Faith and Actions

Series: “The Gospel Truth”

Text: Matt.7:24-8:13

Introduction: (What?)

In James 2:14 Paul asked a very pertinent question. “What good is it my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can such faith save him?”

Before James asked this question; as a matter of fact, before James was even a believer, Jesus answered this question. Like so much of Jesus’s teaching, He put in the context of a parable. If you grew up in church you probably learned the little “jingle” song “The Wise Man Built His House upon the Rock”. Look at the screen and listen; or sing along.

Examination: (Why?)

1. The Two Foundations (7:24-28)

Matt 7:24-28 ““Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain fell, the rivers rose, and the winds blew and pounded that house. Yet it didn’t collapse, because its foundation was on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and doesn’t act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, the rivers rose, the winds blew and pounded that house, and it collapsed. It collapsed with a great crash.” When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astonished at his teaching,”

With this parable Jesus closed His Sermon on the Mount. When He said “these words of Mine” He was referring to the entire Sermon He had just preached. The emphasis here is on OBEYING or ACTING on these words.

John McArthur wrote that “The house represents a religious life; the rain represents divine judgment. Only the house built on the foundation of obedience to God’s Word stands, which calls for repentance, rejection of salvation by works, and trust in God’s grace to save through His merciful provision.”

The Foundation refers both to the person Jesus and to His Words (teachings). When Paul said in 1 Cor 3:11 “For no one can lay any foundation other than what has been laid down. That foundation is Jesus Christ.” he was speaking of the Man and His Message. Jesus cannot be separated from His message. In John 1:1-2“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Then in John 1:12 “But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in his name,” having the RIGHT to do or be something is different from BEING or DOING. If the right is to benefit me, I must exercise that right by action.

And in John 1:14 “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Jesus in a human body was “the Word in flesh”. He cannot be separated from His spoken Word.

If a person says, “I believe in Jesus” and yet doesn’t obey or act upon the teachings of Jesus, he will be very disappointed when Jesus returns. Unless your faith is displayed through your obedience to the teachings of Jesus, your “salvation” is incomplete. In 1 John 2:6 “The one who says he remains in him should walk just as he walked.” Since Jesus walked in obedience to His Father’s Word, we must do the same IF we say we remain in Jesus.

With these words Jesus moved from verbal teaching about the Kingdom of Heaven to demonstrating it through His powerful deeds. (Faithlife Study Bible)

2. Touching the Untouchable (8:1-4)

Matt 8:1-4 “When he came down from the mountain, large crowds followed him. Right away a man with leprosy came up and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Reaching out his hand, Jesus touched him, saying, “I am willing; be made clean.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. Then Jesus told him, “See that you don’t tell anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

Those who were perceived to have leprosy in the regions where the Bible was written were considered the lowest in society. They faced rejection and were beggars who lived on the side of the road. In Jesus’ culture, it was forbidden for Rabbis to touch people who were classed as ‘unclean’, which included those affected by leprosy.

In Lev 13:45-46 ““The person who has a case of serious skin disease (leprosy) is to have his clothes torn and his hair hanging loose, and he must cover his mouth and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean!’ He will remain unclean as long as he has the disease; he is unclean. He must live alone in a place outside the camp.” Here we have the first institution of “social distancing and masking”. This was the background that the people of Jesus’s day had regarding a person with leprosy. Even the most caring and compassionate person of that day dared not get near or touch a leper. Their fear was not of contracting the disease but rather of becoming spiritually unclean and thereby not allowed in the Temple. Consequently when Jesus reached out and touched the leper with His hand, there would have been an audible gasp from those who saw it. Jesus could easily have just spoken a word and the healing would have happened. He could have done it across the street or even in the next town. In Luke 17: 11-14 Jesus told the 10 lepers to go show themselves to the priests. And as they went they were cleansed. By touching the leper, Jesus actually FULFILLED the Levitical Law by healing the leper. The healing and the touch were simultaneous. The INSTANT Jesus touched the man, he was healed, so the Levitical law no longer applied.

3. The Centurion who “got it” (8:5-13)

Matt 8:5-13 “When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, pleading with him, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, in terrible agony.” He said to him, “Am I to come and heal him?” “Lord,” the centurion replied, “I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man under authority, having soldiers under my command. I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” Hearing this, Jesus was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with so great a faith. I tell you that many will come from east and west to share the banquet with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Then Jesus told the centurion, “Go. As you have believed, let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that very moment.”

There are several interesting items in this story. In the town of Capernaum (Jesus’s base of operations) a Roman Centurion had built a synagogue for the Jewish people. It appears from Luke’s account of this miracle that this was the same Centurion. Luke 7:4-5 “When they reached Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy for you to grant this, because he loves our nation and has built us a synagogue.””

In the Matthew account, the Centurion came directly to Jesus. However, in Luke it seems that some Jews acted as intermediaries. Whichever way it happened, the important aspects of the story revolve around the faith of the Centurion. He obviously believed that Jesus could heal his servant. He also understood that the healing could take place with just a word from Jesus, and did not require His physical presence. Also, this man of authority was not above “pleading” (begging) for Jesus, a Jew who was subservient to the Romans, to heal his servant. Add to that the fact that this Roman leader addressed Jesus as “Lord”.

Jesus’s response was really directed toward the Jewish leaders who thought that their place at the banquet table of God was insured by the fact that they were Jews. In our world today it would include those who think that their church membership is enough to get them into heaven. Jesus said that these “sons of the kingdom” (and nominal church members) would be cast into Hell. He acknowledged that the faith of the centurion surpassed any faith that He had seen from the Jews. Even His own followers were admonished several times for their “little faith”. Aren’t we glad that it only takes “mustard seed” faith to accomplish much; even our salvation. Notice also that, just as the crippled man who was let down through the roof, Jesus honored the faith of someone else on his behalf. It was not the faith of the servant that prompted his healing, but rather the faith of the centurion.

Application: (How will I apply this to my life?)

Paul said that whoever called on the name of the LORD would be saved. Have you called on Jesus for your salvation? He also said that in order to be saved one must (Ro 10:9-10 “If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation.”) Have you done this?

Is there someone in your family or in your circle of influence that needs you to intercede for their salvation. Can you have faith that Christ will hear your prayers on their behalf?