Matthew 8:5-13 The Centurion (Part 2) – Confidence in Grace

The Centurion’s Great Faith

                The centurion thought so highly of Jesus’ authority that he considered Jesus was able to heal his servant from a distance, with simply just a command.  Upon assessing this man, Jesus concluded, “Truly I say to you, I have not found such a great faith with anyone in Israel.”  This man’s faith was one that we can be encouraged to mimic as he approached the Lord with humility, understood His unworthiness, and trusted fully in the grace of Jesus.  And He received favor from God.

Who does God favor?

                In Capernaum, it was clear to the people who God favored.  It was His people, the nation of Israel, the Jewish people who were the most blessed.  God had made a covenant with Abraham that he would be the father of many nations and kings… that the Jewish nation would have land, an existence, greatness, and that this covenant would continue through the lines of Isaac and Jacob.  And Jesus’ coming only reaffirmed this, because He was Jewish.  A Jewish Messiah for the Jewish people.  And there was a sense of entitlement among the Jewish people… God’s favor only rested upon them… they considered that because Abraham was their descendant, they would automatically have a place in God’s kingdom… but that could not be further from the truth.  Jesus said in Matthew 3:9, “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.”  In context, don’t think just because you’re Jewish, you’re going to heaven.  The people had a faulty understanding of grace.  Grace is unmerited favor.  That means grace is unearned, undeserved, and certainly not something you can inherit by birth.  They thought simply by who they were racially, that they had a personal right to God’s grace and an automatic bid into God’s family.  God’s Word makes it clear that is not the case though.  In Romans 9:6-8, we learn that just because someone is descended from Abraham does not make that person a child of God.  And as we study the Jewish Messiah, Jesus, it becomes very clear that He came for the Jews… but also for the rest of the world as well.

The Outsiders are welcomed in and the Insiders are left out

                Basically, to Jesus, this gentile centurion had no equal in faith within all of Israel.  Within the nation of Israel, even amongst all the Jewish scribes and Pharisees, the teachers of the Law… there was no one like this outsider.  And it seems the centurion is not the only gentile outsider to receive grace.  Jesus says that “many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.”  This was startling news for the Jewish nation… people from the east and west… people not from the line of Abraham… people from outside of Israel to the east and west… would be reclining with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.  Other people had a place in God’s kingdom.  We have a place in God’s kingdom.  Gentiles have a seat with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  To recline at the table is most likely to refer to a meal… this is a heavenly banquet with the Jewish forefathers… in the Jewish traditions, there is this great heavenly feast reserved for the Jewish people, in their minds it’s a Jewish gathering… but Jesus says that on the contrary, many Gentiles will be present and “the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness” many Jewish people will be left out.  The people whom God had given unique promises and privileges, the ”sons of the kingdom” the ones expecting to enter God’s kingdom because of their racial descent were cast out into the place where there is “weeping and gnashing of teeth.”  Expecting heaven, they will receive hell.  So how do you make it in?  And how did Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob make it in?  Cause to the Jews, they always thought it was because of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob’s Jewish bloodlines that they entered God’s kingdom.

What’s the key to grace?

                The centurion asked Jesus to heal his servant, and because of his faith, his servant was healed.  Because of his faith in Jesus, he received grace in proportion to his faith.  “It shall be done for you, as you have believed.”  The servant was healed that very moment.  His healing was complete… and so the centurion’s faith must have had complete faith in Jesus to accomplish this task.  Imagine how great his faith must have been after this incident.  The theme of this account is faith… we examine a man with unparalleled faith… and we see someone healed because of their faith.  How does this relate though to the picture of heaven’s feast… the kingdom of heaven filled with both Jews and Gentiles.  Here’s the relation, God’s people are not identified by their blood lines or by their practices or by circumstances… rather they are identified by a common faith in Jesus.  That is the only way that people like us, outsiders born not of the family of Israel… wretched sinners that can lay no claim upon God’s grace… can find ourselves welcomed into God’s family, it’s by grace you have been saved through faith. (Eph 2:8)

The Requirement to Enter the Kingdom of Heaven

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob did not enter God’s kingdom because of their common Jewish descent… no, rather it was their common faith in the Lord that carried them through heaven’s doors.  On the other hand, the “sons of the kingdom” who were left out, the Jewish people who were leaning on their blood lines, rejected the only way into heaven… they rejected Jesus, the Jewish king, and so they disqualified themselves.  So in the kingdom of heaven, we find both Jews and Gentiles, and their commonality is simply their faith… Jesus came for not just the Jews, but the rest of the world as well.  Those outside in the outer darkness find their commonality in one thing… rejection of Jesus, and thus rejection of God’s righteousness, rejection of justification, rejection of life, and rejection of God’s grace and mercy.  Jesus is the key, faith in Him is the way, and so there is eternal hope for all those who would believe… yet eternal condemnation for all those who will not believe.

The same requirement exists today

                It is the same today, how can we find favor with God?  How do we gain for ourselves a place in heaven?  It’s not by being born into a Christian family, it’s not about the situations we are brought into.  The key is not memorizing the Bible or going to church, though good things… not the requirement for the kingdom of heaven.  It’s through faith, through complete trust in Jesus that one is saved.  There’s one way in, and if you reject that way… if you reject Jesus and try something else, you will find yourself in the place where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, gehenna, hell.  With faith in Jesus, we can be confident in God’s grace, that we have received it, that we will continue to receive it, and that we’ll have a place at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

The Centurion (Matthew 8:5-13) - Part 1

Matthew 8:5-13 And when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, imploring Him, and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented.”  Jesus *said to him, "I will come and heal him."  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.  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."  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 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; 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."  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 Focus is on the Personal, Perfect, Powerful Savior

                Jesus’ act of healing the ailing leper tells us much about the nature in which He saves lost sinners.  He is the personal, perfect, and powerful Savior.  The leper was healed by Jesus’ healing touch.  The sinner is saved by Jesus’ saving cross.  We’ve taken a closer look at the great work that Jesus did, but what about the leper.  What can we learn from what he did, what was special about him?  What did he do to find himself to the point of receiving the grace that would free him from his leprosy?

He came with a humble spirit

                The leper approached Jesus with a humble spirit, the text said he prostrated himself before Jesus.  He bowed.  He came with a humble spirit.  What does it mean to be humble?  It simply means to see yourself as you really are.  You need to see yourself as you really are… not just simply say, “oh I’m so bad, I’m the worst person in the world” and on and on.  That’s just trying to draw attention to yourself and that’s not genuine humility.  Genuine humility is simply seeing things the way God sees things.  The leper saw himself as he really was before Jesus and could not help but fall to the ground.  You see, he was an unclean man… he was unworthy to come before Jesus, let alone speak to Him.  There was also no presumption.  He did not come before Jesus with a sense of entitlement as if Jesus had to heal him.  Sometimes, we come before God with that kind of attitude where it’s almost as if we’re saying, God has to do something for us.  Whenever we think something is going unfairly for ourselves, we’re basically saying that we believe we deserve better.  No, this leper was different, he said… “Lord, if You are willing.”  Lord, if You are willing… you don’t have to do this… I desperately need Your help… and I have zero right to ask this of You… but if You are willing.  He came with the right attitude.

The nature of salvation requires a humbling of the self

                To find yourself to the place where you receive God’s grace… humility is a necessity.  You need the right attitude.  You need to see your dirtiness… your sin as it really is or else you will never come before God with the proper perspective of humility… and without humility, there is but pride and God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6).

The Gentile Officer Comes to the Jewish Healer

                We had been informed in Matthew 4:13 that Jesus had settled in Capernaum (not random) and now he was returning home after his trip from the mountain.  By this time, news about Jesus healing had spread and a Gentile, military officer comes to Jesus, the Jewish Healer, on behalf of his servant who is paralyzed.  The word, pais, used here is literally translated young child and in a parallel account (Luke 7), he is referred to as a slave which indicates that he was probably born into servant-hood.  This servant boy is in a lot of pain, he is fearfully tormented.  This centurion, this employee of the Roman army, is different from your typical Roman soldier.  He actually cares about his servants… most Roman soldiers did not consider their servants worth any more than animals.  He cared enough to search out the Jewish Healer, but he’s a gentile.  Three things to take note of… the centurion’s humility and faith… Jesus’ authority to heal… and the fact that the Jewish Messiah, the Jewish King, the Jewish Healer, the Jewish Savior… came for the Jews… but also for all peoples.

Are you expecting me to come?

                The centurion didn’t ask a question, but it was implied.  It’s like me saying, “Leeland, my back itches right here and I can’t reach it.”  Jesus responds with a question that goes something like this, “shall I come and heal him?” or “you want me to come and heal him?”  You see, the man was asking quite a lot.  Jesus was a Jew, this man was a Gentile and so there were complications.  Though the Pharisees and scribes constantly were amazed that Jesus would associate Himself with sinners and tax collectors… it was considered an even worse defilement to associate and interact with Gentiles.  Are you expecting me to come?  Jesus is not saying, “how dare you ask me?!”  He asks this question because He wants to see what kind of faith this centurion has… basically, “what exactly do you want from me?”

The Humility and Faith of the Centurion

                In light of such a probing question, the centurion responds with a remarkable reply.  He says, “of course not, I can’t expect you to come under my roof, all I’m asking for is a word of healing.”  “Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof.”  This man did not consider it fitting for Jesus to associate with him.  Makes me think about how lightly we bear the name of Christ by calling ourselves Christians… claiming to be His representatives, claiming to be His people… yet this man can’t stand the thought of Jesus even entering his home because it wouldn’t be proper for Jesus.  What humility and what reverence for the One whom he calls Lord.  How quick are we to call Jesus Lord simply because we know His name and have entered His church… yet we forget far too often how unworthy we are to be in His presence.  The centurion recognizes this and he says, “just say the word and my servant will be healed.”  You don’t need to touch Him, you don’t need to come, I trust that you can heal Him from a distance with just a word.  What great faith in Jesus’ power.  The centurion didn’t believe that Jesus had to come to his home, see the servant boy, touch him… no… a word from a distance would be sufficient and it’s because he had great faith, he recognized who Jesus was and what kind of authority He had.

He Recognized Jesus’ Authority

                For the centurion was a man in authority, he had servants and he understood the power of a command.  “’Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” (v9)  He understood that an effective command given from one in authority would be sufficient to accomplish much.  Jesus had unquestioned authority in his eyes… authority to accomplish the impossible and to heal the un-healable.

Confidence in the Gospel

What an example for us to emulate as we go out with gospel that the lost would be saved.  Are we trusting in Jesus’ power or do we confine Him to a box?  By confine to a box, I mean… Jesus has authority to do this, but THAT is far too difficult.  Do we have such an attitude where we begin to think, it’s not enough just to share the good news of Jesus?  Do we find ourselves thinking, I need to have a great relationship with this person first?  Do we begin to think, this person won’t like hearing about God’s wrath, so I’m just going to talk to him about God’s love?  Or are we doubting Jesus’ gospel, His power, so much, that we don’t say anything at all?  Or, do we have great faith in Jesus’ power, that His gospel is the power of God for salvation and that it can accomplish the impossible… save the wretched, wicked, hardened sinner from an eternity in hell?  The centurion had great faith in Jesus’ power, he didn’t believe that Jesus had to come to his home, see the servant boy, touch him… no… a word from a distance would be enough. 

We’ll finish this account next week, but let this be an encouragement to us this week to humble ourselves before God, like the centurion and the leper before him, that we would see our unworthiness before a holy God.  And let this be a reminder to us of Jesus’ unquestioned authority… that we would be like the centurion, confident in the power of God to heal the sick and save the lost.