Luke 7:1-10 meaning

The parallel Gospel account for Luke 7:1-10 is found in Matthew 8:5-13.

When He had completed all His discourse in the hearing of the people, He went to Capernaum (v 1).

Jesus had just completed all His discourse in the hearing of the people. This discourse refers to the previous chapter, Luke 6, where Jesus spoke to a crowd of His disciples reiterating many of the same ideas taught during the Sermon on the Mount (Luke 6:20-49). 

After this sermon, Jesus traveled to the city of Capernaum. Capernaum is situated on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee and holds significant importance in Jesus’s ministry. It serves as the location from which He began His ministry following His relocation from Nazareth (Matthew 4:13). Moreover, it was in Capernaum where Jesus called His first disciples—John, James, Peter, and Andrew—marking the beginning of their journey alongside Him (Matthew 4:18-22).

Having told his readers that Jesus returned to Capernaum, Luke then introduces the unusual circumstances that will lead Jesus to an unlikely encounter. 

And a centurion’s slave, who was highly regarded by him, was sick and about to die (v 2).

A centurion was a high-ranking Roman military officer. In the first century A.D., a Roman centurion usually had around 80 soldiers under his charge. Centurions were legionnaires—the troops most loyal to Caesar and Rome. As a Gentile and a representative of Roman oppression in Judea, this centurion would have been viewed by many Jews as an adversary, someone they hoped the Messiah would overthrow. 

This centurion had a slave—a servant—who was highly regarded by him. This expression likely means that there was a considerable measure of respect, possibly even friendship, between the centurion and his slave. But the servant was sick and about to die. The centurion deeply cared about his deathly sick slave. 

While Luke describes the gravity of the slave’s condition as sick and about to die (v 2), his illness is further detailed in the Gospel of Matthew where it specifies that the servant is “lying paralyzed at home” and “fearfully tormented” (Matthew 8:6). This could indicate a debilitating neurological disorder that induced spasms and caused intense suffering. Whatever the diagnosis, the slave is unable to approach Jesus himself or be brought before Him.

When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders asking Him to come and save the life of his slave (v 3).

When this centurion heard about Jesus and His powers to miraculously heal people, and that He had come to Capernaum, he sent an embassy of some Jewish elders to go and ask Jesus to come and save the life of his slave.

The term, Jewish elders, usually means high-ranking Pharisees, who are members of the Sanhedrin. 

The Sanhedrin was the highest Jewish court in Israel. It was the supreme tribunal for Jewish customs and law. The Sanhedrin had 71 members on its council, which met in the city of Jerusalem. Its members were drawn from all over Israel. The full assembly did not meet regularly, which may explain why some elders were in Capernaum. 

While the term elders could mean high-ranking Pharisees in this context, Jewish elders could also be Luke’s way of describing respected leaders within the Jewish community of Capernaum. 

In either case, Jewish elders appears to be Luke’s way to underscore the common political and/or racial tensions between the Jews and Romans that existed throughout Israel at this time. 

But this was an uncommon centurion. 

Moreover, there seem to be several dynamics that run counter to political, racial, and religious expectations between the Roman centurion, Jewish elders, and Jesus, the Messiah. 

The first unusual dynamic is that instead of the expected hostility or tension, this Roman centurion is honored and well-liked by some of the Jewish elders in Capernaum. The Jewish elders appear to love this Roman. This centurion is credited as building the synagogue of Capernaum for the benefit of the Jewish people (v 5b). They considered him to be a worthy man (v 4b) and they see how he loves Israel (v 5a). 

The Jewish elders’ respect for the centurion was mutual. Their admiration highlights the centurion’s unique character and the impact he had on their community.

And now, in a state of vulnerability, the centurion was humbly asking his Jewish friends for help. 

But not only was the mutual respect and admiration between the Roman centurion and the Jewish elders unusual, it also appears that they each had an openness and considerable measure of respect and/or faith in Jesus as the Messiah. 

The Jewish elders’ posture toward Jesus was atypical for Pharisees. Most Pharisees opposed Jesus. Most Pharisees felt insecure by His popularity and influence among the people. Most Pharisees hated His moral teachings which addressed the heart and challenged their legalistic traditions. Most Pharisees sensed the threat Jesus was to their religious malpractice and exploitation of the people. 

Luke has already mentioned several unpleasant encounters between Jesus and the Pharisees (Luke 5:30-39, 6:1-5, 6:6-11). And as mentioned above, if these Jewish elders were Pharisees, then they would have been members (elders) of the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin was the council that would eventually illegally condemn Jesus to death (Luke 22:66-71).

But while most Pharisees passionately opposed Jesus, some (like Joseph of Arimathea—Luke 22:50-51) and Nicodemus (John 3:1, 7:47-50) respected and secretly followed Jesus. The account of Luke 7:1-10 suggests that there were some other elders who also supported Jesus. 

While it is noteworthy that some elders were on friendly terms with Jesus, it was extraordinary that this Roman centurion had such faith in Jesus. 

The Jewish elders not only obeyed the Roman centurion’s request to ask Jesus to come and save the life of his slave, but they also strongly advocated for the centurion and pleaded for Jesus to help him and his servant. 

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” (v 5). 

Jesus was willing to grant this noble centurion’s request. 

Now Jesus started on His way with them (v 6a). 

Christ's immediate willingness to abandon His current activities in Capernaum and attend to the healing of a slave belonging to an enemy Pagan outwardly models the teachings He recently delivered to His disciples in Luke 6:20-49. Jesus embodies the principles He preaches. He demonstrates love for enemies (Luke 6:27) and extends kindness to those in need (Luke 6:30-31). Jesus’s readiness to enter the home of a Gentile further illustrates His inclusive and compassionate nature.

But Jesus did not get very far until He encountered another embassy sent to Jesus from the centurion. 

and when He was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends (v 6b).

The centurion’s friends delivered his message to Jesus, saying: “Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not worthy for You to come under my roof; 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.” (vv 6c-8).

The centurion's request is truly remarkable. He acknowledges that he is not worthy for Jesus, a Jewish Rabbi, to enter his house, demonstrating profound humility and respect for Jewish customs (v 6c-7a). At the same time, the centurion expresses unwavering faith in Jesus's authority, declaring that merely a word from Him would suffice to heal his servant (v 7b). 

The centurion is convinced of Jesus’s power, acknowledging that Jesus does not even need to be present to perform a miracle. This profound faith stems from the centurion's understanding of authority, as he compares Jesus's ability to command a healing to his own ability to issue orders to soldiers under him, “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” (v 8).

Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled at him (v 9a)

Jesus was astonished by the magnitude of the centurion's faith. Then Jesus made an example of the centurion’s amazing faith. 

and (Jesus) turned and said to the crowd that was following Him, “I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith” (v 9b).

Jesus’s phrase, “I say to you,” was a rabbinical teaching device that indicated that what a rabbi said next was an instruction or the truth. Rabbis would use this to cite their sources and ground their teaching in a more established authority. But Jesus did not rely on other human authorities. As God, Jesus was His own authority. This was one of the ways that Jesus’s bold manner of teaching astonished the people (Matthew 7:28-29, Mark 1:22, Luke 4:32). 

The instruction Jesus wanted to point out to the crowd that was following Him was the remarkable faith of the centurion. The crowd was likely following Him to witness a miracle. But in the opinion of Jesus what they were witnessing was something perhaps even more incredible—the centurion’s faith. 

Jesus contrasted the centurion's faith with the lack of faith He has witnessed among His own Jewish countrymen, stating: “I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith.” Jesus was making a point in His praise of the centurion, a pagan Gentile typically regarded as an enemy of the Jewish community, for this demonstration of remarkable faith.

Jesus performed many miracles, but the Gospel writers choose to include some and not others for particular reasons. What made this miracle unusual was likely two things.

1. Jesus was healing a Gentile for a Roman centurion. (Jesus usually healed Jews). 
2. This centurion had faith that surpassed any son of Israel whom Jesus had encountered. 

Matthew’s Gospel emphasizes this second point even further as he records Jesus go on to explain how the centurion’s faith qualifies him to participate in the Messianic kingdom:

“I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
(Matthew 8:11-12)

In this explanation, Jesus was describing a banquet within the Messianic kingdom. The “many [who] will come from east and west” (Matthew 8:11a) is a Jewish description of the Gentiles. Jesus says many Gentiles will sit at the same table (i.e. participate in the Messianic Banquet) alongside the patriarchs of Israel—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Matthew 8:11b), while at the same time the sons of the kingdom—i.e. some of the descendants of Israel, the Jews—will be disqualified from taking their seats and cast into the darkness outside of the banquet (Matthew 8:12). 

Ancient banquets in the Middle East were held outside at night, and were brightly lit by fires. “The outer darkness” (Matthew 8:12b) is a term that refers to being outside the light of the banquet. Jesus says “in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 8:12b) because some people who are “sons of the kingdom” who belonged at the Messianic banquet will be devastated because their lack of faith in the Messiah while they lived on earth has disqualified and barred them from taking their assigned seat. Instead of being seated at the banquet table they are in the darkness outside, “weeping” (sobbing over their loss) and “gnashing [their] “teeth” (feeling bitter regret over their past choices) (Matthew 8:12b).

By commending the centurion's faith and highlighting its superiority over that of those in Israel, Jesus effectively challenges His disciples to emulate this extraordinary example of trust in His authority. In doing so, Jesus not only honored the centurion but also elevated him as a model of faith for His followers to emulate.

In both Matthew and Luke’s account, the miraculous healing is almost an afterthought when compared to the centurion’s faith. 

When the friends of the centurion returned to the house, they found the slave in good health (v 10). 

Matthew reports: “And the servant was healed that very moment” (Matthew 8:13). 

This miracle shows, as the centurion believed, that Jesus did not have to be physically present to heal someone. His power and authority transcended His physical presence. 

Jesus demonstrates the power of faithfulness by granting the centurion's request exactly as he had expressed it. Through this act, Jesus affirms the centurion's faith and reinforces the principle that faith in His authority yields great rewards. The centurion's unwavering belief in Jesus's ability to heal, expressed with humility and trust, is met with immediate and complete fulfillment.