Luke 7 Bible study: God has visited his people

Luke tells the centurion's story through the people he sent. "A certain centurion’s servant, who was dear to him, was sick and at the point of death" (7:2). "When he heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and save his servant" (7:3). They speak for him: "He is worthy for you to do this for him, for he loves our nation, and he built our synagogue for us." (7:4-5). "Jesus went with them" (7:6). Then, "When he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying to him, “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I am not worthy for you to come under my roof." (7:6), and "Therefore I didn’t even think myself worthy to come to you; but say the word, and my servant will be healed" (7:7) (tap worthy). The words go on: "For I also am a man placed under authority, having under myself soldiers" (7:8). "When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him" (7:9), and he said to the multitude who followed him, "I tell you, I have not found such great faith, no, not in Israel." (7:9) (tap faith). "Those who were sent, returning to the house, found that the servant who had been sick was well" (7:10). Here is what almost everyone misses: in the WEB's Luke this is the only time Jesus is said to marvel. Others marvel, among them the people waiting for Zacharias (1:21) and the multitudes (11:14); here "he marveled at him" (7:9). Matthew tells the story in his own words, and Favor's Matthew 8 sets the two tellings side by side.

Numbers 19:11→leads toLuke 7:14-15

"He who touches the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days" (19:11). At Nain, where "one who was dead was carried out" (Luke 7:12), Jesus "came near and touched the coffin" and said, "Young man, I tell you, arise!" Then "He who was dead sat up and began to speak" (Luke 7:14-15). In Jairus's house, "taking her by the hand", he called, "Child, arise!" (Luke 8:54), and "Her spirit returned, and she rose up immediately" (Luke 8:55). The Gospels don't name Numbers 19 or say whether Jesus was made unclean, so setting the two side by side is an interpretation. Some see here the reverse of this chapter: touching the dead made a person unclean, but where Jesus touched, the dead rose. Others read these as accounts of Jesus' power over death that don't turn on this law, since the Gospels make no such comparison.

προφήτηςprophetessay prof-AY-tays

Strong's: "a foreteller ("prophet"); by analogy, an inspired speaker". Thayer: "one who speaks forth by divine inspiration". The chapter has the word five times, in four verses, from three speakers. The people at Nain say, "A great prophet has arisen among us!" (7:16). Jesus asks the multitudes about John, "A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and much more than a prophet." (7:26), and says, "there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptizer" (7:28). The Pharisee says to himself, "This man, if he were a prophet, would have perceived who and what kind of woman this is who touches him" (7:39). Luke's Greek has the word 31 times (counted in RP2018). In Nazareth Jesus had said, "no prophet is acceptable in his hometown" (4:24), and near the end of the book, on the road to Emmaus (24:13), they say of Jesus the Nazarene that he "was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people" (24:19).