Lord, do not trouble Yourself, for I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof

 

 Now when He concluded all His sayings in the hearing of the people, He entered Capernaum.  And a certain centurion's servant, who was dear to him, was sick and ready to die.  So when he heard about Jesus, he sent elders of the Jews to Him, pleading with Him to come and heal his servant.  And when they came to Jesus, they begged Him earnestly, saying that the one for whom He should do this was deserving, "for he loves our nation, and has built us a synagogue."  Then Jesus went with them.  And when He was already not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to Him, saying to Him, "Lord, do not trouble Yourself, for I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof.  Therefore I did not even think myself worthy to come to You.  But say the word, and my servant will be healed.  For I am also a man placed under authority, having soldiers under me.  And I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."  When Jesus heard these things, He marveled at him, and turned around and said to the crowd that followed Him, "I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!"  And those who were sent, returning to the house, found the servant well who had been sick.

Now it happened, the day after, that He went into a city called Nain; and many of His disciples went with Him, and a large crowd.  And when He came near the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow.  And a large crowd from the city was with her.  When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, "Do not weep."  Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still.  And He said, "Young man, I say to you, arise."  So he who was dead sat up and began to speak.  And He presented him to his mother.  Then fear came upon all, and they glorified God, saying, "A great prophet has risen up among us"; and, "God has visited His people."  And this report about Him went throughout all Judea and all the surrounding region.

 

- Luke 7:1–17 

 

In our recent readings, Jesus has been giving what is known as the Sermon on the Plain.  Its topics are similar to the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew's Gospel (Matthew 5 - 7).   No doubt Jesus preached His gospel in many places.  Nonetheless Luke includes teachings not found in Matthew.  We began reading this Sermon in Friday's reading last week.  Yesterday, we read the conclusion:  He spoke a parable to them:  "Can the blind lead the blind?  Will they not both fall into the ditch?  A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher.  And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the plank in your own eye?  Or how can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye?  Hypocrite!  First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother's eye.  For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.  For every tree is known by its own fruit.  For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush.  A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil.  For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.  But why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do the things which I say?  Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like:  He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock.  And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock.  But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell.  And the ruin of that house was great." 

Now when He concluded all His sayings in the hearing of the people, He entered Capernaum.  And a certain centurion's servant, who was dear to him, was sick and ready to die.  So when he heard about Jesus, he sent elders of the Jews to Him, pleading with Him to come and heal his servant.  And when they came to Jesus, they begged Him earnestly, saying that the one for whom He should do this was deserving, "for he loves our nation, and has built us a synagogue."  Then Jesus went with them.  And when He was already not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to Him, saying to Him, "Lord, do not trouble Yourself, for I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof.  Therefore I did not even think myself worthy to come to You.  But say the word, and my servant will be healed.  For I am also a man placed under authority, having soldiers under me.  And I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."  When Jesus heard these things, He marveled at him, and turned around and said to the crowd that followed Him, "I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!"  And those who were sent, returning to the house, found the servant well who had been sick.  My study Bible comments that this centurion, a Roman Gentile, is unusual in his devotion to the Jews, and this is quite remarkable about him.  My study Bible describes his notable characteristics as follows:  he has a love for God and God's people ("he loves our nation, and has built us a synagogue"); he is humble ("I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof"); and, in the words of Jesus, he has great faith.

 

 Now it happened, the day after, that He went into a city called Nain; and many of His disciples went with Him, and a large crowd.  And when He came near the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow.  And a large crowd from the city was with her.  When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, "Do not weep."  Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still.  And He said, "Young man, I say to you, arise."  So he who was dead sat up and began to speak.  And He presented him to his mother.  Then fear came upon all, and they glorified God, saying, "A great prophet has risen up among us"; and, "God has visited His people."  And this report about Him went throughout all Judea and all the surrounding region.  My study Bible tells us that this is one of three resurrections which were performed by our Lord as recorded in the Gospels (see also Luke 8:41-56; John 11:1-44).  It notes that they confirm the promise given to the prophet Ezekiel that God will one day open the graves and raise all the dead (Ezekiel 37:1-14).  It says that many people have exercised authority over the living, but only the Son of God "has power over both the living and the dead" (quoting from the Orthodox funeral service).  As Christ has power through His word alone (John 11:43), in today's instance He also touched the coffin to show that His very body is life-giving.  This event prefigures Christ's own Resurrection.  Echoing the commentary of St. Ambrose of Milan, my study Bible notes that as Mary would weep for Jesus at the Cross, yet her tears would be turned to joy by the Resurrection, here a widow's only son is raised from the dead, putting an end to her weeping.

What is truly remarkable in both episodes of Christ's healing ministry in today's reading is the level of compassion that is at work here, highlighted in these stories.  There is first of all the centurion, who is notable for his own compassionate qualities.  As noted above, although he is nominally an occupying Roman commander of soldiers in this place, the locals praise him as one who "loves our nation, and has built us a synagogue."  This man has used the imperial power available to him in his position to shore up the faith of the local people and has learned to love the God of Israel.  We can see his tremendous humility, despite his worldly authority, before Christ.  He calls Jesus "Lord," and says that he is not worthy for Christ to come under his roof.  And finally, there is the display of his great faith; he understands that Jesus has power to command beyond his own, and that there are no worldly barriers to that power.  This insight arising from his faith, given all the rest that we know about him, is also deeply connected to his capacity for compassion.  And then there is the unusual story of the widow of Nain, found only here in Luke's Gospel.  Again, the emphasis here is on compassion.  It's notable that St. Ambrose of Milan would see an image of Mary, the mother of Jesus, in this story.  She is a widow who has lost her only son, her only protection and care in a difficult world.  We can't imagine her grief, I think, unless we have experienced something like it.  But the story is an illustration of the compassion of Christ in a world where sadness and loss may afflict us all; here it is the cruelty of death taking away her only son and support in the world.  The text literally tells us that Christ had compassion on her, telling her, "Do not weep."  Christ's compassion, we should note, is born of empathy, not sentimentality.  This is God emptying Himself for us, reaching out, and bringing us the gospel of the Kingdom.  Empathy reaches to solve problems, even those with difficult solutions, and is willing even to seem harsh in order to alleviate misery.  Sentimentality is a confusion of such, often simply comforting oneself.  Christ's compassion makes evident His capacity for understanding pain and suffering; it makes clear that His mission in this world against the "evil one" is all about alleviating that pain and correcting what ails us.  Just as the centurion's gracious rule is connected to his capacity for both faith and compassion, Christ's healing ministry is connected to all levels of what ails us:  body, soul, and spirit.  In the Sermon on the Plain, which we've just finished reading, the great emphasis underlying Christ's teachings was compassion.  In today's reading, we're shown what it is to live it, what it is all about.