By Rabbi Rev. Dr. Michael Harvey Koplitz

Luke 7:1-10: Jesus went to Capernaum. And a centurion’s slave, who was highly regarded by him, was sick and about to die. When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders asking Him to come and save the life of his slave. When they came to Jesus, they earnestly implored Him, saying, “He is worthy for You to grant this to him; for he loves our nation and it was he who built us our synagogue.” Jesus started on His way with them; and when He was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to Him, “Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not worthy for You to come under my roof; 7 for this reason I did not even consider myself worthy to come to You, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. “For I also am a man placed under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled at him, and turned and said to the crowd that was following Him, “I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith.” When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health. 

This story teaches us about humility, which is a requirement for all believers in Christ even though the person has a worldly position of authority. In fact, that person has a greater responsibility to display humility because of his (or her) position of authority.

What makes this story so interesting is disclosed in the original language of Jesus, which was Aramaic. The centurion may sound like a Roman soldier, but the Aramaic version identifies the centurion as a soldier of Herod Antipas, not of Rome.  The centurion was a Jew. 

The soldier clarified that he had authority over his men. He could tell them what to do and they would have to do it no matter what. This soldier could have enlightened and demanded, or even ordered Jesus to cure his servant. However, he did not do that. He humbled himself before Jesus and basically said to him, “Jesus, have authority over me, and I need your help”. He asked Jesus to help him because he knew in his heart that he was standing before God’s Messiah. If we think of this soldier as being Jewish, then we can say that he understood God’s true purpose for the Messiah. 

But what do I mean by that? Let me give you a little of the history of the Messiah tradition at the time of Jesus. The Romans had ruled the Galilee and Judea since 68 BCE. So, they had been around for well over 100 years before the time of Jesus. The Romans oppressed the people in their empire, especially in the Near East. To top that off, in Jesus’ day we had the remnants of Herod the Great’s kingdom that ruled under the umbrella of Rome. Herod Antipas, who was a son of Herod the Great, oversaw the area for Rome where Jesus lived. 

Herod Antipas lived in luxury and in beauty, while his subjects lived in poverty. He oppressed the people by collecting additional taxes on top of the Roman taxes because he wanted to support his life of luxury. People had very little hope, except they knew God would send his Messiah who would be a son of David and would liberate Israel from the oppressors, restore the nation, and give them hope amid their struggles. 

History tells us that during the reign of David and Solomon, Israel was prosperous and strong. When the kingdom divided into two parts after Solomon’s death, the two nations, acting separately, could not stop all the surrounding nations from exploiting them. Shortly before the time of Jesus the Maccabees, a sect of Jewish zealots, led the restoration of the independent nation of Judah for about 100 years. However, the Maccabees were constantly fighting with the Syrians and eventually, in 68 BCE, they asked the Romans to help them. The Romans came into the country and decided that they needed the land bridge that Judah represented between the north of their empire and the kingdom of Egypt, which they were about to conquer. Therefore, Judah came under the control of Rome in 68 BCE. And for 100 years before the time of Jesus the people prayed to God for the Messiah. 

This passage about the centurion, whose servant became ill and came to Jesus, tells us that Luke got the messianic tradition right. The Messiah was first going to come and restore the spirituality of the people and their faith in God. The second coming of the Messiah was to be the war against the oppressors. We can find this idea in the book of Zechariah in the ninth chapter, the ninth verse. If we read further into Rabbinic literature, we find that the idea of the Messiah coming twice was a part of the faith of the people. However, since it was a relatively new concept at the time of Jesus, it was not a powerful idea. 

The mystical books talk about the Messiah ben Joseph and the Messiah ben David. The word ben in Hebrew means son of. So, the first Messiah, Jesus ben Joseph, was to come and restore the spiritual awareness and faith in God. After a period of time (you can find this in the book of the Revelation) God would send Messiah ben David, who would be the elite warrior. If you want to learn more about the second coming of the Messiah, then you need to read the book of Revelation. You can also find this idea in the books of Daniel, Isaiah, and several of the minor prophets. 

Now that I have given you all that background, what are we supposed to do with this passage in our daily lives? No matter who we are, there is always someone who is going to be in authority over us. In our daily lives, we must live by the rules and laws of our society and our country. If we do not follow the local laws, we could end up in jail. This applies at the state level and at the federal level. Therefore, we have no choice but to follow these laws if we want to maintain our freedom. 

If you are working, which probably most of you are,  you have a boss that you report to. Even people who have their own business report to their customers. Because, if their customers are not happy with what they are receiving, the business will eventually fail. So, in this narrative, Jesus comes in and says, “Sure, you do not have to obey those worldly authorities; instead remember who the ultimate authority is over you and your life.” 

Jesus Christ is the ultimate authority because he is God; therefore God is your ultimate authority. If you want to know if you are going in the right direction in your life and making decisions that please God, then you have to ask, which is what a good portion of prayer is all about. Ask Jesus if the direction you are going in is right. He will never let you down. You may not get the answer you want, and it may take more time than you expect, but remember to wait for that answer. 

Let me leave you with an example from the Hebrew Scriptures. The Israelites under King Saul were preparing for war against the Philistines. The prophet Samuel said to Saul that he needed to wait until the prophet showed up because the prophet was going to pray to God to find out what should be done. King Saul got overly anxious and started the battle without Samuel the prophet. Samuel showed up during the battle as the Philistines defeated the Israelites and took the Ark of the Covenant with them as a prize of war. Samuel looked at Saul and said in essence, “You did not wait for me; therefore you did not wait for God.” Saul had decided that he was the ultimate authority to make the decision about the battle. At that point, Samuel said to Saul that God would remove him from the throne and that his family would never be kings of Israel. 

Remember that Jesus is our ultimate authority. If you are trying to decide about a situation, I suggest you pray upon it but also look into the Gospels and see if you have an answer from God in the Gospels. I should expand that and say that you can find answers anywhere in the whole Bible. It isn’t hard to find answers to your questions and prayers in the Bible because you can always use the Internet and search for an answer.  May God bless you, especially when you allow him to lead your life. 

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