Matthew 8:5-13

Illustration

I Want to Show You a Few Things God Created

Angel Falls in Venezuela

The Highest Waterfall in the World (979 Meters = 3,212 Feet)

Equal in Height to a 300 Story Building

During the Warmer Seasons, the Water Turns into a Mist Before it Hits the Ground

Hyperion in Redwood Park, California

380 Feet Tall (Taller Than the Statue of Liberty & Big Ben)

Scientists Believe it to Be 700-800 Years Old

Great Barrier Reef Off the Coast of Australia

The Largest Living Structure in the World

It Extends More than 1,250 Miles

It’s Made Up of Around 3,000 Individual Reefs

Which are Made Up of 600 Species of Corals

Northern Lights in Norway

Grand Canyon in Arizona

This Last One You Can Actually Visit From Livingston…Zambia (Africa), Victoria Falls

Each and Every One of These Places is Absolutely Amazing!

When We Look at Them, Even the Pictures Fill Us With Wonder

God is Easily Capable of Amazing Us

Is There Anything That Can Amaze God?

Could There Ever Be Anything So Incredible to Cause God to Be Amazed?

Matthew is Going to Tell Us About a Time When God was Amazed

Matthew 8:5-13

We Have Finished Jesus’ First Discourse in Matthew’s Account (Sermon on the Mount)

Now We’re in the Middle of the First Grouping of 3 Miracle Stories

Last Week We Saw Jesus Do the Unthinkable By Touching and Healing a Leper

Now, We are Going to See Jesus Do Another Unthinkable Thing…

Interact with Gentile

Matthew 8:5 (NASB)

And when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, imploring Him,

Capernaum was a Town on the Northern Shore of the Sea of Galilee

Matthew 4:13 Tells Us that Jesus Started Living in Capernaum

And Matthew 9:1 Calls Capernaum “His Own City”

A Great Amount of Jesus’ Ministry Took Place in Capernaum

It Would Become His Base of Operations

Also, 5 of His 12 Future Apostles Lived in Capernaum

Peter, Andrew, James, John, and Matthew

After He Entered Capernaum, a Centurian Came to Him Begging

Centurians Were Highly Experienced, Highly Esteemed, and Highly Disciplined Officers in the Army (Likely the Roman Army)

They Were Considered the Backbone of the Roman Military

They Were Called Centurians Because They Had a Century (100 Men) Under Their Command

At Least in Theory They Did

Many of Them Actually Had About 60-80 Men Under Their Authority

Why Would a High Ranking Roman Centurian Ever Beg a Lowly Jew for Anything?

Matthew 8:6 (NASB)

and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented.”

His Servant was Paralyzed and Tortured with Pain

That is the Extent that We Know of the Situation Through Matthew

But Luke Gives Us Some More Information

Luke 7:1–5 (NASB)

When He had completed all His discourse in the hearing of the people, He went to Capernaum. And a centurion’s slave, who was highly regarded by him, was sick and about to die. When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders asking Him to come and save the life of his slave. When they came to Jesus, they earnestly implored Him, saying, “He is worthy for You to grant this to him; for he loves our nation and it was he who built us our synagogue.”

Luke Gives Us a Lot of Pertinent Information that Matthew Withholds

That Doesn’t Mean the 2 Accounts Contradict Each Other

It is Common for Matthew to Abbreviate Stories in His Gospel Account

Here’s What We Learned From Luke:

The Centurian Held His Servant in Very High Regard

He Cared About Him

This is Obviously the Reason He Was Looking for Someone to Help Him

His Servant Wasn’t Just Paralyzed and in Agony…

He Was Also About to Die

The Reason the Centurian Came to Jesus With This Problem was Because He Had Heard of Jesus

He Had Heard of His Amazing Miraculous Abilities

The Centurian Himself Didn’t Come to Jesus

But Instead, He Sent Some Jewish Elders

Our First Thought Might Be that He is Forcing Subjugated Jews to Do This

But When We Read Their Words, it Doesn’t Seem Like He Had to Force Them to Go at All

They Beg Jesus to Go Heal the Centurian’s Servant

Why?

Because They Believe He is Worthy of Such a Blessing

The Centurian Loves the Jewish People

He Even Cares About the Jewish Religion

He Built Them a Synagogue Where They Could Gather Together, Study, and Worship

This is a Roman Centurian Who Has Earned the Care and Respect of the Jewish People Through His Love for Them

For Jewish Elders to Speak so Kindly of a Roman is Proof of What a Great Man He Was

(Put Matthew 8:6 Back Up)

Matthew 8:6 (NASB)

and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented.”

Notice What the Centurian (Through His Jewish Messengers) Calls Jesus:

“Lord”

To Call a Person Lord Was to Imply that Person is an Authority Figure

This Roman Centurian, a Man to Be Looked at as an Authority By the Jews…

Calls a Jew His Lord

The Centurian Saw Jesus as His Superior

Matthew 8:7 (NASB)

Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”

Many Scholars Believe the Grammar of Jesus’ Words Indicate that This Was Actually a Question

“Shall I Come and Heal Him?”

But Regardless of Whether it Was a Question or a Statement…

Luke’s Account Tells Us that Jesus Started Making His Way to the Centurian’s House

And as He was On His Way, the Centurian Sent Some Friends to Give Jesus Another Message

Matthew 8:8 (NASB)

But the centurion said, “Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed.

He Had His Friends Tell Jesus that He is Unworthy to Have Jesus in His Home

Luke Tells Us that His Sense of Unworthiness was Why He Didn’t Approach Jesus Himself

What Did He Mean By Saying He Was Unworthy?

He was Likely Referring to a Jewish Tradition

Any Jew Who Entered the House of a Gentile was Considered Unclean According to the Jew’s Strict Traditions

He Didn’t Want to Cause Jesus to Become Unclean By Entering His House

That’s Just Another Indicator of What a Good-Hearted Man this Centurian Was

But Jesus Wasn’t Concerned With the Man-Made Traditions and Taboos of the Jewish People

What the Centurian Said Next in this Verse Should Capture Our Attention

He Asked Jesus to Simply Speak a Word so that His Servant Would Be Healed

He Believed Jesus Had the Ability to Heal Someone in a Another Location

Long-Distance Miracles Were Not Unheard of…

But They Were Considered Extremely Rare and Extraordinary

What Caused This Gentile to Believe Such a Thing About Jesus?

Matthew 8:9 (NASB)

For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”

His Belief in Jesus’ Authority to Perform Such a Miraculous Healing…

Comes From His Own Experience with Authority in the Roman Military

Because He Has Been Given Authority By the Roman Empire to Command His Troops…

He Can Expect Their Instant and Complete Obedience

He Believes Jesus Has Been Given Authority By God Almighty to Work Miracles

Therefore, He Expects Jesus Can Simply Give the Command…

And His Servant’s Sickness Will Instantly and Completely Obey Him

Matthew 8:10 (NASB)

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.

I Asked You at the Beginning of Lesson:

Could There Ever Be Anything So Incredible to Cause God to Be Amazed?

Now We Know the Answer

Faith Like the Centurian’s Amazes God

What Was it that Jesus Found So Amazing About the Centurian’s Faith?

The Fact that a Gentile Could See Something About Jesus that the Jewish People Had Yet to See

Jewish People Had Been Studying About and Looking for the Messiah for Over a Thousand Years

When He Shows Up, They Don’t Even Recognize His God-Given Authority

What Many Jews Neglected to See in Jesus…

This Gentile Saw Clearly

“This Man is From God Almighty”

After Hearing This Man’s Faithful Words, Jesus Turns to the Crowd of Followers

He Tells Them that He Hasn’t Found Faith Like This in Any of God’s Chosen People

But That’s Not All He Has to Say

Matthew 8:11 (NASB)

“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;

The Israelite People Hoped for a Great Feast With All of the Faithful Who Came Before Them When the Reign of God was Made Complete

But They Expected it to Only Be Those of the Nation of Israel

Jesus, Like the Prophets, Spoke of a Kingdom and a Banquet that Would Be Open to All Nations

Isaiah 25:6–9 (NASB)

The Lord of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain; A banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow, And refined, aged wine. And on this mountain He will swallow up the covering which is over all peoples, Even the veil which is stretched over all nations. He will swallow up death for all time, And the Lord God will wipe tears away from all faces, And He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth; For the Lord has spoken. And it will be said in that day, “Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us. This is the Lord for whom we have waited; Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”

Like the Prophets, Jesus Tells the Crowd That There Will Be People of All Nations at This Kingdom Banquet

Matthew 8:12 (NASB)

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.”

“Sons of the Kingdom” Refers to the Nation of Israel

Jesus Just Told a Jewish Crowd…

That There Will Be Many Jews Replaced By Gentiles at the Banquet Table of God’s Kingdom

That There Will Be Many Israelites Who Will Be Separated From the Light of God

They Will Be Cast into a Place Where There Will Be Weeping and Gnashing of Teeth

A Place of Torture, Pain, and Anguish

Why Will There Be Gentiles Accepted in and Jews Thrown Out?

Because of Faith Like the Centurian

And Lack of Faith Like the Centurian

Jesus Has Officially Taught His Followers One of the Greatest Aspects of the Gospel

Everyone is Invited into God’s Kingdom

Matthew 8:13 (NASB)

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.

The Centurian’s Faith was Well-Placed

Exactly as He Believed, the Messiah was Able to Accomplish

Application

There are Several Applications That We Could Take Away From This Text

I’ll List 3 That I Believe are Important for Us Today:

We Ought to Love Those of Different Backgrounds Than Ourselves

It is Rare to Read About a Gentile Loving Jews

And it’s Even More Rare to Read About Jews Speaking Highly of a Gentile (Much Less a Roman)

But That’s Exactly What We Find

Though They Were From Very Different Backgrounds…

The Centurian and Jewish Elders of Capernaum Cared For and Respected Each Other

This Relationship is a Beautiful Picture of the Then Future Kingdom and the Church

Jesus’ Reign Would Bring About a New Community of People Called the Church

A Community Made Up of All Types of People From All Types of Backgrounds…

Who Have a Common Love For One Another

As Paul Told the Galatians:

Galatians 3:28 (NASB)

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

We Ought to Recognize Our Unworthiness Before God

Like the Centurian Felt Unworthy to Be in Jesus’ Presence…

We Should Have an Attitude of Humility and Reverence Toward God

But Also Like the Centurian, Jesus has Made Efforts to Be in Our Presence

Though We are Unworthy, He Makes Us Worthy

He Forgives Our Sins and Covers Us in His Righteousness When We Place Our Faith in Him

And He Keeps Us in His Presence Forever

But We Must Always Remember That We Were Never Worthy of Such Blessings

We Ought to Have Faith in the Authority of Jesus

The Centurian Trusted in Jesus’ Heavenly Authority

Jesus Was Amazed By Such Faith

We Ought to Strive to Have Such Faith in His Authority as Well

What Does it Mean to Have Faith in the Authority of Jesus?

We Must Believe That:

God Has Made Jesus Anointed King of Heaven and Earth

His Words are Our Law

His Judgement Determines Our Eternal Fate

He Has the Power and Authority to Forgive Our Sins, Destroy All Evil, Resurrect the Dead, and Make All Things New

And We Must Live as if We Believe All of These Things

Living By Faith in One Who Has All Authority

When We Live By Faith…

We Can Live in Hope of Having a Place at the Banquet Table With the Faithful When Our King Returns