Matthew 8:5-13
Luke 7:1-10
Just say the word…..
When the Baptist minister- Charles Haddon Spurgeon was asked to defend the bible, he said this in his response:
Today, as every Sunday, I am going open the cage and see that happens.
It appears that we have a story here in Matthew 8, that contradicts in part, the same story that Luke recorded in Luke 7.
Look at how Matthew started record this story in verse 5
When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him
Quite clearly Matthew records that when Jesus was in Capernaum, which was a small town on the north shore of the sea of Galilee, a centurion, that is a roman soldier captain in charge of 100 soldiers, came and appealed to Jesus.
But look at what Luke recorded about the same story in Luke 7:6
6 And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to him,
Quite clearly, Luke records that it wasn’t the centurion who went and appealed to Jesus, but it was the centurion’s friends.
So, who was it, who stood before Jesus that day?
Was it the centurion, or was it his friends?
This is not the only time the details of the same story seem to get a little muddled, take for example the story of the empty tomb.
Matthew 28:5 says there was only one angel at the tomb
5 But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.
John 20:12 says there were two angels at the tomb
12 And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet.
So, was it one or two angels at the tomb?
What do we do with these inconsistencies?
Well, if you already have a bias against the bible being the actual word of God, you could throw the baby out with the bath water and say all the bible must be “made- up”- you might as well and go to the uniting church, where they hold in their statement of faith, that they truly believe that the bible is not actually the word of God, and so they pick and choose what they think is true or not.
Or, if we thought about it a little more, particularly with this story of the centurion, we may actually consider that the bible is more trust worthy, knowing that these accounts are slightly different.
I would be more sceptical if these stories, told by two different people, one a doctor- Luke and one a Tax collector- Matthew, where exactly the same.
I would be sceptical that these two witnesses got together and conspired to make sure their stories matched exactly. Like witnesses who fabricate their stories to make sure some truth is remained concealed.
We know that the same story can be told from many different angles and some story tellers will focus more on one aspect of the story than another story teller.
Some story tellers will leave some detail out that another mentioned.
We can see from Luke’s account of this story, that he was keen to emphasise that this centurion, was friends with the Jewish elders, and that this centurion loved the nation of Israel and he built the synagogue for the Jews. The story teller Matthew missed all of that detail, because for Matthew, he obviously wanted to highlight something else about the story.
But whether it was the centurion that day who appealed personally before Jesus, or whether it was the centurion’s friend, who appealed on the centurion’s behalf, we can be certain of this- It was the centurion who wanted the help of Jesus.
The centurion’s servant was sick and he knew that if anyone could fix him, it would be Jesus.
Now, unlike the leper who approached Jesus earlier in the chapter, this man, this centurion was anything, but a nobody, he wasn’t an outcast, but instead, he was a very important man in his community. He was a man who had authority and worked under the authority of the Roman Emperor.
As a centurion, he would have been in charge of 100 soldiers, and because he worked under the authority of a chiliarch, who in turn worked under the authority of the Roman emperor, this man had power.
He would give orders to his men and they would obey him.
Luke tells us that this centurion was not only respected amongst his own men, but he was respected amongst the Jews, as he had overseen the building of their synagogue.
Friends, when it comes to our need for a saviour Jesus, it doesn’t matter if you are rich or poor, powerful or an outcast, roman or Jew, we all need to come before Jesus and acknowledge that it is Jesus who has all authority in heaven and earth, and so we can only, whoever we are, approach Jesus with humble hearts.
The centurion may not have knelt before Jesus as the leper did, but he did approach Jesus with a humble heart, knowing that Jesus had authority over him.
Look at verses 5- 9 with me:
5 When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, 6 “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” 7 And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 8 But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
When Jesus offered to go to the house of the centurion in order to heal his servant, the centurion told him not to come, since he considered himself un worthy of Jesus entering his own house. By saying this, the centurion was showing that he knew that Jesus was the one who had the authority over sickness and disease. He was showing that Jesus was the one who had authority over him.
And so just as the centurion, would give orders to his men, he knew what he said would be done, because he knew he spoke with the authority of the roman emperor- and he knew that when the Roman emperor spoke, orders were carried out- things were done.
And so clearly this centurion believed that when Jesus spoke, he spoke with the authority of God, and things were done.
The centurion took Jesus at his word and guess what, Jesus didn’t fail his word.
Look at verse 13 with me:
13 And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment.
And so, this centurion just believed that Jesus spoke with the authority of God and therefore he had no need to Jesus to come to his house. The servant of the centurion never even met Jesus and yet Jesus healed him.
Perhaps the centurion was also aware of all the implications of Jesus going to his house that day.
The centurion, who was a gentile, would have known that he would have been considered unclean by the stricter Jews and therefore if Jesus would have entered the house of an unclean gentile, Jesus would have been considered unclean as well.
However, if the centurion would have invited Jesus to his house and Jesus said no, he would have been thought of as uncaring by the people. And so perhaps the centurion was aware of all this, and just didn’t want to put Jesus in an awkward position by inviting him to his house.
Although I think it is more likely that this centurion, just believed that he truly wasn’t worthy for Jesus to enter his house, in the same way he would feel un worthy for the Roman emperor to enter his house. But most importantly, the centurion just took Jesus at his word because he believed that his authority came from God Himself.
Before Jesus healed his servant, this centurion was a believer.
He knew that Jesus spoke with the authority of God.
The centurion didn’t need to see a miracle to believe, he just took Jesus at his word.
Unlike some of the Jews in the days of Jesus who demanded sign after sign, miracle after miracle, in order for Jesus to prove where his authority came from, this centurion just took Jesus at his word.
Look at Matthew 16:1-4 with me:
16 And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. 2 He answered them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ 3 And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. 4 An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” So he left them and departed.
Friends, just like the pharisees and Sadducees, some people want Jesus to perform miracles for them as an excuse not to believe in Jesus. Some people get so fixated on so-called miracles, that it gives them an excuse not to follow the teachings of Jesus, not to live in accordance with his word, not to love your neighbour, not to pray for those who persecute you, not to forgive those who cause harm, not to bow to the authority of Jesus.
Jesus told these Pharisees and Sadducees who constantly questioned his authority and demanded miracle after miracle and sign after sign to prove himself, that they were in fact wrong in seeking a sign for Jesus to prove himself. In fact, they were more than just wrong, they were evil and adulterous. They questioned the authority of Jesus and Jesus called them evil and adulterous.
However- Jesus did give them a hint of the one sign that he was going to give the whole world, the sign of Jonah.
Just as Jonah was swallowed by the big fish and considered as good as dead for 3 days, before the fish vomited him out onto the shore, Jesus himself, was going to die on cross, be dead for 3 days and then he was going to rise from the dead, to prove to the world once and for all that he truly was and is the son of God.
Friends, if you are looking for a miracle today, in order for you to trust that Jesus really is who he said he was, then we just need to remember the cross.
The cross is enough!
You can stop searching for a miracle, but instead just trust that when Jesus died on the cross, and rose again three days later, he not only paid the price for all your sin, but he gave you eternal life.
Do you believe that?
If you believe that- it will change your life.
I know it can be hard to trust anyone,- just go along to a mid-coast council meeting…..but if there is one person that is worth taking the “risk” upon- It is Jesus. – You can trust him- take him at his word, that has been given to us through the bible.
For this centurion, he didn’t need a sign, a miracle from Jesus, he didn’t need Jesus to come to his house, he didn’t need Jesus to see his servant, or touch him, he just took Jesus at his word.
Such a simple thing, and yet such a hard thing to do.
The faith of this centurion even amazed Jesus.
Look at verses 10-12 with me:
When Jesus heard this, he marvelled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. 11 I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, 12 while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Jesus was so amazed at the faith of this centurion, that he used him as an example to teach the people around him.
He taught them a profound lesson that day, that we need to heed.
He gave a warning to the Jews who had not trusted Jesus at his word- this is the nation of Israel, the sons of the kingdom. These are the people whom God had chosen from all the nations of the earth to be his. They had been given the law of Moses, they had been given the promised land, they had the ark of the covenant, they had the tabernacle and the temple, they had been given all the privileges of God, and yet because they had not taken Jesus at his word, they too, will be thrown into the outer darkness, a place of eternal torment- Hell.
Those who failed to believe that Jesus spoke with the authority of God, will not sit at the heavenly banquet.
Friends, let this be a warning for us.
We may have had the privilege of growing up in church, we may have grown up in a “Christian” country, we may have read the bible and sang the hymns, we may have been surrounded by a family of believers, but if we don’t take Jesus at his word, if we don’t submit to his authority, if we don’t trust that all authority in heaven and earth has been given to him, then we along with all those who rejected Jesus, will be eventually rejected by Jesus forever.
It all comes down to trust!
For those who trust Jesus and take him at his word, whether you are roman or Jew, from the east or west, you can be assured that you are part of God’s family, you can be assured that you will one day be dining with our patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Friends, do you believe?
Let us pray