Bible Study Notes: St Luke's Gospel
Session 19 Chapter 7: 1-10
A mountain climber, nearing his goal, suddenly slipped and found himself at the end of his rope, swinging fatefully between heaven and earth. He cried out, "Is there anyone up there?" God answered, "Yes." "Can you help me?" asked the worried man. "Yes I can," said God. "Let go!" Swaying doubtfully over the silent abyss, the man cried out, "Is there anyone else up there?"
Religious faith is a humble and trusting surrender to the strength of God. Solid faith is a habit of the heart. A habit results from repeated actions over a very long period of time and after many failures. A person can believe, but when tested, collapses into doubt and fear because faith is not yet grooved into his or her heart.
Sticking to what one believes is difficult whether one's faith is in science or religion. Christian faith is personal trust in Jesus. It needs practice, just as trying to hit a tennis ball properly needs repeated tries. The humility and trust, so essential to a faith act, are not acquired easily. Only when we bounce back from constant failures do we really begin to believe in a stable and continuous way.
The story of the Roman solider that had faith in Christ is a remarkable model of a man who had the habit of faith. In many ways he had all those modern qualities that are supposed to make religious faith impossible in these secular times,
(1) He was a professional. As a centurion, he was in charge of one hundred men. He had chosen the military as his career and was given a promotion with important responsibilities. He had proven himself and was climbing the ladder of military rank. Many of today's professionals often think that their education and rational mastery of their fields leave little time for religious faith growth. Unspoken is the assumption that there might be something "unprofessional" about faith.
(2) He was civic minded. Responsive to imperial policy, which sought to pacify subjugated peoples by supporting their religious practices in return for cooperation, he had built a synagogue in Capernaum. As far as the government was concerned this was simply away to keep the peace and siphon off hostile feelings in the conquered peoples. It was cheap enough to build a religious shrine so long as it purchased conformity. Some civic-minded leaders today will often do the same because it is good for business or community relations, not necessarily because they have any use for religion as such.
(3) He used his authority. The centurion had authority and was not afraid to use it. He ran a tight ship. He expected his orders to be obeyed. Yet power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Modern high rollers speak of power suits and power lunches. The quest for power through money fulfils the old adage, "He who controls the gold, controls." Power seekers dismiss religion as irrelevant to their more important concerns.
Happily, the centurion did not let his professionalism, civic mindedness or personal authority prevent him from having true religious faith. His competency as a soldier did not obscure his taste for an inner spiritual life. When he built a synagogue for the Jews, he did it out of affection for them. "He loves our nation" (verse 5). He exercised his power with a sense of moral responsibility, not just for ego-strokes.
Above all he treated his slave as a person, not a thing to be used, abused and thrown away as his culture taught him. We see in him a man of unusual depth. He sensed the mystery of Jesus, not just as a miracle worker, but a kindred spiritual person. He sent Jewish elders to ask Jesus to save the life of his slave. The elders vouched for the centurion's exceptional personal integrity and strongly urged Jesus to help.
Jesus agreed and went straight to the soldier's house. But before he could reach it, the soldier intercepted him. He knew that Jewish religious custom balked at entering the home of a gentile. He would not want to test the religious sensitivities of Jesus. He said that he was not worthy to have such a wonderful person enter his home. Using his own experience of command and control in the military order, he believed Jesus had a similar power in the spiritual order.
Humbly and simply, he asked Jesus merely to say a healing word and his slave would be cured. The soldier amazed Jesus who turned to the crowd and said he had not found faith like this among his own people. He cured the slave "from a distance," just as the centurion requested.
Luke does not say how the soldier acquired such deep faith, but it is
certain that he obtained the habit by long practice and persistence. That
is the path we need to travel as well.
© Fr Michael Fuller: June 2009