Power Over Paralysis: More Divine Deeds By The Savior Series

Power over Paralysis: More Divine Deeds by the Savior

Matthew 8: 5-13, Luke 7:1-10

Jesus spoke with unearthly authority to the multitudes in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7, and the crowds were struck out of their minds. Now it is one thing to be able to “speak” with Godly, Divine authority, but it is another thing all together to be able to ACT and DEMONSTRATE Godly, supernatural authority. Jesus demonstrates that there is no inconsistency in His character and PERSON: His WORDS are authoritative and His DEEDS speak with the same authority: Authority that can only belong to God, not to a good man.

We see another Divine Deed by Jesus in Matthew 8:5-6: “And when Jesus entered Capernaum (means village of comfort), a centurion came to Him, imploring Him, 6 and saying, "Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented."

The Roman centurion’s personal servant was struck with palsy and so he couldn’t move. The word for “Tormented” means: “a touchstone, which is a hard black stone used to test the purity of gold or silver by the color of the streak produced on it by rubbing it with either metal, it was also the rack or instrument of torture by which one is forced to divulge the truth, the torture of the pains of a disease and metaphorically of those in hell after death.”

Luke 7:1-5: “When He had completed all His discourse in the hearing of the people, He went to Capernaum. 2 And a centurion's slave, who was highly regarded by him, was sick and about to die. 3 When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders asking Him to come and save the life of his slave. 4 When they came to Jesus, they earnestly implored Him, saying, "He is worthy for You to grant this to him; 5 for he loves our nation and it was he who built us our synagogue."

Matthew 8:7: Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him." 8 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. 9 "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." 10 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.

Luke 7: 6-9: Now Jesus started on His way with them; and when He was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to Him, "Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not worthy for You to come under my roof ; 7 for this reason I did not even consider myself worthy to come to You, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 8 "For I also am a man placed 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." 9 Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled at him, and turned and said to the crowd that was following Him, "I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith."

Matthew 7:11-13: "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 ; 12 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." 13 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.”

Luke 7:10: “When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.”

The Kingdom of God Comes to the World

We have to keep our focus on the main themes of Matthew in this story: The first theme is that God’s Kingdom comes to ALL the world and not just to Israelites. The Roman Centurion exemplifies that the Kingdom does not only come to those who are religious. The Centurion was considered to be “unclean” by the religious establishment of Israel, and if you read this account in Luke 7:3-6, you find that the Centurion considered himself to be UNWORTHY of Jesus’ consideration.

It says: “The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. 4 When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, "This man deserves to have you do this, 5 because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue." 6 So Jesus went with them. He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: "Lord, don't trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof.” The Centurion was certainly aware that neither his own righteousness nor his authority warranted Jesus’ consideration; he realized that he needed intermediaries to approach Jesus. His attitude was very UNLIKE centurions of the day. Once again we see the Kingdom of God comes only to those who are humble, and realize that THEY ARE UNWORTHY of God’s Kingdom and serving its King. (Not to the proud and self-sufficient!)