Lukechapter 7
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Speaks with:Luke 7×8Matthew 11×6John 4×4Matthew 9×4Matthew 8×4Luke 1×4
Summary
Chapter summary
Centurion at Capernaum: 'I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.' Widow of Nain's son raised. Luke's unique resurrection miracle. John the Baptist's question and Jesus' answer. Woman anointing his feet in Simon the Pharisee's house: 'her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much.'
Context
Gospel · Luke — Luke overview
- A. 1–10 The Centurion Who Only Asked a Word
- B. 11–17 The Widow's Only Son Raised at Nain
- C. 18–35 John's Question and the Children in the Marketplace
- D. 36–50 The Sinful Woman Who Washed His Feet
The outline
A.The Centurion Who Only Asked a Wordvv. 1 to 10
Read vv. 1 to 10 →B.The Widow's Only Son Raised at Nainvv. 11 to 17
Read vv. 11 to 17 →C.John's Question and the Children in the Marketplacevv. 18 to 35
Read vv. 18 to 35 →D.The Sinful Woman Who Washed His Feetvv. 36 to 50
Read vv. 36 to 50 →
The world behind this chapter
Luke 7The history
The centurion at Capernaum had built the synagogue, and that is a recognisable role. Wealthy patrons across the Roman world funded public buildings for the communities they lived among and were honoured for it; synagogue inscriptions record such benefactors, sometimes Gentile ones. This officer was a sympathiser with the God of Israel who had put his money where his respect was.
His message about not being worthy for Jesus to come under his roof is also precise. A strict Jew entering a Gentile's house contracted ritual defilement, and the centurion knows it. He argues instead from his own world: I am a man under authority, with soldiers under me — say the word.
The scene at Nain is a funeral in progress. Burial happened the same day in that climate, and the body was carried out of the town on an open bier with a procession of mourners. Luke's detail that the dead man was the only son of a widow states her situation exactly: without a husband or a son she had no legal protector and no income.
The dinner at Simon's house depends on how such meals worked. Guests reclined on couches around a low table, propped on the left elbow with their feet extending away from it — which is how a woman standing behind could reach his feet. And a host owed an honoured guest three courtesies: water for the feet after a dusty road, a kiss of greeting, and oil for the head. Simon had skipped all three, and Jesus says so.
What it meant to them
Luke sets a Roman officer commended for faith beside a woman of the streets forgiven much, in the same chapter. For Theophilus that pairing was the argument: this movement's reach runs from the garrison to the gutter.
John's question from prison — are you the one, or should we look for another — is answered by a list of things happening rather than a claim. Luke, who told his reader he wrote so that he might know the certainty of these things, answers doubt the same way: look at the evidence.
Sources cited
- Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament
- Kenneth Bailey, Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes
The text of this chapter
This page carries no textual note on Luke 7. Where this site has examined a place the manuscripts differ, the examination is in the manuscripts room. Every place this site examines →
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.