We're talking about the centurion's faith as found in Matthew the 8th chapter. Thinking about faith it's such a marvelous thing to behold. When you look at some of the individuals in the Bible, when you see the demonstration of their faith it's just amazing.
Also, you see people around you, and when you visit with people who are experiencing very trying times you can be amazed at the strength of their faith. I've known people who have dealt with some terrible things, terrible diseases, the consequences of bad choices, or seemingly simply dealing with just bad luck.
Things happen, and yet you see their strength, and you see their faith that never wavers through all of it. They're confident that their faith will see them through whatever the situation. Their faith is inspiring and beautiful to behold and to think about, when you see someone who is going through that and yet their faith is strong we are amazed at the faith of some of the people of old times.
- Abraham - Genesis 22
- Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego - Daniel 3:16-18
- David - Psalm 27:13-14
"I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord." — Psalm 27:13-14
It is marvelous to behold, you know?
But what about when we see great faith in one who is, you know, maybe not of the seed of Abraham, is not of their faith? Even more remarkable [is one] having no direct experience as a child of God. Their actions of faith are incredible to behold. One such person is this centurion, which we read about in Matthew chapter eight and Luke chapter seven.
You know, he was a Roman centurion. He is not a Jew, he was a Gentile, but, his love and his devotion concerning his servant are clearly evident. His faith in Christ is simple and trusting. And so, it is a marvelous faith and Jesus is going to remark on this faith; the faith of this man.
Now, as I said before, it's found, in Luke chapter seven and in Matthew chapter eight. And, we'll look at both passages.
There are some that say, well, here's a great big contradiction. Skeptics will call this a contradiction because in one sense, in Matthew, it seems like Jesus is talking directly to the centurion, and in Luke's account, it is shown that it is coming through messengers, that he is communicating with the centurion. And so they'll say, well, there's a contradiction. It is absolutely not a contradiction. If I send someone a message through another person, I'm still talking to that person. And so Luke just gives more information than Matthew does. He does not in any way contradict Matthew. And so you can just throw that out right there.
The Request of the Centurion
Let's look here at this miracle, the details of the miracle.
- Matthew 8:5-6
This man was a centurion, a Roman military officer, a captain of, at least in the beginning, a captain of 100 soldiers.
By this time, in the Empire, it is more like 80, but either way, he is over a century, over a basic unit of the Roman military. He's not necessarily a high-ranking Roman soldier. He could be, but he's basically like a senior enlisted man. That's basically what the centurion is.
He was a Gentile, of course, as shown by the text. No doubt he was one of the few Gentiles who saw the emptiness and falsehood of the pagan religions and maybe came to favor Judaism. And so he is a Roman, and he is a centurion. He is stationed in Israel, stationed in Capernaum. And so he has been influenced by the faith of God.
- Luke 7:3-5
This [centurion] is a man that loves Israel. He loves the God of Israel, and though he is not of Israel, he has built them a synagogue. Now, it's interesting to note that the Roman soldiers were half warrior and half builder.
Basically, that is what they did everywhere they went. They built roads, they built forts, and they fought. And so they're experienced at both. It's one of the amazing things about the Roman Army and why they were so successful. They could build things as well. And so, he was a builder. He built this building for them. A centurion also is mentioned four other times in the New Testament, and every time we read about them, we read about them in a favorable way. I'm not sure why that is, but that just happens to be the case.
- Luke 23:47
- Acts 10
- Acts 27
These are some of the times we run into centurions, and nothing bad seems to be said of them.
So, he [the centurion] makes his request. He's got a servant, and he cares about it enough that he is going to send people to Jesus. He's heard about what Jesus can do. He's heard of the miracles, and he sends a message, he sends one of the elders of the synagogue of the Jews that would vouch for him, for the kind of character he had. And so, as a man of high character, and a man who has heard, and a man who has belief.
The Communication Between Jesus and the Centurion
Jesus then communicates back to him.
- Matthew 8:7-9
And so Jesus says, very clearly, that I'm going to come, I will heal him. As Jesus was going with him, the centurion learned that Jesus was coming, and he sent a fresh group of friends who stated the words of the centurion.
- Luke 7:6-8
And there it says, then Jesus went with them.
The Humility of the Centurion
First of all, notice we see the humility of this centurion. He said I'm not worthy that you should come to me. And, in fact, I'm not even worthy enough to come to you. Isn't that true of all of us though? We are not worthy that Christ should come into our lives and, come into our homes.
We've got to have the humility of that centurion. What great humility. This is a man that's in charge of many people. He is of the overlords, you might say, of the Jews. He could have a very arrogant attitude, but he does not have that. He has great humility.
You know, the Jewish rulers pleaded for his worthiness of him. But the centurion, though, declared his own unworthiness. He did not think himself worthy to go out to Jesus or to be in the presence of Jesus at all.
The Faith of the Centurion
As one having great power and authority he knew that Christ's word would be sufficient in order to heal his servant. He made a simple deduction based on his faith in Jesus. He says, I have authority, and I'd say to my soldier, frog, and they jump. I have the authority to do that. I can say you do this, and they do it instantly. And so he recognized that Jesus had that power. He had the power to heal, and he didn't have to be present to do it. You know, this centurion says, I exercise my authority through others. I delegate my authority to others, I say the word and it gets done. I say build a synagogue and a synagogue gets built. I say, destroy that fort, and that fort gets destroyed.
Likewise, he knew that Jesus had that same kind of power when it came to healing his servant. So with his power and authority, he could simply say to the disease, go, and it would go. And we see, Jesus says, I'm coming to heal your servant. He finds out, wait a minute, don't, I'm not worthy you come to me. Just say the word, and he will be healed.
Jesus Marveled at the Centurion's Faith
And notice Jesus his reaction to this.
- Matthew 8:10
"When Jesus heard it, he marveled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel."
In his experience on this earth, walking among men, he never saw this kind of faith, this kind of absolute acceptance. The faith of this centurion stood out vividly in contrast to the prevailing unbelief of the Jews. Remember, even his own brethren didn't accept him, didn't believe. At least not until after they saw he had risen from the dead.
Only twice do we read that Jesus marveled here when he sees this man's faith and also in Mark.
- Mark 6:4-6
"A prophet is not without honor, but in his own country and among his own kin and in his own house, and he could there do no mighty work, say that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk and healed them and he marveled because of their unbelief and went roundabout the village's teaching."
And so among his own people, the ones that had known him for 30 years. He marveled at their unbelief, and yet here he marvels at the belief of this Gentile. And this Gentile puts all of those people to shame because he could see what Jesus could do and, deduct from there, who Jesus was.
Jesus makes this declaration, this statement that's very startling most likely to the Jews that are present.
"And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." — Matthew 8:11-12
Can you imagine their reaction to this? Here's this Gentile, He marvels at his great faith. And then, He makes this statement that the Jews were going to be rejected.
In observing the faith of the Gentile, Jesus states that the people from all over the world will come, and they will sit down with the patriarchs, and yet the Jews of that generation would not.
His words reached beyond the present kingdom, of the church, to the eternal kingdom as seen in his contrasting statement of eternal rejection of the unbelieving Jews. The kingdom was first offered to the Jews, and because they rejected it, they would be cast into outer darkness.
The Healing of the Centurion's Servant
And so, Jesus blesses the centurion then by healing his servant.
- Matthew 8:18
- Luke 7:10
"And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour." Matthew 8:13
"And they that were sent, returning to the house, found the servant whole that had been sick." — Luke 7:10
He was made whole once more.
You know, the centurion believed that Jesus could heal his servant by speaking a word. As was his faith, so was the blessing to him and his servants, and he was healed from that very hour, from the moment he spoke the word that man was healed. The healing is perfect and instantaneous.
Applications to be Made from the Healing of the Servant
What are some lessons, and some applications that we can make from this miracle?
The Power of Jesus' Word
You know, Jesus needed only to speak the word. The centurion understood this. His word had enough power to heal.
- Governors need to only say a word and a stay of execution takes place.
- The president just needs to say the word and maybe missiles fly.
His power in authority, we see it on display.
- Cleansed the leper — Mark 1:40-42
- Calmed the raging sea — Mark 4:35-41
- Raised little dead girl to life — Mark 5
- Raised Lazarus from the dead - John 11:43-44
- The coming resurrection — John 5:28-29
His word has power. By His word, God spoke the universe and everything that is in it into existence. And by that same word, what he has created has been reserved under fire. On the day of judgment, He has power. No one has the power and authority of our Lord Jesus Christ. No one ever has. No one ever will.
[The centurion] he understood that His word had power.
Jesus Came to Call All Men to the Kingdom
We also understand that Jesus came to call both Jews and Gentiles, all men, unto or into the kingdom. He came to call not just the Jews but also the Gentiles, and many of the Gentiles would hear that call and come into the kingdom and be blessed with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
- Titus 2:11, uh, tells us that the grace of God that brings us salvation has appeared unto all.
[Salvation] for all men, not just to the Jews, to all men. Now, many of the Jews would reject the call through unbelief, and because of it, they would not take part in the blessings of God, and in the end, would have eternal punishment. All people today who are not part of the kingdom will be cast into outer darkness.
He came to call both Jews and Gentiles. He came to call all men into the Kingdom of Heaven.
We Can be Translated into the Kingdom
Note that we also can be translated into the Kingdom.
- Colossians 1:13-14
Let us take advantage of the opportunity to be part of the kingdom both now and in eternity.
- 1 Corinthians 15:24
- 2 Peter 1:10-11
The faithful, who are in the kingdom now will have a glorious entrance into the eternal kingdom in the end.
From the Centurion's Faith, We Learn:
- His word carries authority to heal.
- All are invited to the kingdom.
- All can be translated into the kingdom.
Uh, but in order to enter the kingdom, one must be born again.
- John 3:5
"Jesus answered, verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water in the spirit. He cannot enter into the kingdom of God."
You've got to be born again, not a physical rebirth, but a spiritual rebirth. Born of the water and of the Spirit. It is a birth that has two elements. Born of the Spirit is to be born of the teachings of the Spirit.
- 1 Peter 1:23
It is the word that reveals to us who Jesus is. It is through the word, that we can have faith.
- Romans 10:17
- Romans 6:3-4
We are to be born of the Spirit but also born of the water. That is to be buried in the water and raised to newness of life.
One must be born of the water and of the Spirit, hear the word of God, and believe it. Without faith, it is impossible to please him., Hebrews 11:6. In John 8, Jesus said, unless you believe that I am he, you shall die in your sins. We must believe that Jesus is the son of God, we've got to believe in God, we've got to believe in his Son.
And based upon that belief, we've got to repent and turn away from a life of sin. We need to confess our belief and be baptized to wash away our sins. That's how we enter into the Kingdom, born of the water and of the Spirit. The Spirit's word tells us what to do. And when we are baptized, we have done what the Spirit's word has told us to do and then continue to live faithfully as one who is in the kingdom and not turn away to unbelief as the Jews did.
Today, if you're one who is not a child of God and you want to enter into the kingdom, we urge you today to contact us and be baptized with the remission of your sins.
