The mutual respect shown here by Jew and Roman is very pleasing, and the more so that it was so rare. Disdain rather than regard, hatred rather than affection, characterized both peoples; and it is a very agreeable change to find so different a state of mind. Here the Roman loves the Jewish nation, and the elders of the Jews come out to serve the Roman. The plea which they present to Christ, that out of attachment to their nation he had built them a synagogue, was very forcible, and it did not fail. The conjunction of the two clauses of the text suggests the close connection between piety and patriotism.

I. OUR INDEBTEDNESS TO THE RELIGION OF OUR NATIVE LAND, The centurion loved the nation, and why? The Jew had one thing to give the Roman, and that was a very great thing. Civilization, military science, and law, were of the Roman; but "salvation was of the Jews" (John 4:22). This Roman, who probably saw many things in Galilee that he pitied, found something that first surprised, then convinced, then satisfied and ennobled him - he found a true theology and a pure morality. With this he found rest of soul, domestic purity, health and sweetness of life; he became another man, and lived another life. He was indebted to the religion of this country of his adoption. What do we owe to the religion of the land in which we were born? How much more do we owe to the Christianity we have learned in England than the centurion (of the text) owed to the Judaism he learned in Galilee! Our holy faith, taught us in childhood and impressed upon us through all our days, has brought into our view a heavenly Father, a Divine Saviour and Friend, a Holy Spirit and Comforter, a blessed service, a godly brotherhood, a noble life, a glorious hope of immortal blessedness. What shall we render to the country of our birth which has trained us in such truths as these?

II. OUR BEST ACKNOWLEDGMENT. This man "loved the nation and built them a synagogue." What better thing could he do than this? What kindlier or truer service could he render them? Those synogogues had been the homes of devotion and the sources of sacred instruction for four hundred years, and they had rendered inestimable service to the nation. The influences which radiated from them had kept the people loyal to their faith, and had preserved in them all the better qualities they possessed. And what can we do to serve the country which has nourished us in the faith of Christ? We can do all that lies in our power to promote its material prosperity, to secure its freedom, to extend its knowledge and intelligence. But, these not being left undone, there is one thing more which is greater than these - we can promote its piety. By so doing we shall serve it in the highest sphere; we shall be doing that which will gain for it the favour of Almighty God; we shall be indirectly serving it in all other ways, for the children of God will be the best citizens of their country in any and every department of human action. And how shall we best promote the piety of our land?

1. By living a devout and upright life in our own humble sphere.

2. By making known, in all open ways, the distinctive truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

3. By supporting the institutions which are closely connected with it - its edifices, its societies, its homes. - C.

This should teach us to take heed how we pass sentence upon the inward intentions and purposes of men. This power is God's, and belongs to Him; what have we to do to usurp it? It is a well too deep for us to draw in. And yet, such is the presumption of some, that they will take upon them infallibly to know what is in the bottom of that well, whence ariseth jealousies and contentions, many times as causeless as pernicious. Indeed, by some discoveries there may be some conjectures; but let not a small conjecture make thee a great offender. Every key a man meets with is not the right one for this lock; every likelihood thou apprehendest is not a sure sign of what is within the breast. Not to let a man be private in his house is a great injury; not to let a man be private in his heart is a greater. Lastly, let us be persuaded hence to be as upright before the Lord in thought as we are just in dealing before men. It is not the white fleece God especially eyes, but the sound liver. He hath windows into the soul, and there sees that hypocrisy which lies lurking there. He is very list of hearing, and well understandeth what the heart thinketh, and (as before was showed) will answer us accordingly,

(N. Rogers.)

Jesus, John, SimonCapernaum, Galilee, Judea, NainBuild, Built, Expense, Friend, Love, Loves, Loveth, Nation, Synagogue1. Jesus finds a greater faith in the centurion;
10. heals his servant, being absent;
11. raises from death the widow's son at Nain;
18. answers John's messengers with the declaration of his miracles;
24. testifies to the people what opinion he held of John;
31. compares this generation to the children in the marketplaces,
36. and allowing his feet to be washed and anointed by a woman who was a sinner,
44. he shows how he is a friend to sinners, to forgive them their sins, upon their repentance.

Luke 7:1-5

     7719   elders, as leaders

Luke 7:1-10

     5433   occupations
     8611   prayer, for others

Luke 7:2-6

     8298   love, for one another

Luke 7:2-8

     5250   centurion

Luke 7:3-5

     8332   reputation

Luke 7:4-5

     5554   status
     8369   worthiness

June 10 Evening
As Christ forgave you, so also do ye.--COL. 3:13. There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both.--I forgave thee all that debt; shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow-servant, even as I had pity on thee? When ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

Greatness in the Kingdom
'He that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.'--LUKE vii. 28. We were speaking in a preceding sermon about the elements of true greatness, as represented in the life and character of John the Baptist. As we remarked then, our Lord poured unstinted eulogium upon the head of John, in the audience of the people, at the very moment when he showed himself weakest. 'None born of women' was, in Christ's eyes, 'greater than John the Baptist.' The eulogium, authoritative as it was, was immediately …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

Thwarting God's Purpose
'The Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of Him.' --LUKE vii. 30. Our Lord has just been pouring unstinted praise on the head of John the Baptist. The eulogium was tenderly timed, for it followed, and was occasioned by the expression, through messengers, of John's doubts of Christ's Messiahship. Lest these should shake the people's confidence in the Forerunner, and make them think of him as weak and shifting, Christ speaks of him in the glowing …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

A Gluttonous Man and a Winebibber
'The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners!'--LUKE vii. 34. Jesus Christ very seldom took any notice of the mists of calumny that drifted round Him. 'When He was reviled He reviled not again.' If ever He did allude to them it was for the sake of the people who were harming themselves by uttering them. So here, without the slightest trace of irritation, He quotes a malignant charge which was evidently in the …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

Worthy-Not Worthy
'... They besought Him ... saying, That he was worthy for whom He should do this:... 6. I am not worthy that Thou shouldest enter under my roof: 7. Wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto Thee....' --LUKE vii. 4. 6. 7. A Roman centurion, who could induce the elders of a Jewish village to approach Jesus on his behalf, must have been a remarkable person. The garrison which held down a turbulent people was not usually likely to be much loved by them. But this man, about whom the incident …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

Go into Peace
'And He said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee: go in peace.'--LUKE vii. 50. We find that our Lord twice, and twice only, employs this form of sending away those who had received benefits from His hand. On both occasions the words were addressed to women: once to this woman, who was a sinner, and who was gibbeted by the contempt of the Pharisee in whose house the Lord was; and once to that poor sufferer who stretched out a wasted hand to lay upon the hem of His garment, in the hope of getting …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

Jesus at the Bier
'And when the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not. 14. And He came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And He said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. 15. And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And He delivered him to his mother.'--LUKE vii. 13-15. We owe our knowledge of this incident to Luke only. He is the Evangelist who specially delights in recording the gracious relations of our Lord with women, and he is also the Evangelist who …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

John's Doubts and Christ's Praise
'And the disciples of John shewed him of all these things. 19. And John calling unto him two of his disciples, sent them to Jesus, saying, Art thou He that should come? or look we for another? 20. When the men were come unto Him, they said, John Baptist hath sent us unto Thee, saying, Art Thou He that should come? or look we for another? 21. And in the same hour He cured many of their infirmities and plagues, and of evil spirits; and unto many that were blind He gave sight. 22. Then Jesus, answering, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

The Two Debtors
'There was a certain creditor which had two debtors; the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. 42. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell Me therefore, which of them will love him most? 43. Simon answered and said, I suppose that he to whom he forgave most.'--LUKE vii.41-43. We all know the lovely story in which this parable is embedded. A woman of notoriously bad character had somehow come in contact with Jesus Christ, and had by Him been aroused from her …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

Forgiveness and Love.
TEXT: LUKE vii. 36-50. HOWEVER much admiration and honour was given to our Saviour by many of His contemporaries during His life on earth; however powerfully a yet greater number were struck, at least for the moment, by His exalted character; still just His greatest words and His noblest deeds often remained dark even to the noblest and best around Him, and seemed to the rest a piece of insolent pretension. When He spoke of His eternal relation to the Eternal Father, even His more intimate disciples …
Friedrich Schleiermacher—Selected Sermons of Schleiermacher

On the Words of the Gospel, Luke vii. 2, Etc. ; on the Three Dead Persons whom the Lord Raised.
1. The miracles of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ make indeed an impression on all who hear of, and believe them; but on different men in different ways. For some amazed at His miracles done on the bodies of men, have no knowledge to discern the greater; whereas some admire the more ample fulfilment in the souls of men at the present time of those things which they hear of as having been wrought on their bodies. The Lord Himself saith, "For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; …
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament

On the Words of the Gospel, Luke vii. 37, "And Behold, a Woman who was in the City, a Sinner," Etc. On the Remission of Sins,
1. Since I believe that it is the will of God that I should speak to you on the subject whereof we are now reminded by the words of the Lord out of the Holy Scriptures, I will by His assistance deliver to you, Beloved, a Sermon touching the remission of sins. For when the Gospel was being read, ye gave most earnest heed, and the story was reported, and represented before the eyes of your heart. For ye saw, not with the body, but with the mind, the Lord Jesus Christ "sitting at meat in the Pharisee's …
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament

On Dress
"Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of -- wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; "But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price." 1 Pet. 3:3, 4. 1. St. Paul exhorts all those who desire to "be transformed by the renewal of their minds," and to "prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God," not to be "conformed to this world." [Rom. 12:2] …
John Wesley—Sermons on Several Occasions

Saving Faith
I. WHAT WAS IT THAT SAVED the two persons whose history we are about to consider? In the penitent woman's case, her great sins were forgiven her and she became a woman of extraordinary love: she loved much, for she had much forgiven. I feel, in thinking of her, something like an eminent father of the church who said, "This narrative is not one which I can well preach upon; I had far rather weep over it in secret." That woman's tears, that woman's unbraided tresses wiping the Saviour's feet, her coming …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 20: 1874

A Gracious Dismissal
THE main part of my subject will be--that gracious dismissal, "Go in peace." To her who had been so lately blest, the word "Go" sounded mournfully; for she would fain have remained through life with her pardoning Lord; but the added words "in peace" turned the wormwood into honey--there was now peace for her who had been so long hunted and harried by her sins. Rising from the feet she had washed with tears, she went forth to keep her future footsteps such as those of a believing, and therefore saved, …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 37: 1891

Go in Peace
"And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace."--Luke 7:50. THERE appear to have been four stages in Christ's dealing with this woman. I know not what had preceded the narrative as we have it recorded in this chapter; I need not enter into that question now. There had, doubtless, been a work of the Spirit of God upon that woman's heart, turning her from her sin to her Saviour; but when she stood at our Master's feet, raining tears of penitence upon them, wiping them with the hairs …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 48: 1902

Liii. The Contemplation of Death.
16th Sunday after Trinity. S. Luke vii. 12. "Behold, there was a dead man carried out." INTRODUCTION.--The name of the village where the miracle was wrought which is recorded in this day's Gospel, was Nain, and the meaning of the name is "Pleasant" or "Beautiful." A sweet little village, you can picture it to yourself where you like, in the East, anywhere in Europe, here in England, it is all the same, an "Auburn" among villages, with thatched cottages, and green pastures, and the cows coming home …
S. Baring-Gould—The Village Pulpit, Volume II. Trinity to Advent

Answer to Mr. W's Third Objection.
Our author says: p. 19. By way of objection to the letter of these three miracles, Let us consider the condition of the persons raised from the dead.--Where then was his wisdom and prudence to chuse these three persons above others to that honour? p. 20. I answer, that Jesus did not ordinarily choose the subjects of his miracles, but heal'd those chiefly who earnestly implored his mercy, or who pressed on him to be healed, or importunately desired it of him by others, when they could not possibly …
Nathaniel Lardner—A Vindication of Three of Our Blessed Saviour's Miracles

Justifying or Sanctifying Grace
Sanctifying grace is defined by Deharbe as "an unmerited, supernatural gift, imparted to the soul by the Holy Ghost, by which we are made just, children of God, and heirs of Heaven." As it makes sinners just, sanctifying grace is also called justifying, though this appellation can not be applied to the sanctification of our first parents in Paradise or to that of the angels and the sinless soul of Christ. Justification, as we have shown, consists in the infusion of sanctifying grace, and hence it …
Joseph Pohle—Grace, Actual and Habitual

Jesus Raises the Widow's Son.
(at Nain in Galilee.) ^C Luke VII. 11-17. ^c 11 And it came to pass soon afterwards [many ancient authorities read on the next day], that he went into a city called Nain; and his disciples went with him, and a great multitude. [We find that Jesus had been thronged with multitudes pretty continuously since the choosing of his twelve apostles. Nain lies on the northern slope of the mountain, which the Crusaders called Little Hermon, between twenty and twenty-five miles south of Capernaum, and about …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Jesus' Feet Anointed in the House of a Pharisee.
(Galilee.) ^C Luke VII. 36-50. ^c 36 And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. [We learn from verse 40 that the Pharisee's name was Simon. Because the feast at Bethany was given in the house of Simon the leper, and because Jesus was anointed there also, some have been led to think that Luke is here describing this supper. See Matt. xxvi. 6-13; Mark xiv. 3-9; John xii. 1-8. But Simon the leper was not Simon the Pharisee. The name Simon was one of the most common among the Jewish …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Raising of the Young Man of Nain - the Meeting of Life and Death.
THAT early spring-tide in Galilee was surely the truest realisation of the picture in the Song of Solomon, when earth clad herself in garments of beauty, and the air was melodious with songs of new life. [2625] It seemed as if each day marked a widening circle of deepest sympathy and largest power on the part of Jesus; as if each day also brought fresh surprise, new gladness; opened hitherto unthought-of possibilities, and pointed Israel far beyond the horizon of their narrow expectancy. Yesterday …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

The Woman which was a Sinner
The precise date and place of the next recorded event in this Galilean journey of the Christ are left undetermined. It can scarcely have occurred in the quiet little town of Nain, indeed, is scarcely congruous with the scene which had been there enacted. And yet it must have followed almost immediately upon it. We infer this, not only from the silence of St. Matthew, which in this instance might have been due, not to the temporary detention of that Evangelist in Capernaum, while the others had followed …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

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