Matthew 8: 1-13 January 22, 2017 A+D
+ Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. +
Our text this morning is from the Gospel according to St. Matthew, chapter eight, paying particular attention to verse eight where the centurion replies to Jesus: “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed.” So for our text.
Children's message:
Sometimes when we cook, we ask someone else to have a taste, and they might reply “I think it needs a little something, I’m not sure what, though.” We may know someone in our family who can dance through the kitchen with confidence, putting in a bit of this and that with no obvious recipe and everything always turns out delicious. Many recipes have a “special ingredient” that makes a dish taste particularly good, and it is often a closely guarded family recipe passed down from generation to generation. Fancy restaurant chefs have their own special ingredients passed down from the master chef to apprentice. Here is a special ingredient some folks use to make stew, meatloaf, and gravies taste “meatier”. This is a tube of anchovy paste. Does everyone know what an anchovy is? It’s a salty little fish. You put a squirt or two of this into your beef dishes, and it makes them taste more like beef than beef by itself! If you didn’t see it, you wouldn’t know it is in there. In today’s Gospel reading, the Centurion had a special ingredient of his own, but as we’ll see, it really isn’t his, and it isn’t a secret at all! We can’t see it, but Jesus did! He’s the one that put it there! Listen as we talk about Jesus’ healing of the Centurion’s servant, and see what that special ingredient is that God gives to all of us.
Our lives are like a recipe. Sometimes, they come out pretty good. Sometimes, they burn on the stove. Sometimes, they look alright, but they taste just awful! Sometimes they need “a little something” and other times they need a lot of help. When we have a great need in our lives, we want a magic ingredient injected into our recipe to make it better. We have a great need to be free of the paralyzing power of sin. This morning we heard about the centurion who asked Jesus for help for his paralyzed and suffering servant. Luke records some more details of this exchange between Jesus and the centurion, adding that this servant was “highly valued” by him and that the centurion was a friend to the Jewish people, and had built a synagogue for them. The elders of the Jews that preceded the centurion approached Jesus and told Him these things, and that they thought this man was therefore worthy of Jesus’ help.
Notice, however, that the centurion himself doesn’t immediately ask Jesus to heal his beloved servant. The Centurion uses a “recipe” when interacting with Jesus. He tells Jesus what is wrong with the boy, and when Jesus says “I will come and heal him” the Gentile soldier replies “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof.” We do not know how this soldier came to know who Jesus is, but his addressing Jesus as “Lord” is remarkable. This man knows where he stands, and that he is unworthy. He rightly calls Jesus “Lord” and confesses that he isn’t worthy of the bodily presence of the Lord in his home. Are we worthy to have Jesus under our roof? We just confessed that we are by nature sinful and unclean!
The centurion then tells a little parable of sorts. He tells Jesus, “I understand who You are Jesus! You see I have authority over my soldiers when I say do this or that, they do what I tell them. When I say come, they come! When I say go, they go! I say “jump,” they say “how high?” But my authority is NOTHING compared to the authority you have, Jesus! I am nothing before you. But, just say the word, Lord, and my servant will be healed!”
Matthew doesn’t often record Jesus’ internal reactions to those He spoke with, but here he records that Jesus “marveled” at what the centurion said. Jesus just finished preaching the sermon on the mount and in today’s Gospel was coming down from the mountain when He healed the leper and encountered the centurion. Out of all those people He had just preached to, Jesus marveled at the faith of this soldier. Here, embodied in the rough non-commissioned officer who was commander of up to one hundred men, we have a living example of just what Jesus just taught up on the mountain. Make no mistake, nothing in the life of Jesus happened by accident, and this Soldier’s witness of Jesus as Lord is no exception!
Our Lord said He had not seen such faith, no not even among the children of Israel. He “marveled” at him. Jesus was joyful in seeing this man’s faith. You see, the centurion recognized Jesus’ authority. He confessed his unworthiness, but then said: “Say the word, and it will be so”. That is the centurion’s faith, and it is a model for our own. The special ingredient is the confidence to come to God in prayer and say “Amen!” Amen – Yes! Let it be so! Just say the word! Because the Centurion received the power to believe in Jesus’ authority over all things, he knew all Jesus had to do was say it, and it would happen. Amen! And that is exactly what Jesus said to him! “Let it be done for you as you have believed!” Jesus never saw the servant. He didn’t use magic words or lay hands on him. He simply spoke, and it was done. Amen!
How does God “just say the word” for us today? (wait for answers -baptism, Lord’s supper, etc.)
When you came to the font and were baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen – you became a child of God according to the recipe – the words that He commanded us. When life throws you sickness and stress this week and you just can’t take it anymore, when the world seems completely overrun with evil and the devil seems to be winning; take it to Jesus in prayer, use that special ingredient of confidence: that Amen, that we almost take for granted at the end of our prayers! Say it now! Amen! Yes, amen – let it be so Lord! It will be for you as you have believed. Confess and be forgiven. Amen, yes Lord, let it be so. God just says the word for you today! Take and eat. Take and drink. Your sins are forgiven! Be strengthened and refreshed in body and soul! Amen. When you say “Amen!” you can have the confidence that Jesus carries your petitions to the Father because He carried your sins to the cross and buried them in the grave.
Go in confidence in the authority of Jesus. Two weeks ago we heard that “these things are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ.” John continues in I John 5:14-15: “This is the confidence which we have before [God], that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.” Jesus gives us the authority to come before our Heavenly Father with our requests.
Both Gospel writers recorded the centurion using a word for servant that can be written “son” or “child”. Immediately we see this Roman soldier caring for a neighbor in need; after his repentance, he demonstrates the fruits of the Spirit. The special ingredient is faith! No one can see it is there, but Almighty God. But God gives us the good things we do for our neighbor in need -and those are seen by many! Be like the centurion, and go and do the same! Tell them the great things that God has done for you. Don’t keep it a secret. Mission starts at home, brothers and sisters in Christ. Hold one another up physically and prayerfully, knowing that God is holding you up. Say amen with confidence that it will be done as you have believed, because Jesus did it all on the cross for sinners like you and me. Jesus makes us worthy to sit in His holy house and receive His many blessings.
+ In the Name of Jesus, Amen +
And now may the peace which surpasses all human understanding keep your hearts and your minds focused on Christ Jesus.
+ Amen +
κήρυξον τὸν λόγον