Epiphany 3
Mt
8:1-13
1/26/20
Some of you know that I am the
Circuit Visitor for our circuit of the Southern Illinois District of the
Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod. Our circuit encompasses as large geographical
area. It goes from Jacob in the west to
Eldorado in the east, and from West Frankfort in the north all the way down to
Olmsted and Golconda in the south. It includes
nine different places where congregations are located.
Now essentially, the Circuit Visitor
is the representative of the District President within the circuit. The LCMS Handbook says that the Circuit
Visitor, “shall serve under the direction of and be accountable to the district
president and shall serve as his spokesman when so authorized and directed and
shall assist him in doctrinal and spiritual supervision.”
It is my job to keep in touch with
the circuit pastors so that I know how they are doing and what is going on in
their congregations. Whenever I learn information that is of concern, I pass
this on to the District President. When
problems arise in a congregation, the Circuit Visitor will usually be the first
one to deal with it. Especially during a vacancy – like the one that is about
to occur at Trinity, Anna – the Circuit Visitor plays the role as the primary
contact with the congregational leadership in assisting the District President.
As the District President’s representative,
the Circuit Visitor has responsibilities for the welfare and care for the
congregations of the circuit. However,
in truth he has no authority. He
can’t make anyone do anything. If a
congregation is mistreating her pastor, he can’t do anything to help the pastor
directly. If a pastor is not carrying
out the responsibilities of his office, he can’t do anything to help the
congregation directly.
On the other hand, people with
authority can make things happen. The boss in a business can tell people to do
things, and they have to do it or else they will be fired and lose their
job. The policeman can tell you to pull
over and you have to do it or else you will get in serious legal trouble. The military officer can tell subordinates do
something and they have to obey the order.
Authority is a central topic in our
Gospel lesson this morning. A centurion
comes to Jesus who knows all about what it means to be under authority and to
have authority over others. Yet he
recognizes in Jesus the One who has authority that goes beyond anything people
have in this world. He has faith that
Jesus has authority over sickness itself.
We learn in our text that when Jesus entered
Capernaum, a centurion came appealing to him saying, “Lord, my servant is lying
paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.”
At this time there were no Roman legions in Palestine. And in fact there
were no Roman auxiliary forces in the area around Capernaum.
Instead,
this was part of the land that King Herod Antipas ruled. Now there was no doubt that he obeyed the
Romans and was under their control. But
the running of the kingdom was his own business and there were no Roman forces of
any kind there. Instead Herod had his
own military forces. But since Herod could be called upon by the Romans to
supply these forces to assist them, they were organized along the general lines
of the Roman military.
The
centurion commanded a century, which despite its name usually had a strength of
about eighty men. Centurions were the
backbone of the Roman military organization. We can presume that this man was
very competent and skilled. He was also
clearly a Gentile. It made sense that
Herod had Gentiles in his forces because they would have no issue with killing
Jews, should Herod need this done to maintain power and control his land.
The
fact that this Gentile centurion addressed Jesus, a Jewish villager as “Lord”
is striking. Right from the start we see
the faith he has in Jesus. Not only
this, but he entreated Jesus to help his servant who was ill.
In
the translation printed in the bulletin Jesus immediately agreed as he says, “I
will come and heal him.” However, the
original Greek manuscripts did not include punctuation. And there are a number of reasons to think
that Jesus actually asked a question: “Shall I myself come and heal him?” He calls into question the fact that the
centurion has asked Jesus to come and heal the servant. Much like when Jesus
deals with the Canaanite woman later in this Gospel, we see that Jesus is Israel’s Messiah. As Jesus said on that occasion: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house
of Israel.”
Understood
in this way, the centurion’s reply is an even greater statement of faith. He
was not offended. Instead he said, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof,
but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I too am a
man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, 'Go,' and he
goes, and to another, 'Come,' and he comes, and to my servant, 'Do this,' and
he does it.”
The
centurion recognized that in reality, Jesus had authority that completely
surpassed him. He wasn’t worthy for Jesus to come to his house. Instead, the centurion had faith that because
of Jesus’ authority he only had to speak a word and his servant would be
healed. After all, the centurion knew that was how real authority worked. He knew it from being under the authority of
his commanders, and of having soldiers and slaves under his authority. People with authority make things happen when
they speak. And he believed that Jesus had such authority that simply by
speaking he could heal the servant.
When Jesus heard
this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell
you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. I tell
you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the
kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there
will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go;
let it be done for you as you have believed.” And Matthew tells us
that the servant was healed at that very moment.
Christ praised
the centurion’s faith. He called Jesus
“Lord” and believed that Jesus had such great authority that his mere word
could cause the servant to be healed. This text leads us to consider our faith
in Jesus’ word.
We have even
greater reasons to recognize Jesus’ authority and trust his word. We know that Jesus Christ died on the cross
in order to redeem us from our sin – in order to give us forgiveness. But death
could not hold him. Instead, on the
third day God raised him from the dead.
Now as the risen and exalted Lord, Jesus exercises all authority. He declared to the apostles after his
resurrection, “All authority in
heaven and on earth has been given to me.”
So
do we, like the centurion in our text, trust Jesus’ word? Jesus says, “Therefore I tell you, do
not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor
about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body
more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor
reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are
you not of more value than they?” Do we
believe Jesus when he says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and
his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you”? Do we doubt that he will really care for
us? Or do we think that his version of
caring for us simply isn’t enough – that we need more?
Jesus
Christ is the risen and exalted Lord. He
possesses all authority and so his word makes
things happen. And the good news is
that he speaks his word toward all of the ways that we sin. When Jesus spoke
about Christians who sin he said, “Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind
on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be
loosed in heaven.” He told his
Church to speak his word of absolution. And because it is Jesus’ word spoken
by the pastor it forgives all your sins. Whether spoken in the group setting of the
Divine Service or in the private setting with your pastor, Jesus’ absolution
forgives sins because of his death and resurrection. He speaks through his
called servant – he says, “I forgive you all your sins” – and those sins are
gone forever. They no longer separate you from God. They no longer can be used by Satan to cause
guilt and doubt.
In a few
moments Jesus will take bread and wine in the Sacrament of the Altar. He will say, “Take, eat; this is my body which
is given for you.” He will say, “Drink
of it all of this. This cup is the new testament in my blood which is shed for you
for the forgiveness of your sins.”
Jesus’ words will tell you to eat and drink his true body and blood,
given and shed for you on the cross for the forgiveness of sins. The risen and exalted Lord has the authority.
His words do what they say – they make things happen. And so when Jesus speaks these words through
his called servant they cause the Lord’s body and blood to be present. By eating and drinking in faith, we receive
the blessing of forgiveness.
There is
always the danger that we will take Jesus and his word for granted. Jesus says in our text, “I tell you, many
will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be
thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing
of teeth.”
Our
Lord spoke these words in response to the Gentile centurion’s faith. In the Old Testament, the language of being
gathered from the east and the west referred to Yahweh’s action to return the
exiles of both Israel and Judah. But now
Jesus applies it to the end time salvation of all people - Jew and Gentile alike.
And he issues a warning about the Jews who are rejecting him: “the sons
of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness.”
By
God’s grace, you are sons and daughters of the kingdom on account of
Christ. Yet this status is a gift. It is a gift that has been given to you by
Christ’s forgiving word. If we take this
word for granted; if we stop listening to it; if we stop believing it, we too
will be cast out into that outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing
of teeth. That is true for you. That is true for me. It is true for every
Christian.
Instead,
we need to take the centurion as our example.
He came to Jesus in faith. He
called upon the Lord for help, because he knew the problem he faced. He trusted that Jesus’ word had authority to
make things happen – to bring healing and restoration.
Because
of the ongoing struggle against sin in our life, we come to Jesus in
faith. We know that he is the Lord who
has conquered sin and death by his cross and resurrection. He is the risen and exalted Lord who
possesses all authority. And so his word
has the authority to make things happen.
His word creates and sustains faith.
His word gives forgiveness and life.
His word will raise us from the dead on the Last Day to live with him in
the new creation forever.
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