Banquet of the Kingdom & The Sons of the Kingdom

Cody Bockelkamp

Kingdom of God • Sermon • Submitted 6 years ago

Matthew 8:5–13

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Banquet of the Kingdom & The Sons of the Kingdom -

Matthew 8:5–13 CSB

When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, pleading with him, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, in terrible agony.” He said to him, “Am I to come and heal him?” “Lord,” the centurion replied, “I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man under authority, having soldiers under my command. 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.” Hearing this, Jesus was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with so great a faith. I tell you that many will come from east and west to share the banquet with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Then Jesus told the centurion, “Go. As you have believed, let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that very moment.

The Context

First let’s take a look at what is going on in this passage

In this passage the first thing we see is Jesus entering Capernaum

Now Capernaum as described by many commentators but here I will quote the Lexham Bible Dictionary…

Capernaum was “the epicenter of Jesus’ ministry and location of many of His miracles”

So Jesus enters this place that throughout the rest of His ministry, He frequents, and another party comes into play during this story: A Centurion

Now often times this is a term or role that is familiar but not really known

We recognize it is a Roman, and they are in the military but other than that most of us don’t know too much

A Centurion was a Roman military commander of roughly 80-100 Roman Soldiers

“A centurion’s authority was actually quite extensive because he was the working officer who had direct contact with the men. He went to the field with them and made spontaneous decisions according to each situation."

“The office of centurion was normally the highest one within reach of the ordinary soldier”

^ Baker’s Encyclopedia ^

The other thing we see is actually in the section directly before our passage

We see Jesus after coming down from the Mount (The Sermon on the Mount) heal a man with leprosy by touching him

Now many of us just go yeah that’s pretty typical of Jesus

Except we don’t see the scandalous nature of that

People with Leprosy were not touched out of fear of “defilement” or “contamination”

They were viewed as dirty and unclean and they were to be avoided

Not only do we see Jesus have a conversation with him but touch him in order to heal him

Elwell, W. A., & Beitzel, B. J. (1988). Centurion. In Baker encyclopedia of the Bible (Vol. 1, p. 421). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.

Carver, A. C. (2016). Capernaum, Archaeological Overview. In J. D. Barry, D. Bomar, D. R. Brown, R. Klippenstein, D. Mangum, C. Sinclair Wolcott, … W. Widder (Eds.), The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

1) Humility, Holiness, & Faith - 8:5-9

We are going to identify 3 profound character traits/postures of the Centurion as to why I would say Jesus is amazed at him

Humility

Holiness (an understanding of Holiness)

Faith

A) Humility - 8:5-6

Matthew 8:5–6 CSB

When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, pleading with him, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, in terrible agony.”

First let’s look at the humility possessed by the Centurion

We see this in the first two verses here

First we see the Humility of the Centurion to plead with Jesus, a Jew to heal his servant

So think about that for a second, the Jews are under Roman authority/occupation

And like we went over in the context, this is not just a Roman citizen but a man of the military, more than that a man who commanded soldiers in the military

And when his servant is sick, he at his wits end hearing the works of Jesus comes to a Jewish “Rabbi” (as many perceived Him to be) and pleading for healing

Here is the other crazy part we glance over

The Centurion is not pleading for his family member to be healed, he is begging for his servant to be healed

And we may just think “yeah he’s a nice guy”

And we think this without really knowing the culture of the day and the relationship between master’s and servants

The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1 A Good Man’s Plea (Matthew 8:5–13)

But there was something very special about this centurion at Capernaum, and that was his attitude to his servant. This servant would be a slave, but the centurion was grieved that his servant was ill and was determined to do everything in his power to save him.

That was the reverse of the normal attitude of master to slave. In the Roman Empire, slaves did not matter. It was of no importance to anyone if they suffered and whether they lived or died. Aristotle, talking about the friendships which are possible in life, writes: ‘There can be no friendship nor justice towards inanimate things; indeed, not even towards a horse or an ox, nor yet towards a slave as a slave. For master and slave have nothing in common: a slave is a living tool, just as a tool is an inanimate slave.’

A slave was no better than a thing. A slave had no legal rights whatsoever; his master was free to treat him, or maltreat him, as he liked. Gaius, the Roman legal expert, lays it down in his Institutes: ‘We may note that it is universally accepted that the master possesses the power of life and death over the slave.’ Varro, the Roman writer on agriculture, has a grim passage in which he divides the instruments of agriculture into three classes—the articulate, the inarticulate and the mute, ‘the articulate comprising the slaves, the inarticulate comprising the cattle, and the mute comprising the vehicles’. The only difference between a slave and an animal or a cart was that the slave could speak.

And yet despite this, we see the Centurion say this:

“But there was something very special about this centurion at Capernaum, and that was his attitude to his servant. This servant would be a slave, but the centurion was grieved that his servant was ill and was determined to do everything in his power to save him.

The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1 A Good Man’s Plea (Matthew 8:5–13)

Matthew 8:6 CSB

“Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, in terrible agony.”

This Centurion defied all cultural expectations and did not see his servant simply as cattle that could speak, or a tool that could talk

And here is exactly why this is one of the things so astounding to Jesus

John 15:12–15 CSB

“This is my command: Love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants anymore, because a servant doesn’t know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have heard from my Father.

We see Jesus here acknowledging the culture norm of how a master was to treat servants and yet Jesus says I don’t treat you that way because I have “made known to you everything I have heard from my Father”

Jesus is seeing the posture that He takes up with His disciples being modeled and played out before His eyes in the Centurion

Let’s move on to the next thing we see:

Barclay, W. (2001). The Gospel of Matthew (Third Ed., p. 348). Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press.

B) Holiness - 8:7-8

Matthew 8:7–8 CSB

He said to him, “Am I to come and heal him?” “Lord,” the centurion replied, “I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.

Jesus asks a question here that we may think we understand the significance of but likely do not

Jesus ask’s “Am I to come and heal him?”

Jesus is aware of the culture subtleties coming into play here

What I mean by that is this, the Jews regarded the houses of Gentile to be “unclean”

Now it is not as though Jesus regarded this to be the case, as in Jesus being unwilling to enter the house of the Centurion

We see this cultural moment played out in Acts

Acts 10:1–35 CSB

There was a man in Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment. He was a devout man and feared God along with his whole household. He did many charitable deeds for the Jewish people and always prayed to God. About three in the afternoon he distinctly saw in a vision an angel of God who came in and said to him, “Cornelius.” Staring at him in awe, he said, “What is it, Lord?” The angel told him, “Your prayers and your acts of charity have ascended as a memorial offering before God. Now send men to Joppa and call for Simon, who is also named Peter. He is lodging with Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea.” When the angel who spoke to him had gone, he called two of his household servants and a devout soldier, who was one of those who attended him. After explaining everything to them, he sent them to Joppa. The next day, as they were traveling and nearing the city, Peter went up to pray on the roof about noon. He became hungry and wanted to eat, but while they were preparing something, he fell into a trance. He saw heaven opened and an object that resembled a large sheet coming down, being lowered by its four corners to the earth. In it were all the four-footed animals and reptiles of the earth, and the birds of the sky. A voice said to him, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat.” “No, Lord!” Peter said. “For I have never eaten anything impure and ritually unclean.” Again, a second time, the voice said to him, “What God has made clean, do not call impure.” This happened three times, and suddenly the object was taken up into heaven. While Peter was deeply perplexed about what the vision he had seen might mean, right away the men who had been sent by Cornelius, having asked directions to Simon’s house, stood at the gate. They called out, asking if Simon, who was also named Peter, was lodging there. While Peter was thinking about the vision, the Spirit told him, “Three men are here looking for you. Get up, go downstairs, and go with them with no doubts at all, because I have sent them.” Then Peter went down to the men and said, “Here I am, the one you’re looking for. What is the reason you’re here?” They said, “Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God-fearing man, who has a good reputation with the whole Jewish nation, was divinely directed by a holy angel to call you to his house and to hear a message from you.” Peter then invited them in and gave them lodging. The next day he got up and set out with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa went with him. The following day he entered Caesarea. Now Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. When Peter entered, Cornelius met him, fell at his feet, and worshiped him. But Peter lifted him up and said, “Stand up. I myself am also a man.” While talking with him, he went in and found a large gathering of people. Peter said to them, “You know it’s forbidden for a Jewish man to associate with or visit a foreigner, but God has shown me that I must not call any person impure or unclean. That’s why I came without any objection when I was sent for. So may I ask why you sent for me?” Cornelius replied, “Four days ago at this hour, at three in the afternoon, I was praying in my house. Just then a man in dazzling clothing stood before me and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your acts of charity have been remembered in God’s sight. Therefore send someone to Joppa and invite Simon here, who is also named Peter. He is lodging in Simon the tanner’s house by the sea.’ So I immediately sent for you, and it was good of you to come. So now we are all in the presence of God to hear everything you have been commanded by the Lord.” Peter began to speak: “Now I truly understand that God doesn’t show favoritism, but in every nation the person who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.

But I think there is something more at play here than just cultural rules that the Centurion is following

Let me show you what I’m talking about in our passage

Matthew 8:7–8 CSB

He said to him, “Am I to come and heal him?” “Lord,” the centurion replied, “I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.

I think what is going on here is more than just cultural understanding but rather an acknowledgment of the Holiness of Jesus

Just as in the same way when Peter enters Cornelius’ house, Cornelius falls down and Peter lifts him up saying “I’m just a man”

Peter here is keeping Cornelius from a worship of the wrong thing

Matthew 8:7–8 CSB

He said to him, “Am I to come and heal him?” “Lord,” the centurion replied, “I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.

The Centurion in our passage here keeps Jesus away from his house in recognition of his unworthiness

I argue this is a recognition of his unworthiness in light of who Jesus is (acknowledging the God-ness of Jesus)

Because of our next point, that this is manifested in Faith

C) Faith - 8:9

Matthew 8:9 CSB

For I too am a man under authority, having soldiers under my command. 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.”

We see here that is is not just as though the Centurion says I am unworthy to have you under my roof so let me bring my servant to you

More than that, he recognizes the authority of Jesus in ALL THINGS

The Centurion says “Look I have to power to tell a servant come and he comes, or go and he goes. You don’t need to come under my roof”

The Centurion’s example treats healing like a “servant of Jesus” there to obey at His command

And that distance makes healing a servant of Jesus no less than a slave of his own is less his because they are far away

Check this this passage:

Hebrews 11:1 CSB

Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen.

Hebrews 11:6 CSB

Now without faith it is impossible to please God, since the one who draws near to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

What the Centurion is exhibiting here is much more than a blind hope or “shot in the dark” but a recognition of exactly who Jesus is and what He is capable of doing

The fact that this is the only (depending on how you interpret the cohesiveness of this passage and ; whether to be the same event or different ) (to which we would argue the same event); that this is the only time throughout the scriptures you a see a healing occur where the recipient of the healing is not in the same location as Jesus

Jesus has done healings by touch, by word, progressive healings, but this healing Jesus never even lays eyes on the servant

And in fact, it isn’t even spoken of what is actually wrong with the servant!

Likely because if they knew, the Centurion wouldn’t be asking Jesus but be being treated by a doctor of the times!

Jesus then takes this moment to speak to the people around Him about the Kingdom of God

2) Demonstration of the Kingdom - 8:10-12

Matthew 8:10–12 CSB

Hearing this, Jesus was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with so great a faith. I tell you that many will come from east and west to share the banquet with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

First we see Jesus amazement at the faith exhibited by the Centurion here

Or as we saw in the passage in , we see Jesus pleasure in the faith of this Centurion

Could we for a minute also just acknowledge the awkwardness of what Jesus says first

Jesus says “I have not found ANYONE in Israel with so great a faith”

....right in front of the disciples

Talk about a moment of humility and learning for those following Jesus, especially because they are Jewish and not a Gentile like the Centurion

Jesus then says that people from all over, from the East and from the West, will come to share in the Banquet with the Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) in the Kingdom of Heaven

What Jesus just said there is that the banquet of the Kingdom of Heaven will not be filled with just one kind of people

We need to remember that just as the Jews needed to be reminded that God’s heart is and has always been for people of ALL nations

Revelation 7:9–12 CSB

After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb! All the angels stood around the throne, and along with the elders and the four living creatures they fell facedown before the throne and worshiped God, saying, Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength be to our God forever and ever. Amen.

In a Messianic prophecy of Isaiah it was said:

Isaiah 49:5–6 CSB

And now, says the Lord, who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him so that Israel might be gathered to him; for I am honored in the sight of the Lord, and my God is my strength— he says, “It is not enough for you to be my servant raising up the tribes of Jacob and restoring the protected ones of Israel. I will also make you a light for the nations, to be my salvation to the ends of the earth.”

This passage in Isaiah by the way existed already as Jesus is speaking in this moment of our passage

And yet it was forgotten by the people that the LORD has been about all people coming to faith in Him, ALWAYS

Which is why we see Jesus giving a terrifying rebuke to the people of Israel listening

Matthew 8:12 CSB

But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

See, the people forgot what the heart of the LORD really and in boastfulness and pride thought that as the “people of God” that they had exclusive rights to Him and His salvation but in that showed they never knew Him in the first place

And therefore where never the people of God in reality, but rather just people born in the nation called Israel; because it is by faith alone that you are amongst the people of God

Just as we saw last week, entrance into the Kingdom of God is not because you were “born Christian”, it is not by the good things you do and try to do, it is not because you think of yourself a good person

It is by Will of God, that you have a relationship with Jesus

That you say it is only by the work of Jesus that I am given entrance into relationship with God

That you would say I believe in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus and therefore I am KNOWN

Let’s move here to our last point

3) Power & Sovereignty - 8:13

Jesus has done healings by touch, by word, progressive healings, but this healing Jesus never even lays eyes on the servant

And in fact, it isn’t even spoken of what is actually wrong with the servant!

Likely because if they knew, the Centurion wouldn’t be asking Jesus but be being treated by a doctor of the times!

And yet Jesus turns to the Centurion and says:

Matthew 8:13 CSB

Then Jesus told the centurion, “Go. As you have believed, let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that very moment.

Banquet of the Kingdom & Sons of the Kingdom

So how do we respond to this?

There are a couple ways I want to point out as to their application

Our Posture as Christian

Do we look like this Centurion?

Now you may be saying, Cody aren’t we supposed to look like Jesus?

Yes, and those things are also shown to us in the unlikely example of the Centurion

So are you exhibiting these things?

Do you have a sense of humility, seeing others as greater than yourself ()

Is your posture one that honors and reveres and makes much of the Holiness of God

Or is your posture one that reflects God is to be “trifled with”

Are you exhibiting faith?

Do you believe the LORD is sovereign over all things which therefore affects how you live your day to day life?

If you say you have faith, does your life actually evidence that?

Would someone looking at your life from the outside perspective see someone who just tries to live a good life with a little Jesus sprinkled here and there for effect

Or would they see a life saturated with Jesus as you live on mission for His Kingdom, trusting Him to accomplish works we ourselves could not?

Our Hearts for the Nations

Does your life reflect that of Jesus’ heart of all people to come to a knowledge of Him?

OR are you to busy arguing and insulting people you disagree with rather than listening and speaking the Gospel of freedom into their lives

Are we too busy pandering to culture norms saying you can only associate and love “these” people to live our lives in a way and speak in a way that reflects that God wants all people to come to a knowledge of Him and for no one to perish (; )

Life at the Banquet; Life in Christ

Or maybe you’re in this room today and you’re not a Christian

And maybe you’ve had experiences with people who claim to be Christians but rather live in a way that continues to perpetuate similar cultural norms like we see in this passage

That certain people are unclean and not to be associated with

Can I just tell you about God’s immense love for you?

Can I tell you that God desires you to spend the rest of your life and eternity knowing Him and worshipping Him and experiencing His love for you as we sit together at the Banquet in the Kingdom of Heaven

If you want to know and hear more about what it means to be a follower of Jesus, to truly know His love for you and work on your behalf, come talk to me after this

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