Sunday School Lessons: Luke 7

Luke Chapter 7

READ Matthew 8:1, 5-18

7:1After he had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. 2Now a centurion had a servantwho was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. 3When the centurionheard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant. 4And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy to have you do this for him, 5for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us our synagogue.” 6And 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. 7Therefore I did not presume to come to you. But say the word, and let my servant be healed. 8For 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.” 9When 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.” 10And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well.

Think back to our study in Acts. Do you remember what a centurion is? What do we learn about this centurion from what we’ve just read? Why do you think he sent the elders of the Jews to Jesus instead of coming to Him himself? Why didn’t he want Jesus to come to his house? What did Jesus marvel about?

READ John 4:46-54

A centurion is a soldier who commanded 100 soldiers. His servant was sick and at the point of death. It may be that he knew the official whose son Jesus healed in the account in John. We can know for sure that when he heard about Jesus, he believed that He could heal his slave. The centurion asked some of the elders of the Jews to go to Jesus and ask Him if He would heal his slave. Do you think it is unusual for group of Jewish elders to fulfill the request of a Gentile? Why or why not? Notice that these Jewish men said that the centurion was worthy for Jesus to do this for him. They told him that he loved Israel and even built the synagogue for them! This man apparently believed in God and worshiped him but was not a proselyte of righteousness, or convert to Judaism. He was what is known as a proselyte of the gates. (Review Cornelius/centurion and what it means to be devout and one who “feared God” as well as relationship between Jews and Gentiles)

This man had authority. He was used to giving orders and having his orders obeyed. But he was a humble man, too, and did not want to presume upon Jesus. He believed that Jesus could heal his servant with just a word—even from a distance! The passage says that Jesus marveled at him for his faith. There are only two times in the NT that Jesus is said to marvel at anything. He marveled at this man’s faith and he marveled at Israel’s unbelief. We will see faith and unbelief contrasted later in this chapter.

Only Luke tells of this event.

11Soon afterwardhe went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. 12As 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. 13And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” 14Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” 15And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesusgave him to his mother. 16Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!” 17And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.

Nain is about 20 miles south of Capernaum, where Jesus healed the Centurion’s servant. Here He is coming to the city gates at the same time that a funeral procession was carrying a man out of the city to be buried. Only the Kings of Israel could be buried within the city gates. All others were buried outside the city gates so that the dead bodies could not defile those in the city. This dead man was the only son of a women who was a widow. To be a widow was a difficult thing for a woman in that time, but to lose one’s only son was an even greater tragedy. If a woman became a widow, her sons would take care of her, but a woman without sons or family to take care of her was disadvantaged and in need of mercy. Some had no means of support. Jesus saw this woman and knew all about her. He understood perfectly what it meant to be widowed and childless. He had compassion on her and told her not to weep. Weeping and lamenting was a big part of the grieving process. Sometimes professional mourners were even hired to weep and lament at funerals. As it was, this widow was being accompanied by a considerable crowd from the town, all of whom were probably weeping and lamenting. When Jesus told her not to weep, it was the same as telling her not to grieve. He knew what He was going to do! There were a great many people there, watching what was going on. There was the crowd that followed Jesus and the crowd that accompanied the widow. We have often said that when Jesus did miracles He was normally establishing and proving His authority as the Son of God or to show His power, but in this case, He raised this man out because He had compassion on a woman. He did it to demonstrate His love and compassion.

The body was being carried on a stretcher by men. When Jesus touched the stretcher, the bearers stopped. Notice what Jesus said: “Young man, I say to YOU, arise.” There are three accounts of Jesus raising people from the dead and each time he called them individually, speaking directly to the dead person. That man responded by sitting up and speaking. Not only was he brought from death to life, but his health and strength had returned.

Jesus then gave him to his mother.

What was the response of the crowd? They thought he was a prophet! It had been 500 years since God had sent a prophet to the people of Israel. They were remembering that the Prophet Elijah had raised a widow’s son from the dead. (READ 1 Kings 17:17-24 What was the widow’s response when Elijah raised her son from the dead? How does that compare with the response of the crowd?)

READ Matthew 11:2-30

18The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, 19calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” 20And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’” 21In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight. 22And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepersare cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. 23And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

John was in prison when he heard what happened. He sent his disciples to ask Jesus if He is the one they have been waiting for. Jesus didn’t answer them right away. Instead, he healed many people of illness and cast out demons and healed the blind. He didn’t simply answer their question, He showed them! After he had done all these thing in their presence, He said, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepersare cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. 23And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

By working those miracles, He demonstrated that He was truly the one that they had been waiting for. His words were a quotation of Isaiah 35:5-6 and Isaiah 61:1) He showed by His actions that He was the one with the authority and power to do all those things and then He proved it by the scriptures.

24When John's messengers had gone, Jesusbegan to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 25What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are dressed in splendid clothing and live in luxury are in kings' courts. 26What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 27This is he of whom it is written,

“‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face,
who will prepare your way before you.’(Malachi 3:1)

28I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

He then turned and talked to the crowds about John the Baptist, confirming that he was, indeed a prophet sent by God and that He was sent by God to prepare the way for His ministry. John was the last of the Old Testament prophets. The Old Covenant was being replaced. Jesus was bringing in the New Covenant and, as He preached, the Kingdom of God was at Hand. Jesus said that no one who had ever been born was greater than John, but that one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than He. He meant that in the sense that the New Covenant would be bringing in greater blessings and nearness to God than the Old Covenant could ever have done.

29(When all the people heard this, and the tax collectors too, they declared God just,having been baptized with the baptism of John, 30but the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.)

31“To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? 32They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another,

“‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.’

33For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ 34The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ 35Yet wisdom is justified by all her children.”

As we saw so often in the Book of Acts, some will believe and others will not. The people who had come to John in repentance believed, but the Pharisees rejected “the purpose of God for themselves” and did not repent and believe.

Jesus said that “this generation” were like children—never satisfied, always ready to criticize. He points out that they criticized John for fasting and not drinking wine and they criticize HIM for drinking and eating.

Luke 7:36-50

This account is found only in Luke.

36One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and took his place at the table.

Pharisee definition here. Open homes. Rules about hospitality, washings before eating, etc.

37And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, 38and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment.

Woman

Sinner

Standing behind/Reclining

Alabaster

Ointment

fragrance

39Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.”

Pharisee’s motivation—curious or hostile?

Jewish response to women, sinners

He could reject Jesus now, he thought.

40And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.”

Jesus knew what he was thinking to himself. Simon called him Teacher.

41“A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both.

Parable. Definition

Now which of them will love him more?” 43Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.”

“I suppose”

Did he see himself as a sinner or a person with a debt of sin?

44Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman?

The Pharisee had seen the woman as the issue; Jesus brings her forward and begins to teach Simon by contrasting her actions with the Pharisee’s. Simon thinks he knows all about this woman. He knows her sin but he does not know her heart.

I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.

Sandals, dirty feet, hospitality

Why did Simon withhold the customary hospitalities?

Water vs. tears

Why was she crying?

45You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet.

Kiss as a greeting

Why didn’t he kiss Jesus?

46You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.

Head vs feet oil vs ointment

47Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” 48And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” 49Then those who were at table with him began to say amongthemselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” 50And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

Why was she forgiven?

Why was the Pharisee forgiven little?

What saved her? Her love? Her demonstration of repentance?

What was Jesus teaching the Pharisee?

Jesus is the judge of men’s hearts, but the Pharisee was judging both the woman and Jesus.

*These lessons are written for use with elementary aged students. You can find lessons for previous chapters here . All scriptures are taken from the ESV.