Jesus is the Authority Over His Body

ME (A hook):

Parents, I know you all have had that moment,

Where you tell your child to do something,

And they say,

“In a minute!”

I know you have all had that moment,

Because we have all been that child.

I was the king of “in a minute!” as a kid.

I would be in the middle of playing a game,

And my parents would ask me to take out the trash.

But to me,

I was in the middle of something more important.

I needed to get to the next level in the game,

Or finish the round I was on.

So, I would say,

“In a minute!”

And they would always say back to me,

“You can always pause it and come back to it.”

And they were right,

I couldn’t argue.

So, I would pause,

Release my air brake-

SIGHHHHHH,

Then make sure to walk nice and loud.

You know,

Just so they knew I was taking the trash out like they asked.

But once Xbox Live was invented,

I thought I had the upper hand!

They would tell me to pause it,

And I would say with a smirk,

“You can’t pause it!

If I leave,

My character will die!”

I thought I had them!

Until they said,

“Well, you better hurry then so that you get back before your character dies.”

To which,

I would release my air brake again,

SIGHHHHH,

Then I became the trash flash,

To try and get back before my character died.

You see,

When we say,

“In a minute!”

It’s not as if we are unwilling to obey.

Its just that the thing that I am in the middle of doing is more important to me,

It is more pressing than what is being asked of me.

So, we don’t want things in that moment to change,

At least, not yet.

So, when we decide we are ready,

Then we will obey.

And it is not just that the things we perceive as more pressing are unimportant.

We are not always just playing games.

Sometimes, we are in the middle of homework,

When a parent says to take out the trash.

So, we have to also be willing to walk away from important things to obey.

This responsibility to obey comes from the intrinsic authority parents have over children.

But because parents are sinful humans,

They do not hold absolute authority.

There is only One who has absolute authority,

Jesus Christ.

This means in the context of the Body,

Christ is The Authority Over the Body.

This stems from His authority displayed in Matthew 8,

Where Jesus says to follow Him,

And teaches that saying,

“In a minute!” is not an option for His members.

Slide

Our outline for Matt. 8 is,

Authority Over the Curse (Matt. 8:1-17)

Authority Over Creation (Matt. 8:18-27)

Authority Over the Enemy (Matt. 8:28-34)

Trust, obey, rest, and rejoice in Christ’s absolute authority.

Last week, we saw Christ’s authoritative words in His Sermon on the Mount.

WE: Authority Over the Curse (Why does this matter to us?):

When He finished preaching,

Ch. 7 ended by saying that the crowds were astonished at His teaching,

Because He was teaching as One Who had authority.

This morning, Jesus’ authority is seen in action,

As He rules over sickness, nature, demons, and death.

So, after the sermon ends,

Ch. 8 begins with Jesus coming down from the mountain,

And these large crowds following Him.

Slide

Then right away,

A leper comes up to Jesus in vs. 2,

Immediately recognizing His authority,

By kneeling before Him,

And calling Him Lord.

A leper in the Bible refers to a person who could have a variety of skin diseases.

The modern day diagnosis is called Hansen’s disease.

But this could have been something as simple as a fungal infection.

The issue with being a leper in this context,

Was because the law deemed lepers permanently unclean,

Requiring them to be isolated from society.

And anyone who touched a leper was also made unclean.

But notice what happens here.

The leper clearly believed Jesus was more than a mere man.

He confidently asks Jesus to make him clean.

Trusting that Jesus could heal his condition.

Something that only God was able to do.

In response,

Jesus reaches out His hand in vs. 3,

And touches the leper,

Then commands the leper to be clean.

Jesus could have spoken and this man would be healed.

But He boldly touches the untouchable,

He compassionately makes a human connection with this man who had been banished from this type of connection.

When He does,

Jesus takes the leper’s uncleanness upon Himself.

But instead of Jesus being made unclean.

The man’s leprosy is immediately gone.

How?

Simple.

Jesus healed him.

He was now clean!

So, Jesus instructs him to go to the priest,

And show that he fulfills the requirements of the law,

And can now return to his Jewish society, customs, and worship.

Slide

The next miracle take place when Jesus’ arrives in Capernaum in vs. 5.

It says, a centurion comes to Him,

Appealing to Him.

Now, what is a centurion exactly?

He is a Roman military officer,

Who was in charge of a fleet of 100 troops,

Hence the name cent-urion.

And, as our passage makes clear,

He has a servant at home.

But the word used for servant is also the word for child.

So, it has been theorized that this servant may actually be the centurion’s child.

Therefore, this centurion comes to Jesus,

Because his servant is suffering in terrible agony,

Paralyzed by a disease.

It is unbearable,

Like torture!

Leaving the centurion helpless.

So, he comes to Jesus to request help.

Jesus responds saying He will come and heal the servant.

A Jew willing to enter the home of this Gentile?

This is shocking!

The Jewish law banned Jews from entering the home of a Gentile.

The centurion has likely been in Israel for some time,

He would be aware of this law.

This Jesus is unlike any of the Jewish leaders he has seen before.

He recognizes Jesus’ authority,

What is even more incredible,

Is that he recognizes how unworthy he is in comparison.

But he trusts in Christ’s absolute authority.

Slide

Look at what he says to Jesus in vs. 8,

“Lord,”

A recognition of Christ’s authority,

“I am not worthy to have you come under my roof,”

He is declaring that despite his status as a Roman centurion,

He has no authority over Jesus.

Then, we see his trust.

He says,

“Just say the word, and my servant will be healed,”

He can do nothing to heal his servant,

But he has faith that Jesus can.

He is confident that Jesus had the authority to say the word,

And his servant would be healed.

Look in vs. 9,

At how the centurion compares his authority to command soldiers,

As the equivalent of Jesus’ ability to command diseases.

Just as this centurion tells a soldier to come or go,

And the soldier comes or goes.

Jesus has the authority to tell diseases,

Paralysis,

To go, and they go.

Because Jesus has absolute authority!

Slide

And the centurion trusts in Jesus’ absolute authority!

Imagine having faith so pronounced,

That it causes Jesus to marvel.

That is what vs. 10 says about the centurion’s faith.

Jesus was amazed.

So, He turns to the large crowds that are still following Him,

And says He has not found anyone in Israel,

Anyone among all the Jews,

With so great a faith as this Roman!

The OT prophesied that Israel would be hardened toward God,

So, God would extend His salvation to the Gentiles.

That is what Jesus is explaining in vs. 11.

Alluding to Isaiah 25,

A prophecy about this messianic banquet.

A table where the fathers of Israel,

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,

Are gathered with all of God’s people.

And when Jesus says many will come from the east and the west.

He is saying, many Gentiles will come.

And here, Jesus does not just point to any Gentile,

He says this man, will come!

This Roman!

This centurion!

This military leader will be there!

The Jews think,

He is the enemy!

He is their oppressor!

And Jesus is saying that he will be at the table!

He is a child of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob!

On what basis should he be allowed to the banquet?

These Jews,

They are pursuing righteousness by their works,

By their zealous obedience to the law,

And yet,

They are the ones who are becoming hardened toward God.

But this centurion,

This Gentile,

Knows he is not worthy!

So, instead,

He seeks God’s grace through faith.

And he obtains God’s grace through faith.

He is invited to recline at the table.

He is invited into the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus teaches that the kingdom is open to anyone who puts their faith in Him.

Anyone who trusts His absolute authority.

But if we don’t.

Jesus continues in vs. 12,

We are thrown into the outer darkness,

Into the place where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth,

Into a place of grief and despair and suffering.

Into the anguish of eternal damnation.

Slide

After giving this warning,

Jesus turns back to the centurion in vs. 13,

And tells him to go back to his servant.

Saying,

“Because you have trusted in my absolute authority,

Because you had faith in my authority over this disease,

You will return to the child and find him healed!”

At that very moment,

The child was healed!

Slide

After a long day of teaching and performing miracles,

Jesus returns to Peter’s house.

But instead of kicking His feet up after all that work,

He finds Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever.

So, just like He did with the leper,

Jesus reaches out and touches her,

Immediately, her fever is gone.

We know this for certain.

Because she is able to immediately get up and begin serving Jesus.

But He is still not done,

Many others were being cared for and healed by Jesus.

He was driving out spirits,

And He was healing all who were sick,

All by His absolute authority.

Slide

Then, Matthew explains in vs. 17,

How Jesus was doing all this to fulfill Isaiah 53:5.

This connects how these miraculous healings are very personal to us.

Like the leper,

Like the centurion and his servant,

Like Peter’s mother-in-law,

We all struggle,

We get sick,

We are familiar with diseases and suffering.

One shocking estimate I found comes from the National Cancer Institute,

They estimate that 50% of US born Americans will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their life!

But its not even just cancer or diseases,

There are a variety of natural disasters that rock different parts of the world;

Tornadoes, tsunamis, floods, hurricanes, wild fires, and earthquakes cause incredible devastation!

So, we are all familiar with these struggles,

By why do they happen?

Why do people we know and love get sick?

Why do our bodies age?

Why do we lose people we love?

The Bible says all suffering in the world ultimately goes back to sin.

Going back to the very first human beings,

Genesis 3 says suffering entered the world as a consequence of their initial sin.

Now, we live in a world cursed with disease, disaster and death.

And as a result,

We all suffer and eventually die.

This is life in a cursed world.

Just like the leper and the centurion were living in a cursed world.

So, Matthew’s point is saying that Jesus is the One who Isaiah prophesied about,

Is to teach us that Jesus takes our illnesses,

Jesus carries our diseases,

Jesus bears the curse of sin for us.

And He does so,

By sacrificing His life to pay the penalty for our sin on the cross.

Slide (Isaiah 53:3-6)

Jesus came to address the root problem,

Which is sin.

As Isaiah says it,

Jesus was pierced for our rebellion.

He bore the punishment for the iniquity of us all.

He gave His life to pay the price for our sin,

Freeing us from the curse of sin.

But because Jesus did not stay dead.

He demonstrates His authority over death.

When we understand this,

It is only logical to conclude that Jesus has authority over us as well.

Friends,

We must have faith like the leper,

Faith like the centurion,

Faith like all these people who are coming to Jesus,

Understanding that we are not worthy,

We are sinful and weak,

We are helpless against this curse,

But we trust that Jesus has authority over disease, disaster, and death,

He has authority over the curse,

To remove the curse of sin,

And heal us all!

Slide

He promises in Rev. 21:4,

That...

Revelation 21:4 ESV

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

So, friends, trust in His authority over the curse!

GOD: Authority Over Creation (Teach the text):

Slide

But it is also important we understand,

Just because Jesus has the authority over the curse,

Does not mean He makes life in this world a cake walk.

In fact,

He teaches in vs. 18-22 that it is just the opposite.

For the members of His body,

There is a cost to following Christ in this life.

Jesus demands a radical commitment from His members.

In vs. 18,

Jesus recognizes how large the crowd around Him has become.

So, He begins to give hard teachings.

Because He wants us to understand,

Following Him is not just about the miraculous healings.

So, when this scribe comes up to Him in vs. 19 and says,

“I will follow you wherever you go.”

Jesus says,

Animals have a home in this world,

But not Christ.

This world is not His home.

Thus following Christ means you will never be home in this world.

Later in the Bible,

Peter describes Christ’s members as exiles in this world.

Being a member of Christ’s body involves sacrifice.

But Jesus is worthy of this sacrifice.

Because He is, as vs. 20 says,

The Son of Man.

We don’t know how this scribe responds,

Slide

Because immediately,

In vs. 21,

Another disciple pipes up and is like,

“Yea, I’ll follow you...”

“In a minute!”

“Let me just go and bury my father first.”

Seems reasonable, right?

I mean, he is not asking Jesus to finish playing a game.

He wants to honor his father.

But Jesus’ response seems harsh,

He simply says,

“Follow Me.”

Why?

Although honoring one’s father is important.

There is no higher priority to following Jesus.

Our obligation to God supersedes all other obligations,

Even good and important ones.

So, when Jesus says,

“Follow Me.”

If you say,

“In a minute,”

For any reason,

You are placing something as a higher priority than Christ.

And it does not matter what your reason it.

It could be anything.

“Jesus, I will follow you,”

“But first, let me just...

Get married,

Or let me just...

Graduate,

Or let me just...

Start a family,

Or let me just...

Get a reliable car

Or let me just...

Get a bigger home

Or let me just...

Get this much money in my savings account,

Or let me just...

Retire.

Or even let me just...

Get this sin cleaned up first.

It could be anything.

And most of the time,

It is likely something good you want to do first.

For this disciple,

Burying one’s father is obviously a good thing.

But Jesus says,

“No matter what,”

“Follow me!”

“And let the dead bury the dead.”

If you say to Jesus,

“In a minute!”

Jesus is saying,

You are not a disciple,

You are among the dead.

Your life in this world is a facade.

You are toiling away with whatever you told Jesus,

“In a minute,” for,

Until you die.

Jesus demands a greater allegiance to Himself from His members.

Greater than anything else!

Even good things like honoring a parent.

Because no matter what it is,

If you feel the need to do anything before following Christ,

Then your allegiance to that thing is greater than your allegiance to Christ.

When Jesus speaks,

Leprosy obeys,

Paralysis obeys,

Fever obeys,

So, the question is,

Will you obey?

Remember, Jesus said He is the Son of Man.

This goes back to Dan. 7:13-14,

Slide

The Son of Man,

Daniel says,

Was given dominion and glory and a kingdom,

That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him.

His dominion is an everlasting dominion.

His Kingdom is indestructible.

That is the authority of the Son of Man.

And Jesus says,

“Yea, that’s me!”

So, He has the authority to demand our highest allegiance.

He has the authority to say,

“Follow Me!”

And when you say,

“In a minute!”

You are telling the One who has everlasting dominion,

Eternal glory,

And an indestructible Kingdom.

The One whom all peoples, nations, and languages serve,

That you have something more important to do.

Christ has absolute authority,

Obey Him!

Slide

Notice the intentional language in vs. 23.

Jesus said,

“Follow Me,” in vs. 22,

Now, Matthew says the disciples followed Him when he got into a boat.

Then, while on the boat,

A violent,

Earthquake like storm,

Suddenly arose.

It was a wild and chaotic boat ride!

But Jesus was sleeping through it!

In a panic,

The disciples wake Jesus up,

And cry,

“Help us! We’re gonna die!”

Slide

Jesus just taught about His absolute authority over humanity as the Son of Man,

Now, He displays His authority over all of creation,

By rebuking the winds and the sea,

To calm a violent storm.

The disciples were dismayed,

They went from panic and terror,

To awe in wonder.

Asking, who has authority over the winds and sea?

Who has absolute authority over creation?

Only God.

So, they are in awe and wonder,

Because God is in the boat with them!

The authority that belongs to God belongs to Jesus.

He has absolute authority.

So, rest in His absolute authority.

Now, one quick note,

This story is not a promise that Jesus is just going to immediately end all the storms in your life.

Your disease may not go away,

Your struggling marriage may not suddenly get fixed,

Your desire to get into the school you want may not happen.

Even as a member of Christ’s body,

Your hope cannot be that these storms will end soon.

Rather, your hope must be that in the midst of these storms,

You are not alone!

God is with you in the storm!

Faith is not hoping that nothing bad ever happens to you.

Faith is assurance that no matter how strong the wind,

No matter how big the waves,

The God of the universe is right there in the boat with you!

So, rest in His power, His presence, and His authority to get your through it!

Brothers and sisters,

You are never alone,

And you are ultimately safe in the presence of Christ.

Rest in His absolute authority.

YOU (Response):

Slide

Christ’s absolute authority over the enemy is on display in vs. 28-32.

Jesus enters into a Gentile region,

Where two demon-possessed men come to Him.

These men are described as extremely violent.

And they know Who Jesus is.

The disciples struggled to recognize Jesus as the Son of Man.

But in vs. 29,

The demons declare that Jesus is the Son of God!

Jesus was first declared as God’s Son when He was baptized,

Then Satan acknowledged Jesus as the Son of God in ch. 4,

And now demons reiterate this truth once again,

Asking Jesus if He came to torment them before the time.

Before the time?

What are they talking about?

They are talking about the time when Jesus will judge and punish them.

At first glance,

They seem to have a legitimate complaint.

They seem to understand that they have a certain amount of time to roam the earth causing destruction and wreaking havoc.

Now that Jesus, the Son of God, is here,

They think He is cutting their time short.

But they are mistaken.

The day of judgment has not yet come.

But Jesus does demonstrate how His presence already breaks the power of darkness.

Slide

Quick not about demons.

They are real, supernatural and unclean beings who wreak havoc among humankind.

Sometimes they possess human beings,

Other times,

They influence human activities in negative and harmful ways.

This is their purpose.

Throughout the Gospels,

They cause physical violence, muteness, blindness, torment, and sickness.

When they possess a person,

They cause self-destructive and isolating behavior,

Insanity, sudden outbursts, convulsions, crying out, grinding teeth, foaming at the mouth, and stiffness.

Like their leader,

Satan, the prince of demons,

They are enemies of God.

But they clearly recognize that Jesus is the Son of God.

So, when Jesus shows up,

He begins throwing out Satan’s servants,

Signifying that God’s Kingdom has arrived!

Slide

So, they know they are no longer able to continue the destructive and violent work in these two men.

All they can do is beg and plead with Jesus to send them into the large herd of pigs nearby,

Instead of banishing them to the abyss.

Jesus grants them their wish,

And simply commands them to go!

Immediately, they are cast out of the people,

And into the pigs,

Where their murderous nature was made clear,

By the senseless destruction of the pigs,

Who rushed off the bank,

Into the sea,

And drowned to their death.

If you want to get an idea of what Satan’s purpose for the world is,

This is it!

This is exactly what he wants to do to us all!

He wants to destroy us!

But what we see is that Jesus casts out demons by His absolute authority!

The demons are rightfully afraid because of their belief in Christ’s absolute authority.

Sadly, we are often afraid because of our unbelief in Christ’s absolute authority.

This is what Jesus asked His disciples back in vs. 26.

“Why are you afraid,

You of little faith?”

Jesus has absolute authority over everything in this world.

Imagine being able to walk into a doctors appointment with no fear of the results.

Imagine seeing the storm cloud moving toward you and not being anxious about the damage it might cause.

When you are tempted to worry,

You must remember Christ’s absolute authority.

He is the Son of God!

He has absolute authority over disease, disaster, demons, and death.

So, rejoice in His absolute authority!

Brothers and sisters,

We are the most secure people in the world.

Because our security is not based on how big our house is,

How good our job is,

How stable the economy is,

Or what political party is in office.

We are secure,

Because we are in the hands of the One who has absolute authority,

And He loves us,

And cares for us!

Rejoice in Christ’s absolute authority!

Slide

In our passage this morning,

We see several responses to the absolute authority of Jesus.

I would like to contrast two other responses from outside the Bible.

The first comes from Pastor James Montgomery Boice.

After he received a cancer diagnosis,

He shared this with his congregation about how they should pray for him:

“Should you pray for a miracle? Well, you’re free to do that, of course. My general impression is that the God who is able to do miracles—and he certainly can—is able to keep you from getting the problem in the first place. So although miracles do happen, they’re rare by definition. A miracle has to be an unusual thing. Above all, I would say pray for the glory of God. If you think of God glorifying himself in history and you say, where in all of history has God most glorified himself? He did it at the cross of Jesus Christ, and it wasn’t by delivering Jesus from the cross, though he could have. Jesus said, ‘Don’t you think I could call down from my Father ten legions of angels for my defense?’ But he didn’t do that. And yet that’s where God is most glorified. God is in charge. When things like this come into our lives, they are not accidental. It’s not as if God somehow forgot what was going on, and something bad slipped by. God is not only the one who is in charge; God is also good. Everything he does is good.”

This is a testimony of what it means to trust, obey, rest, and rejoice in Christ’s absolute authority.

We must respond to Christ’s absolute authority in the same way.

8 weeks after Pastor Boice shared this,

He died from cancer.

Although Christ had the absolutely authority to heal him of his cancer,

He trusted, obeyed, rested, and rejoiced in Christ’s will for him,

Even though Christ’s will was for him to die.

This response stands in stark contrast against the prosperity gospel that plagues many churches in our country today.

Some have mistakenly believed that God’s will is for Christians to be healthy, wealthy, and prosperous in this world.

Others have intentionally taught this lie.

One of the most prominent teachers of this lie is Joel Osteen,

Here is an example of a response that is the exact opposite of Pastor Boice’s.

Slide

Osteen writes in his book, Becoming a Better You,

“Maybe Alzheimer’s disease runs in your family genes, but don’t succumb to it. Instead, say every day, ‘My mind is alert. I have clarity of thought. I have a good memory. Every cell in my body is increasing and getting healthier.’ If you’ll rise up in your authority, you can be the one to put a stop to the negative things in your family line.”

Osteen is not the only one peddling this unbiblical teaching.

People flock to hear health, wealth, and prosperity teachers,

They are selling books like this by the millions.

But if God dealt with our sin problem through the death of His Son,

Does that mean His will is for us to no longer experience pain, sickness, and suffering?

Absolutely not!

Christ’s miracles give us a picture of what the fulfillment of Christ’s Kingdom will be like.

But that time has not yet come.

Until it does,

We live in a world of disease, disaster, and death.

And Jesus teaches that following Him in this world,

Will lead to suffering, betrayal, hatred, and persecution.

This teaching is all throughout the NT.

Phil. 1:29 says not to only believe in Christ, but to suffer for Him,

Slide

And...

2 Corinthians 4:8–10 ESV

We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.

We could list many other verses that teach this theme of suffering.

But let’s just simply say,

The Bible does not teach that following Jesus keeps you from getting sick.

But it does teach that Jesus has overcome the root of suffering, sin.

He paid the price to conquer sin.

So, you don’t have to be afraid of cancer or Alzheimer’s or a tornado or earthquake.

This world is decaying,

And it will continue to decay until the day comes when Christ returns to fully remove the consequence of sin.

As we wait,

We do not run from suffering,

Slide

The Bible says we rejoice in suffering.

Romans 5:3–5 ESV

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

The sufferings of this present world don’t compare to the glory that is to be revealed.

Our momentary affliction is light,

And is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory.

WE (Paint a picture of the future):

Slide

That is what we look toward with great anticipation!

Disease, disasters, sin, and death will be no more.

We will no longer be tormented by the curse of sin.

And all this is possible because of what Jesus has done on the cross.

So, trust, obey, rest, and rejoice in the absolute authority of Christ!

Pray.