Sermon: What Is Great Faith? (Luke 6:46-7:10)

What Is Great Faith? Sunday, August 2nd, 2026 Tenth Sunday After Pentecost Christ Covenant Church – Centralia, WA Luke 6:46-7:10 Prayer O God, we thank You for the healing power of Your Word, the Word who is eternally begotten from the Father, the Word from which proceeds the Love that is the Holy Spirit, and this same Word who was in the beginning with You, who was made flesh and dwelt among us, who lived and died and lives forevermore. Open our eyes we ask, that we may behold the beauty of Your Son, the Word Incarnate, for we ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen. Introduction Last week we heard from Jesus, The Parable of Two Houses, or The Parable of Two Builders. And as we heard that parable again this morning, we are reminded that everyone is building something, but not everyone builds in faith. Everyone in this room is hearing the Word of God preached, but not everyone of you will obey what is preached. This is the difference, Jesus says, between a wise builder and a foolish builder, between a man whose house can withstand the storm to come, and the man whose life is suddenly destroyed. So how you are building your house? Well here as begin Luke chapter 7, Jesus encounters a living example of a man who built a house. In this instance, the house is a house of worship, a house for God, called a synagogue. Moreover, this house of worship is built from love, the Jewish elders say of him, he loveth our nation and he hath built us a synagogue. Further, this man is a most humble man (he has dug deep), he considers himself unworthy of having Jesus enter under his own personal roof, and yet because he understands how authority works, he believes that Jesus has the power to heal his servant with just a word, but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed, he says. Jesus marvels at this man and says, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. So if you want to grow in your faith, if you want to build a life that is honest, and firm, and worthy of God, Jesus wants you to consider now the greatness of faith in this Centurion. So that is what will occupy us this morning, answering the question: What is great faith? Outline of the Text We’ll divide our text into three sections according to what they emphasize and reveal about the faith of this Centurion. In verses 1-5, we have The Works of Faith In verses 6-8 we have The Humility of Faith In verses 9-10 we have The Reward of Faith. The works, the humility, and the reward of great faith. So starting in verse 1, Luke tells us…. Verses 1-2 – The Works of Faith 1Now when he had ended all his sayings in the audience of the people, he entered into Capernaum. 2And a certain centurion’s servant, who was dear unto him, was sick, and ready to die. First recall that Capernaum is a city on the coast of the Sea of Galilee (about 100 miles north of Jerusalem). And ever since Jesus was rejected by his hometown of Nazareth (back in Luke 4, they tried to kill him), Capernaum has become the home base for his ministry. So already Jesus has performed (and we have read about) his many miracles of healing, of exorcism, and his powerful preaching in Capernaum (rf Luke 4:31-33). And so it should not surprise us when we read in verse 3 that this Centurion has heard of Jesus. And based on what he has heard, whether firsthand or second hand, he believes that Jesus is divine, and therefore has the power to heal his sick servant. We read in verses 3-5… Verses 3-5 3And when he heard of Jesus, he sent unto him the elders of the Jews, beseeching him that he would come and heal his servant. 4And when they came to Jesus, they besought him instantly, saying, That he was worthy for whom he should do this: 5For he loveth our nation, and he hath built us a synagogue. Now what exactly is a Centurion, and why does he go about summoning Jesus in this way? This title of Centurion (ἑκατοντάρχης), literally means Captain/Ruler of one hundred. In the Roman military, there were varying degrees and levels of authority, above the Centurions were Tribunes and Legates, and below Centurions were other officers, soldiers, and servants. Back in Exodus 18, recall that Moses father-in-law Jethro, advised this kind of hierarchy of authority to assist Moses in governing the people. It says in Exodus 18:25, And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. And so this is just common sense for good government (it’s part of the natural law), and it is how a large number of people can all be united and governed under one head. So this Centurion is mid-level officer in the Roman government. He has a Tribune and the Emperor above him, and he has around 100 soldiers and servants below him. And it is this grasp of authority, of obedience and submission to authority, that will later ground this Centurion’s appeal to Jesus. Already her believes that Jesus has divine power, more power than Ceasar himself. Now just as this Centurion is both under authority, and in authority over others, so also are you. This is true for some of you externally (as fathers and mothers, or bosses in the workplace). But it is true for every single person individually and internally. Your mind, your spirit is to meant to be both ruled and ruler. Every individual member and faculty and power of your body and soul, is mean to work together in submission to your head (to reason enlightened by faith). In the garden, God created man in His own image, and thus Adam and Eve were subordinate to God (submitting their mind and wills to Him), and then as God’s representatives, they were to exercise dominion/rule/stewardship over the earth (Psalm 8). So before the Fall, mankind had a spirit/mind that was subject to God, and beneath that a body that was subject to the spirit, and beneath that a world of animals and plants that was subject to their rule. That was the original creational hierarchy of power: God over man, man’s spirit over his body, man’s body over the animals and the material world. However, at the Fall, that divine order of authority was turned upside down. What did Adam and Even do in Genesis 3? Rather than subjecting their spirit to God, Adam and Eve chose to obey the Serpent. Rather than subjecting their body to their spirit, they took into their body and ate what God had forbidden. Rather than Adam following God and Eve following Adam, Adam followed his wife into sin, and thus the whole order of creation was inverted, and ever since that time we have been experiencing the consequences of sin and death. Our fall into sin destroyed the integrity of our nature. We became alienated from God, alienated from one another, alienated from our own selves. Because we rebelled against God, now our own members are in rebellion against us. So this unnamed Centurion (real soldier as he was), is also an analogy for every person in this room. And just as this Centurion is great in his faith, so also he represents what God wants you to become. Because God intends for you to be the commander/ruler of your own thoughts, passions, intentions, and actions. Your mind is like a Centurion, who is to be ruled by God, believing whatever God says, and then justly ruling over everything within your sphere. The Bible calls this fruit of the Spirit, self-control. Can you govern yourself? Can you command your interior soldiers, your passions, your bodily appetites, to obey God? This is part of the lesson Jesus is trying to teach us here. Listen to how Scripture elsewhere describes your soul in these military terms. James 4:1-4 says, Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. So notice your life is like a battlefield, and unless you rule those 100 soldiers within you (with their conflicting and competing thoughts, desires, and passions) there will be war, and there will not be peace. You will be a divided person if you do not command your passions to obey Christ. Listen to how Paul describes this in 2 Corinthians 10:4-6, For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. He says likewise to young Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:11-12, But you, O man of God, flee these things [referring to the love of money] and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life. And in 2 Timothy 2:3 he says, endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. So Paul wants every Christian to have the mind of Christ, the mind of a soldier in the Lord’s army, fighting in faith, armed with humility, and then as Centurions under Christ, to bring into captivity every thought. So do you see how Jesus is meant to come and rule your heart by faith, and that that is where the kingdom of God begins? Jesus says later in Luke 17:21, behold, the kingdom of God is within you. So outside in the world is the Roman Empire, with its legions and tribunes and centurions and armies. But Jesus Christ is king over all, and his kingdom begins by subduing our minds, and our hearts, and our wills to His power. This is the more perfect, invisible, and spiritual kingdom of God, which this Gentile Centurion recognizes. He knows by his own vocation as an officer how authority works. And therefore, he believes, even before Jesus has died and rose from the dead, that Jesus has power to heal with a word. O that we might have great faith like this. Now we know from Ephesians 2:8 and elsewhere, that faith is always a gift of God’s grace. God’s action always precedes man’s action, and so this Centurion has already been touched by the grace of God. It is not on the basis of the Centurion’s good works that he receives saving faith, rather it is from saving faith that he does good works. And so here in verses 1-5 we see some of those works of faith manifest. What are they? First, observe from verse 2, that this Centurion has a genuine concern for his servant’s welfare. It says he was dear unto him. The Centurion valued this servant, who was inferior in rank, but he acknowledging and valued him, even as he would want to be valued if the roles were reversed. This is a living out of the golden rule. Jesus just preached in Luke 6:31, And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise. And here the Centurion is doing for his sick servant, what he would want to be done for him. Go and get Jesus! So that’s the first work of faith we notice, kindness, compassion, concern for the life and health of a lowly servant. Loving those subordinate to you as yourself. Second, observe that his internal faith in God, has built something external, namely a synagogue, a place for the Jews (and others) to hear God’s Word, and to worship the God of Israel. Recall that Jesus had been preaching regularly in the synagogue(s) of Capernaum, and so it is extremely likely, that this Centurion had funded and built the very place where Jesus has been ministering. To build a synagogue would have come at significant financial expense. And possibly also at great social expense, since the Jews were not always the best subjects of Rome. And so this was costly capital, financial and perhaps relational. But the Centurion subordinated his earthly goods to the greater good of worshipping God. The Jewish presbyters/elders say of him, he loveth our nation, and he hath built us a synagogue. Of course the Centurion did not know that one day he would need to call in a favor from the Jews to go to Jesus on his behalf in hopes that he would heal his servant. Notice also that the Centurion does not appeal to his past good works, as a patron of the Jews, when he sends for Christ. No, the Centurion feels himself so unworthy of Jesus, that he sends the Jewish elders on his behalf. Here is a man who has military authority over the Jews, and yet humbles himself to ask them a favor for his dear servant. All this is just the first motions of humility. For we learn in the next section,verses 6-8, that on second thought, the Centurion thinks he has been too bold, he asked too much. He does not want to presume upon Jesus coming all that way, and so he sends another delegation, this time of his friends, so that Jesus does not trouble himself for the Centurion’s sake. Behold the great humility of faith. Verses 6-8 – The Humility of Faith 6Then 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: 7Wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee: but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed. 8For 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. This is the appeal of humble faith. And by it we learn that faith is great to the degree that we are humble. Whereas pride is presumptuous, entitled, expecting favors from God as if we rightly deserve them, the Centurion appeals to nothing in himself, he appeals only to Christ’s power, and on that basis alone, he asks for Jesus to heal his servant. This is a pure faith. It is pure because it is not mixed with ego, it is not mixed with craving for sensual pleasures. It is asking for God to do for someone else, what only God can do, speak the word and my servant shall be healed. This is also a pure faith because it comes from love. A love and a value for what God loves and values, in this case, the life of a young servant, dying and at death’s door. Do you love what God loves, and value what God values, because that is the love that purifies our faith and our prayers to God. Second, observe that great faith is marked by a recognition of your own unworthiness. While the Jews say, he is worthy, The Centurion says, I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof. But think about this. What has already happened inside the Centurion? Jesus has already entered his heart. Jesus has already given him the grace of faith, and that is why he feels himself so unworthy of Christ coming to him in person. So dear Christian, you who believe, the Bible says that your body has become a temple for the living God, a dwelling place for the Holy Trinity. So do you realize how unworthy you are in yourself to have God take up residence within you? Do you realize that you never could have prepared your soul for grace, unless God’s grace first prepared you? Do you know, down into your bones, that salvation is of the Lord, from beginning to end, and that unless God makes you worthy, you will never walk worthy of Him? It says in Ephesians 2:5, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), The Centurion says to Jesus, what every person should say to Jesus, I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof. You are not clean until Jesus makes you clean. You are not alive until Jesus makes you alive.You are not a good Centurion of your soul, until Jesus comes and reigns over you. And even after you live a life of faithful service to Jesus, what does Jesus say that you should say to him? He says to his disciples in Luke 17:10, When you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’ Obedience to Jesus is your duty, because we are all debtors to grace. And so the more we think of ourselves as Centurions under Christ’s authority, perhaps the more we shall likewise receive the rewards of faith. Verses 9-10 – The Rewards of Faith 9When 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. 10And they that were sent, returning to the house, found the servant whole that had been sick. Observe here the two rewards of faith. Two rewards that you also should seek. The first is the most important, and that is The Divine Commendation: that is, when God judges you and says well done good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Master. Notice Jesus commends the Centurion openly, publicly, and marvels at the faith that He himself gave according to His divine nature. And by this he is illustrating what shall happen when he returns in glory to judge the living and the dead. Jesus says in Matthew 10:32-33, Whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven. And in Revelation 3:3-5, Jesus warns the church to keep the faith saying, Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you. You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. So do you have an ear to hear what Jesus says to the churches? And are you obeying what Jesus says? It is by the obedience of faith that you shall receive the reward of Divine commendation. Is this what you are aiming at? The glory of God through faith in Jesus Christ? That is what Paul says his whole mission of apostleship is. He says in Romans 1:5, By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name. The second reward of faith is that the Centurion receives what he asked for: His servant is healed. And as Luke records it, Jesus does not even say anything. The friends simply return the house, and find the servant healed. Jesus says in John 14:13-15, And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. If ye love me, keep my commandments. And so this is why we still ask God to heal us, to heal those we love. To provide for us in times of need. Because Jesus wants us to ask Our Father in heaven for daily bread, for deliverance from temptation, for all that we need to reach heaven safely. At times, God says no to our requests or not yet, but it is always because He wants to give us something more, something better, something that will actually serve the salvation of our soul. In Paul’s case, it was better for him to have a thorn in the flesh, and to rely upon God, than to have no thorn, and run the risk of self-reliance (2 Cor. 12). And so we ought to pray and ask God for many things. But most of all, we should ask God to give us God. We should ask God to change our desires, so that we ask for those things that are most good for us. As it says in Psalm 37:4-5, Delight yourself in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass. Conclusion Jesus delighted in nothing else, but doing the Father’s will. And far from that obedience being a hindrance to his joy, or an obstacle to glory, nobody has ever been more joyful and blessed and glorified than Jesus. And so be like the Centurion, trust Jesus, honor God, love your servants, build up God’s house, send for Jesus in time of need, acknowledge to Him how unworthy you are to have him enter beneath your roof, and Jesus shall gladly come to you, and make his home permanently within you. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.