Section 7:1–10
Jesus healed an army officer’s servant
This section tells how an army officer trusted Jesus to heal his servant. The officer was not a Jew; he was a Gentile, a Roman. He sent some Jewish leaders as messengers to ask Jesus to come and heal his servant. Later he sent some friends to say that it was not necessary for Jesus to come to his house. He believed that Jesus could heal his servant from a distance.
The Roman compared Jesus’ authority to his own authority as an army officer. As an officer, he could cause other soldiers to obey him by simply commanding them to do something. He recognized that Jesus also had authority and power to heal by only giving a command. Jesus was amazed that this Gentile trusted him so much. He said that the officer had more faith than any Jew whom he had met.
It is good to translate this section before you decide on a heading for it. Some other possible headings for this section are:
A Roman army officer shows great faith in Jesus
-or-
Jesus is amazed by the faith of a captain in the Roman army
-or-
The amazing faith of the centurion
There is a parallel passage for this section in Matthew 8:5–13.
Paragraph 7:1–5
7:1a
When Jesus had concluded His discourse in the hearing of the people: In 6:20–49 Jesus taught the people important things about how God wanted them to live. The verb concluded and the phrase in the hearing of the people indicate that Jesus completed saying important things to them. Other ways to say this are:
After Jesus told the people all these things
-or-
When Jesus had finished saying all these things to the people (Good News Translation)
-or-
After Jesus said everything that he wanted the people to hear
His discourse: The phrase His discourse refers to the sermon that Jesus had just preached in 6:20–49.
7:1b
He went to Capernaum: Jesus went into the town of Capernaum. The words went to probably imply that he was near the town when he gave the sermon in Luke 6. Use a verb that is natural in your language for coming into a town. For example:
he came into Capernaum
-or-
he went to Capernaum (Good News Translation)
Jesus had been in Capernaum previously (see 4:23b–d and 4:31a). So in some languages it may be necessary to translate this as:
he ⌊again⌋ entered Capernaum
-or-
he went ⌊back⌋ to Capernaum
-or-
he returned to Capernaum (New Living Translation (2004))
Capernaum: Capernaum was a town in the district of Galilee near the Lake of Galilee. See the notes on 4:23d and 4:31a.
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