Centurion's Surprising Faith

Roman centurions appear prominently in several New Testament accounts are five referred to altogether, and each one appears to be a man of good character.

Three of the five manifest saving faith. What is a centurion, a centurion is a Roman military officer in charge of approximately 100 soldiers he would be similar, though certainly not identical to an American Army Capt. He holds a position of high rank. Some consider centurions to be the backbone of the Roman army.

The most effective Army that the world had ever known. Up until that time he had lower ranking officers beneath the Ottoman higher ranking officers above him today were going to look at the first centurion to appear in the New Testament record and the emphasis of Scripture is not so much upon the fact that he is a centurion of the certainly details in that regard that are part of the account.

A very important part of the account, but the focus of Scripture is really more on the fact that he is a Gentile and a Gentile who it turns out, is remarkable for his faith in Christ. A centurions surprising faith is our message for today we shall approach it in three parts number one background number to the account number three lesson I take a little more time than usual with the background because there are several elements that are important. I will show you its relationship to the sermon on the mount first and then secondly to the healing of a leper and then finally to Luke's parallel account Luke chapter 7 regard to the sermon of the Mount. So, simply to point out that this follows closely after the completion of the sermon on the Mount sermon on the Mount as you know, Christ most famous sermon occupies Matthew chapters 5, six and seven and here we are early in chapter 8 that also places this event early in Christ ministry sermon on the Mount was in the first period of Christ ministry the Galilean.

Therefore, the healing of the leper and the healing of the centurion's servant also take place in this early Galilean. It is a time when Christ was healing many and there was much gratitude and acclaim because of his healing and it was a time of growing popularity of Jesus with the people, even among many Jewish religious leaders with strange remarkably changed dramatically.

Before long, but it looks account of the of the healing of the centurion's servant.

It is Jewish elder who go to Jesus and make the appeal on behalf of the centurion Jesus would come and heal his servant is a good relationship at that point in time between Jesus and these elders among the Jew.

Secondly, we relate this healing to that of the healing of the leper verses one through four. Jesus came down from the sermon on the mount.

We are told multitudes followed multitudes, multitudes that was characteristic of this. Of Christ life and this leper came up to Jesus and appealed for Christ to heal him leper see may have been of that term may have been applied various maladies on the skin so we can't say that in every case, what the Bible speaks of his leprosy is what we refer to as leprosy today. Hansen's disease, but it is clear from the Bible that leprosy was a very dread disease when it was a full-blown case of leprosy and not some other less serious skin condition.

It was a long long descent into death losing various fingers and appendages along the way, is a very very pitiful disease and that form of what we would call true leprosy seemed to not be cured. Even though there was provision of the Old Testament for those who are cured of leprosy to go to the priest and certified their healing that evidently refers to some of these lesser forms of skin condition where healing was possible. It was up to the priest to examine it and to certify if in fact the condition had cleared up so that it was no longer considered leprosy, but what we call leprosy does not seem to have had any occasions of healing in biblical days and so this leper, who apparently had this incurable form of leprosy came to Jesus and he appealed to him to cure human he worshiped him. We read in verse two, for he bowed down he believed in Jesus, for he said, you can make me clean. He had faith in Christ ability and power to do this and he submitted to Christ authority for he did not say. I'm expecting you to heal me. He said if you are willing. If you are willing, you can make me clean wonderful example of biblical faith in Christ demonstrated characteristic willingness. He said I am willing at the same time he reached out his hand and touched the leper lepers were untouchable.

People were not supposed to touch them. But Christ, of course, in speaking and touching him healed him at the same time, I wouldn't be at all surprised by the time his hand actually made contact with this man that he was already clinging Christ healed him. He demonstrated his power, then Christ instructed the leper he said do not tell this abroad.

Don't don't talk about this to others, which of course is the human inclination must be very difficult to obey that command. But he said, show yourself to the priest and present their the offering that Moses commanded. In other words carry out the biblical instructions law of Moses commands you. If you believe you been healed of leprosy to go to a priest and have it certified. This is true. The Bible commands you to present an offering is a matter of worship and gratitude for your healing and to wait for the priest excuse me to certify you whole. For you go back into normal society go and present yourself to the priest of Jesus to bear a testimony unto them, not only a testimony of unusual healing. An example of the healing of a disease which they had probably never seen cured before but an example of obedient faith. The one who healed you has instructed you to obey the word of God demonstrate your faith by obeying the word of God go to the priest, present your offering. Wait for his proclamation of your healing which in fact the man did, but all of this background helps to explain the centurions request for the healing of his servant because he had no doubt heard of many similar reports of the healing such as the leper and others. But this contrast between the two healings also highlights a centurions faith because he has faith goes way beyond the genuine and exemplary faith of the leper placing these into account side-by-side is intended no doubt for us to see that now the third element of the background is simply to make brief mention of Luke's parallel account of this healing. If I did in Luke chapter 7 verses one through 10 and there are some additional details there and there are some things that are different, which cause skeptics as usual to pronounce this to be irreconcilable differences in evidence of error in the word of God, but to believers.

There is no difficulty in reconciling these different elements but it is true that it looks account. The centurion rather than communicating with Jesus directly communicates to representatives. First, he sends Jewish elder no doubt elders of the synagogue in Capernaum to make this appeal on his behalf and then secondly when Jesus is on his way to come to his house to heal to is his servant, he sends out what Lou calls friends to intercept Christ arrival and to assure him that he doesn't expect him to come. He knows he doesn't need to come that is perfectly capable of healing from a distant we shouldn't find that difficult to reconcile. We read, for example, in Matthew 27, 26, the pilot scourged Jesus, are we to understand by that the pilot himself picked up the quick scourged Jesus of course not exactly read details and the gospel accounts that he was scourged by the soldiers.

But, at the command of Pilate and what Pilate commanded others to do.

They did on his behalf. And so it is accurately said the pilot didn't in fact, there is even a Latin saying I'll give it to you in English you can thank me for that.

You can also understand I would have difficulty pronouncing Latin with a Latin saying is, is translated says he who acts by another acts himself. He you asked by another acts himself that not only explains the apparent discrepancies between Matthew and Luke, but it also highlights the very point that the centurion is making that it is not necessary that Jesus come in the presence of his servant and to be there and to touch him. He is perfectly capable of doing it from a distance of carrying this out through intermediaries, as it were, and that is Jesus healing just as much, as if he were there, but the look account also makes it clear that the centurion had an unusual relationship with the nation of Israel, Jewish elders in appealing to Christ, said to them, or to him this one loves our nation a Roman centurion, a Gentile, a member of the occupying army, loves our nation, a nation that frankly didn't have a reputation for being populated with particularly lovable people.

How do you explain this centurions love for this nation, the descendents of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Secondly, they told Jesus that he built for them a synagogue synagogue in Capernaum was an imposing structure view visited the holy land. They've taken you no doubt to Capernaum and showed you the ruins of that significantly sized synagogue that they are now in the midst in the process of reconstructing since it's been about 30 years since I was there. I don't know how much progress if any is been made.

I don't know that they necessarily intend to fully reconstructed they just put enough pieces back in place so that you could see where it wasn't. Get some idea of what it looked like, but he built a synagogue that would have been of Mary Mary Mary Spencer proposition.

Centurions were are pictured in Scriptures people being people of high standing and normally people of wealth. He was a wealthy man. Nothing wrong with that. The question is if God blesses you with wealth. What you do with your wealth that's that's the issue not, do you have it. What you doing with it and what was this man doing with it. He spent a great deal of it to build an impressive synagogue for the benefit of this nation that he loved and to encourage the people of that nation to worship the God which he evidently had come to believe in himself which explains his love for the nation of Israel and explains his activity in building the synagogue. That's the background that we take up the account and I divided it into 123456 sections. Number one the centurions appeal were told it the Jesus came to Capernaum that is a city on the north west corner of the Sea of Galilee. It was a Roman garrison setting.

That means that Roman soldiers were were housed there were were stationed there on a permanent basis. It was also the city that Jesus made his ministry headquarters.

During his earthly ministry and particularly his Galilean ministry in this centurions appeal. We learn something of his deep concern for his servant.

Luke uses a different word and calls his servant his sleigh.

It was a man of the Roman world filled with slave slaves were more like they were property.

They were considered by many people not to be much worth much more than animals, useful animals that plowed your fields and so forth. But here was a centurion with a very different attitude. He had a servant, the slave which he loved wintry value and now that he sick is very concerned he wants to see him made well and particularly doesn't want to see him continue to suffer with the tormenting aspects of this disease. He has faith in the healing power of Christ upon this appeal by the centurion Christ responds in characteristic fashion.

He expresses an immediate willingness to heal his servant and he says I will come and heal him more literally. I myself will comment heal him. It's very strong reference to the fact that Jesus is going to make the journey somewhere outside of Capernaum when this appeal was made. The Jesus is going to make the journey to Capernaum to the hope of the centurion and there he intends to heal his servant.

I myself will come and heal him all come to the location carry this out because that's what everyone expected.

That's what everyone considered necessary. That's the only way that most people consider healing to be accomplished is of Jesus touched the person, the need to be healed in Jesus was right in the vicinity right in the presence of the one who needed to be healed. The people in our day have the same erroneous idea. Don't they can only keep you heal people if they can lay their hands on them and even then it's questionable about whether anybody gets healed, but they have this idea that you have to have something physical you have to touch have to have to be in the presence of the person and since that was the prevailing attitude of most people that certainly what the what the leper considered necessary. Jesus accommodates himself to the common ideas of the people of his day and he response and says I myself will come and heal your servant to which the centurion replied in verses eight and nine. Lord, I am not worthy that you should come under my roof, but only speak a word, and my servant will be healed, for I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me and I say to this one go when he goes into another comedy comes into my servant, do this and he does the centurion's reply manifests a number of things manifest number one unexpected humility.

I am not worthy that you should come under my roof. My guess is he had one of, if not the most impressive house in all of Capernaum if he had the money to build a synagogue. He had the money to purchase or build an impressive mansion, but he said not worthy. You should come under my roof exactly opposite with the Jeep, what the Jews said about him.

In Luke chapter 7 because when they went to Jesus and were asking Jesus to come and heal this man servant they using in the Greek, the very same word said he is worthy, he is working for you to come and do this. He is worried because he loves our nation is worth it because he has built for us a synagogue that was their estimation of this man unusual for Jews to consider a Roman centurion worthy, but they did. But that wasn't his estimation of himself and make humility in uncharacteristic in humility and humility. That's difficult to understand and explain this man says I am not worthy. The wealthy thought of high social standing. He did not consider himself to be worthy, certainly, and this shows us something of his understanding of Jesus, certainly not worthy that this one should come under his roof. Probably anybody else in all the Roman Empire, he would've considered himself worthy to receive into his house, but not worthy that this one should come under his roof beginning to see something of his remarkable faith in his faith is furthermore underscored by what he says in verse eight, when he speaks these words to Jesus only speak a word in my servant will be healed. Not only am I not worthy for you to come but you don't need to come I know you don't need to come you can you can accomplish my request.

If you are inclined to do so from a distance, you don't need to come only speak a word in my servant shall be healed. He demonstrates unusual spiritual perception when he says, for I also am a man under authority, recognizing the Jesus as a man under authority. He says I also am a man under authority.

He recognizes that Christ is in the chain of command like himself under authority, again demonstrating his humility.

He doesn't say I am a man in high authority.

I am a bad over others know I'm a man under authority.

He recognizes that his authority to command those under him depends upon his obedience to the authorities which are above him all the way up to Caesar's ultimate authority. He understood the Jesus is in a similar chain of command that Jesus is under authority and when you realize what is asking what is expecting. I think it becomes clear he understands that Jesus is under authority.

Almighty God, and these healings that Jesus has done healing.

The multitudes healing the leper, the many reports of the healings and taken place have taken place because Jesus is accessing the power that comes to him from Almighty God because he is under authority to God.

This centurion understands what some people don't seem to understand. Namely, if anyone disobeys a centurion he is defying Caesar.

If anyone disobeys Jesus. He is defying Almighty God because he understands this about Jesus.

He knows that these truths allow Christ to act in a distance, you don't need to, your under authority there under the authority of Almighty God. It may even be a hint that he understood something about the spirit world that very few people do understand and he was saying Jesus you can dispatch angels to go and do this for you don't need to be under my roof Christ position under authority allows him to accomplish supernatural tasks. All of this reveals Christ unique relationship with God and all of this was understood by a Gentile Roman centurion and by few, if any, in Israel. Jesus marveled, and said I have not found such faith, not in his the Savior's amazement is not worthy there only two times in the Bible that the word for Christ, marveling that is used here is used the Greek word that is translated, marveling verse 10 Jesus heard it, he marveled. The only other time is in Mark 664. Jesus marveled at the level of unbelief found in Nazareth. So on the one hand, he absolutely marveled at the extent of unbelief where there should have been faith and on the other hand, he marveled at this unexpected faith in the most unexpected unlikely of places. He marveled and spoke. I have not found such great faith, not even whereupon Jesus made a very significant announcement in verses 11 and 12. And I say to you that many will come from East and West, and sit down with Abraham and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness.

There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Christ announces two very important matters. Number one that many Gentiles will join the patriarchs in the kingdom of heaven in the kingdom of God. Many will come from East and West and Luke adds North and South. In other words, the whole world. This is what the Bible is talking about when it talks about the whole world. In most cases, particularly in a salvation context, people are going to come from the whole world, North, South, East and West. In other words Gentiles from all over the world are going to come and sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.

That's the first announcement which is astounding and the second one would've been just as astounding to the people of his day.

On the other hand, many Jews will be cast into outer darkness. Those who are in.

He calls them sons of the kingdom they would be NaturallySpeaking.

They seem to be from their human connections.

They would seem to be but on the one hand, many, many Gentiles, which have no natural place in the kingdom are going to be found in the kingdom and many Jews who would seem to be the natural sons of the kingdom are going to be cast into outer darkness that going to be banished from this kingdom. Gentiles will replace natural sons in the kingdom of heaven. In Christ's kingdom now that brings me others is the final restatement of Christ's assurance in verse 13 where he says, go your way as you have believed, so let it be done to you and his servant was healed that same hour, which she assured the centurion through intermediaries through his friends that went back and told him this, your faith is effective, your servant is healed and they went and I found it so servant was healed. Christ did heal him at a distance for important lesson that I would like to deal with grow out of this passage.

Number one, we will call the necessary sense of unworthiness to consider ourselves to be unworthy, is contrary to our Adamic nature are our attempt Adamic nature says I highly resent it if we think someone else doesn't think so. Things were not worthy of anything contrary to our Adamic nature and furthermore is contrary to societal understanding in this fallen world in which we live, in which everyone is a possessor of the same Adamic nature. They concept that people are worthy. That's what the Jew said about the centurion. He is worthy. These Worthing he loves our nation.

He's built a synagogue. He's these are good things about him. He's done these good things. That's what makes him worthy that you should come and heal his servant. He's worthy of that society's idea in general that people are worthy and one of the biggest problems in life is the people will have low self-esteem consider themselves to be as worthy as they really are.

So one of our jobs is to to prop up people's sense of unworthiness.

Their sense of low self-esteem, and make them feel better about themselves and that will help them because they need to understand how worthy they are and we don't realize that in doing that we are actually encouraging pride and unbelief and lack of understanding of our need of Christ and of our sinful condition. I came to the conclusion, long time ago that everybody but everybody but everybody and in one way or another struggles with a sense of self-esteem. Somewhere along the road of life in some all along the road of life that's common.

It's not that some people have low self-esteem and other people don't even those who act like their King of the world like they are like a princess in waiting. Some people act that way. That is a mask I've learned over the years. That is a mask for their sense of low self-esteem there.

Their sense of of what I'm trying to think of doesn't come to mind at the moment but there their own uncertainties. Everybody struggles with low self-esteem. What's the solution what's the cure own it. Claimant recognize your unworthiness and take it to Christ because a proper sense of unworthiness is necessary for our souls. Salvation is preparing this message and I've been working on it for two weeks of this run through my mind a long time, but a song kept running through my mind that Betty Vestal and Margie Holland saying in the early years of our church written by Ira Stanfill. We don't sing many Ira Stanfill hymns around here these days, but he captures this perfectly. It's unworthy of my of the grace that he gave unworthy to hold to his hand.

Amazed that a king would reach down to a slave this love.

I cannot understand unworthy, unworthy of beggar in bondage and alone. He made me worthy of now by his grace, his mercy has made me his own. That's it. My sorrow and sickness.

Late stripes on his back my sins because the blood that was shed my faults and my failures have woven a crown of thorns that he wore on his head unworthy of my of the glory to come unworthy with angels to say I thrilled just to know that he loved me so much a popper I walk with the King unworthy unworthy of beggar in bondage and alone, but he made me worthy of now by his grace, his mercy has made me his own. Here is a centurion of a wealthy man, a military man, a commander in the Army, highly esteemed by the Roman world.

Highly esteemed in the Jewish world, one that everybody else considered to be of high rank of high worthiness and he is saying, unworthy, unworthy of beggar and alone, who taught them that what is that of the grace of God at work in this man's life who taught him his unworthiness and dear friends. That's what you've got to learn as well. If you haven't already. If the spirit of God hasn't humbled you, hasn't taught you, you unworthiness hasn't caused you to acknowledge truth testified to proclaim that you are not worthy of anything beyond outer darkness. God's condemnation and anything short of that is marvelous grace you don't earn anything in the way favor with God. God doesn't owe you a thing unworthy, unworthy of beggar necessary sense of furthermore like to say something about the object of saving faith that I see in this account. The centurion was saved by believing in Jesus who he was in his authority.

The centurion was not saved by accent thing selected facts about Christ work. He wasn't saved because he believed that Jesus died on the cross for his sins because Jesus had died on the cross yet say that's obvious is before the cross. Yes, but he wasn't saved by believing certain selected facts about Jesus. He was saved by embracing Jesus for King of Kings and Lord of lords.

A man in a unique position of authority. Almighty God he was, not saved by believing selected facts about Christ work, but rather by submitting to his authority, by understanding something of who he is and relating himself accordingly.

He didn't understand everything about Christ, but he understood this. This is a man who stands in a really unique relationship to Almighty God.

He represents God.

He has the power of God.

Did he know that Jesus was the Messiah that he did even understand about the Messiah, given his obvious interest in things Jewish. It would be surprising to what he did know something about the promised Messiah was looking for that coming Messiah, but be that as it may, he was saved by submitting himself to Jesus Christ by faith and those who submit themselves to Christ by faith are included in everything that Jesus has done for sinners on the side of the cross. I I would assume that those who believe in Jesus are going to believe in his death on the cross in his resurrection from the tomb as part of who he is and what he did but that's not the essence of your saving relationship. Christ, that's more or less the inevitable result of your saving relationship with Christ.

The main thing is do you accept him for who he is. Do you accept him in his rightful place of authority, do you submit yourself under his authority.

Do you recognize that he that he also is a man under authority and you are placing yourself under his are you submitting to him when you do that you're in a right relationship with him and everything and you've done that by faith come into a right relationship with him by faith in everything that Jesus does for sinners who are rightly related to him by faith applies to will be saved because of what he did on the cross.

Objects of saving faith. The third lesson that I would like to comment on is the nature of Christ's kingdom. Lot of different ideas about the kingdom of Christ. What we see some concepts of Christ's kingdom in this account that are helpful to us track these concepts come to us by the words of Jesus himself that we recognize first of all, the Christ's kingdom was a heavenly kingdom because of the kingdom of heaven. That means is not of this world, but it doesn't mean that it doesn't have anything to do with his what it means is that it doesn't have anything to do with this world and its fallen condition. It is a heavenly kingdom in the sense that it transcends this condemned cursed fallen world. It's not of that system is not of that nature. When Jesus said to pilot my kingdom is not of this world.

He wasn't saying my kingdom doesn't have anything to do with this world fact is kingdom in its final form is going to have to inhabit every form.

The restored world.

Of course it relates to this world but not to this world in its present form is present system is a presently exist in its fallen condition is the kingdom of heaven.

Furthermore, this kingdom of heaven which we could also call the kingdom of God which we could also call the kingdom of Christ is anchored in the patriarch's many shall come from East and West and South sit down for him, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven is not something separate from what God was doing with the patriarchs. When God began with the patriarch, the kingdom of heaven is anchored in the patriarchs and those who are part of this kingdom are going to join with the patriarchs in this kingdom.

The going to sit down, that the banqueting table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Furthermore, this kingdom of heaven is closely associated with Jewish people who are called here the sons of the kingdom. And yet that obviously is only by an external relationship because sons of the kingdom are cast out those who would not normally be called sons of the kingdom are embraced in by their faith.

This kingdom of heaven includes many Gentiles, though it didn't seem to start out that way but now we see that it has developed that way by the design of God in this kingdom of, and is entered by faith alone. That's the only way you get in if any Gentiles get in.

It is by faith alone. If any Jews are cast out. It is because they fail to exercise faith because there Jewish connection does not admit them into the kingdom. It is entered by faith alone now.

That leaves a lot of things unsaid but that says enough. Things that it should at least point us in the right direction of the biblical understanding of the kingdom of Christ. My final lesson has to do with the danger of religious presumption, the sons of the kingdom are cast into outer darkness.

Why because they considered themselves worthy in their natural state.

They were worried because they were born into the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Of course they were enjoying the kingdom that was established on the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and furthermore they were faithful to to obey some of the law of Moses and carry out these regulations that had been prescribed by Moses. Those Gentiles are doing anything like that but I am I worthy I worthy I circumcise son of Israel. I worthy I carrying out the law of Moses, and Jesus said anybody who thinks they're going into the kingdom.

On that basis is going to find was cast. What is true of Jews in this day Christ's day is also true.

Many professing Christians in many church members in our day who are going to find themselves cast out in that final day depart from the workers of iniquity. I never knew you. Why because you consider yourself worthy in your natural state considers yourself worthy because of external things you have done you consider yourself worthy for the same reason that many of the Jews cast out consider themselves worthy external circumstances. What you have done your you made. You made a profession of faith you have done certainty. You have been baptized. You do this you do that and this is all unbelieving presumption which demonstrates no inward change, no supernatural work of God's Holy Spirit very little sense of your own sinfulness.

Very little sense of your own wordiness when there is no sense of your unworthiness in your sinfulness and you are depending upon some kind of external act and I'll you have walked a hand you have raised certain words in the prayer that you have said, and perhaps things you have done. Beyond that, this is your your entrance into the kingdom you need to you need to reevaluate because people just like you, according to Jesus are cast into outer darkness question is have you been born again.

The question is, has there been a work of God's spirit to change your heart.

The question is have you been humbled by the grace of God given a sense of your own onward. The question is have you been been stripped of every human merit of any kind whatsoever and have come to cast yourself upon Jesus Christ and him alone for salvation. That's the question because those who come knocking on the door. The kingdom through the Lord Jesus Christ are welcomed in those who presume themselves to be inside the kingdom apart from a changed heart.

Apart from the new birth going to find themselves cast out a very instructive passage from God's word. Let's commit this to the Lord in prayer. The father, we thank you that your word has been given to us to teach us to teach us your ways to show us your paths to show us our self to show us our need of Christ the Lord use your word this day in every heart we pray