Our Compassionate Savior

Well, I thought it was a great beginning, wonderful opening prayer, great song leading, wonderful sermonette. So let's just continue with our praise to God, and I invite you to open your Bibles, or you can listen along. We're going to turn our focus on to Luke chapter 7. Luke chapter 7. And we're going to begin reading verses 1 through 17. Luke 7, verse 1 through 17. In my Bible, at the top of the heading, it says, Jesus heals the centurion-servant. And then a little bit later down the verses here, just above verse 11, it says, Jesus raises the son of the widow of Nain.

So these are going to be two powerful aspects of Jesus's character that are going to be displayed in these two stories. And one of the most striking qualities of God and of Jesus Christ that we're going to notice and is going to come full force today is the compassion of Jesus Christ. So our title of today's study is our compassionate Savior. And we're going to focus just on that, Jesus Christ's compassion here. And beginning in verse 1, we have this wonderfully powerful story. Let's read this together. Luke 7, beginning in verse 1. Luke records, Now when he concluded all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum, and a certain centurion-servant who was dear to him, so this is a servant of the centurion, he was sick and was ready to die. So when he, the centurion, 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. Speaking of the centurion, 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, so this is a second dispatch of people, saying to Jesus, 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, and he goes, and I say to another, come, and he comes, and to my servant, do this, and he does it.

So 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. That's the first story. The second story begins here in verse 11. Here's the second encounter as Jesus Christ encounters a widow. Verse 11. Now it happened the day after that he went into the city called Nahun, and many of his disciples went with him in 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 set up and began to speak. And he, Jesus, 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 went out about him, went all throughout Judea, in all the surrounding regions. So let's stop there.

So those are the two incidences, the two wonderful encounters here. And again, we're going to see, just on full display, Jesus Christ's compassion here. But before we get to these encounters, I just want us to notice briefly a little section that follows these stories here.

Because in the little section that follows, we discover that these healing encounters are reported back to John the Baptist. John the Baptist who is in jail. John the Baptist, who we know from our previous studies, is the one who so clearly prepared the way, pointed the way for the Lamb of God to come. And we find, interestingly enough, that John the Baptist is having doubts at this moment. As these healing encounters are reported back to him, as he's in jail, I want you to notice something surprising here about John the Baptist. And the doubts that have arisen in his heart. Look at this. Verses 18 and 19.

Verses 18 and 19. Then the disciples, so after these encounters, the disciples of John reported back to him there in the jail and concerning all these things. In his response, verse 19, and John calling his disciples to him, sent them to Jesus, saying, Are you the coming one, or do we look for another?

Isn't that interesting? So John the Baptist dispatches two of his servants to Jesus, just to check. How did that request go? Could you just go? You don't have to make a big deal out of it. Just find out. Can you ask him, is he the one, or should we be looking for someone else, he says? So interesting. Because if you think about it, at this point, this is the one, John the Baptist, who absolutely knew his position in history. He absolutely knew what he was there to do to prepare the way for Jesus Christ. He knew his purpose in redemptive history, very clearly.

John's the one who previously said, Look over there. There is the one, the Lamb of God, who comes to take the sin from the world. I'm not worthy to untie his sandals, he had said just previously. Now he finds himself in jail, in prison, hearing of these healing encounters.

Calls his two friends, could you just check for me? Are you the one? Are you the one, Jesus? Where does this come from? I wonder. Where does this doubt, he had been so resolute earlier, and now in jail, feeling perhaps, it's an indication of vulnerability, where he was so strong. Now he's in a moment of feeling vulnerable, weak. Perhaps that is it. It's just his humanity. Was he there just so weakened in jail at that time, and just allowing the circumstances to really take the wind out of his sails, so to speak. Feeling empty, vulnerable, emotional, fearful, all these things. Perhaps all of that, and you may you might even add to what you might speculate.

I was thinking about this, and I can tell you perhaps one of the main issues that would contribute to this specifically relates to the compassion of Jesus Christ. I wonder if he thought about that. We're not going to belabor this too long, but it is relevant to our topic today. Because if you recall from the earlier preaching of John the Baptist, while he was a humble man, John the Baptist ministry was marked by force.

John the Baptist ministry, when he came down into that Judean valley, opening phrase, what was it? You brood of vipers, you know, who warmed you to flee from the coming wrath. Very straightforward. John the Baptist message was destruction, wrath, fire. It was about judgment. All very profitable, but all very striking and clear.

But now, in observing and hearing the ministry of Jesus Christ, he's finding that the notes that he sounded, they're not being sounded by this lamb who came to take away the sin of the world. And in fact, from these accounts being reported back to him, it's Jesus Christ is on to something entirely different, we could say. And John may have thought there in the prison, where is this, where's the axe that's already at the root?

Where's the fire that has already been kindled and is burning? That's what John the Baptist was on about. Where are the trees? I don't see these trees getting chopped down. I don't see the fire blazing. No. So perhaps what John the Baptist was discovering, and what we might need to discover in more fullness today, is that in Jesus Christ's first coming, it was not in his first coming a coming that was spectacular, perhaps. It wasn't a coming that included dramatic victories over powers or authorities or political forces.

It was not in coming in that fashion, but in fact the ushering in of the kingdom of God in Jesus Christ's first coming was being seen in works of mercy and compassion.

This was the note, this was the manner in which Jesus Christ was coming, and he was coming with full compassion on display. What we find in these gospel accounts, and we've already seen it in going through our Luke series, is that it was going to be his compassion which was going to make the great transforming impact on the world, his compassion. That's why when you read, for example, going back a few chapters to Luke 4, we went through this study, Luke 4, 17 through 20. We see Luke 4 verse 18, for example, the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jesus Christ, anointed him, chapter 4 verse 18, to preach the gospel to the poor, to show compassion upon them.

You know, he sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, liberty to the oppressed. These are all very compassionate acts, compassionate acts of mercy. And this is Jesus Christ standing up. He is quoting here from the prophet Isaiah. He's hand to the book, and he says, this is being fulfilled in your ears today. This is why I came. And I am coming and get ready for compassion. Get ready for love. That's how I'm going to transform the world. And maybe to further punctuate that fact is to look back just for a second to Isaiah 61 and verse 1. This is where this is being quoted from. I can read it to you if you're nimble enough. You can turn back to keep your marker here. We'll come back to Luke in a moment. Isaiah 61.1. This is where Jesus Christ is reaching back to this prophecy, pulling it forward at that point. This is, you know, he stood up in the temple to begin his ministry. He begins quoting. He opens up at Isaiah 61 verse 1. And you'll notice there Isaiah 61 beginning in verse 1, the spirit is upon me. So he's quoting from Isaiah. Because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor.

He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, the opening of the prisons to those who are bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. And then he stops, closes the book very intentionally. Luke tells us that, hands it back to the attendant there. But you'll notice if you're here in Isaiah 61, where Jesus Christ intentionally stopped. Isaiah 61 verse 2, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God. So you see, we know that, you know, Luke doesn't record everything that Jesus Christ said there in the temple. But Luke's very intentional to say he closed it up, you know, he stopped right there to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and handed it back to the attendant. And he stopped. Now why does Jesus stop before these words and the day of the vengeance of our God? Why doesn't he quote, continue on and quote that from Isaiah? Well, again, you're thinking people. We can think about this together. He doesn't stop because there isn't a day of vengeance. There absolutely is a day of vengeance, and it's coming. We know that at his coming. We're going to rehearse those every year. Rehearse the day of vengeance. The day of the Lord is coming, and it's not going to be a good time. Vengeance. The vengeance of God. He's going to set things straight. So he doesn't stop because there isn't a day of vengeance. There is. But perhaps I put it to you that he stops, presumably, because at this time in his ministry, when he comes and comes to the earth in his first coming, the day of vengeance wasn't at this time. So it's not how the kingdom of God was going to be ushered in at that time. At this coming, it is not God putting the vengeance on humanity for sin. In fact, this first coming, God's putting vengeance on who? On Jesus Christ.

You see? So Jesus Christ is taking that penalty of sin and that death of all that that brings. He's bringing it upon himself. And in it all, he's expressing this incredible compassion and love to the people. He would bear the wrath of God upon himself at their crucifixion.

At this time, at this first coming, he's fulfilling the ministry. And it is a ministry supremely that's driven by compassion and mercy. Not exclusively. He turns over some tables and he...

But supremely, supremely, his ministry is one here of compassion and love in his first coming. He's showing the the Father's kindness. And it is the Father's kindness which will lead you and I to repentance. If someone says, why are you doing what you're doing? Why are you sacrificing? Why are you obeying the law? Why are you here on a Sabbath, the Saturday instead of a Sunday? I've been given so much compassion and love. That's what drives me. We won't turn there, but it's Titus 2. It's Titus 2. It is his grace and his kindness which teaches us to deny ungodliness and to live righteously. So it's God's Titus 2. It's God's grace and kindness which then teaches us to deny unrighteousness, ungodliness, and to live righteously. That's what motivates us.

At his first coming, it's his compassion which is on full display.

Let's bring this to today then. So we want to display this characteristic of compassion to one another. So in making this personally applicable to today, we need to make sure we don't have I could probably put this a different way, but I'll put it this way. We got to make sure we don't have too much of the spirit of John the Baptist in us, you know, where we are too quick to condemn. Ah, they deserved it. Let them get what they deserve. No, that's we need balance. We need to come to the world and come to each other as Jesus Christ did with compassion.

Sometimes we can call down fire and destruction on people too quickly. So we're typing on our keyboards or whatever it may be, you know.

And what that is, is if you have a healthy understanding of the compassion and love and grace that you've received and none of us deserve to be here, then if you receive that and acknowledge that, you can extend that easier to others because you know, err by the grace of God, there go I, you know.

So we want to pursue and put on this compassion of Jesus Christ. And again, these two little incidences in Luke 7, they really are, it's the overarching impact of them. So if you'll turn back to Luke 7 verse 1, we're just going to spend the rest of the message just coming in and taking a look at these two encounters, not extensively, but we'll look to do it fully so we can really grasp it here. So turning back to Luke 7 beginning in verse 1, we have the first sad household, we could say. It's the household of the centurion. Let me give you a little context here. Have you heard of a centurion and who they were? This would be an officer, a high-level officer, prominence, command would have defined him, command in the community. Some of the early historians, one of the early historians, Polybius, I know you know him, but he writes of the centurion, I'll give you this quote from this historian. Speaking of a centurion, quote, these men must not be so much seekers after danger as men who can command, steady in action, reliable. They ought not be over anxious to rush into fight, but when hard pressed, they must be ready to hold their ground and die at their posts, unquote. So that's a description of a centurion. This is the kind of man we're dealing with. And so we're introduced to this centurion. They would have had servants, under the servants, underneath them.

Servants at that time who would have not had much, much, many rights or many rules protecting them. So you would have had certain men in authority, centurions, which would have treated their servants poorly. God never ordained that. If it's servants, if it's slaves, God's word never ordains treating them poorly. But you would have had that happening. I'll share one other ancient Roman writer, speaking of what servants. So this is the servant that the centurion had a heart for and wanted Jesus Christ to heal. So we're identifying what kind of centurion this was. Speaking of other rulers who had servants or slaves, one ancient writer spoke of this time. He was speaking of farming principles in the first century. And he wrote, a farmer ought to examine his implements every year and throw out those which are old and broken. And then he adds, and I suggest that you do the same with your slaves. So while the Bible never condoned it, there were absolutely those who treated their servants very poorly. So this could have been a very harsh and horrible environment if you were in the position of serving someone or a slave to someone. And a centurion, no nonsense, strong, in control, running his household, ready for every challenge. This centurion was certainly that. But he was different. Wonderfully different. Look at this. He had the concern and love of one of his servants here in verse two. So Luke seven verse two, his servant was dear to him and was sick and ready to die. And so the centurion came down and checked on him, no doubt. We don't know this servant's name. A popular name then was Gaius. So we'll call him Gaius. How's my servant Gaius? How's he doing? Well, boss, he's not doing too well. In fact, he's about to die. Oh, you know, what can we do? I'm so afraid to lose him.

And so when the centurion, verse three, out of his heart, out of his compassion, heard about Jesus there in verse three, he sent elders of the Jews to him, to Jesus Christ, pleading with him to come and heal his dear servant. So the centurion heard of Jesus Christ. How do you think he heard of Jesus Christ? Perhaps he heard the stories. If it's like other stories that we read in the Bible, we know that the prominent leader Naaman, he heard of Elisha through one of his servants.

And so perhaps this centurion heard about Jesus through one of his servants. God often uses those most unlikely to further his purposes here. So he heard of Jesus Christ.

He's someone that can help and heal this servant. So verse three, he says, it says, he sent some of the elders of the Jews to him, to Jesus Christ. Wise man, clever man. The centurion would not have been a Jew. So he sends, he sends then the elders of the Jews to Jesus Christ. Could you go and represent me to Jesus Christ here? And notice how the elders plead.

Verse four, they plead on the basis of the centurion's worth. Verse four, and when they came to Jesus, these are the elders of the Jews, they begged him earnestly, saying that the one for whom he Jesus should do this was deserving. So speaking of the centurion, for he loves our nation and has built us a synagogue. So this is a very prominent centurion. So they earnestly plead with him.

Is it the right kind of plea? No. This is a completely wrong approach, and I think we'll see this. Why? They're approaching Jesus Christ on the strength of the centurion's worth in what he has done. You know, Jesus, I think you should do this because after all, this centurion has sent us and he's asking us and he's a great centurion. You know, he built us a synagogue, loves his nation. You know, on the strength of that, you should do this.

Wrong approach. Wrong approach. And I don't think it's the approach that the centurion wanted because when word came back to him, that perhaps, I just think it's no doubt that someone came back to the centurion and let him know that these religious leaders were approaching Jesus on this behalf, on behalf of the centurion's strength. They're boasting about you, boss. You know, I think this was not as the centurion would have wanted. I think that comes clear in the next verses. The elders of the Jews, they fell into that trap very often where they they put value in and of themselves, what they have done, and these elders were doing the same.

But look at verses 6 through 8. As Jesus approaches the centurion's house, look at these words, he now sends a second dispatch, verse 6, and Jesus went with them, so he's returning with the elders, and when he was already not far from the house, the centurion sent friends a second dispatch to him saying, Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof.

Therefore, I didn't even think myself worthy to come to you, but say the word and my servant will be healed. For I, this is the centurion talking, for I also am a man placed under authority, having soldiers under me. I say to one, Go, he goes, I say to another, Come, he comes, I say to my servant, Do this, and he does it.

Let's stop there for a second. So he comes, verse 6, he starts off really well. Lord, that's a very respectful way to approach Jesus Christ. Lord, do not trouble yourself. I don't deserve you to come. I don't deserve you to be under my roof. I don't just consider myself worthy. I wouldn't even come and meet you, he says. I'm not worthy of your attention. And that I could, on the basis of who I am or what I've done, make an appeal to you that would be significant enough for you to do what I ask.

This is remarkable. This is a centurion, I'll remind you, saying these words. This is the faith, the level of faith that Jesus Christ Himself marvels at, it says. He marvels at this. And it is just something that has grasped this centurion. And I think it's grace. When grace grabs a man or a woman, they come on bended knee. They don't come elevated.

They don't come elevated. And this is how we come to Jesus Christ. We present ourselves strong in our daily interactions, business and such. But when we come to Jesus Christ, we come like this, face down, humble. And I believe that the centurion understood what the religious Jews could not get. The religious Pharisees, they always come again to Jesus Christ on the strength of how well they've done. And it's not the way to come. It is the story of the other brother to the prodigal son.

The other brother who stayed in the household of his father, the prodigal son goes off, squanders the wealth, comes back, asks for his father's forgiveness. The father comes to him, throws him a party. The other brother, who we don't talk about as much, who stayed in the house, he would have nothing to do with it. Why are you throwing him a party? Why does he get grace and compassion? He couldn't understand such mercy.

But the centurion here, humility in this man. And look at verse 8 again, For I myself am a man placed under authority. Not of authority, under authority here. This is big for this man to say. In other words, he goes on to say, I know I have authority, Jesus Christ, but my sphere is limited. This is what he's saying. I can tell someone to go and come and to go over there and he'll do it. But you, Jesus, verse 7, you say the word and you can tell disease to go and it will go. So the centurion is saying, yeah, I can say this to men and women, but you, Jesus, you can actually tell the disease to go and come and it will obey you.

And this is what Jesus Christ was being amazed with by here. Just absolutely amazed. Marveled at him. Verse 9, turned around, marveled, turned around to the crowd and said, I say to you, I've never found such great faith, not even in Israel. Jesus Christ doesn't display the emotion of being marveled very often. I could find it in two places in the Bible. Here, we won't turn there, but the other place is Mark 6. I believe verse 6, where Jesus marvels. In that instance, he's healing people. He's healing sick people and he marveled because of their unbelief. That was the second place I could find that he marveled. So here in Luke 7, he's amazed. Here in verse 10, those who were sent returned to the house. Luke 7 verse 10, and they found the servant already well by the time they got back. I would have loved to have been there and see that. This is the compassion of Jesus Christ here. I think this first incident really we noticed two things which are quite striking. There are two things which lead to the outpouring of healing, outpouring of compassion. Two things. Humility. Number one is humility, not the promotion of self. That will lead to the outpouring of compassion.

Second thing I believe we could confidently say is faith.

Lord, you say the word and my servant will be healed. Humility and faith. So as we are praying for the healing of others and compassion of others, one of the things that we want to make sure our prayers are effective is we can pray for our own humility. We can pray for our own faith. If you're like me, I will say a prayer for someone in healing.

And perhaps it's just words, and I almost think it's left up to chance, and they'll probably get over that. I guess the odds are this. And yet I'm going to the one who has this compassion and has this power. Where's my faith? If I'm going to pray it, I'm going to believe it. And I'm going to pray that God, you heal them. I know you can heal them. And if it's your will, please do so. So we need to have this humility and faith place ourselves under this compassionate one here.

Well, the second story, and we're going to go through this one very quickly here. It is the household of the widow here. So Luke 7, beginning in verse 11, a day later, a day after verse 11, he, Jesus, went into the city called Nahyan, and many of his disciples went with him in a large crowd. I look this up. This is six miles southeast of Nazareth.

So it's a day's journey from where he was, moving from the centurion.

There were many here gathered outside the widow's home. Perhaps as Jesus Christ came closer, he would have heard what was common then, songs, mourning songs of flute cymbals, would have permeated the air at this time as Jesus Christ came closer.

And he comes upon this woman in her need. She had no husband. She's now sunless. And so in many ways, she is at the end of her line. Really, in this situation, being a widow, and now this was the last in the line, she's, for all intent and purposes, doesn't have protection, doesn't have provision that she would have in this environment. Unbelievably sad moment here, the end of a family line. The community is there, understood, is supporting her.

A large crowd, it says, had gathered. Verse 12, and when he, Jesus, came to the gate of the city, verse 12, behold a dead man, he's dead, being carried out the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a large crowd from the city was with her.

Presumably, she doesn't even see Jesus Christ. No request is made to him, unlike the first one.

Rather, Jesus Christ sees her, verse 13. Verse 13, when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said to her, do not weep.

So how many times has God intervened for something we didn't even know to ask?

Just he sees us in our need, and he has compassion upon us. Compassionate Savior, we have. Move to compassion, it says.

Again, we can't. We need this kind of compassion when we see someone else suffering. I've said this before in a previous message. Don't go through all the calculations.

Don't calculate all that they did to put himself in this miserable situation. If he hadn't done this, or if he hadn't done that, just have compassion. Just have compassion. How can you help them? Be moved with that. See your own grace extended in your life, and let that move you to show grace and compassion to someone else.

Look at ourselves in that way. When the Lord saw her compassion fills his heart, don't cry, he says.

So he now is going to put himself, insert himself into the extremity of this widow's life. He is the resurrection of life, and he's now going to halt this tragic progression of the grave to the grave. The resurrection of life, the Son of God. And he comes in verse 14 and touches the open coffin there. Think of that. The elders to the Jews would have gasped. You just defiled yourself. You don't do that. You don't touch anything that defiles you. You're above that.

So everything is very purposeful. He touches the coffin. He didn't have to do that. It's a teaching moment. He gets right down into our circumstances. And then after that gesture, after coming to the level, coming to this no-name, by the way, no-name widow-woman. This is who Jesus Christ comes to. Never think you're not good enough or hidden enough. This is who Jesus Christ comes to. We don't even know her name. You know, miserable circumstances. Barry's her only boy. Right into the middle of that, he comes and now he speaks. Verse 14, all those who stood still, and verse 14, they would not have been prepared for this. Young man, who's he talking to? Young man, I say to you, arise. So verse 15, and he who was dead set up and began to speak. What do you think he said? Whew! That was quite a day. But this is it. This is Jesus Christ. And I hope you can see this is all pointing to Jesus Christ's return. Jesus Christ is going to speak into the graves and a new life the dead will receive. This is all pointing to that. And it all is flowing from compassion here. The end of verse 15, the key to the whole thing, I think, the full display of compassion there at the end of verse 15. And Jesus presents him to his mother. Your mother still needs you, you know. Can you imagine this? Hey, Mom, they would have just embraced each other. Whew! Man. You know, so Jesus Christ, he comes and he is confronting all of the great enemies of mankind. And the last enemy is death. Sickness, sin, all of it. Death, he's confronting it all.

And he hears our cries and he knows our hearts. And he's a loving comforter. And he has the power behind it. Wonderful little encounters. And he reunites, you'll notice, the loved ones who were separated. Can you just picture the resurrections and all that family reuniting with a loved one? Can you imagine? This is what it's all pointing to here. One day, Jesus Christ is going to do this for everyone. His will is that no one goes un-reunited. That's His will. And the Father's will. So it won't be long now. We sing, you know, all these songs. Won't be long now till people join hands. Till all people join hands. From many a land, it won't be long. It won't be long now till the children will smile and will laugh all the while. It won't be long now.

Well, we'll conclude there. Into the sadness of our circumstances, I hope you know that we have a compassionate one. Jesus Christ. And He's going to bring us comfort. One day, final comfort. One day, final comfort. Where He'll raise all people. All those who were separated from us from that great enemy death, we will be reunited. So let's just pray that we can show a little bit about this character to each other and to the world. Provide a little bit of reuniting today. And let's pray and just thank God for this wonderful and compassionate Savior, Jesus Christ.