Authority & Faith | Matthew 8:5-13

Introduction: Genuine faith always has a proper object. The faith that is the gift of God, the faith that can obey God, the faith that is the result of the Holy Spirit’s work in a human heart, is a faith that trusts IN GOD, and in His Word. Faith, PROPERLY FOCUSED, is never faith in faith. It is not faith in intuitions. It is not faith in something suggested to us mystically, or emotionally. GODLY FAITH IS TRUST ANCHORED IN WHAT GOD HAS REVEALED. IT IS FAITH IN GOD’S PERSON, AND IT IS FAITH IN GOD’S PRONOUNCEMENTS, and as a result, it is never disappointed, because it is impossible for God to lie. Genuine faith is a testimony to God. It honors God. It displays God. It displays God because it is a means that God uses to put His own faithfulness on display. He tells us what is true and calls us to believe it and to live on the basis of it, and then He demonstrates that we are wise to trust Him. ESV Malachi 3:10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. ESV Numbers 23:19 God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? That is why there is no conflict of interest in an account of a miracle that magnifies the authority of Jesus and the astounding faith of a Gentile centurion. THE AUTHORITY ON DISPLAY IN JESUS GLORIFIES GOD. THE FAITH ON DISPLAY IN THE CENTURION GLORIFIES JESUS AND GLORIFIES GOD. • AN UNLIKELY APPEAL (vs.5-6) Jesus is making His way into the city of Capernaum. Located northwest of the sea of Galilee, it became a place where the ministry Jesus came to be based. It was a military outpost, which is why you have a centurion there, a battle tested, veteran soldier, who commanded at least 100 men. It located on a travel route that made it a strategic taxing location as well. Of all the people one might expect to seek out the Lord Jesus Christ — and to address Him as Lord while asking Him for help — the unlikeliest might have been a Roman centurion. But this was a man whom the Lord has already been working in. Luke tells us that this was man very friendly and kind to the Jewish people. In fact, everything that Matthew presents as having taken place between this centurion and the Lord Jesus, DID TAKE PLACE BETWEEN THEM — but through Jewish mediators. ESV Luke 7:3 When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant. 4 And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, "He is worthy to have you do this for him, 5 for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us our synagogue." So, the centurion makes his way to Jesus but does not address Jesus directly. • A GENTILE MAN – In addition, the men who were installed into the kind of leadership role were often natives of that area. This means, he was not only seen as an occupier, but a traitor by some of the people. • AN ACCOMPLISHED MAN (He is the leader of the military garrison in that city — someone who served under Herod Antipas) • A GENEROUS MAN (Built the people a synagogue) • A CARING MAN The word servant is παῖς. It is a word used for a young person, usually below the teenage years. It was also a word that could be used of a son. It would not be a stretch to understand this to mean, “my boy.” It also be used of a slave who was your personal attendant. What we know from Luke, is that this slave was especially dear to this man. ESV Luke 7:2 Now a centurion had a servant who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. HIS DESCRIPTION OF THE SERVANT DEMONSTRATES HIS COMPASSION. • THE SERVANT’S PHYSICAL CONDITION IS NOTED • THE SERVANT’S PAIN IS NOTED NOTHING ABOUT THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN EXPECTED. This is not the kind of man who would normally be associated with compassion. Not the kind of man who would normally be associated with love of the Jews. Not the kind of man who would normally be looking for help from a Jewish religious leader, nor have the kind of spiritual sensitivity to build a synagogue. • A RESPECTFUL MAN He does not just refer to Jesus as “sir.” The “appeal” is just that, it is an ASK. The man is appealing for HELP. You do not come to Jesus asking for help with a life-threatening illness if you believe he is an ordinary man. • A RESPECTED MAN He is so highly respected that as he is interceding for his servant, the Jews are interceding for him. ESV Luke 7:4 And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, "He is worthy to have you do this for him, • AN UNAMBIGUOUS ANSWER (vs.7)