Jesus' Authority and Example of Compassion

Introduction

For 45 sessions, we studied Jesus’ most famous and longest recorded discourse, The Sermon on the Mount. What we learned there proved to be invaluable lessons about the nature of the Kingdom of Heaven and its citizens. The Sermon no the Mount is so fundamental to understanding and living out Christianity that it has often been referred to Christian Basics, or Christianity 101, as if it were a fundamental college course.

When Jesus got done preaching this sermon, the people that heard it were absolutely astounded. Look at Matthew 7:28-29

Matthew 7:28–29 KJV 1900

28 And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: 29 For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

As Jesus taught, He claimed authority. If you will remember his last warning: “Those that hear my words and do not do them,” are words that indicate that He has the authority to tell us what to do. Not only that, but even earlier, in His authoritative statements like, “You have heard that it has been said, but I say unto you.” And once Jesus was done speaking, the people were amazed because He had taught with such authority.

We have discussed this before, a while back ago, but the Scribes and Pharisees did not teach like this. They always looked to someone else’s authority to stand on as they taught. Listen, for example, to this passage taken from later rabbinical writings to better understand how scribes and Pharisees often worded their teachings: "[I] Said Adda Mari, in the name of Rabbi Nahman bar Baruch, in the name of Rabbi Ashi bin Abin, in Rab Judah's name, [say] that a father's token for a son who yearns after the father is the token of phylacteries."

Contrast this to how Jesus often used the phrase, "But I say unto you."

So Jesus leaves the mountain, and people continue following Him, just amazed at both what He taught and how He taught it. Something that you might keep in mind, and maybe even write it in the margin of your Bible after these verses, is that throughout the rest of the Book of Matthew, Matthew makes it very plain that whether directly or indirectly, the underlying issue with the future controversies Jesus has with the religious leaders, is the issue of authority. So almost every time that we see Jesus being confronted by the religious leaders or being spoken about by the religious leaders, it has to do with the question of authority. And Jesus, being God in the flesh, has divine authority. Something that the majority of the religious leaders of the day could not, or would not, understand.

A Centurion’s Faith

We find ourselves now in Matthew chapter 8. The events that we will be covering today are found also in the book of Luke chapter 7, and we will be going back and forth from the two.

Matthew chapter 8 verse 1 tells us that as Jesus came down the mountain, he was followed by multitudes as He made His way to Capernaum. Capernaum had become Jesus’ headquarters for His ministry at this time and Jesus is headed back there. He has done several miracles already there in Capernaum, including healing a nobleman’s son. This nobleman was likely a Gentile of the court of Herod Antipas, the ruler over that region.

And as Jesus enters into Capernaum, he is met by a message. Matthew 8:5-9

Matthew 8:5–9 KJV 1900

5 And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, 6 And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. 7 And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. 8 The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. 9 For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.

Notice who comes to Jesus asking for a miracle. Jesus is approached by a centurion. This would have been a captain of 100 men in the army. This was a Roman term. This man that had come to seek a miracle was a Gentile. He asks that Jesus heal his servant boy, a boy that Matthew records is very dear to this centurion.

Notice also what ailment the boy has - palsy. He is paralyzed. Now, simple paralyzation does not generally come with a lot of suffering, but this boy is paralyzed and suffering ‘grievous’ torment. It is believed that this palsy was something that was a side effect of an illness like tetanus or lockjaw as this was not an uncommon thing to see in this area at that time.

Luke, who was a doctor, records a bit more about the boys condition in Luke 7:2

Luke 7:2 KJV 1900

2 And a certain centurion’s servant, who was dear unto him, was sick, and ready to die.

Notice Luke’s mention that this boy was close to death. A doctor once wrote this in studying the passage and the culture of the time: “In this instance we have probably a case of progressive paralysis, attended by muscular spasms, and involving the respiratory movements, where death is manifestly imminent and inevitable. In such a case there would be symptoms indicative of great distress, as well as immediate danger to life.”

So you have a Gentile man that comes to Jesus with a dire need and a request. I want to continue reading this story in the book of Luke for now as we will see something there that will give us a great insight into this centurion’s disposition.

Luke 7:3–7 KJV 1900

3 And when he heard of Jesus, he sent unto him the elders of the Jews, beseeching him that he would come and heal his servant. 4 And when they came to Jesus, they besought him instantly, saying, That he was worthy for whom he should do this: 5 For he loveth our nation, and he hath built us a synagogue. 6 Then Jesus went with them. And when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself: for I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof: 7 Wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee: but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed.

Note, first of all, that though Matthew records the part where the centurion comes to Jesus, he does not record the detail that before Jesus heads out to the centurion’s house, it is elders of the Jews in Capernaum that actually carry the message out to Jesus.

But in addition to the centurion’s request, they have a message of their own. They tell Jesus, “Jesus, this man, though a Gentile, is worthy of this. He loves our nation, he loves our people. In fact, he has shown that love so much that he built us a synagogue here in Capernaum.”

By the way, the ruins of this particular synagogue are till visible in Capernaum. It was made of beautiful white limestone. It is said to have been a beautiful structure, and it’s architectural features can be traced back to this time period, leaving little doubt that it indeed is the same synagogue that the centurion had built for the Jews there.

He evidently believed in and probably even worshipped God. But these Jewish elders point out that he is worthy to have this miracle performed for his servant because of the love he has shown to the Jews.

So Jesus goes with the Jews, presumable with a crowd still following Him, then the centurion sends friends of his to meet with Jesus with the message, “you don’t need to actually come to my house, just say the word, and I know that my servant will be healed.”

Look at verses 6-8

Luke 7:6–8 KJV 1900

6 Then Jesus went with them. And when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself: for I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof: 7 Wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee: but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed. 8 For I also am a man set under authority, having under me soldiers, and I say unto one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.

For chapters 5-7 of Matthew, Jesus gave His Sermon on the Mount. After it was done, the crowd was astounded at Jesus’ authority, but here, a Gentile centurion recognizes Jesus’ authority without ever meeting him, and most likely without ever hearing him speak.

No doubt, this same centurion had heard of the miracles of Jesus, and it is likely that he had heard of the nobleman’s son who had been healed by Jesus simply saying a word from afar.

If you will remember, a Gentile nobleman from Capernaum had approached Jesus when Jesus was still in Cana. The nobleman’s son was close to death, so the man begged Jesus to go with him to Capernaum to heal his son. Jesus’ response was to simply say, “Go back home; your son is healed.” When the nobleman was still on his way home, a servant of his met him halfway to let him know that his son had been healed.

We have read quite a few times as we have followed Jesus’ ministry that Jesus’ popularity and the news of these miracles spread like wildfire. It is, therefore, very likely that this centurion heard about this nobleman’s son’s healing. And because of it, he understands Jesus’ authority better than most of the Jews. He himself, being in a position of authority understands that every order given by him to those over whom he exercises that authority is obeyed. Being a soldier who is also under the authorities of his commanding officers, he understands what it means to fully and absolutely obey the authorities placed over him. He was familiar with the principles of obedience.

So he is confident that Jesus has authority over people’s health, and that with simply a word, as He had done before, Jesus could command this condition to be healed.

Look at Jesus’ response.

Jesus’ Response

We find Jesus’ response the same in both Matthew and Luke, and since we are already in Luke right now, we’ll go ahead and read what Luke recorded.

Luke 7:9–10 KJV 1900

9 When Jesus heard these things, he marvelled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. 10 And they that were sent, returning to the house, found the servant whole that had been sick.

For some reason, Luke leaves out the words that Jesus says concerning the healing of the servant, but we can read those in Matthew 8:13

Matthew 8:13 KJV 1900

13 And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.

But go back to Luke to see how Jesus described the centurion’s faith.

Luke 7:9 KJV 1900

9 When Jesus heard these things, he marvelled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.

Jesus describes the centurion’s faith as unique. Not in all of Israel, none of the descendants of Abraham had approached Jesus with such faith and confidence in His abilities or His authority. And the funny thing is that Jesus’ reaction was to be marveled. Jesus marveled at the centurion.

It may seem strange that Jesus is marveled at this, but Jesus, thought being all God, was also all man and had the capability of feeling the feelings of mankind. The funny thing is, that the Bible only mentions Jesus ever being marveled, shocked, on two occasions. This one, and one other time. This time, Jesus marvels at the Gentile centurion’s belief, but in Mark 6, Jesus marvels at his own people’s unbelief, when He was in Nazareth and could not do many miracles there because people did not believe in Him.

But I want to note one more thing here. Not about Jesus, but about the centurion once again.

The Centurion’s Humility

A lot gets mentioned about the centurion’s faith, and if Jesus commended it, then it is something commendable. But I want you to note some things that we have already read about the centurion. Notice the underlined words as we read through these passages again.

First, let’s look at what the Jews had to say about this man.

Luke 7:4 KJV 1900

4 And when they [the elders of Capernaum] came to Jesus, they besought him instantly, saying, That he was worthy for whom he should do this:

In the eyes of the Jews of Capernaum, this man was a proselyte, a convert from paganism to Judaism. And because of his love for the Jews and because he had built them a synagogue, they counted him worthy of receiving a miracle from Jesus.

But what was his attitude?

Matthew 8:8 KJV 1900

8 The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.

Luke 7:6 KJV 1900

6 Then Jesus went with them. And when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself: for I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof:

Luke 7:7 KJV 1900

7 Wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee: but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed.

This centurion, though it is unlikely that he had heard the Sermon on the Mount, was living out the very first beatitude - blessed are the poor in spirit. Notice also that this man, an important, wealthy, authoritative, and influential man, did not believe that anything that he had done or any synagogue that he had built made him one bit worthy to have Jesus in his home. This was no false humility. He doesn’t even see himself as worthy of being in Jesus’ presence, so he sends others to speak to Jesus on his behalf.

No doubt, having had close contact with the Jews, the centurion knew that the tradition said that Jews were not supposed to enter into the houses of Gentiles. Whatever he thought of this tradition that the Pharisees had taught, this centurion attributed to Jesus the highest level of sanctity and did not want to sully Jesus’ holiness by asking him to enter house. Because not only did this centurion have a humble view of himself, he had a properly high view of Jesus.

J.W. McGarvey stated that “The less faith we have, the less we esteem Jesus, and the more faith we have, the less we esteem ourselves. As Jesus rises, we sink in… our own estimation.”

Notice also Jesus words about the centurion’s faith. And for this we go back to Matthew 8:10-12

Matthew 8:10–12 KJV 1900

10 When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. 11 And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

This is almost a restatement of Matthew 7:21 “21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.”

It certainly is a restatement of the lesson learned there.

Jesus is turning to the crowd of mainly Jews that are following Him, and tells them something that is probably going to be astonishing to them now. “There are going to be a lot of people from the east and the west that sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven.” What does that mean?

Well, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are the three Patriarchs of the nation of Israel. Together, they represent all of Israel and the promises that God made unto the nation. But Jesus says, “There will be a lot of people from the east and west that join them.” This part is talking about Gentiles. Jesus is saying, there are going to be a lot of Gentiles that will be part of the Kingdom of God.”

Not only that, but Jesus further goes on to state that the children of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. Now, the phrase children of the kingdom does not mean children of God, nor does it mean citizens of the kingdom. Jesus is talking about descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jesus is talking about the Jews.

Too many of the Jews at Jesus’ time had been living off the faith of their ancestors, but never had any faith of their own. They had faith in the faith of the Patriarchs, they were confident in the relationship that the Patriarchs had had with God, but had no faith of their own in Him nor did they have any relationship with God. Many were like the Pharisees, depending on their family tree for salvation instead of depending the Savior who was right in front of them.

How do we know that they trusted in their lineage more than in God Himself? Look at the exchange that is recorded between some Pharisees and Jesus in John 8:31-44

John 8:31–44 KJV 1900

31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. 33 They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? 37 I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you. 38 I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father. 39 They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham. 40 But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. 41 Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God. 42 Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. 43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. 44a Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.

“If you were Abraham’s children [in the spiritual sense], you would love me,” Jesus said, “because I came from God, and Abraham loved God. But you don’t because your father is the devil.”

So Jesus tells the crowd following him

Matthew 8:12 KJV 1900

12 But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The Jews often spoke of the feast of the patriarchs that would happen one day in heaven with the Messiah, but they had forgotten that the Gentiles would share in that blessing. In fact, many had the attitude that only the Jews should be able to have that blessing.

But Jesus reminded them there that many Gentiles would be included in that feast, and many Jews who thought themselves worthy of that feast would find themselves outside. This is a representation of the lake of fire. Outside the feast was darkness. Outside the feast meant you were separated. And outside of the kingdom of heaven there is only a lake of fire.

Hell is absence from spiritual light and separation from the company of the saved and the Savior, but blessed, happy, happier than happy, are the poor in spirit - who understand that they are not worthy, but that Jesus wants to save them anyway.

So here we see Jesus’ authority believed and demonstrated in an act of humble faith from a centurion. This was yet another demonstration of Jesus’ authority to the masses. Can Jesus forgive sins? Does He have the right to make authoritative statements regarding the law? Does He have the authority to contradict and rebuke the religious leaders? The sign for that kind of authority, as dictated by the prophets, was the ability to perform miracles like healing the sick. And Jesus just demonstrated that He had authority in places where He was not even physically present. Something only God could do.

The next day, Jesus goes out of Capernaum into a city called Nain.

Luke 7:11–17 KJV 1900

11 And it came to pass the day after, that he went into a city called Nain; and many of his disciples went with him, and much people. 12 Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her. 13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not. 14 And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. 15 And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother. 16 And there came a fear on all: and they glorified God, saying, That a great prophet is risen up among us; and, That God hath visited his people. 17 And this rumour of him went forth throughout all Judaea, and throughout all the region round about.

A Grieving Mother

Once again, a multitude of people are following Jesus, this time, as He makes His way to the city of Nain.

Nain means beauty, but that particular day was anything but beautiful.

As Jesus and the multitude approach the gates, they encounter a funeral procession coming out of the city. The funeral was for a boy, the only son of a widow. This woman had suffered at one time the loss of her husband, and tragic as that may be, she was able to find comfort in her son.

But now, she has lost her only son. He only tie to her late husband. The only comfort she had experienced upon his passing. And this time, there is no one left to comfort her. Oh, yes, she was definitely accompanied by many in the town. So many people were there to offer their condolences and to support her, yet they could not even begin to help her state in the way that someone of her own house, of her own flesh and blood, could have.

As the procession passes by, the son’s body is being carried on a bier, stand on which a dead body is placed to transport to a tomb. Jesus looks at the procession, looks at the widow, who now stands childless and verse 13 says that He had compassion on her.

He looked at her and felt her pain, saw the great agony that she was in, and understood everyone of those tears. So Jesus approaches her, and tenderly tells her, “Weep not. Don’t cry.” Immediately, Jesus touches the bier and commands the boy saying, “Young man, I say unto you, ‘Arise.’”

And that is exactly what happened. The one who was dead, sat up and began to speak.

Once again, Jesus is seen by many to have done an amazing miracle. Yet this miracle here is not done to primarily show Jesus’ power. It was not done primarily to inspire word of His greatness. The motivation for this miracle was love. His motivation was to do good to someone who desperately needed something good in her life. The motivation was to bring beauty back to the life of a widow who had lived the most horrible days in a city named beauty.

Jesus then takes the boy and delivers him to his mother. In this last act, what death had stripped away, Jesus compassionately gives back.

In these two events that we have seen today, we see two separate motivations.

In the case of the centurion’s servant, of course Jesus was compassionate on him, but what Jesus demonstrated there was His complete authority and His willingness to respond to anyone who showed humility and faith in Him.

In the case of the widow of Nain, Jesus was moved solely by compassion. It is not accident that Jesus went on that specific day to that town. Jesus knew exactly what he would encounter as he approached this city. Not only that, but I want you to notice that no one asked Jesus to raise the boy from the dead. The procession didn’t stop when they encountered Jesus until He stopped them. Jesus went there simply to do good to someone else.

Application

So what do these things say to us?

Well there are a lot of things to learn from these two events.

From the centurion, we learn that when we approach the Lord, we must approach humbly, knowing that we do not deserve anything, and yet, at the same time, approach confidently, knowing that Jesus is capable of anything.

Our approach to Him should be in recognition of His authority, both to fulfill and to leave things unfulfilled. And this is what we learned in the Model Prayer as we were instructed to ask the Father for His will to be done.

But we can also learn from the example of Jesus. Jesus did not turn the centurion away on account that he was a Gentile. No, Jesus loved the Gentile and did good to him. It is a lesson that we have studied in various places throughout the sermon on the mount, to do good to others, even to our enemies. And at that time, Gentiles were looked upon as enemies by many Jews.

But there is another application in this story as well. It is yet another call to look inward and to self-evaluate our relationship with God. Many people that expect to be in the Kingdom of Heaven will not be let in because they never had a real relationship with God through faith in Jesus. And Jesus, according to what He tells us in Matthew 7, will look at them and say, “Depart from me you workers of iniquity; I never knew you.”

Are you a child of God? Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal savior? Is Jesus the Lord of your life and are you following Him?

Listen, I am not saying that we Christians don’t backslide at times, or that we don’t mess up and stray, but if you look back at the day you got saved and there was no desire or intent to follow Jesus, to submit fully to Him, then your faith is dead doornail.

If you look back at your life and you cannot see a desire to allow the Lord to control you and to submit to Jesus, then you need to have a long conversation with the Lord about the state of your soul. Don’t let that day come when you meet the Lord, and instead of Him receiving you saying, “Well done, my good and faithful servant,” you instead hear the words, “I never knew you.”

If you are saved and sure of it, I hope you that you and I will learn the application of the story of the widow of Nain. We ought to be moved by compassion. But we will never be moved by compassion unless we first take our eyes off of ourselves, our own wants, our own troubles, and our own dislikes, and set our eyes on others.

Too often we get caught up whining and complaining about the dumbest, pettiest things, when there are others that could benefit from our compassion.

Invitation

Life Groups

What has God been doing in your life throughout this last week? What is God doing in your life now?

What, if anything, stood out to you from this sermon? Are there any questions or concerns?

In what ways can we demonstrate humility in our approach to God, similar to the centurion?

What steps can we take to ensure our faith is genuine and not based solely on our heritage or past experiences?

How can we recognize and address spiritual pride in ourselves, as opposed to the humility displayed by the centurion?

How can we cultivate a sense of urgency in bringing our needs and the needs of others before God?

How does the story of the centurion challenge our understanding of who is worthy of God’s grace?

How can the example of Jesus showing compassion to the widow impact the way we treat others in distress?

How does Jesus response to the funeral procession give us an example of how we are supposed to treat others?

What distracts you most often from seeing the needs of others?

In what ways can we actively seek to show compassion to those around us who are suffering this week?