The Purpose of the People of God - 8:5-13
The Purpose of the People of God - Matthew • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 47:03
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The Purpose of the People of God
The Purpose of the People of God
Validation of Jesus’ Ministry - 8:1-17
Today, two themes converge in a single passage.
The first is Faith and Forgiveness
8:1-4 - Last week we dealt with the healing of the leper and his re-designation as purposeful in the covenant.
The means of this restoration is provided by faith
2 And behold, having drawn near, a leper worshipped Him saying, “If you are willing, you are able to make me clean.”
We will see this again today as the centurion is described as one of “great faith”
The second is Authority
We’re going to see a repeated progression in this passage of being “under” something.
Roof
Authority
Soldiers
It is also the expression of the centurion’s faith
With this in the back of our minds, lets turn to our text.
5 And when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, 6 and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented.”
7 And Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 8 But the centurion said, “Lord, I am not good enough for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed.
9 “For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this man, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”
10 Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who were following, “Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel.
11 “And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; 12 but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
13 And Jesus said to the centurion, “Go; it shall be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed that very moment.
Let’s Pray
5 And when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him,
Setting the scene, we have a minor shift in the story.
New Place
Introduction of a New Character
6 and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented.”
5 And when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, 6 and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented.”
urging Him and saying (redundant words)
Dialogue is important
6 and saying, “Lord, my child is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented.”
“my servant” - the literal is my boy or my child, so I’m inclined to believe this is the child of the centurion, not a servant.
“fearfully tormented” or terribly battered.
Jesus comes walking on the sea
Matthew 14:24 “24 But the boat was already many stadia away from the land, being battered by the waves; for the wind was against them.”
7 And Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”
What do we see here, Jesus is willing
Consistent with last week
3 And Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
Let’s look at the response of the Centurion
8 But the centurion said, “Lord, I am not good enough for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my child will be healed. 9 “For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this man, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”
Child—Servant
Here we get the “authority structure” portrayed.
8 But the centurion said, “Lord, I am not good enough for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my child will be healed. 9 “For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this man, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”
Under, Under, Under
So, what does the centurion recognize about Jesus here?
At a minimum he recognizes Jesus authority over paralysis.
Though this is a physical healing, the centurion doesn’t recognize it as limited in physical presence. There is something spiritual at play here.
It is in this thought that the centurion recognizes that he is not worthy to have Jesus come under his roof.
What an appropriate reverence of the son.
What is our reverence for God, for His Son, for the Holy Spirit?
Let’s look at Jesus’ response:
10 Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who were following, “Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel.
So Jesus marveled, was astonished at the faith of the centurion
“Truly I say to you” - Jesus is making a point
and what is it - “with anyone in Israel”
Now I think we need to zoom out for a second and recognize how Matthew has structured this.
If we zoom out, here is the section of 8:1-17
Where is the emphasis?
What is Matthew motivating his audience to do?
Disciple the nations!
Does it make sense then that Matthew emphasizes the faith of the Gentiles?
ABSOLUTELY! This is what he is driving at!
Matthew is emphasizing the expectation of contrast of Jew and Gentile and is building prominence of the Gentile’s place in the kingdom!
This brings us to verses 11 and 12 which are highly contested verses by pretty much everyone you read.
Continuing the words of Jesus
11 “And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; 12 but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Many well known scholars say that this is the marriage supper of the lamb. Others draw a distinction between the marriage supper of the lamb, and the messianic banquet at the beginning of the millennial kingdom.
Before trying to make too specific a claim there, I think we need to do some cultural digging to understand the significance of “table fellowship”
Intense Honor and Shame Culture
19 And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly.
There was no honorable way out before men for both Joseph and Mary.
Mary shamed by divorce
Joseph shamed by marriage to a girl pregnant outside of wedlock
The urging that Matthew began here is to choose honor before God over honor before men, which Joseph did!
In the 1st century, dining together would have held profound significance.
Acceptance
Social Status
Moral Practices
Participation in the Covenants with God
Back to Mt 8:11-12
11 “And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; 12 but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Not only do we need this cultural understanding, but we need to identify the characters.
First, who are the many that will come from east and west?
Though there are many Jews outside of Israel, the phrase in the context seems indicative to me of Gentiles.
Who has Jesus just praised? The Gentile Centurion, with the statement “I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel”!
So who are the sons of the kingdom?
This is where it gets tricky if we move too quickly and just read by.
Certainly Jesus and Matthew have been articulating participation in the kingdom for disciples.
But to both Jesus and Matthew’s audience, who would typically be associated with the sons of the kingdom?
THE JEWS!
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
8 “Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance; 9 and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.
This is the idea that being Jewish made one a participant of the covenant, a participant in the kingdom.
John the Baptist rattled the cages when he said this. Your lineage isn’t enough!
Do you remember what the Pharisees are so legalistic for?
To bring about their possession of the land, but also the preservation of their culture because Helenism is taking over!
Remember, Jesus has come and flipped this kingdom paradigm upside down!
But the dominant understanding of the sons of the kingdom is that they are the Jews.
This does not mean every time we see the phrase “sons of the kingdom” we need to automatically say it is the Jews. That is how we get into trouble. Rather we need to read in context.
In the context here today it is contrast to those from east and west which seems to clearly be linked to the centurion of great faith.
11 “And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; 12 but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Those from East and West, and the Sons of the Kingdom
But what do those from East and West do?
recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
The Patriarchs!
Where at? In the kingdom of heaven!
So what is Jesus saying here? How do the Gentiles participate in the kingdom of heaven? By Faith!
This reclining at the table is a statement of participation, I don’t necessarily think it is pointing forward to a specific event. If it is, then Jesus is expecting the Jews hearing Him to have a fleshed out eschatology that is clear enough that He doesn’t need to explain it, which I don’t think we have evidence for in Scripture.
So rather than trying to pinpoint the event, I propose that we see some participating in honor, in agreement with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and some that are not.
11 “And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; 12 but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
This brings us to the second half of this section.
Outer Darkness
Weeping and Gnashing of Teeth
Outer Darkness
Eternal Torment
Discipline at the Bema Seat
Protestant Purgatory
Weeping and Gnashing of Teeth
Sorrow and Anger
Remorse
Greif
Sometimes we seek to impose more specificity than what was originally intended.
If we try to apply this rigidly, then all of the “Sons of the Kingdom” (Jews) end up in the outer darkness.
Yet nobody thinks this is the case.
When Jesus teaches, especially in parables and illustrations, He often provides the opportunity to self identify. Matthew accentuates this or gives it significant prominence in his gospel.
What I mean, is Jesus’ audience here is broad.
Without faith - outer darkness is completely missing the kingdom experience
With faith but immature (not great) - outer darkness is missing out on parts of the kingdom experience
Matthew’s emphasis is not on what the outer darkness is, but rather that participation in the kingdom is by faith, and the outer darkness is missing out on that.
Remember the wholistic language of Matthew. Matthew isn’t interested in specifying justification vs sanctification, it’s all the kingdom. And where you are determines what you can miss.
11 “And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; 12 but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Illustration:
East and West - Gentiles
sons of the kingdom - Jews
at the table - honorable (participation we want to have)
outer darkness - shame (where we don’t want to be)
weeping and gnashing of teeth - great remorse and grief
This is where if we’re not willing to slow down and look at the text, Matthew can be extremely difficult theologically, when in reality it is extremely simply practically.
13 And Jesus said to the centurion, “Go; it shall be done for you as you have believed.” And the child was healed that very moment.
Just like last week, the response is immediate and the boy is healed.
So where does this leave us?
Zoom out, we remember where we are:
8-9 the validation of Jesus ministry
This is needed because of the authority that He has just claimed in His teaching, that Matthew has been building.
What do we note, Matthew’s emphasis on the centurion of great faith and his recognition of Jesus’ authority.
Takeaways:
Let the text speak the way it was intended
Who do you identify with?
Centurion?
Sons the kingdom
What are you relying on to participate in the kingdom
This is an active requirement
You don’t wait for it
It doesn’t passively happen to you
You don’t arrive and not have to do it anymore
You participate in the kingdom by being transformed by the Spirit of God through the Word!
43 “Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.”
44 While Peter was still speaking these things, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the word.
2. Who is Jesus to you?
What do we learn from the centurion? His great faith is expressed in His recognition of who Jesus is, of Jesus’ authority
Do you recognize Jesus’ authority?
Discipleship is an Internal thing and it begins with how you see Jesus
Let’s Pray
18 And having approached, Jesus spoke to them saying, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on the earth.
