In the Name of Jesus
Matthew 8,5-13
3. Sunday after Epiphany (3. Sonntag nach Epiphanias)
Emerentiana, Virgin, Martyr in Rome 304.
23. January 2011
1. O King of Heaven, Jesus Christ, we render thanks unto You, so that from among Jews and Gentiles You have gathered unto Yourself a Church, and has prepared praise unto Yourself out of our mouths. Keep us in that heavenly wisdom which You have revealed unto the wise. Grant us Your Holy Spirit so that we may reverently seek You and Your reign. Help us to follow after Your Word as our miraculous guiding star. Cause us to confess Your Holy Name before friend and foe. Govern us by Your Holy Spirit, so that the Christian joy kindled in our hearts may ever increase. Hear our sighings and our prayers. Accept the offerings which You have Yourself given us, the gold of faith, the frankincense of prayer, and the myrrh of our contrite hearts. Save us from all shameful paths of sin, and let Your good Spirit lead us in paths of pleasantness. After this life, grant us all to attain that great New Year, the jubilee of everlasting life: then will we be praising You and the Father together with the Holy Spirit, forever and forever. Amen. (Löhe 456-57).
2. Our sermon text for this morning, dear brothers and sisters, is from the Gospel according to St. Matthew where the apostle and evangelist writes: 5When Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to Him, appealing to Him, 6“Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” 7And He said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 8But 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. 9For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Arrive,’ and he arrives, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 10When Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who followed Him, “Truly, I tell you, I have not found such faith with anyone in Israel. 11I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the reign of heaven, 12while the sons of the reign will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13And Jesus said to the centurion, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment. This is our text.
3. The second miracle before us in the season of Epiphany involves healing a paralytic. Last week, our first Epiphany miracle of Jesus involved Jesus turning water into wine at a Jewish wedding feast. Today the Gospel according to Matthew presents before us the paralyzed servant of a Roman centurion. Whereas the Cana miracle involved the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 15,24), the Capernaum miracle involved a pagan Roman centurion and his slave. Capernaum is located in Galilee on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee. Sometime before beginning His public ministry, Jesus moved from Nazareth and lived in Capernaum. The first four disciples who were fishermen Jesus called also lived in Capernaum, namely, Peter and his brother Andrew, James and his brother John. Matthew the tax collector was another disciple who hailed from Capernaum. Just as Jesus knew of and possibly knew the five disciples He called from Capernaum, Jesus probably knew of and possibly knew the Roman centurion who came to Him to ask for his servant’s healing.
4. The centurion stationed in Capernaum would have been well known to the local citizens. A centurion commanded a century of one hundred legionnaires. Six centuries comprised a military cohort of six hundred soldiers. The rank of centurion was an officer rank that included many grades, meaning centurions had very good prospects for promotion (Wikipedia). A centurion was equivalent to the rank of an army captain and the senior centurion in the cohort was equivalent to the rank of an army colonel (Wikipedia). A centurion was paid ten times the basic wage of a legionnaire (Wikipedia), which made centurions wealthy men.
5. The Gospel of Matthew describes Galilee by quoting the Prophet Isaiah (9,2; 60,1-3): »Galilee of the Gentiles, the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned« (Matthew 4,15-16). The Divine Light of the Messiah has shown upon the Gentiles and the nations as Jesus heals the centurion’s servant. This Light unto the nations will continue to shine upon them throughout the Gospels, and various Gentiles will be drawn to Christ Jesus.
6. The issue in this pericope is „faith“. The centurion had faith in Jesus, whereas many in Israel did not. This is a shocking observation made by Jesus. Jesus declares, „With no one is Israel have I found such faith“. Being the chosen race means nothing for the individual Jew is he or she does not believe in their Messiah. In Chapter 8 Jesus puts His Jewish brethren in their place: a pagan Roman centurion has more faith in Me as the Messiah than My own people. Sadly, we find this still true in the 21st century as only a few Jewish people have faith in Jesus as their Messiah while billions of Gentiles believe that Jesus is the promised Christ. Christians, however, cannot pat themselves on the back, for many people who claim the name „Christian“ also lack faith in Jesus.
7. It happens so quietly and insignificantly. A person is baptized and brought into the family of our Heavenly Father and His heavenly reign. If that faith is not nurtured, it will die. A baptized Christian who never worships in Church, shuns fellowship with his or her fellow Christians, does not read and study the Holy Scripture, does not hear God’s Holy Word preached and taught, removes him- or herself from the communion rail where Jesus’ real and present body and blood is given out for the forgiveness of sins, will wind up a baptized Christian who has suffocated and killed their the Holy Spirit’s precious gift of their baptismal faith. A Christian cannot remain a lone wolf aloof from the other wolves. Wolves travel in packs for safety and security, and likewise Christians remain together for their mutual edification in the faith and to bear one another’s burdens.
8. The Church has an ancient proverb: the law of worship is the law of faith is the law of life (lex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi). Q: What is this? A: How a person worships shows what the person really believes, and what a person believes is shown in how he worships. The liturgy strengthens faith, and faith determines the liturgy. Those who never worship in the Church show that their faith is weak or dead. When faith is gone, one’s Baptism will be of no avail, for Baptism creates faith and faith looks to Baptism for the forgiveness of sins. In Chapter 8, the Roman centurion showed himself to be more Jewish than many of the Jews among whom he lived in Capernaum!
9. The Roman centurion understood the truth proclaimed by the Prophet Isaiah: »For thus says Yahweh, „I am the Lord, and there is no other. And there is no other god besides Me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides Me. Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other“« (45,18.21-22). Isaiah the Prophet proclaims 24 times that the nations
will acknowledge the glory of Yahweh, believe in Him, and be saved. Isaiah prophesies: »It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of Yahweh shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations will flow to Mt. Zion« (2,2). »„I am Yahweh; I called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations“« (42,6). »„I will make Israel as a light for the nations, so that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth“« (49,6).
10. The centurion understands the power and authority of the mere spoken word. His orders and commands were carried out quickly and efficiently lest his legionnaires wanted to face severe disciplinary action, such as a whipping or a flogging. Likewise, the centurion firmly believes that if Jesus merely speaks the word, then his stricken servant will walk again. The same Divine Word that can heal a paralytic is the same Divine Word that can create faith in Christ Jesus. The Apostle Paul told the Roman Christians, »I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek« (Romans 1,16). The spoken and proclaimed Word of God has the power and authority to create and sustain faith in Christ Jesus. Jesus ministered and preached the gospel first to the people of Israel throughout Galilee and other provinces of Judea. Jesus also ministered and preached to the Greeks, Romans, and other Gentiles throughout Palestine. In doing so, Jesus grafted believing Gentiles onto the tree of Israel. Jesus’ ministry involved pruning Israel. Dead, unbelieving branches were cut off and tossed aside when such unbelieving Jews refused to be revived and believe in Jesus as their promised Messiah. Jesus then took living, believing wild branches and grafted them onto the roots where the dead natural branches had once been.
11. »For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed from faith upon faith, as it is written, „The righteous will live by faith“« (Romans 1,17). Jesus’ Jewish disciples lived by faith in Him as the Messiah. Jesus’ Gentile disciples lived by faith in Him as the Christ. You and I live by faith in Jesus as the Christ. Righteousness and eternal life are received by faith in only Jesus. The Roman centurion had faith in Jesus, and because He believed Jesus and trusted in the power of His word, his paralyzed servant was made well. Likewise, we believe in Jesus and trust in the power of His spoken word which accomplishes what it proclaims. Jesus’ word tells us that we have the forgiveness of sins and everlasting salvation on account of Jesus’ merit on the cross and the empty tomb. We hear that word and the Holy Spirit gives us that forgiveness and salvation by the power of the word that creates what it speaks. Trusting in Jesus, we may live our lives in certainty that He is our Savior and trust Him to bring good and positive results even in the midst of trials and hardships. Thus we leave each Divine Service in peace, knowing that it is done as we have believed, and our faith is founded upon Christ Jesus, and in Him is our Heavenly Father’s „Yes.“ and „Amen.“ to our prayers (2 Corinthians 1,19). Amen.
12. Let us pray. The Lord God who reigns over all creation; let the earth rejoice, let the many coastlands be glad, let Your holy and beloved people give You praise so that we are uplifted by the Holy Spirit that in Christ Jesus we have everlasting life. Amen.
One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you!
All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4th Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27th Edition © 1993 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the New Testament Greek Manuscripts, Matthew © 1995 by Reuben Joseph Swanson.
Löhe, Wilhelm. Seed-Grains of Prayer: A Manual for Evangelical Christians. Wartburg Publishing House, Chicago circa 1912. Concordia Publishing House; Concordia on Demand.
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