Part 26 | The Faith of a Centurion

Today, we are continuing in our journey through the Gospel of Matthew.

We spent a great deal of time unpacking chapters 5-7—which records the Sermon on the Mount— where Jesus—who is inaugurating God’s Kingdom on the earth—shows what it looks like to live as people of the Kingdom—what it means to live under God’s reign.

The crowds of Jewish people who witnessed ‘The Sermon on the Mount,’ were quite accustomed to hearing teachings about God and His Law by those who were well-trained in the Hebrew Scriptures.

But when they listened to Jesus, something was different. He taught in a way that absolutely astonished them. He taught with authority.

A skeptic might ask, “Where did Jesus get authority to teach the Scriptures in such a way?”. Matthew has already shown that Jesus has His authority because He is Israel’s Messiah— the anointed One through whom God would work His redemptive purposes.

Now, he builds His case by testifying of Jesus’ miracles.

In chapters 8 and 9, Matthew groups together nine stories that contain ten specific miracles.

By including these testimonies, Matthew shows that Jesus has the power over sickness, demons, the natural world, and death— AND, he has the authority to forgive sins.

He wants us to see that Jesus is, in fact, the long-awaited Messiah; he wants us to see Jesus authority and His deity— that He is the Son of God.

Matthew 8:5–13 (ESV)

When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment.

Have you ever been shocked to find out a particular person (whom you secretly judged) is a Christian?

A pastor friend of mine and his wife were dining at a restaurant, and their waiter was covered in piercings and tattoos. By the way he looked, the couple assumed that he did not know the Lord. Wanting to share the Gospel with him, the pastor asked the waiter a leading question: “Sir, who is Jesus to you?”. To their surprise, he answered— “He is my personal Lord and Savior.”

We have probably all been guilty of judging a book by its cover. It’s like you see the way a person dress’s, or her political affiliation, or the family she comes from… and then you discover she’s a true follower of Jesus; and you are absolutely stunned.

In a similar matter--in today’s passage—we see that Jesus commends a Roman Centurion’s faith—which is shocking for this 1st century Jewish audience to witness.

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In this text, we find Jesus’ eagerness to welcome people into the Kingdom who have traditionally been on the outside of the faith community—and we see His warning to those who arrogantly assume their place in God’s Kingdom.

We would all do well to hear Jesus’ words—lest we one day be shocked as to those who are—and those who are not—part of the Kingdom of God.

I want to break the passage by contrasting the two parties in the story: namely, the centurion and the hyper-religious people.

*By the way - We find another account of this story in Luke chapter 7, and the details vary a bit. There is good reason for that… but I don’t have time to deal with it now. I am happy to discuss it later with any one who may have questions.

I. The Centurion

In this passage, Jesus heals a man’s servant. On a surface level, you might read the tex and think… “wow, Jesus is really compassionate and he has power over sickness”—and while all of that is gloriously true—there is something much deeper that Matthew is revealing.

Matthew 8:5–6 (ESV)

When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.”

The man who moves towards Jesus is a “centurion” which means, first that he is a Gentile.

Gentiles are non-Jewish people; the term “Gentile” was roughly equivalent to how we might refer to someone as “pagan” today.

Not only is this man a Gentile, but, (second) he is part the Roman military who are notorious for oppressing God’s people.

A Centurion was an officer over 100 men in the Roman army, though in actuality, most units consisted of about 80. The centurions worked their way up through the ranks, meaning they were the most talented and well-trained soldiers of the Roman Army.

Suffice to say that the Jewish people were not typically very fond of centurions.

One commentator puts it like this: “in Jewish thinking the centurion was the wrong race and wore the wrong uniform.”

He, though, was no normal centurion, for at least two reasons reasons:

First, he approaches Jesus out of deep concern for one of his servants.

The Greek word ‘Pais’ (pice) translated here as “servant” literally means “a young child.”

In Luke’s account of the story, he uses a Greek word that means “slave” indicating that he was probably born into the Centurion’s slave household.

In that day, your typical slave owner thought no more of his servant than he did an animal.

Aristotle said “there should be no friendship and no justice toward inanimate things, as well as a horse, ox, or slave.”

This Roman centurion does not buy into such inhuman ideas. Luke states that he highly values this servant boy.

Though he is an accomplished military commander, he has a heart of compassion which sets him apart from the typical, brutal Roman soldier.

Second, this man is no typical centurion, because he—twice—calls Jesus Lord

This centurion is part of an empire where “Caesar is Lord,” yet he addresses Jesus as “Lord” two times, as we see in verses 6 & 8.

When he refers to Jesus “Lord,” it is more than courtesy. He recognizes Jesus’ divine authority.

He even recognizes that Jesus doesn’t heal by some magic touch— but by a deeper authority in His person. When Jesus offers to come to his home, He declares “I’m not worthy…” and says that his visit is unnecessary… he says, “Say the word, and my servant will be healed. He says this—in part—because He supposes that as a Jew, Jesus would not want to enter a Gentile’s home that would be ceremonially unclean. But beyond that, He knows that Jesus can heal by the power of His word.

And at this, Jesus marvels!

Matthew 8:10 (ESV)

When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.

This Gentile, Roman Centurion demonstrates greater faith than Jesus had seen even amongst His own people.

So let’s pause here for a moment:

How shocking must this have been to the Jewish onlookers? Here is a man who is not a Jew… and beyond that, one who is a leader in the godless Roman empire… and Jesus commends His faith?

We must be careful of rigid stereotypes and polarization… thinking “this type of person could never be a Christian.”

Maybe you think things like this: “I don’t know how you can be of a certain political party and call yourself a Christian.”

Or, you think “I know what family he comes from… I can promise you He isn’t a real Christian.”

Or if your a seasoned believer and you think you couldn’t possibly learn anything from this person’s… she’s only been a believer for less than a year.

It’s like, don’t be so sure. God works in vessels that often surprise us.

Here, in Matthew 8, Jesus commends the faith of the centurion. Just a few verses later, He rebukes the disciples for their lack of faith.

In the book of Luke, Jesus is at Simon the Pharisees house—a man who is amongst the religious elite. While there, a sinful woman barges in and falls at His feet. He commends her and he rebukes the religious leaders.

It must have been shocking to the Jewish people, to hear the Lord rebuke some of the most religious people of their day while commending the faith of a Gentile Centurion.

I want to argue that the Centurion had more than faith in Jesus’ ability to heal. I believe he had saving faith. Why?

Matthew 8:11 (ESV)

I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven,

Remember, Jesus has been preaching about the Kingdom… God saving rule and reign on the earth. And Jesus, after marveling at this man’s faith, says that many will come from the east and the west (in other words from all nations) and will be part of the same great heavenly feast as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. By faith, these believing Gentiles are part of the True Israel— the true family of God.

So, it is implied that this centurion had moved from the kingdom of this world—by faith—into the Kingdom of God—from the Kingdom of Darkness into the Kingdom of Light. And this was a foreshadowing of the many Gentiles who would believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 1:16 (ESV)

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

God chose Israel, not so they could have exclusive rights to the Kingdom, but so that through them, He would send the Messiah through whom he would work his redemptive purposes for all nations.

So, it would have been surprising to many Jews to hear that believing Gentiles—people they would have considered pagans—have a seat at the table in God’s Kingdom.

What would be more shocking, is to hear of those who Jesus says will be excluded from the Kingdom. Here he addresses the Jews.

II. The Religious Community

Matthew 8:11–12 (ESV)

I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

The sons of the Kingdom refers to National Israel.

Jesus’ point is that He is the the only entry point into the Kingdom. He is the narrow gate through which one must enter the Kingdom. Even the hyper-religious—such as the Pharisees—will be excluded from God’s Kingdom (being cast into judgement) if he won’t bow the knee to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

In Matthew 3:8 & 9 Jesus is speaking to those who considered themselves spiritual elites and this is what he says:

Matthew 3:8–9 (ESV)

Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.

Did the Jewish Pharisees not have faith? Sure they did!

But their faith was misplaced. Their faith was in their own Jewishness. It was in their own moral superiority.

Contrast their faith to the faith of the centurion who says to Jesus “I am not worthy!”

That statement pushes us back to the first beatitude found in Matthew chapter 5:

Matthew 5:3 (ESV)

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

The Bible teaches that none of us can earn salvation. We can’t enter God’s Kingdom by our own moral standards and behavior.

In coming to terms with our own spiritual poverty, we enter the Kingdom by bowing the knee to the Lord Jesus Christ, putting our trust wholly in Him.

We are reconciled to God—not by what we accomplish—but by what Jesus has accomplished through his perfect life, his death, and his resurrection.

Closing: What do we do with this?

Some of you feel horrible about who you are and things that you have done, and you have trouble believing that God would ever give someone like you a place in His Kingdom.

What’s the answer? Turn to Jesus. Trust in Him. Turn to His Lordship. He bore the penalty for you sins at the cross. In Him you can have forgiveness. In Him you can be assured of your place at God’s table.

Others of you feel a false confidence of your place in the Kingdom of God.

Don’t assume that because you grew up in church, or because you pray, or because you grew up in a Christian home, that you are—in fact—part of God’s Kingdom. You must enter the Kingdom the same way as everyone else—by wholeheartedly turning to Jesus Christ.

If that’s you, may today be the day of salvation. May you repent and turn to the Lord.

Prayer