In Luke 7, Jesus goes to Capernaum. A Roman centurion’s servant was deathly ill and so he asked some of the Jewish elders to go ask Jesus to intervene.

“When they reached Jesus, they pleaded with Him earnestly, saying, ‘He is worthy for You to grant this, because he loves our nation and has built us a synagogue.’” (7:4)

This is interesting because the Jews did not like the Romans. But they liked this Roman because he had done some nice things for them (and maybe he would keep doing nice things for them). They make their case to Jesus basically like this: he has done nice things for us so you should do nice things for him. Apparently they weren’t paying attention to the whole love your enemies thing in chapter six.

But again, we aren’t so different, are we? We often follow the same logic: if I do nice things for God, then he will do nice things for me. This is the basis upon which we try to make trades with God. This is how we try to bargain with him. Or, if we are not that active, this is at least how we expect God to treat us. Thus, we spend a lot of time trying to establish our own worth.

This makes the response of the Roman centurion all the more interesting. Here is this outsider to the faith, this guy who has barely earned their conditional acceptance, and he is the only one who gets it right:

“Jesus went with them, and when He was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to tell Him, ‘Lord, don’t trouble Yourself, since I am not worthy to have You come under my roof. That is why I didn’t even consider myself worthy to come to You.’” (7:6-7)

http://www.inspirationalposter.org/poster-6635-6093652/jesus-heals-centurions-servant-matthew-viii-5-13-giclee-print/

This centurion takes a completely opposite approach to his Jewish advocates. They said, “This guy is worthy, so help him out.” But he says, “I am not worthy, please help me.” And here is the reason why he says that: he realizes that the good that Jesus can and will do for us is not based on who we are, but on who Jesus is.

“But say the word, and my servant will be cured. For I too am a man placed under authority, having soldiers under my command. I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this!’ And he does it.” (7:7-8)

The power comes from Jesus, not from us. It is based on his authority, not our worth. You can rest easy. You can stop trying to prop up your own worth with flimsy attempts at good works and a polished exterior. Instead, you can turn to Jesus and trust fully in his goodness and his love. That is what faith is all about. You can hang all your hopes on him; he will not fail you.

“Jesus heard this and was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following Him, He said, ‘I tell you, I have not found so great a faith even in Israel!’ When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant in good health.” (7:9-10)

It is one of the defining moments in the ministry of Jesus. For the first time, he stands up in his church, in his hometown, and proclaims the purpose for his life. Amidst friends and family, neighbors who’ve known him since he was toddling around chasing the chickens and goats, who’ve seen him sweating over the construction of their tables and chairs, in front of these people who know him better than anyone else on earth, he stands up and reads:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,

because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor.

He has sent Me to proclaim freedom to the captives

and recovery of sight to the blind,

to set free the oppressed,

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Let that sink in. Wow. Breathtakingly beautiful. That is what Jesus is about. That is why he came to earth. From his own lips, “Today as you listen, this Scripture has been fulfilled.” I love that this is Jesus’ mission statement! His church must’ve been excited, too, right? Yeah, sort of.

“They were all speaking well of Him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from His mouth, yet they said, ‘Isn’t this Joseph’s son?’”

They couldn’t deny the power of his words. They were captivated, to be sure. But something wasn’t quite right. They knew this man. They knew who he was, had him figured out, knew what to expect… and this, this was not matching up with their expectations.

Jesus knows exactly what is going through their minds. “No doubt you will quote this proverb to Me: ‘Doctor, heal yourself.’ ‘All we’ve heard that took place in Capernaum, do here in Your hometown also.’”

In other words, unless they saw direct evidence to establish proof of what he claimed, they weren’t going to believe. Why should they, after all? They knew who Jesus was.

Sometimes familiarity is a dangerous advantage.

As we will continue to see throughout Jesus’ life, sometimes those closest to the religion of God are the furthest from the person of God. As a Christian, as someone who grew up in the church, as someone who has spent a great deal of time in church culture, this is a sobering thought.

After all, I know Jesus. I know who he is and what he is all about… right? I’ve got him figured out. I know what to expect. I am his next door neighbor. I sit next to him in church every week. But what happens when he stands up in my life, and says something that doesn’t match my expectations?

This happens more often than I’d like to admit. I come across some passage from Scripture, some words right from the lips of Jesus, and I want to skip over them, leave them behind, because they just don’t fit who I know Jesus to be.

Mercy.

Jesus concludes with two poignant examples illustrating the danger of familiarity that leads to closed eyes, and the blessedness of opening our eyes to who God really is. He says that there were many widows in Israel during the great famine, but that Elijah was instead sent to a Gentile widow. And again, during Elisha’s time, there were many in Israel with leprosy, but the only one healed was a pagan who sought out God.

Jesus’ point is clear: God is not confined to work only for those who “know” him. In fact, sometimes it is those who know the least about him who are most open to who God really is. God reveals himself to those who are open to let him be himself. Even if they are “outside” the church.

Regardless of who you are, what your background or experience has been, the point is this: let Jesus be himself with you. And be open to the possibility that sometimes this means letting go of long-cherished ideas about him, and inviting in the beautiful, challenging, surprising, exhilarating mystery of Jesus himself.