The Centurion Great Faith Unworthy Part 2

The Centurion Great Faith

Unworthy Part 2

The Centurion had the power and authority to rule in the Roman Kingdom

You and I have power and authority to rule in the world around us

But our kingdoms, our authority, our power do not make us worthy

Unless, we consider ourselves as unworthy

And humbly submit to Jesus as Lord

 We will not feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven

Make Jesus Lord of your life

Confess Jesus as Lord in everything you do and say

And direct all the glory and praise to Him 

Remember neither you or I, neither the Jews or Gentiles,

Not even the Angels are worthy of being lord

It is a good thing to be unworthy

If it keeps you humbly submitted to Jesus as Lord, with honor and respect

The centurion replied,

"Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. Matthew 8:8

 

 

Unworthy Part 2

 

There are two sides to every story

and God addressed both sides.

 

I love the way God addressed both sides

of being unworthy in the story of the Centurion.

 

Luke tells us…

  

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.

Luke 7:3-6

 

Verse 6 says…

 

 So Jesus went with them.

 

Why did Jesus go?

 

The only answer we have is the Jewish Elders

pleaded earnestly with Jesus saying…

 

"This man deserves to have you do this,

 5 because he loves our nation

and has built our synagogue."

 

Jesus went because the Centurion did good works.

 

The Centurion’s good works were important to Jesus.

 

Good works have always been important to God.

 

God has always blessed good works.

 

Interesting, the Centurion did not count his good works

as justification for Jesus to come into his house.

 

Or, to be worthy to personally go to Jesus

 

Remember, we are not talking

about an insecure person.

 

We are talking about a strong leader

with great accomplishments.

 

Yet, this man did not consider

himself worthy of Jesus.

 

This Roman military leader as powerful

as he was, knew he was an outsider.

 

He was not a Jew.

 

 He was not one of God’s chosen.

 

But his approach got Jesus’ attention.

 

After Jesus heard the words of the Centurion…

 

"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."

 

Jesus said…

 

9 When Jesus heard this,

he was amazed at him.

 

The Centurion’s humble words

of honor and respect amazed Jesus.

  

Note, Jesus turned to the crowd.

 

It is important we see who Jesus

was talking to and what He said…

 

And turning to the crowd following him, he said,

 "I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel."   

 

Luke closes the story leaving us

with Jesus’ words…

 

“I have not found such great faith even in Israel.”   

 

This amazing faith came from an outsider.

 

Matthew adds to this story

a strong word to the insiders.

 

A word to those who believe

they are in the family of God.

 

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."

Matthew 8:10-12

 

In God’s heavenly house will come people

from the East and the West.

 

People who are not Children of Abraham.

 

The Centurion is an example of one of them.

 

Because of humility, honor, respect which

demonstrated his faith giving him…

 

 A place at the feast with Abraham,

Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven.

 

This is where Matthew gives us

more of the story then Luke.

 

But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside,

into the darkness,

where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

 

The word “subjects” in the Greek means “son or child”.

 

So it would read…

 

But the children of the kingdom will be thrown outside.

 

The Children of Abraham have enjoyed

the blessing of Abraham.

 

 Those promises made to Abraham

where God said He would make him a great nation.

 

Remember the words of the Jewish Elders

who told Jesus the Centurion loved their nation

and Jesus was moved to go meet his need.

 

Jesus loves the Children of Abraham…

 

 But some will be cast outside the Kingdom.

 

Matthew tells us the Children of Abraham

must have great faith to stay in the Kingdom.

 

Luke tells us the outsiders, like the Centurion,

 will be accepted if they have great faith.

 

The question is what did Jesus see

that He called Great Faith?

 

Here in this story great faith

was demonstrated with humility.

 

The Centurion considered himself unworthy of Jesus.

 

This humility translated into respect and honor.

 

Demonstrating belief in Jesus

being greater than himself.

 

Believing Jesus had the ability,

the power, the authority to meet His need.

 

Why should we think,

what gets us into the Kingdom is anything different

than what keeps us in the Kingdom?

 

Faith in Jesus as Lord gets us into the Kingdom

and it is the way we live and stay in the Kingdom.

 

If Jesus is not Lord than He has no Kingdom.

 

This is why Satan, one of God’s angels,

 was cast out of Heaven.

 

Romans 14:10-12…

 

For we will all stand before God's judgment seat. 11 It is written:

"'As surely as I live,' says the Lord,

'every knee will bow before me;

every tongue will confess to God.'"

12 So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.

 

Matthew 6:1 NKJV…

 

For Yours is the kingdom and the power

and the glory forever. Amen.

 

Revelation 12:10 NIV…

 

 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:

"Now have come the salvation and the power

and the kingdom of our God,

and the authority of his Christ.

 

Whether you are an insider

and you belong to the family of Abraham…

 

Or, you are a church member…

 

Or, you are an outsider…

 

We all must see we are unworthy

of ruling the Kingdom of Heaven.

 

Jesus is the only One worthy.

 

Revelation 4:10-11…

 

They lay their crowns before the throne and say:

 

11 "You are worthy, our Lord and God,

to receive glory and honor and power,

for you created all things,

and by your will they were created

and have their being."

 

This was the faith of the Centurion

and that is why Jesus took special note

and looked to the crowd and said…

 

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.

 

The Centurion had the power and authority

to rule in the Roman Kingdom.

 

You and I have power and authority

to rule in the world around us.

 

But our kingdoms, our authority,

our power do not make us worthy.

 

Unless, we consider ourselves as unworthy

and humbly submit to Jesus as Lord

we will not…

  

Feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob

in the Kingdom of Heaven.

 

Make Jesus Lord of your life.

 

Confess Jesus as Lord in everything you do and say.

 

And direct all the glory and praise to Him.

  

Remember, neither you or I,

neither the Jews or Gentiles,

not even the Angels are worthy of being lord.

 

It is a good thing to be unworthy…

 

If it keeps you humbly

submitted to Jesus as Lord,

with honor and respect.

 

The centurion replied,

"Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof.    

 

 

Scripture Reading

 

Matthew 8:5-13  NIV

 

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

 

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.