Pastor Jacob talks about the man who had faith that amazed Jesus, and shows us how we can do the same. Originally given on Aug 2nd 2020
Sunday August 2nd
You all have heard all the tentative announcements and plans and such, so this morning were just going to dive right in.
Today, is the first Sunday of the month, which here at Christ Community means we will be partaking in Communion together.
If you forgot to bring your own elements, don’t worry, we got you covered.
One of the powerful things we as followers of Christ can do, is publicly proclaim our devotion to Him.
It strengthens our faith
We remind ourselves of His sacrifice and what it means to us
And it lets everyone in our life know where we stand
What we believe
It tells other believers that we are one
We are together
United to never be divided
It tells other believers that I am here for you
You can come to me with any issue in your life and I will point you to Jesus
We are united as the body of Christ, and nothing can change that
So this morning id like to ask everyone here to remind yourself of what Jesus did for you
Of the life He lived
And of the death He died
Remind yourself that you are made new
That you cant be defined by your mistakes
Remind yourself that God has His hands on your life
That He will guide you
Teach you
Support you
Trim and prune you
And never ever ever ever ever ever leave you
1st Corinthians 1:23 says:
23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
Let us partake of the body of our Savior together.
25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
It was the shedding of the blood of our King, that washes clean our sin.
Let us partake together.
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If you've been with us the past few weeks, you know that we have been talking about the miracles of Jesus.
We've been looking at a few different ones, including:
Jesus raising a girl from the dead
Turning water into wine
Healing the woman with an issue of blood
Feeding the multitudes
And Jesus healing a man who was born blind
We've talked about John 20:31 that says these miracles are the evidence needed to prove that Jesus is God
At the end of this series, were going to talk about if miracles can and or still, happen nowadays, along with another interesting facet of Jesus’ ministry….that gets lumped in with His miracles.
But today, were talking about the time in Luke 7, when Jesus heals a Roman Centurion's Servant.
Luke 7:1-10
When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum. 2 There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. 3 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. 7 That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. 8 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 9 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” 10 Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.”
( → → Opening Prayer ← ← )
Alright, so, first things first.
A Roman Centurion
Comes from the word century, meaning 100, so as a average, these guys would have 100 men under them.
These guys were tough.
They were the highest rank in the Roman army, before becoming an officer.
They were the bridge between all the privates and grunts, and the officers that made all the decisions.
That got that rank of Centurion, because of a few things:
Loyalty-they were die hard, do the job that was given to you soldiers
Bravery-they were the men who would wade into combat, front lines, never turning back kind of soldiers
Skilled-they practiced the art of war, learned how to fight, hand to hand, sword to sword, get dirty, get bloody, and beat their enemy kind of soldier
These were the guys who the commanders and generals would hand down orders to, and have absolute unwavering faith that their orders would be handed down to grunts exactly as they should be.
They could take the orders from above them, and with skill and bravery, loyally follow through and give orders to the men under them, while walking along side those men in the orders.
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And the reason why there were Roman Centurions in Capernaum, is because Rome conquered the known world, and set up their authority in all the countries and cities that they conquered.
So this certain Centurion, was there to ensure that the orders given from Rome, were enforced and carried out in Capernaum.
This was his station
He would ensure that people were behaving, not rebelling, paying their taxes
He would have been a tax collector for the Romans
Because of this, and all the other things about him and his station, meant that he would not have been liked by the jewish people and their leaders.
He was a gentile
A foreigner
A pagan
A tax collector
He was a soldier of a foreign country, imposing their will on the population of a conquered people
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However….that is not what we see when we read the text.
First of all, when he sent the Jewish Elders to go to Jesus….they not only listened to him, they said he was worthy.
The people who thought that salvation had to be earned…..said this man was worthy
Not only was he considered worthy, but he built their synagogue!
The place where they went to hear the Scriptures read, and their explanation...was built by a Roman Centurion
This man did fit into the culture he was a part of.
But he was respected enough the Jews carried out his wishes while calling him worthy
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And what was that, that he asked them to ask Jesus for?
To heal his servant
Most likely, his slave
And as we all know, slaves wernt treated like people.
They were objects to use, and throw away when they were useful anymore.
So again, we see this certain Roman Centurion, acting in a way that didnt fit the status quo of the culture and time.
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This man should be pagan---
But he reached out to Jesus
This man who should have treated his slave like an object---
But he wanted him to be healed and made better
This foreigner who should have been despised by the jews---
But he was respected and considered worthy
This guy did not fit in
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Now keep all of that in mind when we hear what happened when Jesus got close to his house.
We can hear that interaction in verses 6-10:
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. 7 That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. 8 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 9 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.
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The faith of this Roman Centurion, amazed Jesus.
This is the only time in all of Scripture, that we see Jesus being amazed in a positive way.
He was amazed at the unbelief of the city that this story actually takes place in, and straight up tells them all their going to hell,
But the only time He was amazed in a positive way, was right here in this story.
The faith of this Roman Centurion amazed Jesus.
So what was so amazing about it?
Look at the words, look at what’s written
He recognized that he was unworthy when compared to Christ
Meaning though He never met Jesus, and only heard the stories about Him----He knew that he fell short of the worth that is required to be in the presence of God
Through the stories told about Jesus, this man came to the conclusion that Jesus was God.
He also recognized Jesus’ authority over sickness
He didnt say “I have prayed the right prayers Lord, so now you can heal this person I love.”
He said “I am a man under authority, so I recognize authority. You say the word, and those under your authority have no choice but to listen to you.”
And Jesus was amazed.
This man that had never met Jesus, heard the stories about Him---
Believed Him to be God
Knew His own personal moral worth when compared to God
And recognized that God has authority over sickness and death
And Jesus was amazed.
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So in closing, I have a homework assignment for you.
If you're listening to this at home
Or if you're here in person
It’s a pretty big and important homework assignment, and it is one that will last for your whole life:
Have faith that amazes Jesus
Be like this certain centurion, and have faith that amazes Jesus.
Be like a centurion:
Read the orders that are given to you by your King-----and follow through
Read His words, every day, and live them out toward the people in your life
Receive the orders from above, and then live them out here in this world, toward the people in your life
Be loyal
Be brave
Stand up against your enemy
Fight against your sin, if it’s a daily battle or a battle that only appears every now and then.
Fight against your enemy with skill and fierceness and ferocity
Wade onto the battlefield, outfitted with the armor of Ephesians 6, and wage holy war against your enemies
Be like this Centurion, and do not fit in with the culture around you.
Be honorable
Be polite
Be nice
Love others
Love your enemies
Be respectful to authority figures
Dont fit in
Be so upright and so honorable amongst unbelievers, that they themselves will call you worthy
Be so respectful and so brave and so loyal, that even unbelieving pagans will sing of your virtue
Be like this Centurion, hear the stories of who Jesus is and what He has done, and understand that He has authority over:
sickness,
disease,
death,
illnesses,
Accidents,
Colds
flus
bacterias,
cells,
germs,
Our God has authority over every single virus that has ever and will ever exist
Be brave
Be loyal
Hear the stories of Jesus
Believe in Him
Bring your issue to Him
And understand that He has authority over everything in this world
If you do, then you will have faith that amazes Jesus
( → → Closing Prayer ← ← )