THE GREAT FAITH OF THE GODLESS

We talked about having the courage to leave the isolated, defeated, and condemning state of our spiritual sickness and approach Jesus in our insufficiency so that He could make us whole.

THIS WEEK

We are going to talk about Healing

We are going to talk about Faith

We are going to talk about how Prayer plays a part in both of these realms

What I want us to be thinking about is this

Have we ever prayed for God to heal us of something and it never came to pass?

Have we ever prayed for something that we never got an answer to?

Have you ever asked yourself:

God why didn’t you?

Why wont you?

Why haven’t you?

READ

Matthew 8:5–17 NKJV

5 Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, 6 saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.” 7 And Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 8 The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 10 When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! 11 And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that same hour. 14 Now when Jesus had come into Peter’s house, He saw his wife’s mother lying sick with a fever. 15 So He touched her hand, and the fever left her. And she arose and served them. 16 When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, 17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: “He Himself took our infirmities And bore our sicknesses.”

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Matthew 8:1–13 NKJV

When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.” And Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.” The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that same hour.

LETS LOOK AT THE CENTURION SPOKEN OF IN

Jesus, after preaching the sermon on the mount

Casting vision for His Kingdom

Healing the Leper

Has now made his way back to his HQ

To Capernaum which was known as what?

The Shadow of Death

As he entered Capernaum, a Centurion came up to him

What do we know about this man?

The Centurion would have been under the rule of Herod Antipas

We don’t know if he was a Roman, but he definitely was a Gentile

This dude had no business coming to Jesus

By doing so, he was compromising his allegiance to Ceasar

He was putting his job on the line

If found out, this act would have been considered treason and punishable by death.

Nevertheless, this Gentile, Godless, Un-Religious, Leader of 100 Soldiers

Comes to Jesus

Approaches Jesus

And Parakaleo: Urges, Implores, Begs, Pleads with Jesus saying:

Lord, Kyrios

Same word used by the Leper

My servant is lying at home paralyzed and dreadfully tormented

These are the facts

This is the state of his servant/slave

This Slave is on a bed

Both Paralyzed and in Great Pain

How would Jesus respond to a Gentiles plead for a sick slave?

How would Jesus respond to a Godless, Anti-Religious, Slave Owner?

Jesus responds:

“I will come and heal him”

Jesus in stating his intent is agreeing to do a couple of things

1. He is willing to do something for those who don’t yet have a relationship with him.

2. He is willing to serve the people who culture called Godless and Unclean

3. He is willing to enter an unclean home to clean up the mess.

Jesus does the unthinkable

Jesus does the unorthodox

Jesus does what no other Jew would have done

Made himself available to serve the lost and the godless.

The story doesn’t end there.

The Centurion knew who Jesus was.

He saw Jesus as a Leader

As one in authority

As one who was teaching and discipling others

What the Centurion did not know was how Jesus would respond

He knew the risk involved in asking Jesus for his servants healing

What he didn’t know was how Jesus would risk himself for the sake of his servant.

Even though Jesus was willing to come, the Centurion recognizes a few things about Jesus

His Willingness to heal

His Willingness to go and minister

His Willingness to put his life on the line

He also recognizes a few things about himself

He calls himself unworthy

He proclaims his insufficiency

He knows that His home is unclean

He also knows that Jesus is willing to overlook all of that in order to live out his calling

How would Jesus respond to the humble request of the Centurion?

Jesus heard what the centurion said and marveled

Then he turns to those who were following him

He turns to those who had seen the miracles and heard the sermons

The Jesus Followers

And says this to them:

Assuredly I say to you

I have not found such great faith , neither here in Capernaum, nor in all of Israel

Before we head into verse 11 I want us to recogize the context

Jesus said, He had never seen such great Faith in Israel

In fact, Jesus said, He had never seen such great Faith in Israel

A place where Faith should have been the prominent factor in the culture.

Was the very place where Great Faith was extinct

Now, verse 11

Many will come from the east and the west

Many from all over the world

Many from every tribe tongue and nation

Will come with that exact type of faith and sit down with the Father’s and Son’s of Faith

They will come from everywhere and sit with

Abraham: The Father of Faith

Isaac: The Son by Faith

Jacob: The one through whom Faith continued.

They will come from everywhere because of their faith

They will get to sit amongst Faith Leaders

In a Kingdom where everyone has one thing in common

A Kingdom founded on the Faith they had in

The coming Messiah,

The Messiah that become flesh and dwelt among them

The Messiah yet to come

Then comes Verse 12

But the sons of the lower case kingdom

Those who believe they are entitled to the kingdom

Those who believe they can achieve salvation without Faith

Those in Israel who have no faith in the God of the Bible

Will be cast out into outer darkness

A place where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth

CHURCH, JESUS IS PROACTIVELY SETTING ABLAZE THE FAITHLESS & COMPLACENT STATUS QUO OF THE DAY

Jesus in his genius

Takes the Great Faith of the Centurion, a Godless person

Uses it to compare it to the Faithless Generation that was before him.

Calls them out on their entitled view of Salvation

And sets the record straight.

Jesus knew that there was something wrong with the religious culture of the day

He knew that faith had no place in the practice of the day

Faith had become a routine that nurtured comfort

Instead of a practice that encouraged the adventure of trusting God in the unknown.

The question is does your faith in Christ cause you to live in an entitled, complacent spiritual state?

Or does it encourage you to be proactively on mission because of what Christ has done within you?

HOW DID THE CONVERSATION END?

Jesus, responds to the faith of the Centurion

Tells him to go his way

As you have believed

Or with the faith that you came to me with

Believing what you knew I could do

So let it be done for you

And so it was that this very hour, the servant was healed.

NOW LETS LOOK AT TWO OTHER INSTANCES WHERE JESUS HEALS PEOPLE

Matthew 8:14–15 NKJV

14 Now when Jesus had come into Peter’s house, He saw his wife’s mother lying sick with a fever. 15 So He touched her hand, and the fever left her. And she arose and served them.

Jesus, having walked with Peter

Having given him a new identity

Having poured gold into his life

One day came to his house

He saw his mother in law lying sick with a fever

Without even thinking about it

He touched her hand

the fever left her

And just like that

She got up and began serving them

Matthew 8:16–17 NKJV

16 When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, 17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: “He Himself took our infirmities And bore our sicknesses.”

Matthew 8:16-

One day, when Evening had come

They brought to him many who were demon possessed

With a word, he cast out the spirits

With a word, he healed all who were sick

Why?

Because this was what Messiah was foretold he would do.

This is what the Prophet Isaiah had spoken about

This is what He was called to do.

SO WHY DOESN’T JESUS CONTINUE THAT STREAK AND HEAL EVERYONE ON THIS PLANET? WHY DOES JESUS ALLOW CANCER, KIDNEY FAILURE, SUICIDE, DEPRESSION, ETC ETC.?

Church, this text is an example of the ability of God to heal immediately

Including the Leper, we have four examples here displaying how Jesus can heal instantly.

This is something that God still does

It is something that God is able to do

It is something that we can pray for

But it isn’t something we are guaranteed

The results of our prayers are not evidence of our faith.

But they are evidence that builds our faith.

The story of the centurion, the leper, the demon possessed and maybe even Peter’s Mother in Law

Where stories that exposed the heart of God for lost people

It shows that God was into proving himself to those who did not know him yet

Or to those who had a very limited view of salvation

Where Salvation could only belong to a certain people group

Or where Salvation required conversion into a specific culture before it was attainable.

Jesus wanted to make one thing clear

What he had to offer was for everyone

Now, fast forward to today

Why doesn’t Jesus heal his people?

Why doesn’t he heal the lost in order for them to be saved?

Why does He heal some but not others?

SIMPLY PUT: I DON’T KNOW

But you want to know what I do know?

I do know that whether He heals instantly or never heals at all

Whatever sickness we have

Whatever circumstance we are in

We are promised one thing

WE must

That God desires to save people

That God will be with us through it all

That all he desires is for us to give him glory in our suffering

That we need to let our light so shine before men

Will we suffer well?

That when we are weak, yet He is strong

Will we glorify him even if it costs us our lives?

If you find yourself suffering, the call to the Christian is to press into Jesus Christ that you may suffer well.

Will we yield to His Will and lay hold of His promises which are yes and amen in Christ?

That you may find ways to give him glory in your suffering

That you may proactively look for ways to make him known in your weakness

CHECK OUT HOW PAUL DEALT WITH SUFFERING:

The New King James Version Chapter 12

7 And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. 8 Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. 9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

2 Corinthians 12:7–10 NKJV

CHURCH, THERE IS A REAL JOY WHEN YOU WALK WITH JESUS WHEN EVERYTHING IS TELLING YOU TO WALK AWAY

When you purpose in your heart to build faith instead of letting circumstances tear it down

When you build trust in the person and work of Jesus Christ, you realize the storms are powerless