The Centurion Great Faith
A Lesson in Jumping to Conclusions Part II
Every coin has two sides
You flip it and it will never land on its edge
The coin will land heads or tail face up
You will not see what is on the other side
Unless you pick the coin up and turn it over
To get the message of the Centurion Soldier
You have to read both Matthew and Luke’s account of the story
Like a coin the value of the story of the Centurion is to teach us what Great Faith is
Matthew tells us there will be those who think they are God’s family
But be cast out from the feast in heaven
Luke tells us outsiders like a Roman solider will be accepted because of great faith
Like a coin, both sides of the story make up the value
So, is the Bible wrong, is Matthew misleading?
No!
How can these two stories help us not to jump to conclusions
Three lessons from the Centurion soldier’s story are found in today’s devotional
A Lesson in Jumping to Conclusions Part II
We saw in Part I of this devotional…
Anyone reading Matthew’s account
of the Centurion in Matthew 8:5-13
will come to some wrong conclusions.
They will conclude Jesus and the Centurion
spoke face to face.
But Luke tells us in Luke 8:1-10
that the words of the Centurion were spoken
by spoke persons sent by the Centurion.
They were Jewish Elders and friends
communicating on the Centurion’s behalf.
If you have watched any Bible movies
with this story…
You more than likely, saw a Centurion soldier
speaking directly to Jesus.
If you heard a preacher preach from Matthew’s account
you probably heard the preacher talk about
the Centurion and Jesus as if they were talking face to face.
So, is the Bible wrong?
Is Matthew misleading?
No!
How can these two stories help us
not jump to conclusions?
There are two sides to every story.
The Bible tells us in Proverbs 18:17…
The first to present his case seems right,
till another comes forward and questions him.
When studying the scriptures…
Don’t draw conclusions from one verse
or one passage without looking at what other
scriptures have to say on the subject.
The same is true when looking at an issue in life
or hearing one person’s story.
Take the time to look and hear from other sources.
There are good reasons and bad reasons
for leaving out facts.
If you give all the facts…
The point of your message may get lost.
None of us want a 2-hour sermon.
We want a point or two we can use in our lives.
Sadly, we all like to leave out or add fine print.
You and I don’t always get our information like…
We do from the pharmacist when
they tell us all the possible side effect.
There are sales persons who will sell you a car
that looks great on the outside
but the transmission is going out.
Don’t jump to conclusions.
Get the whole story have all the facts.
Peter says about Paul’s writings (Scriptures).
2 Peter 3:16…
His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
It generally takes time, energy and right attitude to get the story right
2 Timothy 2:15-17 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 16 Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly.
What is the Message?
I have asked people why they said a movie is good.
Many times I get, “good acting”,
“great filming and effects”.
So, I ask them again why was the movie good?
Every movie, every book,
everything that is spoken has a message.
There is a lot of good presentations
but the message is not good.
Everything communicated is communicated for a reason
and we need to make sure we understand the reason
before putting our stamp of approval on it.
The world is full of preachers that don’t go to church.
There are now 817,000 individual TV shows
for viewers to choose from.
We complain about streaming costs
but Americans are not willing to cut subscriptions.
Every one of those shows has a message.
Every one of those shows is preaching to us.
It is much more then entertainment.
Understanding the message is vital.
Matthew and Luke had different messages
to the same story.
Matthew was not wrong because he did not
make clear that the communication from
the Centurion was from messengers.
So what is Matthew’s message?
Matthew focuses on the Kingdom of Heaven.
Matthew is speaking to those of us
who are looking forward to Heaven.
Matthew talks a lot about…
“The Kingdom coming”
“Entering the Kingdom of Heaven”
Matthew 5:20, 7:21, 18:3, 19:23,24, 21:31
And “The Kingdom of Heaven is like”
Matthew uses the word “Kingdom”
54 times in the NIV.
Matthew 8 is no exception
to this Kingdom message.
Matthew 8 starts at the end of Jesus’ teaching about
the Kingdom of Heaven in the Sermon on the Mount.
Class room instruction is over.
Now in Chapter 8 Jesus demonstrates the Kingdom
In Verse 10,
Matthew’s point is Amazing Faith…
10 When Jesus heard this,
he was astonished
and said to those following him,
"I tell you the truth,
I have not found anyone in Israel
with such great faith.
But Matthew says something Luke does not…
11 I say to you that many will come from the east and the west,
and will take their places at the feast with Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.
12 But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside,
into the darkness,
where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
Matthew’s Gospel is written to
the Jews whom Matthew loved.
He warns them…
That being Abraham’s off spring and family
is not the reason you get into heaven.
Matthew’s message is…
You may be family, but without faith you
will be kicked out of the family
when Abraham, Isaac and Jacob feast
in the Kingdom of Heaven.
It takes great faith,
that honors and respects Jesus
and his authority for us
to be at the feast in Heaven.
Luke’s writing of his Gospel is focused on Gentiles…
Those already outside the Kingdom of Heaven.
Luke does not need to give warning
because he is speaking to outsiders…
Telling them they need great faith
to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
Lessons from the Centurion…
There are two sides to every story.
Don’t jump to conclusions
get the whole story have all the facts.
What is the Message?
Scripture Reading
The Centurion
Matthew 8:5-13 NIV
*Hi-lighted parts are not found in the other Gospel
5 When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. 6 "Lord," he said, "my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering."
7 Jesus said to him, "I will go and heal him."
8 The centurion replied, "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 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."
10 When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, "I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. 11 I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go! It will be done just as you believed it would." And his servant was healed at that very hour.
Luke 7:1-10 NIV
7 When Jesus had finished saying all this in the hearing of the people, 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.
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