Jesus' Powerful Word to Heal the Sick and Raise the Dead
If you could get any superhero power what would you choose? Would it be Superman’s ability to fly? Or his X-ray vision? Amazing speed like the Flash? Supernatural strength like the Hulk? Or maybe you would like to have “rizz”, that is a teenagers’ slang word for having “charizzma”, or the power to charm someone you like. Well… that is not a superhero power! Or maybe it is?
In any case, superhero powers are fictional, they are imaginary, they are not real. But today we are going to read about someone who has real supernatural power. He can say a powerful word to heal someone with a terminal disease. He can say a powerful word of command to raise people from the dead.
It is Jesus, Jesus has a powerful word to heal the sick and raise the dead! And the passage today calls us to humbly believe that! To
humbly believe that Jesus has a powerful word to heal the sick and raise the dead
We are in a series about the power and preaching of Jesus in the gospel of Luke and today we are going to read Luke chapter 7. Please open your bibles and read with me:
Luke 7:1-17
1 After he had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. 2 Now a centurion had a servant who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. 3 When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant. 4 And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy to have you do this for him, 5 for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us our synagogue.” 6 And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. 7 Therefore I did not presume to come to you. But say the word, and let my servant be healed. 8 For I too am a man set under authority, with 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.” 9 When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” 10 And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well.
11 Soon afterward he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. 12 As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. 13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” 14 Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” 15 And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. 16 Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!” 17 And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.
Please pray with me
We will divide the message in two sections based on the two stories we just read. First, we will cover verses 1-10, which talk about the powerful word of Jesus to heal the sick. And second, we will cover verses 11-17, about his powerful word to raise the dead.
Let’s start with the first section
1. A word that heals the sick (7:1-10)
In this first story, there is a prominent character, besides Jesus. It is a centurion. We are going to spend some time painting the picture and getting to know this centurion. In particular, we want to find out why Jesus marvels at him, so keep that in mind as we walk through the passage. Let’s go back to verse 2
2 Now a centurion had a servant who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him.
But what exactly is a centurion? In the times of Jesus, a centurion was a commander of one hundred soldiers in the Roman army. In our context, it is roughly equivalent to a captain of a company in the U.S. army. So he had more than a handful of men under his command.
The Roman empire had been expanding its conquering power over many nations, including Israel. The Roman army had a strong presence in all these areas to make sure people knew that Rome was in charge. Therefore, the army was sometimes very forceful and brutal, after all, they were conquerors.
Now, the centurion of our story had not only soldiers under his command. He also had slaves, servants. And one of them was so sick that he was almost “at the point of death”. For a typical centurion, that is not a big deal, this is just a slave, just an asset.
However this centurion is far from typical. He actually was very concerned for his slave. In fact, the Bible says that he highly valued him. He considered the life of his slave to be precious. The centurion honored, respected and highly valued the life of his servant.
3 When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant.
He values his slave so much that he sends the Jewish leaders to ask Jesus to come and heal his slave. He wanted to rescue, to save his life. That would be significant even in our times. If you get sick, would your boss be so caring that he takes the time to find a doctor for you so you can be healed?
Because of the pandemic, I worked from home for several years. But now my company wants us back into the office. I got an email a few weeks ago saying something like: “we are so happy you are coming back to the office, we love having you around, but not your germs, so if you are sick please stay home”. So if I am sick, they want me away… and for good reasons!
But the centurion is a boss who cares for his servant very much. Not only does he want him healthy, but he also looks for someone who can heal him.
Now, why is it that the Roman centurion, who has human power and authority, does not request or even demand this from Jesus directly, and instead sends the elders of the Jews? We will find out soon.
4 And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy to have you do this for him, 5 for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us our synagogue.”
Now the elders are pleading with Jesus, begging him to come, and heal the centurion’s slave. They tell Jesus: “he is worthy to have you do this for him”. Why? “for he loves our nation”. That is shocking! When most centurions will use their position to lord over the conquered nations, this centurion actually loves the nation of Israel.
Sometimes we use phrases lightly. It is not uncommon for us to say to our friends: “I love you man”. But would you demonstrate your love for your friend by paying off his house? With the home prices today, maybe not. “I love you man, but not that much!”
And yet this centurion loves Israel so much, that he spends time, energy and money to build for them a whole synagogue, that is a building where the Jews can congregate and worship. In doing so, he has gained so much respect from their elders, that they are willing to represent him and advocate for him before Jesus.
6 And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. 7 Therefore I did not presume to come to you. But say the word, and let my servant be healed.
Now it becomes clear why the centurion did not go to Jesus in the first place. It was not because he was busy, it was not because he thought he had enough power to demand this from Jesus through others. It was because he did not presume that he was worthy enough to have Jesus under his roof. Even though, naturally speaking, he is part of the winning team, the powerful Roman empire, somehow, he does not consider himself worthy to have Jesus stepping into his home. That is why he sends the elders of the Jews!
Not only that, but he also truly believes that Jesus has enough power to just say the word and heal the servant without even touching him. We read: “say the word and let my servant be healed.”
Now imagine for a moment that you are at the verge of death, fearing that you have come to the end of your days, and you call your doctor, and say: “do not come, just say a word through the phone and heal me so I may not die”. No! That would not happen. First, the doctor’s secretary will answer your call and say you need an appointment. Then she will say the first available appointment is in 6 months! And when you protest saying that you are dying she will say: “ah, then go to the hospital’s ER.”
A doctor cannot heal you by the power of his word!
But here the centurion is convinced that if Jesus says a word, his servant will be healed. Why does he believe that? Listen to the centurion’s reasoning:
8 For I too am a man set under authority, with 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.”
That is his logic: ‘I am under authority and I also have people under my authority. I understand how the authority chain works. When the superior says “come”, “go”, “do”, the subjects obey and they “come”, “go”, and “do”. If the emperor asks me to “jump” I do not question his request, I say “how high my lord”’!
The higher the rank, the more power, and less questioning. The ones who are powerful just need to wish and things happen! This is still true even in our time.
Now the centurion could have gone to the greatest and the best Roman physicians, but he chooses to humbly appeal to Jesus. In the eyes of the world, Jesus was just an itinerant, unknown rabbi. But this centurion goes to him, for he understands authority and power, and surprisingly he knows that Jesus has the highest authority and power, more than any human doctor. He knows that Jesus rules over sickness and death! Just “say the word [Jesus] and let my servant be healed”, for I humbly and firmly believe that your powerful word can heal my servant and save him from dying.
9 When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.”
Now, how many times have you read that Jesus marvels at someone? Jesus marvels because of the centurion’s humble faith. He marvels because he has not found that type of faith even in Israel.
This centurion is humble enough to recognize that Jesus is Lord, to believe in him, to surrender to his authority and have faith that he can heal his servant. And Jesus does it.
10 And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well.
Jesus hears the petition of this humble, pagan, Roman centurion and says the word to heal his servant. Instantaneously, without going to the house, without seeing or touching the servant, he heals him. He says the word and the servant is rescued from imminent death, he is healed by the word of Jesus, the creator, he who spoke the universe into being, the one who formed the body of the slave in the womb of his mother, the one who knows what the disease is and what is wrong inside, the one who has absolute authority over sickness, who can say with infinite authority come, and go, and do. Jesus says an omnipotent, unstoppable word of command and the servant survives, he is healed.
What about you? Do you believe that Jesus can heal the sick? Are you humble enough to believe that Jesus has the power to say a word and restore what is broken? Do you know enough about who he is and about his power, authority and omnipotence? Do you have faith like the centurion, a belief that produces a humble attitude before Jesus, a respect, admiration and fear that leads you to submit, surrender and bow down before Jesus? This is what this passage calls us to. It calls us to
humbly believe that Jesus has a powerful word to heal the sick and raise the dead
2. A word that raises the dead (7:11-17)
11 Soon afterward he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him.
The healing of the centurion’s servant happened in Capernaum, and now Jesus goes to Nain. Notice that these are real cities, real places, real events. It is like saying he went from Gaithersburg to Germantown. We are not reading tales, we are reading history. We are not reading about fictional power, we are reading about real, divine power.
12 As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her.
As Jesus approaches the town gate, there is a funeral, and a large crowd is part of a procession. A widow is mourning the death of her only son.
Now, in a society like this, if you are a widow with just one son, that son is the main source of provision. If he dies, then the widow is put in a very precarious situation. She is alone, with no husband, and now no son to take care of her.
She is sad and weeping because of the death of her only son, and perhaps also contemplating her dire future.
13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.”
As Jesus ponders her situation, he is moved to have compassion for her. The omnipotent creator of the universe sees the suffering of a vulnerable widow, and has compassion for her. As he (perhaps) wipes her tears, he says: “do not weep”, do not cry, do not despair, I am here, I will fix this. What happens next is remarkable, to say the least.
14 Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” 15 And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.
Now think about that for a moment! Let’s say you are at a funeral of someone who died at a young age. Imagine a famous doctor gets into the scene and stops the procession, asks the people to stop weeping, opens the coffin and tells the corpse to wake up! Wouldn’t that be odd? Would you think he lost his mind? Something like that just does not happen. And yet that is what happens here!
If you see the dead man in a funeral sitting up and talking, you would be freaking out, pulling your hair, running out of the place in terror, or standing paralyzed as your brain tries to process what just happened.
We do not have doctors walking around raising people from the dead. A politician cannot do that either, a rocket scientist cannot do that, Mother Teresa, the Pope, Buddha or Gandhi cannot do that. But here we have Jesus, the son of God, filled with divine power. A power that is greater than a billion nuclear bombs, a power greater than myriads of burning stars. He has power to raise the dead, he can say: “Young man, I say to you, arise”! As he commands the dead cells to reactivate their connections. His word produces such an electric shock against his chest, so to speak, that the heart starts pumping blood again, and the lungs inflate with oxygen, and the tongue of the dead man starts moving, he sits down and begins to speak!
So …
16 Fear seized them all, and they glorified God!
This is indeed such a shocking event that produces fear, amazement, and worship!
These two stories tell us about the omnipotent, unstoppable authority of the word of Jesus able to heal the sick and raise the dead.
While Jesus was on Earth, some people had the privilege to see miracles of healing and resurrection, but perhaps that is not the case anymore. We now live in a different age. Or have you witnessed this omnipotent power that heals the sick and raises the dead?
Jesus brought the Kingdom of God, with miracles of healing and resurrections. He came announcing good news of hope to a broken world devastated by sin. He came to eradicate sickness and death, both physical and spiritual. He came to die so you and I may be healed, so you and I may go from dead to life!
This room is filled with miracles of healing and resurrection. Look around you. Look at the person beside you, or behind, or in front. Many of them were sick and dead, really dead, but now they are alive.
Let’s take one! My brother Dave Hartman! [I asked him permission to say this] He was lost in darkness, he was a slave of the pleasures of this earth, he was trapped and dead to God, with no hope and no one with enough power to rescue him. But one day, Jesus called him: “Dave, I say to you, arise!” And spiritual life filled his heart of stone and he was born to God. Jesus commanded him to arise and his eyes were opened and he saw Jesus!
And something like that happened to many of us. Jesus called Kevin and Pat, and Jamie and Judy and Joe. When Jesus called us, his word was omnipotent, unstoppable.
When Jesus commanded the young man of Luke 7 to arise, the young man did not say, “oh Lord, I am ok here, leave me dead”. He did not say “I am tired”, he did not say “I do not really believe you can do this, I am dead”. I mean that is the point, he was dead, he had no power or will. He was dead, completely and absolutely dead! But when Jesus commands the dead to arise, they do! He can say go, and come, and arise, and his creation obeys. The dead come to life.
Now some of you are spiritually dead right now. But Jesus, who does not change, who is the same yesterday, and today and tomorrow, and whose power does not fade or diminish. The Jesus who raised the dead young man and many of us is calling you today: arise, arise! Can you hear his voice? Can you hear his command? Arise and come to life, respond to his calling, acknowledge him and surrender before his power, and authority and glory and majesty and omnipotence!
Humble yourself and believe that Jesus has a powerful word to heal the sick and raise the dead