(Kind of like the schoolyard approach to asking a girl out: a low-key initial approach via his friends, to find out if there’s any interest. Instead of approaching a stranger directly, you’d find someone who was “in” with them whom you knew, and get them to ask on your behalf. In fact, this asking-for-a-favour-by-proxy was quite common. But we’ll look at that parable later this year.) (The dishonest manager in Luke 16:1-9 is setting himself up for this kind of role once he’s sacked by his master. Social scientists call this kind of middle-man-patron a “broker.” They’d fix you up with the person you needed. You might not know someone who had what you wanted, but you knew someone who did. (Jesus refers to this in Luke 22:25.) As long as everyone did their bit – benefactors kept doing favours and clients kept being appropriately grateful – the system worked. In return, they were honoured by the town. The wealthy became benefactors to entire towns by funding public buildings or supplying the food and wine for public festivals. This didn’t just exist at the individual level. And you’d be their “client,” who was expected to publicly honour them, proclaim loudly their generosity, perform small acts of service for them, and above all, be unswervingly loyal to them. If this arrangement was ongoing, they’d become your “benefactor” or “patron” (from the Latin word for “father”). But for other things – like luxury goods, imported building materials, credit, advice, political appointments, you name it – it was all about whether you knew someone who could get it for you as a favour. For the basics of life, you either grew it yourself, made it yourself, or bought it from the marketplace. What’s patronage? It was the way things got done in the ancient world. My students do.) Because the story shows how the system of patronage plays out in real life. (It’s one of my favourite illustrations of the importance of cultural background, so indulge me. What is it about this guy that amazes Jesus? (Remember, most of the time in the gospels Jesus is the object of amazement, not the subject.) Let’s work through the story to find out.Īlthough we need a little bit of cultural background first, which I think makes this story come alive.
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And the first story in the chapter is about Jesus doing a favour for a Roman centurion, whose faith Jesus commends in the strongest possible terms: 7:9 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.”
Centurions faith series#
Today we begin a series in Luke chapter 7.
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