears a little, Jesus, at the end is explaining the sinful woman anointing Him and taking care of Him, which the Pharisees did not do, even though they were hosting Jesus. But one thing they said struck me, and I wonder what it means "47Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little."
3) What does this mean? What does it mean that the woman's sins were forgiven - for she loved much? And what does it mean that he who has been forgiven loves little? Surely it must not mean that if we sin a lot (and then get forgiven) that we love more than the one who sins little (and gets forgiven little)?
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6 comments:
Oh I was looking into this passage, and it mentioned how the Gentile who had great faith might not even be of the right type, with those familar with God. I think we know of other religions that people might be really dedicated to their religion, it's just that it's not the right one.
I want to be like the Centurion! I think as a leader, he had a lot of pride but he put that aside. He had faith!
In this passage, it looks like that the passage is focus on the people, like the Centurion’s faith and the action of the Sinful Woman.
I would suggest that the passage perhaps is focusing on God’s grace and His glory.
In the case of the Centurion, his friends told Jesus that the Centurion deserves Jesus to heal his servant (v.5). Why? Because of the good things he had done.
Instead, Centurion sent friends to tell Jesus that he did not deserve to go to under his roof. The Centurion did not meet Jesus not because Centurion thinks highly of himself (or the ‘good’ things he has done). Rather he said he is not worthy to come to him (v. 7).
It is God’s Grace and deliverance that the Centurion’s slave is saved.
In the sermon of the mount, Jesus said “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt 5:3).
The reason why the poor receive the kingdom of Heaven is because God’s grace and mercy.
The sinful woman is another example of the grace of God at works.
The sinful woman is poor not only in spirit and also in social standing. Even the Pharisee told Jesus, “if this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner." (v. 39b)
“Sinner” is clearly a lower class in the society. A class so low that even the Pharisee will not think of touching. Yet this is what the Pharisee supposed to do. Earlier in verse 30, Luke explained that the Pharisees and experts in the law rejected God's purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John. (v 29). The law is there to help people point back to God. Instead, it become a judgment and condemnation to those who are poor in spirit.
Jesus flipped it upside down. In the Kingdom of Heaven, the “poor” will be treated with love and dignity. That’s righteousness. That’s only come from grace.
The Pharisees and experts in the law are not baptized by John because deep down they refuse to repent. They believe the works they do will lead to God. Whereas Jesus clearly demonstrate and explain to them that it is only through God’s divine intervention that we can be saved.
As we go to the end of the passage, the other guests were not happy with Jesus’ forgiving the sinful woman (v. 49). Jesus proves again that God is merciful even those who commit the worst sins can be forgiven.
In verse 20-23, Jesus told John’s disciples to tell John that “The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy[b] are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.” (v. 22b). That’s God’s Grace. The good news is the Kingdom of Heaven is being pour onto the world.
Hmm..God is Great…all the time =D
In response to 3):
I think Jesus is actually talking about a person's perspective when he says "he who has been forgiven little loves little." Because, in reality, everyone has been forgiven a lot. But for self-righteous men (like the Pharisees), they THINK they have sinned little, therefore they think they are better than others and love themselves rather than others. In contrast, the sinful woman was humble and fully appreciated the gift that Jesus gave her, hence her response was over-flowing love.
Great faith indeed... through the whole episode, it sounds like the centurion never even saw Jesus face to face. Perhaps one can even assume he has never met Jesus or heard his voice. And yet he had faith! He didn't need to see a miracle for himself before he believed! And I look back, how easy it is for me to lose faith and doubt Him.
Verse 13 immediately jumped out at me to reinforce what Dr. TV Thomas spoke about at Sunday School, about discipleship.
13When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, "Don't cry."
First thing is He saw. He saw the need, and then He did something about it. Lord, open my eyes and help me see.
Another verse: 28I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he." Wow, can you or I be counted as "greater" than John? What does it mean to be the least, in practical terms?
I agree with Ginny's response to question 3). On a sidenote, I noticed something interesting. It says in verse 45 that the Pharisee didn't give Jesus a kiss. Don't the Jews greet each other with a holy kiss? So, (and I could be entirely wrong about this), I think the Pharisee didn't invite Jesus to dinner with entirely friendly intentions. The whole thing was intended to be a trap. For no other reason would he allow a "sinner" to enter his house. It was to see how Jesus would react, how He would associate with this "sinner". And Jesus responded with this parable.
41"Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?"
So, to answer the question, the one who feels most undeserving of grace, is the one who will all the more ask for His forgiveness; and Jesus says when we ask, our sins will be forgiven. When we are forgiven, we are compelled to respond with our love.
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