Matthew 8:5-13, Humility and Faith

Psalm 16:8 “I have set the Lord always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.”

Introduction....

You can look on google and can any recipe that you want. It will tell you every ingredient that is needed and will also tell you which store to get the stuff at....

well the bible is our recipe for a good life in the land of the dying and also in the land of living....TALK, PREACH...

but some reason, mankind refuses to follow the recipe as laid out for us and things do not turn out right...

but as we continue our series on Jesus can fix it, the story today shows us two key ingredients that is a must..

but we still do not do it the way God has laid it out for us....

we say we have faith, but let the ground tremble a little...

let the clouds hang low in our life

let the storms start raging...

O’ ye of little faith...

and some folks can quote Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” very well...

but they don’t live it...

but the bible has shown us time and time again, how big of a factor our faith is...

let me call the roll…come here

abraham...

moses....

3 hebrew boys...

daniel...

woman with the issue of blood...

Peter...

TALK, PREACH....

we know we should humble ourselves but submitting to another’s will is hard for us to do...

now God I know you said I should forgive them but i still remember

you want me to love who??

TALK, PREACH.....

what you need to understand is that you are not humbling yourself to that person but to the will of God....

i know that i am not better than anyone else and i know that no one is better than me…in the eyesight of God...

I heard what he said over in Isaiah 64:6 “But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.”

and in Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

so we are all the same but man has put labels on everything…but that doesn’t bother me…my eyes are open

i know that person that is living on the street has just as much right to heaven as i do and you too...

i know those billionares can bust hell wide open just like anyone else...

stay humble and keep your faith at 100 and watch our Saviour, fix it...

History...

So Christ has finished with His sermon on the mount. And here in this 1st verse of the chapter it says as Jesus came down from the mountain...

a great multitude followed, some desperatly seeking Him and some nosey

but first we see a leper come asking for healing and Jesus heals him

and Jesus continues to walk and as we begin our text it says he came into Capernaum...

Capernaum was a key city in Jesus’ ministry because it was a main trading location.

Since the town sits on the Sea of Galilee, it has always been a fishing community where many would come to trade or travel through. This gave Jesus a strategic location in spreading His message of hope through the variety of people who He would encounter.

Five of Jesus’ Disciples were from Capernaum: Peter, Andrew, James, John, and Matthew.

a good Jewish city however it was still under control from the Romans

Romans that thought they were better than the Jews. and treated them as such

but we see a centurion coming up to Jesus..

centurion, a officer who commanded a unit of 100 legionaries in the Roman army..

so i am sure he had either abused or disrespected some Jews in his time but we see him seeking out Jesus, looking for something...

the centurion was showing humility and faith in a Jew while seeking help for his servant, whom lay at home sick...

now this was done in view of other Jews and probably roman soldiers and could have cost the centurion some respect from those people..

however when you know who Christ is and what He can do it doesn’t matter who is around…TALK,PREACH...

and what we should take away from here today, Just like the centurion, we are gentiles, adopted into the family of God through Jesus Christ and we truly know christ, we should stay humble and faith and follow Christ 100% and watch how He fixes our lives...

Lets go deeper...

Points...

humility and faith, 2 key indegridents in our spiritual life. in our walk with Christ...

the roman centurion showed both of these characteristics in his interaction with Jesus..

Humility..

Matthew 8:5 “Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him,”

he was begging a Jew for help

Matthew 8:6 “saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.””

he called him Lord

Matthew 8:8 “The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.”

declared himself unworthy to a Jew...

talk about humbling...

He was a gentile and a roman officer, yet he came to a jew for help. Approaching a jew was socially unacceptable and unheard of for a gentile and especially a roman officer. Jesus understand that the centurion had great courage and humility to approach Him for help.

The Roman Empire was primarily a polytheistic civilization, which meant that people recognized and worshiped multiple gods and goddess.

he could have prayed to one those gods for help but he humbled himself and went to the true Living God in the form of Jesus..

TALK,PREACH.......

Matthew 23:12 “And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

the centurion didn’t put himself up on a pedastal...

he described himself to Jesus in v9 but it is what he said before…I am not worthy..

he recognized his sins....humility...

even though Jesus said he would go.. i am not worthy...

Lexham Context Commentary: New Testament The Centurion’s Servant Is Healed (8:5–13)

The centurion again addresses Jesus as “Lord” and indicates that he is unworthy to have the Lord under his roof.

most Jews believed that a Gentile home was not worthy of them, and the centurion supposed that a great rabbi and teacher like Jesus would consider his home unworthy.

TALK, PREACH......(i am not worthy…)

Faith...

The New King James Version Chapter 8

But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed

The centurion fully understood that Jesus’ healing power was not some sort of magic trick that required the magician’s presence. Instead he knew Jesus had true authority, and could command things to be done and completed outside His immediate presence.

The centurion showed great faith in Jesus’ word. He understood that Jesus can heal with His word just as easily as with a touch.

Lexham Context Commentary: New Testament The Centurion’s Servant Is Healed (8:5–13)

The centurion explains his faith that Jesus can heal simply with his word. He uses his own authority over soldiers as an analogy. In the same way that he as a centurion can simply issue orders and soldiers will comply, so too he is sure that Jesus can simply issue the word and it will be done

Matthew A. The King’s Authority over Illness (8:1–17)

Jesus was not above surprise. He had been looking for genuine faith throughout his ministry, and here he found it, of all places, in the heart of a Gentile!

when you know without a shadow of doubt that Jesus can....TALK, PREACH.....

after Jesus teaches the crowd about faith in v10, 11, 12

he turns to the centurion and tells him that his servant is well...

Conclusion..

in order for Christ to fix it we need these same characterstics as the centurion…HUMILITY AND TRUE FAITH...

Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary on the Bible Chapter 8

The servant got a cure of his disease, and the master got the approval of his faith. What was said to him, is said to all, Believe, and ye shall receive; only believe. See the power of Christ, and the power of faith. The healing of our souls is at once the effect and evidence of our interest in the blood of Christ.

we must confess with our mouths and truly believe...

that if we humble ourselves and just have faith the size of a mustard..

we can move mountains

we can change the world..

we can get healed...

and its all thru Jesus Christ...

TALK, PREACH, CLOSE...