Matthew 8:1-13

Jesus Reveals His Mercy to All

Third Sunday after the Epiphany

January 22, 2017

Zion Lutheran Church + Nampa, ID

Nowhere else among Israel had Jesus found such faith as this.  A Roman centurion, a Gentile, approached Jesus in faith that He had the authority to heal his sick servant.  Jesus had just returned to Capernaum after preaching the sermon on the mount.  He had demonstrated His teaching authority to the Jews, then His authority to heal as He was willing to help a leprous man on His way down the mount.  This centurion certainly heard that Jesus was someone special, that He had the power and authority to heal.  And so this Gentile believes.

And Jesus marvels at this belief.  “With no one in Israel have I found such faith.” Jesus tells His followers.  Think about that a moment. Not the faith of Mary and Joseph. Not the faith of any of Jesus’ disciples.  Not the faith even of John the Baptist. Here was a man who probably had never met Jesus before, yet who believed that Jesus could and that He would heal his servant. And he even was deeply humble about it all.

Just like with the leper, Jesus doesn’t need to convincing to be merciful.  Jesus agrees to heal the servant, and invites Himself over to the centurion’s house in order to do so.  Yet, the centurion thinks this too much.  He believes that if Jesus will just say the Word it will be done. “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof.” And this is the point.  The centurion was unfit as a Gentile, unworthy in a moral sense, and he knew it. He did not pretend, he did not claim his authority in the world, he did not claim anything for himself before the Lord. And still Jesus heard His plea and answered as he believed.

It’s no wonder that this prayer is still prayed in the church even today. This is a prayer sometimes prayed before receiving the Sacrament of the Altar. We are not worthy to have you come under our roof.  We do not deserve God’s presence here, we do not deserve His love and forgiveness.  We are as unclean as the leper because of our sinfulness, and as unworthy as someone who stands before God with no status and no authority, a militant enemy bent on occupying God’s creation for our own purposes. And yet the Lord comes according to His Word and His promise.  He still hears the prayers of the faithful. He still exercises His authority among us, He still brings His healing to those broken by a broken world because of who He is, because of His character.  Jesus’ words still possess power and authority. The Word of Absolution declares that sins forgiven. Water, joined to the Word of Jesus in Holy Baptism, washes away sin. Bread and wine, joined to the Word of Jesus in Holy Communion, is His body and blood for the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation.

While we sinners rejoice at these miracles of grace, we receive them in order that we may remain humble in our faith. For it is only through faith that the goodness of the Lord is received. Approaching our Lord in faith, we receive the gifts the Lord has to give.  The measure and the timing of those gifts determined by God. The faith of the centurion teaches us that what we need is not just to believe more, or that we need to be more like the leper or the Gentile centurion. God’s Word here teaches us about Jesus and what it means to be Israel, namely one who looks to Jesus for all good things.  Jesus has mercy on those who do not deserve it.

Those descendants of Israel who supposed that their earthly heritage guaranteed them a place at the table of the Lord, those Pharisees who trust in their genetic lineage, those who insist on claiming a place for themselves – I’m a born and bred and confirmed Lutheran, I deserve a seat at the table of the Lord though I won’t go to church – those who are intent on earning God’s favor through their own works, and trust in their position before God based upon their merits. These hold a bleak future, a casting out of the kingdom where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Weeping is from sorrow from the great treasure thrown away. Gnashing of teeth is of rage and anger. In hell, men are given over to their anger, and to their sorrow. They are given over to their sinful passions. They are given over to what they deserve.

Jesus heals these two in need to show us that He is the Savior, that He is the one who brings healing to the world. Jesus reveals His authority over sickness and the result of sickness – death.  This does not mean that Jesus will heal you, that you don’t need to take medicine or go to the doctor.  The Lord mask’s His work through His people and in His providence over the world. Even though the leper and the centurion’s servant were healed of their physical ailments, they still died. Even Lazarus raised from the dead died again. Death will come to us all, save the Lord Jesus returns first.  Getting over a cold, a broken bone, cancer being chased away might be the result of a miracle, but the cause of sickness and death, our sinfulness, still remains. The true miracle here is not the physical healing but the spiritual. The true miracle here is not what happened to the leper and the centurion’s servant, but it is Jesus. It is the miracle of the Son of God who would become man, the Son of God dying upon the cross, the Son of God would be raised, and the Son of God who comes under our roof, unworthy servants as we are, to bring healing through the forgiveness of our sins. And by that forgiveness, to grant us a life that not even death can stop. And by His work, and His merit, and His grace, the Lord gives us a place with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob by faith, the kingdom of heaven out of sheer mercy and grace to any and to all who believe in Him.

 “Let it be done for you as you believe.” Jesus speaks, and so it is. It is His Word and His promise to you who would believe.