NOTES for Luk 7:1-10

What kind of faith did the Lord not find in Israel, as He said of the faith of the centurion from Capernaum? First, the centurion professes his faith in Christ’s divine nature. He does not expect the Teacher from Nazareth to heal by touching the sick servant or by any other means requiring His personal presence. The centurion says that he believes Christ’s will alone, expressed in His word, is enough to heal. In this way he professes His will as a creative power acting in the world beyond the bounds of physical laws, the laws of nature. Just as the hundred men placed under the centurion’s command obey him, so the whole world obeys Christ. One may think in this way of the almighty and omnipresent God, Creator of heaven and earth, or of the One Whom God Himself has sent into the world. Second, this faith compels the centurion to look first at himself. He thinks of God not as a means of solving various problems, but as a Person before Whom he will stand when Jesus comes into his house. That is why he says that he is unworthy of this visit. These two aspects of the centurion’s faith make him an example for us to follow.