Now there was a man at Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian cohort, a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, and gave many alms to the people and prayed to God continually. - Acts 10:1-2
Good morning. We are about a quarter of the way through this year’s sermon series on “The Miracles of Jesus”. By the time we’re done, we’ll have covered 46 distinct occurrences recorded in the Gospels during which Jesus performed a miracle or miracles. So far we’ve discussed 12 of them. Here is a quick review:
1. Changing Water in Wine 7. Many in the Evening
2. Miracles (Signs) During Passover 8. A Leper in Galilee
3. A Royal Official’s Son 9. A Paralytic on a Pallet
4. Catching A Large Number of Fish 10. An Invalid at the Pool of Bethesda
5. A Demon-Possessed Man 11. A Man’s Withered Hand
6. Peter’s Mother-in-Law 12. Followers in a Crowd
This morning we will add 2 more entries to the list. The first is found only in Luke, while the second is documented in both Luke and Matthew. We’ll use Luke as our primary text. I’ve titled today’s message “Many Before a Sermon and a Centurion’s Servant”.
I. MIRACLES ON THE PLAIN (Luke 6:17-19)
Jesus had just come down from a mountain in Galilee where He’d spent the entire night praying. That morning He had officially appointed the 12 apostles from among His many disciples. They were all gathered on a flat plain along with many others from various places who had come to be healed of diseases, to have demons cast out, and to hear the Lord speak. The clamoring crowd was trying to touch Jesus because healing power was emanating out of Him.
After healing many people, Jesus preached a message to the crowd that included many of the same points that are found in “The Sermon on the Mount”. This message was delivered on a different occasion and is referred to by theologians as “The Sermon on the Plain”. Jesus likely taught these same lessons in similar sermons on several occasions to many audiences in differing places over the course of His ministry.
The Scriptures state that Jesus performed healing miracles and exorcisms during this particular event. Apparently some, if not all, of the miracles occurred simply by touching His body without any words being spoken. This scene clearly revealed the remarkable power of Jesus as God’s beloved Son and it set the stage for His sermon that followed.
II. AN EARNEST PLEA (Luke 7:1-6a; Matthew 8:5-7)
After preaching His message, Jesus went to Capernaum. He was approached by some Jewish elders who had been sent by a Roman centurion to seek help from Him. The centurion's slave, whom he held in high regard, was gravely sick and near death. The elders commended this centurion for being upright and friendly toward the Jews, even helping them build their synagogue, and stated that he was worthy of the Lord’s assistance. So Jesus joined them and they began making their way to the centurion’s house.
In Matthew’s version of this story, the centurion comes to Jesus in person. He tells Jesus that his servant is paralyzed and being fearfully tormented. He then asks Jesus to heal his servant and He agrees to do so. Whether the centurion sent messengers or came to Jesus himself is immaterial. What matters is that Jesus agreed to go and heal the centurion's slave. The discrepancy between the 2 accounts of this story should not be considered a contradiction or error in the Bible, as it doesn’t change the truth of what happened.
III. AMAZING HUMILITY AND FAITH (Luke 7:6b-8; Matthew 8:8-9)
As Jesus was drawing near to the centurion’s house, some of the centurion’s friends intercepted Him. They had been sent by the centurion to ask Jesus not to enter the house because he didn’t feel worthy of the Lord’s presence. Rather, per the centurion’s request, they asked Jesus just to say the word from where He was and the slave would be healed. The centurion understood what it meant to be a man of authority and He trusted in Jesus’ authority to heal from anywhere.
In Matthew’s rendition of this story the centurion asks Jesus to simply say the word rather than coming to His house. Whether in person or by proxy, the centurion’s humility is clearly seen. He, being a Gentile, didn’t feel worthy of the Lord’s presence. The truth is, none of us are worthy, yet Jesus loves us in spite of our weakness.
This episode reminds me of the royal official’s son which we discussed several weeks ago. Like the royal official who sought Jesus out to heal his son, this centurion sought Jesus out to heal his servant. Neither the royal official nor the centurion asked Jesus to come to their house, but instead encouraged Him to simply say the word and the healing would be done. These 2 stories exemplify the importance of asking Jesus to heal our sick family members and friends.
IV. JESUS MARVELS (Luke 7:9-10; Matthew 8:10-13)
Jesus marveled when He heard of the centurion’s faith. He turned to the Jewish crowd that was following Him and said, “I’ve not found such great faith even in Israel!” He then added that, like this centurion, scores of people from the Gentile nations would come and recline at the table in the kingdom of God, while the unbelieving Jews would be cast out into utter darkness. When the centurion’s friends (or the centurion himself according to Matthew) returned home the servant was completely healed.
As we touched on last Sunday, though Jesus was a Jew, His ministry was located in Israel, and His primary audience was the Jewish people, His compassion and work extended to the Gentiles as well. In fact, the Jews by and large rejected Him while the Gentiles joyfully accepted Him as the Son of God. This had been foretold by the Old Testament prophets.
This was another of Jesus’ many healing miracles. Jesus spoke (Matthew 8:13) and the slave, who was some distance away, was healed instantaneously. Jesus performed this miracle to affirm the centurion’s faith in Him as the authoritative Son of God. He also used this occasion to chastise the doubting Jews and commend the believing Gentiles.
CONCLUSION
Although God selected the nation of Israel to be His chosen people, His plan of salvation was never limited exclusively to them. They were afforded the honor and privilege of being His representatives on the earth throughout the Old Testament era, called to model and declare His goodness to all of the world so that anyone might believe upon Him as the LORD. Today this task falls to the Christian church. Jesus came to redeem everyone - both Jew and Gentile - who will trust Him as their Lord and Savior.
When this series began, I told you that we’d place Jesus’ miracles into 1 of 4 categories. Most of them are healing miracles where Jesus performs some type of physical healing. Some are exorcisms where Jesus casts out a demon or demons. Still others are natural miracles where Jesus causes some natural phenomenon to occur. We have seen some examples of these 3 categories already in this series. Next week we will read a story about the 4th type of miracle that Jesus performed - raising a person from the dead. I can’t wait!
Good morning. We are about a quarter of the way through this year’s sermon series on “The Miracles of Jesus”. By the time we’re done, we’ll have covered 46 distinct occurrences recorded in the Gospels during which Jesus performed a miracle or miracles. So far we’ve discussed 12 of them. Here is a quick review:
1. Changing Water in Wine 7. Many in the Evening
2. Miracles (Signs) During Passover 8. A Leper in Galilee
3. A Royal Official’s Son 9. A Paralytic on a Pallet
4. Catching A Large Number of Fish 10. An Invalid at the Pool of Bethesda
5. A Demon-Possessed Man 11. A Man’s Withered Hand
6. Peter’s Mother-in-Law 12. Followers in a Crowd
This morning we will add 2 more entries to the list. The first is found only in Luke, while the second is documented in both Luke and Matthew. We’ll use Luke as our primary text. I’ve titled today’s message “Many Before a Sermon and a Centurion’s Servant”.
I. MIRACLES ON THE PLAIN (Luke 6:17-19)
Jesus had just come down from a mountain in Galilee where He’d spent the entire night praying. That morning He had officially appointed the 12 apostles from among His many disciples. They were all gathered on a flat plain along with many others from various places who had come to be healed of diseases, to have demons cast out, and to hear the Lord speak. The clamoring crowd was trying to touch Jesus because healing power was emanating out of Him.
After healing many people, Jesus preached a message to the crowd that included many of the same points that are found in “The Sermon on the Mount”. This message was delivered on a different occasion and is referred to by theologians as “The Sermon on the Plain”. Jesus likely taught these same lessons in similar sermons on several occasions to many audiences in differing places over the course of His ministry.
The Scriptures state that Jesus performed healing miracles and exorcisms during this particular event. Apparently some, if not all, of the miracles occurred simply by touching His body without any words being spoken. This scene clearly revealed the remarkable power of Jesus as God’s beloved Son and it set the stage for His sermon that followed.
II. AN EARNEST PLEA (Luke 7:1-6a; Matthew 8:5-7)
After preaching His message, Jesus went to Capernaum. He was approached by some Jewish elders who had been sent by a Roman centurion to seek help from Him. The centurion's slave, whom he held in high regard, was gravely sick and near death. The elders commended this centurion for being upright and friendly toward the Jews, even helping them build their synagogue, and stated that he was worthy of the Lord’s assistance. So Jesus joined them and they began making their way to the centurion’s house.
In Matthew’s version of this story, the centurion comes to Jesus in person. He tells Jesus that his servant is paralyzed and being fearfully tormented. He then asks Jesus to heal his servant and He agrees to do so. Whether the centurion sent messengers or came to Jesus himself is immaterial. What matters is that Jesus agreed to go and heal the centurion's slave. The discrepancy between the 2 accounts of this story should not be considered a contradiction or error in the Bible, as it doesn’t change the truth of what happened.
III. AMAZING HUMILITY AND FAITH (Luke 7:6b-8; Matthew 8:8-9)
As Jesus was drawing near to the centurion’s house, some of the centurion’s friends intercepted Him. They had been sent by the centurion to ask Jesus not to enter the house because he didn’t feel worthy of the Lord’s presence. Rather, per the centurion’s request, they asked Jesus just to say the word from where He was and the slave would be healed. The centurion understood what it meant to be a man of authority and He trusted in Jesus’ authority to heal from anywhere.
In Matthew’s rendition of this story the centurion asks Jesus to simply say the word rather than coming to His house. Whether in person or by proxy, the centurion’s humility is clearly seen. He, being a Gentile, didn’t feel worthy of the Lord’s presence. The truth is, none of us are worthy, yet Jesus loves us in spite of our weakness.
This episode reminds me of the royal official’s son which we discussed several weeks ago. Like the royal official who sought Jesus out to heal his son, this centurion sought Jesus out to heal his servant. Neither the royal official nor the centurion asked Jesus to come to their house, but instead encouraged Him to simply say the word and the healing would be done. These 2 stories exemplify the importance of asking Jesus to heal our sick family members and friends.
IV. JESUS MARVELS (Luke 7:9-10; Matthew 8:10-13)
Jesus marveled when He heard of the centurion’s faith. He turned to the Jewish crowd that was following Him and said, “I’ve not found such great faith even in Israel!” He then added that, like this centurion, scores of people from the Gentile nations would come and recline at the table in the kingdom of God, while the unbelieving Jews would be cast out into utter darkness. When the centurion’s friends (or the centurion himself according to Matthew) returned home the servant was completely healed.
As we touched on last Sunday, though Jesus was a Jew, His ministry was located in Israel, and His primary audience was the Jewish people, His compassion and work extended to the Gentiles as well. In fact, the Jews by and large rejected Him while the Gentiles joyfully accepted Him as the Son of God. This had been foretold by the Old Testament prophets.
This was another of Jesus’ many healing miracles. Jesus spoke (Matthew 8:13) and the slave, who was some distance away, was healed instantaneously. Jesus performed this miracle to affirm the centurion’s faith in Him as the authoritative Son of God. He also used this occasion to chastise the doubting Jews and commend the believing Gentiles.
CONCLUSION
Although God selected the nation of Israel to be His chosen people, His plan of salvation was never limited exclusively to them. They were afforded the honor and privilege of being His representatives on the earth throughout the Old Testament era, called to model and declare His goodness to all of the world so that anyone might believe upon Him as the LORD. Today this task falls to the Christian church. Jesus came to redeem everyone - both Jew and Gentile - who will trust Him as their Lord and Savior.
When this series began, I told you that we’d place Jesus’ miracles into 1 of 4 categories. Most of them are healing miracles where Jesus performs some type of physical healing. Some are exorcisms where Jesus casts out a demon or demons. Still others are natural miracles where Jesus causes some natural phenomenon to occur. We have seen some examples of these 3 categories already in this series. Next week we will read a story about the 4th type of miracle that Jesus performed - raising a person from the dead. I can’t wait!