THE CENTERION’S UNDERSTANDING OF AUTHORITY
1. Matthew 8:5-13 (NKJV) Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, 6 saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented." 7 And Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him." 8 The centurion answered and said, "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. 9 "For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And 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." 10 When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, "Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! 11 "And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 "But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." 13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you." And his servant was healed that same hour.
2. A parallel account of this incident is found in Luke 7:1-10. We’ll note some additional information provided by Luke as we go through this story.
3. A short time after the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus went back to what had become His home base -- the Galilean city of Capernaum located at the northern end of the Sea of Galilee. Matthew says that a centurion came to him pleading for his sick servant. Luke’s account says that the centurion sent Jewish elders to plead with Jesus to come and heal the servant. There is no reason why both statements cannot be true. The centurion first sent sympathetic Jewish friends to make an appeal to Jesus. The centurion then followed up with a personal request to the Lord.
4. This centurion was a special man who received a high compliment from Jesus because of his faith. There are some lessons we can learn from this man.
I. THE CENTURION TEACHES US THE NEED TO PRACTICE HUMILITY EVEN WHEN WE ARE IN POSITIONS OF AUTHORITY.
A. He was a centurion.
1. That was a rank in the Roman army for a commander of 100 men.
2. He was accustomed to being in authority. He explained to Jesus that in his daily life, he told people what to do and they did it.
3. Romans were occupiers of Israel during the time that Jesus lived on the earth. Under certain restrictions, they could compel people to do things for them. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus had said, "And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two" [Matthew 5:41 (NKJV)]. This referred to Roman soldiers who could force Jews to go with them and carry their baggage for a mile. This centurion certainly knew how to give orders.
B. He approached Jesus with humility.
1. He didn’t barge into the presence of this itinerant Jewish preacher and command him to come and heal his servant. Certainly there are arrogant people who would have used that approach.
2. This man appears to have been conscious of being a foreigner. He arranged for Jewish elders to make the first approach to Jesus [Luke 7:3]. Those Jews pleaded with Jesus and "begged Him earnestly" [Luke 7:4]. Surely this man understood the difference between asking and telling. That’s a greatly needed lesson in modern-day human relations.
a. Workplace -- treat people with consideration and respect [Proverbs 15:1 (NKJV) A soft answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger.]
b. Family -- "catching more flies with honey than vinegar"
C. He felt unworthy for Jesus to come into his house [Matthew 8:8, "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. "] We do not know exactly how much this Roman soldier understood about the identity of Jesus, but this statement indicates that he thought Jesus was a great man.
II. THE CENTURION TEACHES US THE VALUE OF CARING ABOUT PEOPLE.
A. The centurion’s servant was a slave. Luke used the Greek word doulos (slave) to describe the servant. Matthew has the centurion himself describing the servant as a pais which could be translated "boy" or "child." This word can be translated "servant" as it is here in Matthew 8, but it shows the affection and care the master felt for his slave boy. Luke 7:2 says the servant was "dear" to the centurion.
B. The servant was very sick.
1. He was paralyzed and dreadfully tormented [Matthew 8:6]
2. He was at the point of death [Luke 7:2]
3. Callous slaveowners often abandoned sick slaves to die. Their needs were ignored. It’s very clear that this centurion was not that kind of master.
C. We should not allow ourselves to become hardened about the circumstances faced by the less fortunate people of the world.
1. All around us are people with needs. We will never be in a place where there is no one to help.
2. Self-centered people just don’t see those needs. Their vision is focused on themselves and those they happen to care about. Others just don’t fit into the picture.
3. We need to learn from this Roman centurion to care about others.
a. Sick
b. Lonely
c. Hurting -- from the trials and adversities of life
III. THE CENTURION TEACHES US THE POWER OF SIMPLE FAITH.
A. Those with an agenda to oppose Jesus sought all sorts of ways to deny His power.
1. They criticized Him for healing on the Sabbath, but overlooked the fact that He had the power to heal [Matthew 12:10-14 (NKJV) And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand. And they asked Him, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"; that they might accuse Him. 11 Then He said to them, "What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? 12 "Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath." 13 Then He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other. 14 Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him.]
2. When they could not deny the power of Jesus to work miracles, they accused Him of working by the power of Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons [Matthew 12:24 (NKJV), Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, "This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons."]
B. By contrast, this centurion simply accepted that Jesus could speak and make his servant better.
1. Jesus promised to come and heal the boy.
2. The soldier replied, "only speak a word, and my servant will be healed." He had absolute faith in the power of Jesus’ word.
3. Jesus told the centurion, "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you." Matthew 8:13 tells us the servant was healed that same hour.
C. Jesus commended the centurion for his faith.
1. He marveled at this man’s faith.
a. This man was a Gentile. He lacked all the opportunities the Jews had experienced to know about God. A Jew could look at Jesus and see the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies about the coming of the Messiah. Those prophecies provided a great impetus for believing in Jesus as the Son of God. But this man was a Gentile. He did not come from that background, but still he was a man of great faith.
b. Jesus declared that He had not found such great faith even in Israel [Matthew 8:10].
2. Jesus then spoke a prophecy which indicated that Gentiles would have equal opportunity with Jews to be saved while some of the Jews would be cast out [Matthew 8:11-12 (NKJV) "And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 "But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."]
a. The gospel was going to be preached to the whole world [Mark 16:15-16 (NKJV) And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 "He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.]
b. People from every nation who were like this centurion would be able to enjoy salvation. They would "sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven."
c. However, those who rejected Christ would be "cast into outer darkness" even though they might be considered "sons of the kingdom" [i.e, Jews].
CONCLUSION
1. People are not saved because of their race, gender, or nationality.
a. It is not true that all Jews or all Americans, or all ______ -- fill in the blank -- will be saved.
b. It is true that ALL who hear the word of the Lord and submit themselves to it and live as faithful Christians will be saved.
2. This Roman centurion is a great teacher for us if his story causes us to examine our lives and see the qualities we need in order to be right with God.
