Matthew 8:5-13

When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” But the centurion replied, “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.” 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.” And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment.

There’s a bumper sticker that addresses a certain frustration drivers have. The person following (usually seeing it at a stop light or something) reads: “Are you following Jesus this closely?” I thought of that because the theme on the bulletin cover for this day is: Following Jesus. It doesn’t have anything to do with tailgating, though. On the contrary, following Jesus means humbling oneself before Him, and trusting His Words, according to our text.

Again: Following Jesus means humbling oneself before Him, and trusting His Words.

Jesus’ statement: with no one in Israel have I found such faith is important to the point of it all. Among the Israelites, He hasn’t been seeing something He’s been wishing He would see; He hasn’t seen, despite them seeing all of His Messianic signs and wonders (seeing what the prophets said the Messiah would do); despite them seeing all of that, He hasn’t seen among them a willingness to recognize Him as the Savior God has sent, and to trust in His Words, to closely follow Him.

Again: He hasn’t seen it like He’s wanted to from God’s people—the Israelites. From the ones from whom you’d expect He’d see it, He hasn’t been seeing it. “Church people” like them (and like you)—regularly exposed to His Word, are the ones from whom He hasn’t been seeing this willingness to recognize Him as the Savior God has sent, and to trust in His Words.

He has, however, seen it on this day, from a centurion—a Roman soldier, a non-Jew—a non-member of those who were called God’s people. He’s seen it from him. He has seen it to such an extent, that He has said the thing we mentioned earlier: with no one in Israel have I found such faith. He hasn’t seen faith this strong from the Israelites; He has seen it from this Roman centurion.

And it’s this unusual thing the centurion says that makes Jesus react so strongly, makes Him say that thing about his profound faith.

Remember, that this man has come to Jesus with the great concern that his servant is paralyzed, and suffering terribly. Jesus is compassionate. Part of His purpose in coming has been to demonstrate to people that God’s kingdom is coming, and that in that kingdom there will be an end to suffering. One of the ways He demonstrates it is to end for some people, some of the suffering here. So, He has said that He will come down to the man’s house for that purpose, to end someone’s suffering.

We’ve seen this before, in other accounts. Jesus shows up on the scene and puts His hand on a person (or something like that), and maybe says something, and the person is restored in whatever way was necessary. He’s God in human flesh. There isn’t anything He can’t do; so, it gets done. He goes there, and it gets done.

The wrinkle in this particular case: the man doesn’t want Him to come.

Huh. But he has just come to Jesus and indicated that he wants His help. Jesus has offered to help. But the thing is, the man’s reasoning for not wanting Jesus to come down to his house is impressive. In fact, it’s so impressive, that Jesus considers it an indication of faith He hasn’t seen even among those who are supposed to be God’s own people. As it so happens, the man doesn’t feel like he’s worthy of having Jesus come under his roof because he knows Jesus is God, and he is a sinner.

But this is the one to whom I will look [says God through the prophet Isaiah]: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word (Isaiah 66:2). Don’t those words from God indicate that this centurion is just the sort of person God recognizes as one of His own?

His humility in itself is indicative of great faith, isn’t it? It’s basically St. Peter (in our Gospel lesson), after seeing the great catch of fish miracle, saying to Jesus, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord (Luke 5:8).” This centurion’s humility before God is like that.

But the thing that pleases Jesus so much in this particular case, is how the man expresses that he trusts implicitly Him. He trusts that Jesus can get the job done in another way. He’s shy about having God come under his lowly roof; but what he knows to be the case is that all Jesus has to do is say the word. You know!! (He kinda says): it’s just like how I—a centurion—am in charge of people; and I just say the word and things get done. I don’t have to go to there myself; just say it. That’s the kind of authority a centurion has in the Roman Empire. And, important in this moment, important to what the man believes: that’s the kind of authority Jesus’ Word has when it comes to somebody getting healed. He significantly trusts Jesus’ Words. Remember, we said humbling oneself before Jesus and trusting His Words is following Jesus. That’s what He’s seeing in the centurion that He hasn’t seen to that same extent in Israel.

And Jesus is gratified in seeing it. He marvels at it, our text says. He says to His followers, that thing we’ve been talking about—that He hasn’t seen such faith with anyone in Israel. In fact, says Jesus, this foreigner trusting Him like this is an example of the fact that many more like him will come from outside of Israel, and will be joined with those who are inheriting God’s kingdom. Many more will come who will humble themselves before God, and trust in Him, so that He recognizes them as His own. On the other hand, the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness (excluded from the kingdom, of course that means). The Israelites excluded, He’s warning—the “church people” if you will.

That hits close to home with you, because you are “church people”. For the purposes of this conversation this morning, you see yourselves as related to the Israelites. You have the same advantage they had, of knowing the true God—knowing His Word that draws you to Him for salvation.

We had that bumper sticker question, “Are you following Jesus this closely?” Jesus has compared the Israelites (the church people) of His time—their following of Him—to something; He has compared it to this centurion’s following of Him. In a sense He has asked His Israelite audience, “Are you following Jesus this closely?” Are you following Him so closely, that you have a faith that humbles itself before Him—recognizing your sins, so closely, that you trust implicitly that His words are true, that they’re powerful, that they bring about for you what they promise?

Or, has your following of Him been a distant sort of following? The owner of that bumper sticker was encouraging a distant sort of following. That’s desirable for safe driving. But when it comes to our following of Jesus distance isn’t desirable.

It’s not what anyone sets out to have be the case. When people are going through the church membership instruction class, they don’t aspire to one day be distant followers of Jesus. They’re joining the church because they’re convinced that following Jesus closely is critical to their lives. They want their faith to resemble the centurion’s faith, that humbles itself before God, and trusts implicitly in His Words. They want to be close to God, joyfully anticipating His kingdom. That’s the sort of following that people set out to do, either having just been Baptized and experiencing the Spirit’s leading, or having been brought to it later, through instruction in God’s Word. In either case, their aspiration is to be closely following Jesus.

But distance in our following of Him sort of happens without our noticing. It’s something we look back and realize has been the case, when our attention is drawn to it (like in this message this morning). And we’re not happy to be realizing it. We realize the devil has been working in our lives, right. Through his dark encouragement we have softened our resolve to put away sin in our lives and to humble ourselves before God. We have become less interested in God’s Word, and less trusting of it as critical to our lives.

Evidently, Jesus was seeing more of that lukewarm-ness, that sort of distance in the faith of the Israelite crowd. He wanted to see in them what He was seeing in the centurion. He wanted to see them hungering and thirsting after righteousness as He said in the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:6). He wanted a close relationship with God to be more important to them than other things in their lives.

He has wanted the same from you; and when you have examined yourself, no doubt, you have noticed that you have at times backed off from Him. You have ignored the opportunities He has given you to grow in faith, and to be closer to Him. You have put yourself at a distance from Him, so that He might say of you like of the Israelites of His time, that He hasn’t seen in you the humility before Him and the implicit trust in His Words that He has desired. That sort of lukewarmness of faith, that distant following of Him now threatens to become a permanent separation from Him. Jesus speaks this warning to the church people of His time so that they’ll be jarred out of their apathy.

There isn’t any question about Who He is; He’s the Savior God has sent. Look what you’re seeing in our text: His Word powerfully restores bodies that are damaged with paralysis. Nobody else’s word does that. And that merciful work of His in this world is just a demonstration of what’s to come in His kingdom. Even more important is the other damage He repairs. He goes to the cross to put people’s spiritual carelessness (yours too, and mine) and all other sins on His own back to bear them. He makes you able to be close to Him—to God, where before it was impossible. Since He’s punished there for your sins, you’re forgiven of them. You need not dwell on this sin of apathy or any other sin any longer, then. It is paid for; it is removed entirely forever. In His sacrificial death on the cross, Jesus’ perfection in all things has come to stand before God as your own perfection. It’s been placed upon you to cover your sin.

When you come to the altar this morning to receive Him in His grace and mercy through the Sacrament, think of Him drawing you close to Him. He puts forgiveness in your mouth through the Supper. He assures you that your trust in Him is warranted. His Words this is My body, this is My blood given for you—bring about for you what they promise: namely, forgiveness and eternal life. God has brought you close to Himself. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.