Luke 6:39-7:10
Have you ever had the experience when you are talking to someone, maybe to get information about a purchase, when you realize that you know more than they do? How does it feel at that moment you make this realization? For me, there inside my head the exclamation “Oh…” which is short for “How do I get out of this conversation as quickly as possible without looking rude? Where else can I go to find someone who is actually knowledgeable?”
About a month ago someone left a message on my answering machine at work explaining that he wanted me to do some research for him. So far, it sounded good. Then he went on to explain that it involved the working out of the last details of a perpetual motion machine. “Oh…” The more he talked the more the voice inside my head said “Oh…” until by the end I wondered if I was safe or maybe needed to call the guys in white coats.
To one degree or another, we all have had experiences like this. But what if we are following the advice of someone like this but don’t realize that this is an “Oh…” person? How messed up can we get by allowing ourselves to be informed by those who don’t have a clue? What happens if we listen to such advice for weeks, months, or years? It’s not a comforting thought.
Jesus addressed this question with the beginning of our passage today, from Luke Chapter 6.
He also told them this parable: "Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher. – Luke 6:39-40
1. Choose your “teachers” carefully.
There are portions of the Bible that have made it into our popular culture. Everyone has heard of the phrase “the blind leading the blind.” Jesus uses it again in Matthew 15:14, where He is specifically referring to the Pharisees who become offended by some of His other teachings. With regards to these Pharisees, Jesus says, “Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, they will both fall into a pit.”
Now the context of the statement about students and teachers is that of religious training, not about learning algebra or geometry, although there is even a measure of truth there as well. If you try to learn algebra from a horrible book and an incompetent teacher, you likely won’t get very far. Or even worse, you may come away thinking you have gotten far, that you have become an expert in something that in reality you know nothing about! For America as a whole, we seem to be moving in this direction. International polls rank high school students really low in ability compared to many other countries, but we consistently perform near the top with regards to how well we think we know math!
When it comes to religious training, this is even more powerfully true. What happens when a blind man leads a blind man, spiritually speaking? You obtain people who are confident they know spiritual things when in fact they couldn’t be more in error. Such was the result of the Pharisees of Jesus’ time, and such is the way of things today. There are many people who are confidently “spiritual” and say they believe in the God of the Bible but who know next to nothing about what the Bible actually says.
This is the reason that most people are the religion of their parents. And in Jesus’ day, the point of what Jesus is saying is that if you study for years under a Pharisee, you will end up becoming a Pharisee. How does this apply to us today?
I think it is important to evaluate the question “Who are my teachers?” If you allow yourself to be constantly influenced by the secular media, you will begin to think like the secular media. If you repeatedly surf the web and spend time at atheist web sites, you risk beginning to think like an atheist. If you constantly listen on the radio to that narrow brand of fundamentalist preacher that ignores grace and focuses on legalism, you risk beginning to think like a legalist. If these activities go on for years, there is a good chance your beliefs will fundamentally change to become like your teachers. This is what Jesus is saying.
Fortunately, there is a good side to this message. If your teachers are the Word of God itself and the Holy Spirit, then, if you stay “in training,” putting into practice what you are learning, you will become more and more like Jesus, your teacher. Everyone who becomes fully trained will be like their teacher.
"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. – Luke 6:41-42
2. “Do as I say, not as I do” is not acceptable. Do as you say.
What does it feel like to have something small in your eye? It is horrible! Jesus’ word picture here is actually quite humorous, if you can imagine it. You have this speck in your eye and it is driving you crazy. You can’t get it out, no matter how much you try. So you turn to anyone nearby, anyone, and say “Help me get this out of my eye.” Someone rises to call, with his back turned to you, and says, “Brother, let me do it!” You happily agree, and then he turns around, and you are shocked; he has a two-by-four in his eye! You cannot begin to understand how it stays there, but there it is, 8 feet long, swinging around as he turns. You duck to avoid be smacked in the head with it. How would you feel? I think you, in your head, would say “Oh…”
Jesus’ message now is not to the “student,” but to the “teacher.” Teacher, you are a hypocrite! First get the two-by-four out of your eye! Then you will be able to take out your brother’s speck.
Nobody likes hypocrites. We even have a modern slang term for hypocrites: posers. In fact, one of the most common reasons people say they have tuned out Christianity is because they say Christians are hypocrites. Is it a valid reason to discount Christianity? No, because Jesus Himself would be the first to agree with them that many “religious” people are hypocrites. You cannot discount the teachings of Jesus if He Himself agrees with you! Anybody can claim to follow anything. The fact that there are hypocrites doesn’t mean that the underlying truth claim is true or false – it’s irrelevant. If you are going to evaluate a truth claim based on the testimony of others, the question is whether there is anyone who isn’t a hypocrite. If someone says Jesus delivered him from drugs and alcohol, and in fact he, a former addict, is free from drugs and alcohol, then that is the testimony you have to deal with.
Anyway, some people take this verse in a way that I believe it is not intended. They would say that having any sin makes them a hypocrite. That is not what this passage means. If you are a sinner, that doesn’t make you a hypocrite unless you claim that you are sinless. And there is nothing hypocritical about going to church on Sunday when you’ve had a horrible week when it comes to the sin in your life. Church is the gathering of those who know they need more of Jesus in their lives. If you can agree with that statement, then you’ll fit right in. On the other hand, if you think you have your life pretty well together on your own, then you are the one for whom coming to church may be a hypocritical act. If you don’t need more of Jesus in your life, then you probably don’t fit in here! You see, this works the exact opposite way from what people tend to think!
In this passage, the teacher, the one who offers to remove specks is a hypocrite because he is claiming to be an expert speck remover. How can he be an expert speck remover if he doesn’t even see that he has a giant plank in his eye? Even Fred and I never claimed to be expert speck removers! We only claim that we know the expert speck and plank remover, and His name is Jesus!
If you know you have planks in your eyes, welcome! How do you get those planks out? Not in your own strength, that’s for sure! You do it with the help and strength of God. The first step, and it is a big one, is agreeing with God that you have those planks in your eyes, and you can’t get them out!
"No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks. – Luke 6:43-45
3. Don’t bother trying to mask your heart. Change your heart.
Why does Jesus tell His disciples this during His “Sermon on the Plain”? I think it is to tell everyone to judge the Pharisees by their fruit. Watch for their fruit in the future, and you can judge whether their religion is good or bad. Recall that they have already tried to kill Jesus once, described back in Luke Chapter 4, when they were ready to throw Him down a cliff.
Is Jesus comparing healthy trees that produce luscious delicious fruit versus trees that are sick and produce poor quality fruit? No. He is comparing trees that produce edible fruit to those that produce fruit that one cannot eat at all. You cannot eat thornbush berries or brier berries. These are inedible at best and perhaps poisonous.
Like the verse about hypocrisy, some people misuse this passage to say that if you ever got pushed and let anger rip out of you then you are the evil man described here. I don’t think that is the intention of the passage. Jesus is saying to listen carefully to others, especially those you choose or passively allow to be your “teachers.” Eventually you will hear what is being stored up inside. What happens after the person gives vent to his anger, may reveal what is really in his heart. Does he storm off and later act like nothing has happened? Or does he feel compelled to go back and apologize? Is he heartbroken over his failure? This is a sign of the good, the “Jesus life,” that has been stored up in his heart. A repentant heart is one of the surest signs of a believer that I know.
"Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say? I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete." – Luke 6:46-49
4. Act on what you hear. Apply everything.
Again, Jesus here really destroys the argument that people use to discount Christianity because there are hypocrites. Nobody is saying that there aren’t hypocrites! Jesus agrees with you!
At the same time, Jesus here is giving a very sobering message to all of us. One day, we will all stand before Jesus. We should desire that He will say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” We don’t want Him to say, “Why did you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I said?” How awful to even contemplate this!
Note the similarities in the parable between the two men, the one who put His words into practice and the one who didn’t. Both of them built their own houses, a big job! And both of them later experienced major storms.
But what is the difference? The man who puts Jesus’ words into practice is like the one who digs down deep and lays his foundation on rock. The man who doesn’t is the one who just plops the boards down on the sandy dirt without doing any digging. The second man’s method takes a lot less work, but it won’t survive the storm.
Our lives in Christ are the same way. We need to dig down deep to the Rock, which is Christ. As Paul says in I Cor. 3:11: “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” Believers should constantly evaluate their lives against the teachings of the Bible. Are we doing what it says? Are we trying? Digging down deep is not fun. Are we serious about wanting to become more like Christ? Are we serious about wanting to change? Then we need to be serious. Anything we try to build in ourselves the shallow way, with platitudes and secular self-help philosophies, will not withstand the storm. It will collapse and its destruction will be complete.
And make no mistake – storms are a part of life. Are you digging down to the Rock? If not, how will you handle the storm of temptation, or the storm of sorrow and grief, or the storm of failure, or even the storm of success?
When Jesus had finished saying all this in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. There a centurion's servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, "This man deserves to have you do this, because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue." So Jesus went with them. – Luke 7:1-6a
We now move into this fascinating story of the centurion. This centurion was not at all like a typical Roman military man. Note that “servant” is a euphemism for slave, and the normal attitude toward slaves was that they were simply property. When a slave became sick, he ceased to have value, and it was perfectly acceptable to desert him or have him killed. Yet this centurion obviously cares for his slave. He has personal affection for him, so much so that he was willing to make exceptional efforts to see him healed.
This centurion, although Gentile, had made real friendships with the Jewish people. This was not normal or easy to do! The Jews had little love for the Romans in general and for Roman soldiers even more. Many Jews wouldn’t even let Gentiles enter their houses! With this understanding, the obvious two-way friendship between the Jews and this man was even more remarkable. They knew he loved their nation, and he had even gone so far as to pay for the building of their synagogue. He was so well respected by the Jews that they willingly went out of their way to seek out Jesus on his behalf. And when they met Jesus, they spoke most highly of the centurion. Jesus agreed to go with them.
He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: "Lord, don't trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and that one, 'Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." – Luke 7:6b-8
What humility! The centurion knew that Jews would not want to enter the house of a Gentile, yet he was not offended by this. This is remarkable humility, coming from a man who leads as many as 100 soldiers, a success by any measure in the Gentile world. Not only was he not offended, but he goes out of his way to ensure that Jesus and His traveling companions will not be put in the awkward situation of going to His house!
What a contrast to the situation in Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth (Luke 4) where the Jews demand a sign! The centurion doesn’t ask for anything at all, and doesn’t even need to see Jesus in person! It is not necessary. He trusts Him. And furthermore, he understands how authority works, and he understands that Jesus has amazing authority.
In fact, the centurion is correct. For as it says in Col. 2:9-10,
For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority. – Col. 2:9-10
Jesus has all authority. He is head over all rule and authority. The centurion somehow understands this, and he gives word through his friends that Jesus doesn’t need to come; he knows it isn’t necessary for Jesus to heal his servant. All Jesus has to do is “say the word.”
When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, "I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel." Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well. – Luke 7:9-10
I believe there is only one other instance in the Bible where it says that Jesus was amazed. Where? It is in Luke 4, where Jesus was amazed by the lack of faith of his fellow Jews in his hometown of Nazareth. Here, Jesus is amazed by the great faith of a Gentile. It’s a fascinating contrast. The great faith is all the more amazing when you remember that this is a lover of God despite being a Gentile immersed in a world of pagan philosophies, and that this is a humble man in an occupation where being tough, bold, and proud is rewarded. And was the servant healed? Of course! It happened even before the men got back to the centurion’s house.
There is a false lesson we can easily grab from this passage if we are not careful. The false message is this: If we have great faith, God will answer our prayers. Is that the message of this passage? Is that the message of the Bible? No! The message of the Bible is almost the opposite. We don’t need great faith; just a little faith.
I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. – Matt. 17:20
How many of you are made uncomfortable by this passage? If you are made uncomfortable by this passage, then you are missing the whole point. The point is not that you don’t have faith even the size of a mustard seed! How many of you think that?
The problem I think is that many of us think of faith, and especially faith in the context of healing, as if it is something we have to “muster up.” Let me rephrase that. We think faith is something we have to “mustard up!” We have to get somehow get our faith up to the size of a mustard seed so we can do something.
It is as if we suddenly forget the rest of the message of the Bible, including what the centurion so clearly understood, and instead think that faith is like when Luke tried to get his X wing out of the Degobah swamp and failed because he wasn’t good enough at using the force! In contrast, Yoda was a Jedi master and therefore was able to do it. We think faith involves grunting and thinking really hard (or praying really hard). This is totally wrong!
Listen again to the centurion. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and that one, 'Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it. Just say the word, Lord, and it will be done.
Do you have enough faith to believe that Jesus has the power to heal people? Do you believe He has the power to even move a mountain into the sea? Do you believe He has the power to save you from your sin? Do you believe He has the power to give you eternal life? As we sang this morning, do you believe He has the power to “be of sin the double cure, to save from wrath and make me pure”? Then I guarantee you have the faith of at least a mustard seed. You don’t need to “mustard up” any more faith!
So why doesn’t He always heal? Why doesn’t He always save? Why is the mountain still there? Because He is not a cosmic vending machine, but our loving Father in Heaven! He gives only good gifts to His children. He knows what is best and we don’t. He has an eternal perspective and we don’t. He is omniscient and we aren’t.
The real danger I see to faith is that when He doesn’t give us what we want, we cease to ask. Or when we ask, we cease to believe that there is any chance He will do it. What do we think?
Perhaps we think that He just doesn’t do that stuff anymore. That is totally false! I can give you plenty of stories to disprove that, and so can many others here. And so can millions of believers across the globe.
Or perhaps we think that He won’t do it because we are sinners. Well, if there is something you need to confess to God, go ahead and do it before you pray for whatever it is you want to pray for, and keep on confessing until you have a clean conscience before God. Understand that God forgives you! If you still “feel” like a sinner, then you are just listening to the enemy. When you have confessed your sin, God removes and even forgets it. You are declared righteous before God, and the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
Those are the big three falsehoods that come to my mind when I think about why we think God won’t answer our prayers: We think we lack faith, we think He doesn’t do it anymore, and we think He won’t because we are sinners.
I encourage you to get over these and ask! Believe He can do it! Believe He still does it! And believe that we are righteous after we have confessed our sin!
And speaking of faith and prayer, I have an opportunity for you. Pray this week about our mission trip to Clemson this coming Saturday, and please come if you can. This coming Sunday is Easter, and we will have a special service that will, God willing, include a drama, a video, some really fun worship songs we seem to only sing once a year, and message that points people to Christ. In addition to giving gifts to those we meet on Saturday, we will also be inviting them to come to church on Sunday.
About a month ago someone left a message on my answering machine at work explaining that he wanted me to do some research for him. So far, it sounded good. Then he went on to explain that it involved the working out of the last details of a perpetual motion machine. “Oh…” The more he talked the more the voice inside my head said “Oh…” until by the end I wondered if I was safe or maybe needed to call the guys in white coats.
To one degree or another, we all have had experiences like this. But what if we are following the advice of someone like this but don’t realize that this is an “Oh…” person? How messed up can we get by allowing ourselves to be informed by those who don’t have a clue? What happens if we listen to such advice for weeks, months, or years? It’s not a comforting thought.
Jesus addressed this question with the beginning of our passage today, from Luke Chapter 6.
He also told them this parable: "Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher. – Luke 6:39-40
1. Choose your “teachers” carefully.
There are portions of the Bible that have made it into our popular culture. Everyone has heard of the phrase “the blind leading the blind.” Jesus uses it again in Matthew 15:14, where He is specifically referring to the Pharisees who become offended by some of His other teachings. With regards to these Pharisees, Jesus says, “Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, they will both fall into a pit.”
Now the context of the statement about students and teachers is that of religious training, not about learning algebra or geometry, although there is even a measure of truth there as well. If you try to learn algebra from a horrible book and an incompetent teacher, you likely won’t get very far. Or even worse, you may come away thinking you have gotten far, that you have become an expert in something that in reality you know nothing about! For America as a whole, we seem to be moving in this direction. International polls rank high school students really low in ability compared to many other countries, but we consistently perform near the top with regards to how well we think we know math!
When it comes to religious training, this is even more powerfully true. What happens when a blind man leads a blind man, spiritually speaking? You obtain people who are confident they know spiritual things when in fact they couldn’t be more in error. Such was the result of the Pharisees of Jesus’ time, and such is the way of things today. There are many people who are confidently “spiritual” and say they believe in the God of the Bible but who know next to nothing about what the Bible actually says.
This is the reason that most people are the religion of their parents. And in Jesus’ day, the point of what Jesus is saying is that if you study for years under a Pharisee, you will end up becoming a Pharisee. How does this apply to us today?
I think it is important to evaluate the question “Who are my teachers?” If you allow yourself to be constantly influenced by the secular media, you will begin to think like the secular media. If you repeatedly surf the web and spend time at atheist web sites, you risk beginning to think like an atheist. If you constantly listen on the radio to that narrow brand of fundamentalist preacher that ignores grace and focuses on legalism, you risk beginning to think like a legalist. If these activities go on for years, there is a good chance your beliefs will fundamentally change to become like your teachers. This is what Jesus is saying.
Fortunately, there is a good side to this message. If your teachers are the Word of God itself and the Holy Spirit, then, if you stay “in training,” putting into practice what you are learning, you will become more and more like Jesus, your teacher. Everyone who becomes fully trained will be like their teacher.
"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. – Luke 6:41-42
2. “Do as I say, not as I do” is not acceptable. Do as you say.
What does it feel like to have something small in your eye? It is horrible! Jesus’ word picture here is actually quite humorous, if you can imagine it. You have this speck in your eye and it is driving you crazy. You can’t get it out, no matter how much you try. So you turn to anyone nearby, anyone, and say “Help me get this out of my eye.” Someone rises to call, with his back turned to you, and says, “Brother, let me do it!” You happily agree, and then he turns around, and you are shocked; he has a two-by-four in his eye! You cannot begin to understand how it stays there, but there it is, 8 feet long, swinging around as he turns. You duck to avoid be smacked in the head with it. How would you feel? I think you, in your head, would say “Oh…”
Jesus’ message now is not to the “student,” but to the “teacher.” Teacher, you are a hypocrite! First get the two-by-four out of your eye! Then you will be able to take out your brother’s speck.
Nobody likes hypocrites. We even have a modern slang term for hypocrites: posers. In fact, one of the most common reasons people say they have tuned out Christianity is because they say Christians are hypocrites. Is it a valid reason to discount Christianity? No, because Jesus Himself would be the first to agree with them that many “religious” people are hypocrites. You cannot discount the teachings of Jesus if He Himself agrees with you! Anybody can claim to follow anything. The fact that there are hypocrites doesn’t mean that the underlying truth claim is true or false – it’s irrelevant. If you are going to evaluate a truth claim based on the testimony of others, the question is whether there is anyone who isn’t a hypocrite. If someone says Jesus delivered him from drugs and alcohol, and in fact he, a former addict, is free from drugs and alcohol, then that is the testimony you have to deal with.
Anyway, some people take this verse in a way that I believe it is not intended. They would say that having any sin makes them a hypocrite. That is not what this passage means. If you are a sinner, that doesn’t make you a hypocrite unless you claim that you are sinless. And there is nothing hypocritical about going to church on Sunday when you’ve had a horrible week when it comes to the sin in your life. Church is the gathering of those who know they need more of Jesus in their lives. If you can agree with that statement, then you’ll fit right in. On the other hand, if you think you have your life pretty well together on your own, then you are the one for whom coming to church may be a hypocritical act. If you don’t need more of Jesus in your life, then you probably don’t fit in here! You see, this works the exact opposite way from what people tend to think!
In this passage, the teacher, the one who offers to remove specks is a hypocrite because he is claiming to be an expert speck remover. How can he be an expert speck remover if he doesn’t even see that he has a giant plank in his eye? Even Fred and I never claimed to be expert speck removers! We only claim that we know the expert speck and plank remover, and His name is Jesus!
If you know you have planks in your eyes, welcome! How do you get those planks out? Not in your own strength, that’s for sure! You do it with the help and strength of God. The first step, and it is a big one, is agreeing with God that you have those planks in your eyes, and you can’t get them out!
"No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks. – Luke 6:43-45
3. Don’t bother trying to mask your heart. Change your heart.
Why does Jesus tell His disciples this during His “Sermon on the Plain”? I think it is to tell everyone to judge the Pharisees by their fruit. Watch for their fruit in the future, and you can judge whether their religion is good or bad. Recall that they have already tried to kill Jesus once, described back in Luke Chapter 4, when they were ready to throw Him down a cliff.
Is Jesus comparing healthy trees that produce luscious delicious fruit versus trees that are sick and produce poor quality fruit? No. He is comparing trees that produce edible fruit to those that produce fruit that one cannot eat at all. You cannot eat thornbush berries or brier berries. These are inedible at best and perhaps poisonous.
Like the verse about hypocrisy, some people misuse this passage to say that if you ever got pushed and let anger rip out of you then you are the evil man described here. I don’t think that is the intention of the passage. Jesus is saying to listen carefully to others, especially those you choose or passively allow to be your “teachers.” Eventually you will hear what is being stored up inside. What happens after the person gives vent to his anger, may reveal what is really in his heart. Does he storm off and later act like nothing has happened? Or does he feel compelled to go back and apologize? Is he heartbroken over his failure? This is a sign of the good, the “Jesus life,” that has been stored up in his heart. A repentant heart is one of the surest signs of a believer that I know.
"Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say? I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete." – Luke 6:46-49
4. Act on what you hear. Apply everything.
Again, Jesus here really destroys the argument that people use to discount Christianity because there are hypocrites. Nobody is saying that there aren’t hypocrites! Jesus agrees with you!
At the same time, Jesus here is giving a very sobering message to all of us. One day, we will all stand before Jesus. We should desire that He will say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” We don’t want Him to say, “Why did you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I said?” How awful to even contemplate this!
Note the similarities in the parable between the two men, the one who put His words into practice and the one who didn’t. Both of them built their own houses, a big job! And both of them later experienced major storms.
But what is the difference? The man who puts Jesus’ words into practice is like the one who digs down deep and lays his foundation on rock. The man who doesn’t is the one who just plops the boards down on the sandy dirt without doing any digging. The second man’s method takes a lot less work, but it won’t survive the storm.
Our lives in Christ are the same way. We need to dig down deep to the Rock, which is Christ. As Paul says in I Cor. 3:11: “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” Believers should constantly evaluate their lives against the teachings of the Bible. Are we doing what it says? Are we trying? Digging down deep is not fun. Are we serious about wanting to become more like Christ? Are we serious about wanting to change? Then we need to be serious. Anything we try to build in ourselves the shallow way, with platitudes and secular self-help philosophies, will not withstand the storm. It will collapse and its destruction will be complete.
And make no mistake – storms are a part of life. Are you digging down to the Rock? If not, how will you handle the storm of temptation, or the storm of sorrow and grief, or the storm of failure, or even the storm of success?
When Jesus had finished saying all this in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. There a centurion's servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, "This man deserves to have you do this, because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue." So Jesus went with them. – Luke 7:1-6a
We now move into this fascinating story of the centurion. This centurion was not at all like a typical Roman military man. Note that “servant” is a euphemism for slave, and the normal attitude toward slaves was that they were simply property. When a slave became sick, he ceased to have value, and it was perfectly acceptable to desert him or have him killed. Yet this centurion obviously cares for his slave. He has personal affection for him, so much so that he was willing to make exceptional efforts to see him healed.
This centurion, although Gentile, had made real friendships with the Jewish people. This was not normal or easy to do! The Jews had little love for the Romans in general and for Roman soldiers even more. Many Jews wouldn’t even let Gentiles enter their houses! With this understanding, the obvious two-way friendship between the Jews and this man was even more remarkable. They knew he loved their nation, and he had even gone so far as to pay for the building of their synagogue. He was so well respected by the Jews that they willingly went out of their way to seek out Jesus on his behalf. And when they met Jesus, they spoke most highly of the centurion. Jesus agreed to go with them.
He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: "Lord, don't trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and that one, 'Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." – Luke 7:6b-8
What humility! The centurion knew that Jews would not want to enter the house of a Gentile, yet he was not offended by this. This is remarkable humility, coming from a man who leads as many as 100 soldiers, a success by any measure in the Gentile world. Not only was he not offended, but he goes out of his way to ensure that Jesus and His traveling companions will not be put in the awkward situation of going to His house!
What a contrast to the situation in Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth (Luke 4) where the Jews demand a sign! The centurion doesn’t ask for anything at all, and doesn’t even need to see Jesus in person! It is not necessary. He trusts Him. And furthermore, he understands how authority works, and he understands that Jesus has amazing authority.
In fact, the centurion is correct. For as it says in Col. 2:9-10,
For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority. – Col. 2:9-10
Jesus has all authority. He is head over all rule and authority. The centurion somehow understands this, and he gives word through his friends that Jesus doesn’t need to come; he knows it isn’t necessary for Jesus to heal his servant. All Jesus has to do is “say the word.”
When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, "I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel." Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well. – Luke 7:9-10
I believe there is only one other instance in the Bible where it says that Jesus was amazed. Where? It is in Luke 4, where Jesus was amazed by the lack of faith of his fellow Jews in his hometown of Nazareth. Here, Jesus is amazed by the great faith of a Gentile. It’s a fascinating contrast. The great faith is all the more amazing when you remember that this is a lover of God despite being a Gentile immersed in a world of pagan philosophies, and that this is a humble man in an occupation where being tough, bold, and proud is rewarded. And was the servant healed? Of course! It happened even before the men got back to the centurion’s house.
There is a false lesson we can easily grab from this passage if we are not careful. The false message is this: If we have great faith, God will answer our prayers. Is that the message of this passage? Is that the message of the Bible? No! The message of the Bible is almost the opposite. We don’t need great faith; just a little faith.
I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. – Matt. 17:20
How many of you are made uncomfortable by this passage? If you are made uncomfortable by this passage, then you are missing the whole point. The point is not that you don’t have faith even the size of a mustard seed! How many of you think that?
The problem I think is that many of us think of faith, and especially faith in the context of healing, as if it is something we have to “muster up.” Let me rephrase that. We think faith is something we have to “mustard up!” We have to get somehow get our faith up to the size of a mustard seed so we can do something.
It is as if we suddenly forget the rest of the message of the Bible, including what the centurion so clearly understood, and instead think that faith is like when Luke tried to get his X wing out of the Degobah swamp and failed because he wasn’t good enough at using the force! In contrast, Yoda was a Jedi master and therefore was able to do it. We think faith involves grunting and thinking really hard (or praying really hard). This is totally wrong!
Listen again to the centurion. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and that one, 'Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it. Just say the word, Lord, and it will be done.
Do you have enough faith to believe that Jesus has the power to heal people? Do you believe He has the power to even move a mountain into the sea? Do you believe He has the power to save you from your sin? Do you believe He has the power to give you eternal life? As we sang this morning, do you believe He has the power to “be of sin the double cure, to save from wrath and make me pure”? Then I guarantee you have the faith of at least a mustard seed. You don’t need to “mustard up” any more faith!
So why doesn’t He always heal? Why doesn’t He always save? Why is the mountain still there? Because He is not a cosmic vending machine, but our loving Father in Heaven! He gives only good gifts to His children. He knows what is best and we don’t. He has an eternal perspective and we don’t. He is omniscient and we aren’t.
The real danger I see to faith is that when He doesn’t give us what we want, we cease to ask. Or when we ask, we cease to believe that there is any chance He will do it. What do we think?
Perhaps we think that He just doesn’t do that stuff anymore. That is totally false! I can give you plenty of stories to disprove that, and so can many others here. And so can millions of believers across the globe.
Or perhaps we think that He won’t do it because we are sinners. Well, if there is something you need to confess to God, go ahead and do it before you pray for whatever it is you want to pray for, and keep on confessing until you have a clean conscience before God. Understand that God forgives you! If you still “feel” like a sinner, then you are just listening to the enemy. When you have confessed your sin, God removes and even forgets it. You are declared righteous before God, and the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
Those are the big three falsehoods that come to my mind when I think about why we think God won’t answer our prayers: We think we lack faith, we think He doesn’t do it anymore, and we think He won’t because we are sinners.
I encourage you to get over these and ask! Believe He can do it! Believe He still does it! And believe that we are righteous after we have confessed our sin!
And speaking of faith and prayer, I have an opportunity for you. Pray this week about our mission trip to Clemson this coming Saturday, and please come if you can. This coming Sunday is Easter, and we will have a special service that will, God willing, include a drama, a video, some really fun worship songs we seem to only sing once a year, and message that points people to Christ. In addition to giving gifts to those we meet on Saturday, we will also be inviting them to come to church on Sunday.
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