42 The Authority Question Everyone Must Answer (Matthew 7:28-8:13)

Krisan Marotta: Welcome to Wednesday in the Word. I'm Krisan Marotta, and this is my podcast about what the Bible means and how we know. We're returning to the Gospel of Matthew today. This is the 42nd talk in my series on the Gospel of Matthew, but it's the first in part two of this series. Today we're going to study Matthew chapter 7, verse 28, through chapter 8, verse 13. You can find lecture notes for today's talk on the link below this podcast, or by going to wednesdayintheword.com slash Matthew 4.2. Thanks so much for joining me today. Well, the last time this podcast was on Matthew, we had just finished the Sermon on the Mount. We're going to start with the last two verses of chapter 7 and then go on into chapter 8 today. And for those of you who are just joining this series, let me review a few things about Matthew's Gospel. Like the other Synoptic Gospels, Matthew uses a two-part structure. The first half of each of the three Synoptic Gospels is set in Galilee and its surrounding regions. Toward the end of his Galilean ministry, each of the three Synoptics has the same dramatic turning point in the story. Jesus asks his disciples who they think he is. His disciple Peter answers, You are the Christ, and after this event, Jesus begins explaining to them that he must go to Jerusalem, be executed, and rise again. The Gospels use this phrase, he set his eyes toward Jerusalem. Then the second half of each of the synoptics is about Jesus' journey to Jerusalem, culminating with his triumphal entry, his execution, and then the resurrection and ascension. And by synoptic gospels I mean Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Within this two-part structure, there are five places where Matthew records a major teaching of Jesus. And these are sometimes called the five discourses. So putting that together gives us a structure like this. And I will put this structure in the lecture notes, which are on the link below the podcast, so you don't need to worry about writing it down or anything. And those notes again are at wednesdayintheword.com slash Matthew 4 2. Chapters 1 through 4 of Matthew function as a sort of prologue. They give us some preliminary material about the birth of Jesus, the ministry of John the Baptist, Jesus' baptism and his temptation. They tell us the story of Jesus' birth and childhood, explain how he came into the world, mostly from Joseph's perspective. Matthew tells the story in a way that reminds us that Jesus is the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies and promises. Then in chapters 5 through 16, this is the section that covers Jesus' ministry in Galilee, and that's the section we're in now. And in this section, we have three major discourses: the Sermon on the Mount, which we finished in the last series, the sending of the disciples, and then the kingdom parables. Surrounding these discourses are stories about Jesus' miracles and his interactions with various people. And as I think we'll see, those interactions are thematically related to the discourses. Then in chapters 16 and 17, we get the turning point. Jesus starts talking to his disciples about how he must go to Jerusalem and die and be raised again. And then in the final chapters, 18 through 28, we get the journey to Jerusalem and everything that happens there. And that section also contains two discourses, one about how believers should relate to each other, and then what's known as the Olivet Discourse, which Jesus gives after he arrives in Jerusalem. And of course, that section culminates with his crucifixion and resurrection. One of the striking features of Matthew's gospel is how much he expects his readers to know about the Old Testament. If you were with me through the first seven chapters of Matthew, you'll recall just how much time we spent in the Old Testament in order to understand what Matthew and Jesus were saying. Matthew shapes his story to show how Jesus fulfills the law and the prophets. He insists that Jesus didn't abolish the Old Testament or start something new. Rather, Jesus is the fulfillment of the promises of the Old Testament, and Matthew has shaped his narrative to point that out. So in chapter 4, Matthew tells us how Jesus began his ministry preaching and healing in Galilee. He was preaching to large crowds and healing many people. And Matthew summarized his message as repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand. So the Messiah has arrived, the kingdom of God is at hand, and it calls for a response. It calls for repentance. Then in chapters 5 through 7, Matthew gave us an example of the kind of thing that Jesus was preaching during his early ministry, and that was the Sermon on the Mount. And as we talked about, the entire Sermon on the Mount is really about one topic: who will be accepted by God and receive a place in his kingdom? Jesus approaches that question from various angles, and he essentially describes and defines the saving faith that is necessary to enter God's kingdom. Well, we're going to pick up in Matthew chapter 7, verses 28 through 29, which is the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount, and it reads, And when Jesus finished saying these things, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority and not as their scribes. Well, I'd like to spend some time thinking about this word authority. I think it's significant and I think it's going to play a big role in the section we're about to start. In the upcoming section, we're going to see Jesus perform a number of miracles. Matthew told us back in chapter four that Jesus was doing a lot of healing. Now he's going to give us some examples, and as we're going to see, this word authority is going to repeatedly come up. In 8 9, the centurion is going to talk about being a man under authority and how he understands Jesus' authority. In 9.6, Jesus will be criticized for claiming to have the authority to forgive sins when he heals the paralytic. And in 9 8, the crowd will marvel that God has given such authority to men. After a string of miracles, we get the second major discourse, which is the instructions Jesus gives to his disciples. Before sending them out in 10 1, Jesus gives his disciples authority to cast out unclean spirits and heal diseases. Near the end of the story in Matthew 21, Jesus is in Jerusalem, and the chief priests ask Jesus, who gave him this authority, and he turns the question around on them. And then in the last chapter of the gospel after the resurrection, Jesus tells his disciples, this is Matthew 28, 18, and Jesus came and said to them, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Authority is an important concept in Matthew, and I want to comment on it as an ending to the Sermon on the Mount and a prologue to the miracles we're about to look at. So first let's step back and look at the big picture. Let's think about different kinds of authority. Suppose one day I am startled by a loud knocking on my door, followed by an announcement that it's the police. When I open the door, the officers show me their badges and a search warrant, and they say they are coming in to search my house. In that situation, the officers have demonstrated that they have the authority of the state behind them. The state verifies that the police are acting for the state by giving them a badge and a search warrant. They're saying, We, the state, say that we want these guys to search your home, and this is our proof. Here's the badge and the warrant. In that situation, I don't have any choice. If I refuse to comply, they're going to arrest me and search my house anyway. Basically, the police officers have demonstrated that they have authority given to them by the state, and I have to submit. I would argue one day Jesus is going to return and he is going to exercise that kind of authority. He's going to descend from heaven with the glory of God, and all of us will have no choice but to submit. But when Jesus came the first time, his authority was different. He did in fact come with the authority of God, but he gave people a choice to decide whether or not they will accept and submit to that authority. To give you an analogy, suppose one day I'm confronted with a medical issue and I seek the advice of a doctor. The doctor tells me he is the foremost expert on my condition. He's seen this problem before and he knows exactly what it will take to solve it. Unlike the police knocking on my door with a search warrant and a badge, I have to decide whether or not to trust this doctor. I might seek out some of his former patients and talk to them about their experience. I might search online to see if anyone has sued him for malpractice. I might see what other doctors in his field say about him. I have all kinds of ways to gather information, but in the end the choice is mine. I gather and I evaluate the information and then I have to decide, yes, I trust this doctor or no I don't. When Jesus came the first time, his authority was more like that of the medical professional, not the police. Each person who heard Jesus teach or saw him heal or heard accounts of what he had done had to decide, is he for real? Do I believe that this man Jesus has come with the authority of God or not? Now, regardless of the decision of any individual, Jesus had authority in what he said. What Jesus said is what God would say. But everyone had a choice whether or not to believe him. As we'll see, God demonstrated the fact that he has given his authority to Jesus by giving him the power to perform miracles, but each of us has to decide if we're going to believe it and accept that authority. As Jesus just said in the Sermon on the Mount, people who heed his words will be like people who build their houses on the rock. People who ignore his words will be like people who build their houses on the sands. They had to decide back then what to do with Jesus, and today we have the same choice. And we're going to see this choice in these miracle stories. Before the miracle, we have a situation where someone is in trouble and needs help. They've heard what Jesus has said, maybe they've seen what he did, maybe they've heard him teach, and they have decided this man has the authority of God. And the seekers then have decided to trust him for mercy and healing. And so they seek Jesus out and ask him to act on their behalf. And sometimes Jesus commends them for their faith. So we see authority before the miracle, we see people responding in faith and accepting his authority before the miracle, but we also see it after the miracle. Another way people interact with and respond to the miracles is after they have happened. God is demonstrating through the miracles that he has given his authority to Jesus. And when people behold these miracles, they have a choice. They can believe Jesus is who he says he is, or they can reject his authority and his claim. The miracles are an authenticating sign, a testimony from God, and we need to respond to it. We need to decide whether or not we believe. This concept of authority, then, is all about this question. Is God in fact behind what Jesus is saying and doing? And I will answer yes, God is behind everything Jesus says and does. Jesus speaks and acts with the authority of God. But at this point, we have a choice to make. We have to decide whether or not to accept someone as an authority from God. We see this with the apostles, particularly Paul. We see them defending their authority and arguing that we should accept and respect them as authorized spokesmen for Jesus. Now, if we make the wrong choice, if we grant someone authority who does not in fact speak for God, or if we reject someone who does speak for God, not only will that have devastating consequences for us, it shows there's something wrong with our understanding. We aren't accurately understanding the truth. So when Jesus speaks for God and acts for God, and the religious leaders of his day reject him, it shows there's something wrong with their understanding. They watch him cast out demons, they watch him miraculously heal people, and they say, oh no, this can't be from God. This must be something else. That shows there's something wrong with their understanding because they fail to recognize Jesus as a man with authority from God. And we human beings today face the exact same choice. Who are we going to listen to? Who are we going to grant authority to? And that's part of the dynamic of this gospel. Matthew tells us what Jesus said and what he did, and we have to decide how to respond to that information. And Jesus made that clear in the Sermon on the Mount. He ended it by saying, Everyone who heeds his words is like a wise man who built his house on the rock, and everyone who rejects his words is like a foolish man who builds his house on the sand. Which house is going to survive when the rains and the floods come? So Jesus is making it very clear we have a choice to make. We have to decide if we believe that Jesus is speaking the truth from God or not. Let me read Matthew 7, 28, and 29 again. When Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority and not as their scribes. Okay, what is Matthew saying here? The crowd hears this sermon and says, Wow, there's something different about Jesus. But what's the difference between Jesus and the scribes? If you pick up almost any commentary, you'll probably find an explanation something like this. The scribes and the rabbis quoted each other as authorities. A rabbi would teach and say, My argument stands because Rabbi Smith and Rabbi Jones agree with me. And we teachers do the same thing today. We quote other scholars and writers and we quote commentators to prove we've got it right. The scribes base their arguments on human authority, but Jesus is different because he doesn't appeal to any other rabbis. Jesus simply says, this is the way it is. And that's the idea you'll find in almost every commentary. And there's truth to it. We do have writings of ancient rabbis, and they do often quote each other, and we don't see Jesus quoting anyone else. But it's not like Jesus was the only one who didn't quote other people. We have examples of rabbis who argue from Scripture themselves, but to the extent that other rabbis quoted from each other, it is true we do see Jesus making very confident assertions about what is true without quoting anyone else except Scripture. And we saw in the Sermon on the Mount that Jesus' words were based on a clear and profound understanding of the Old Testament scriptures. So in one sense, it's true he spoke authoritatively, and that he relied on reason, scripture, and good interpretive methodology to make his points. And I think we can do that kind of authoritative teaching today. We modern teachers don't always have to appeal to ancient scholars like Calvin, Augustine, Luther, or contemporary scholars. We can make a case from Scripture itself using good reason and good methodology. And in that sense, we can speak authoritatively, not quoting others, but relying on a direct appeal to Scripture. And Jesus certainly does that kind of teaching, and we can seek to follow his example in that. But I suspect that the crowds are marveling at something bigger than that. Look back over the Sermon on the Mount. It's not just that Jesus speaks without quoting others. It's not just that he confidently asserts this is what Scripture means. He says something else. Let me remind you of some of the things he said in the Sermon on the Mount to illustrate what I mean. This is Matthew 5, verses 10 through 12. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who are before you. Well, first Jesus makes the general point that you must hold fast to righteousness even when you're persecuted for it in 510. But when he restates his point in five eleven, he says, You must hold fast to me. You must hold fast to the things I'm saying, even if it brings persecution, and he compares those who hold fast to him, Jesus, to the prophets who had a message from God and were persecuted for it. Jesus says, On my account, people who hold fast to me are going to be persecuted just like the prophets were persecuted, and they stand to gain the same reward. Matthew 5, 17, do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. Jesus is describing himself here as one who came with a mission. He came to fulfill the law and the prophets. This is not a rabbi saying, let's look at the scriptures together and see if we can figure them out. The clear implication of this verse is that Jesus believes he has been sent by God to fulfill the promises of the Old Testament. And he's saying, Don't be mistaken. Just because my understanding differs from what you've been hearing from the Pharisees, don't start thinking that I, Jesus, am abolishing the Old Testament and starting something new. I did not come to do that. I came to fulfill the law. Again, he's claiming to have a mission from God that requires a unique kind of authority. Matthew 5.20, for I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. This phrase, for I tell you or for I say to you, that could be an ordinary rabbi disagreeing with the teaching of the scribes and the Pharisees, but this is right after he's claimed that his mission is to fulfill the law and the prophets. So I think it carries more weight. I think he's saying, I Jesus, who came to fulfill the law and the prophets, I'm telling you that your teachers of the law have it wrong, and you need to listen to what I'm saying, not them. Then Matthew 7, 21 through 23, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do mighty works in your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. Well, Jesus is claiming that he has a specific role to play on judgment day. He is very strongly implying that he is the one who is going to decide who is going to enter the kingdom of heaven. There is a day coming when we will face the judgment seat of God, and our fate will be determined by this man, Jesus Christ. Jesus is saying, Some of you are going to claim that you were on my side, and I'm going to say, I never knew you because you were lawless. You didn't really take away. Take seriously what I Jesus said and taught. Well, I would argue the scribes don't make these kind of claims. We teachers today don't make those kind of claims. We don't claim to have the authority to rescue or condemn on judgment day. But Jesus is making a clear claim to having the authority of God. He claims to be able to do things that ultimately only God can do because God has given him that authority. Ultimately, it is God's prerogative to decide who enters the kingdom of heaven. And he can pass that authority on to Jesus, and Jesus is claiming God has done exactly that. Jesus is claiming to be the Messiah, the one who fulfills the Old Testament promises, and the one who can confidently tell you what God thinks and plans and who will decide your fate on judgment day. Then he ends the Sermon on the Mount by saying if you reject his words, you're going to regret it. This is Matthew seven, twenty four through twenty seven. Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it. I think this is what the crowd is marveling at. They were amazed at more than Jesus' clear and confident arguments directly from Scripture. They are amazed at the unique role he is claiming for himself. It's true that Jesus is not making up a whole new religion, he's not contradicting the Old Testament, he is clearly and accurately articulating the message of the Old Testament, his reason and his logic are profoundly insightful. He is arguing from reason and the scriptures, but even more than that, he's saying, God sent him with this message. God has given Jesus the authority to explain the plans and purposes of God. And even more profoundly, God has given Jesus the authority to rescue or condemn us on judgment day. Jesus speaks with God given authority and we must not dismiss what he says, and that's how he ends the Sermon on the Mount. Now immediately Matthew turns our attention to a series of stories about various miracles, and we're going to see this concept of authority running through them. Only now the kind of authority is a little different. We'll see language about authority over disease and authority over unclean spirits and ultimately even over death itself. When God acts, no earthly thing can stand in his way. If God wants a leper to be healed, then that leper is going to be healed. Matthew is showing us that Jesus has the authority of God in his actions. God can heal a leper, and Jesus has been given the authority over disease, so Jesus can heal a leper. Jesus can say, Be healed, and that leper will be healed because God has given him the authority to do so. So to summarize, Jesus has the authority of God. In the sense that what he says is true, God also says is true. And when Jesus heals someone, God also wants that person to be healed. But this kind of authority he's exercising at this point requires a response. Some kinds of authority are so obvious there's no choice to be made and there's no question about it. But until the second coming, we are required to make a choice whether or not to believe Jesus and acknowledge his authority. And we're going to see that dynamic in these various stories. These miracles are not just stories, they're not just historical events. They call on us to respond. The supernatural action that Jesus performs is evidence in and of itself that God has granted Jesus his authority. Jesus is going to do things only God can do. Well, where did that come from? It comes from being granted the authority of God. These miracles are evidence that God is behind what Jesus is teaching. These miracles then provoke the question, how am I going to respond? Will I listen to Jesus? Will I embrace what he says is true? Because God has shown through his actions that I need to pay attention. That's one response we're going to see in these stories, but there's another kind we'll see, and usually we see this before the miracle happens. Before the miracle happens, a leper or a demon-possessed man or a sick person is wrestling with the question, what do I think of this rabbi Jesus? Does it make sense for me to approach him for help? Have I seen enough? Have I heard enough that I can submit to the truth and come to him for healing? Have I seen enough to know that Jesus is the Messiah acting with the authority of God? They wrestle with that question and then they come to him in faith. And sometimes Jesus commends people for believing before the miracle. So we'll see both these responses. Before the miracle, we'll see the person wrestling with can I trust Jesus and coming to him in faith? And after the miracle, we'll see the crowds wrestling with have I seen enough to trust that Jesus is the Messiah and has the authority of God. So with all of that in mind, let's turn to Matthew eight and look at the first miracle. This is Matthew eight, one through four. When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him, and behold a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, I will be clean, and immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus said to him, See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded for a proof to them. It's unclear exactly what kind of disease this man has. Various scholars have argued that what we call leprosy today is not the disease noted here, and there are arguments both ways. In the end, I don't think it matters much to the story exactly what disease this man had, except that he has a disease for which there was no cure. This is not a cold that's going to go away on its own eventually. The striking part of the story is the faith of the leper. He seeks Jesus out, he kneels before Jesus, he acknowledges that Jesus has the power to make him clean and that he has done nothing to deserve healing. He will be healed if Jesus decides to have mercy on him, not because he deserves any such reward. For him, the issue is not whether Jesus can heal him, the issue is whether or not Jesus is willing to heal him. So this situation is not like going to a doctor and asking the doctor if you can do anything for you. He doesn't go to Jesus and say, Well, you know, I've tried everything else, you're my last resort, so I thought I'd give you a try. He kneels at Jesus' feet and says, You can, you can make me clean if you're willing. This man has already decided that Jesus can do such a thing, and his statement is an expression of his belief that Jesus is who he claims to be and has the authority from God. Jesus reaches out and touches the leper, which is a very bold move, because the leper is both physically and religiously unclean. When you touch someone who's sick, what should happen? We know what should happen. Dirt should win, disease is contagious. When you share your water glass with someone who has a cold, they don't become well because you've drunk from their water glass, you've become sick because you've drunk from their water glass. That's how the world works. When you walk in the back door and your shoes are muddy, the clean floor becomes dirty. Your dirty shoes don't become clean when they touch the clean floor, rather, the floor becomes dirty from your dirty shoes. That's what should happen. Yet in this case, health miraculously wins. Jesus touches the leper and the leper is healed. Jesus does not become sick, Jesus does not become unclean, the leper becomes clean and whole. Then Jesus tells the man not to tell anyone. In some cases, Jesus makes this request to prevent a big mob scene. In this particular event, Jesus is not telling the man to keep silent. I think he's telling him to tell the priest. He wants the man to follow the law and take the actions prescribed in the law by Leviticus. Lepers were unclean, they were not allowed in the city, they had to live outside of town, but if they became well, there was a provision for what happened. Just to give you a flavor of it, this is Leviticus 14, verses one through eleven. Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, This shall be the law of the leprous person for the day of his cleansing. He shall be brought to the priest, and the priest shall go out of the camp, and the priest shall look. Then if the case of leprous disease is healed in the leprous person, the priest shall command them to take for him who is to be cleansed two live clean burns and cedar wood and scarlet yarn and hyssop, and the priest shall command them to kill one of the birds in an earthenwell vessel over fresh water. He shall take the live bird with the cedar wood and the scarlet yarn and the hyssop, and dip them and the live bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the fresh water. And then he shall sprinkle it seven times on him who is to be cleansed of the leprous disease. Then he shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird go into the open field, and he who is to be cleansed shall wash all his clothes, and shave off all his hair, and bathe himself in water, and he shall be clean, and after that he may come into the camp, but live outside his tent seven days. And on the seventh day he shall shave off all the hair from his head, his beard and his eyebrows, he shall shave off all the hair of his head, and then he shall wash his clothes, and bathe his body in water, and he shall be clean. And on the eighth day he shall take two male lambs without blemish, and one new lamb a year old without blemish, and a grain offering of three tenths of an ephaw of fine flour mixed with oil and one log of oil, and the priest who cleanses him shall set the man who is to be cleansed, and these things before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And it goes on, there's a bit more to the ritual, but you get the idea. And this is what Jesus is asking the man to do. I think he's saying, Don't go to your family, don't yell at from the rooftops, follow the law, ask for the priest, and make the prescribed offerings. If you go through the rituals, then the priest will confirm that you are cleansed, and this will be a testimony to them. Ultimately, I think Jesus wants this miracle to be known, but he wants it to be known in a way that the priests have to acknowledge this man is clean. By going through all the prescribed processes, the priests have to declare and testify, yes, this miracle happened. Let's look at one more miracle. This is Matthew eight, five through nine. When he had 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'm 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. A little bit of background, during this part of his ministry, Capernaum functioned as a kind of hometown or home base for Jesus. In Mark 2, 1, we're told that Jesus was at home in Capernaum. It's literally in the house, but it was probably an idiom that means at home. We know Jesus grew up in Nazareth. Capernaum and Nazareth are not that far away from each other. Luke 4.16 tells us that Jesus returned to his hometown Nazareth after his baptism and temptation in the wilderness, but was then so thoroughly rejected by the people with whom he grew up that he left Nazareth and made Capernaum, this fishing village on the Sea of Galilee, his home base for the three years of his public ministry. Commentators are unclear of exactly what the notion of Jesus' being at home means. It could mean that his mother and his brothers also moved to Campernum and it was their home and he had a room in their home. Or others think Jesus may have lived at the home of Simon Peter's family, or he may have had his own place, a house that he probably didn't own, but was made available to him to use as much as he needed. Like the leper, we see the prior faith of the centurion. Now a centurion was a Roman military officer, he was a Gentile. The name comes from the word for 100, so he probably commanded a hundred soldiers. You might think of him as sort of like a captain in our military scheme. Again, we see his prior faith. Jesus returns to Capernaum and the centurion comes to see him. Now there's some question as to whether 8 7, I will come and heal him, should be translated as a question, shall I come and heal him? I think what's going on there is the centurion is a gentile, and he knows that a Jew would never enter the home of a Gentile. It could be that Jesus could be making a statement, I will come and heal him, or, and this is the one I lean to, but I don't know that makes a whole lot of difference. Jesus could be saying, Are you a Gentile asking me, a Jew, to come into your house to heal this man? In either case, the centurion responds, No, I am not worthy for you to come under my roof. I think he means more there than I'm just an unworthy sinner. I think he's acknowledging there's a lot more at stake here because he's a Gentile. Jesus is the Jewish Messiah and he is a Gentile Roman soldier. He's saying, I'm not asking you to come. I have no right to ask you to come into my home, and I know that you can't come into my home because that would make you unclean. But then he acknowledges that Jesus has the authority of God and can heal his servant with but a word. As a centurion, he has a superior officer, and he acts under the authority of that superior officer. When that officer commands him to do something, he does it. But as a centurion, he also has people whom he has authority over. He can command those under him and they will do what he asks. And the soldier says, This is how I understand your situation. You are under the authority of God. You act to do his will, and in turn that gives you the authority to act on God's behalf, exercising your authority over disease. So all you have to do is say the word, and my servant will be healed. Then the text goes on, this is Matthew eight, ten through thirteen. 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, 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. So we see Jesus marveling that this Gentile Roman soldier has such a strong and clear belief. The centurion had great confidence in the authority of Jesus, and his faith is demonstrated by the fact that he can say, We both know you don't have to come to my house. You have authority, you are acting for God. You can speak and make it so. That's who you are. That's the authority you have. Like the leper, we see the response of faith before the miracle. This story is emphasizing the prior faith of the centurion. He comes to Jesus, he seeks him out because he has a belief rooted in his understanding and he is acting on it. And all of that inspires Jesus then to talk about the place of the Gentiles in the coming kingdom of God. He paints a metaphorical picture. When the kingdom of God comes, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will be feasting on that day, and on this day the promises of God to the Jews will be fulfilled, and all people from east to west, and I think that's the Gentiles, will come to feast at the table and rejoice in the promises fulfilled. But many of the sons of the kingdom, in other words, the ones you would think the promises are for, the Jews, many of them will be turned away from the table. For example, many of the Jews of the generation standing right next to Jesus, who zealously kept the law, but rejected Jesus, are not going to be feasting at the table. They will be cast out. And what's the difference between these two groups? The Gentile centurion has responded to Jesus with faith and understanding and trust. He has believed that Jesus is the Messiah and he acts with the authority of God. On the other hand, many of the religious leaders, like the Pharisees, have responded to Jesus with rejection and hostility. Jesus concludes, Let it be done for you as you have believed. Some people throughout church history have run away with this statement and taken it to mean that I can multiply the miracles in my life or the positive answers I get to my prayers by believing. And there is a whole theology out there that says the more I believe, the more miracles I get. Conversely, if my belief is weak or lacking, I won't receive the answer I want. And they claim that the way to make a miracle happen is to believe it will happen without any doubting. And one of the evidences they have for that theology is this verse, let it be done for you as you have believed. Well, I don't think that's an appropriate interpretation of this passage. There's no reason to think that either the leper or the centurion had any kind of super faith that earned them a miracle. Rather, they face the same question every believer faces today. Am I going to believe the claims of Jesus? Am I going to believe that he speaks with the authority of God and that he performs miracles because he has the authority of God? The faith that they're coming with is that confidence that Jesus is who he says he is. Their confidence is not I'm really going to get the answer that I want. Their confidence is this man, Jesus, has the authority from God to grant my request. And if he chooses to do so, it will happen. We see that in the leper. If you're willing, you can make me clean. We see that in the centurion. If you speak, my servant will be healed. By contrast, this name it and claim it theology says it will happen because I believe it. I believe it, so I'm going to get it. But that's not the attitude we see in the leper and the centurion. While they are absolutely convinced that Jesus can grant their request, they do not presume that he is willing to do so. They say you're the Messiah, what you want to happen is going to happen. If you decide in your grace and mercy to heal, then I will be healed. Once again, the key issue is how we respond to the truth of the gospel that Jesus teaches. The leper and the centurion both responded to what they had seen and heard with faith. Perhaps they had heard Jesus teach, perhaps they'd seen him do other miracles, or maybe they'd just heard reports of his teaching or his healings. In either case, with whatever information they had, however great or small, they believed that Jesus is who he says he is. They believed in his authority, and that's a choice we all face. And I think that's the choice Matthew intends to confront us with. He just gave us the Sermon on the Mount in which Jesus made bold claims about his mission and the authority God has given him. Now he's showing us how Jesus backed up that claim to authority. Only God has the authority to miraculously heal disease, and Jesus has demonstrated that God has given him that authority. First, he cures a man with an incurable disease with a touch, then he heals a man who's not even physically present before him with a word. Both demonstrate that God has given Jesus his authority. Our choice is to be like the leper and the centurion and accept that authority in humility and faith. Thank you for listening to Wednesday in the Word, the podcast that explains not only what a passage means, but also shows you how to figure that out. You can hear all previous episodes in this series on my website, wednesdayintheword.com. There's no charge, no spam, and no ads. If you've been blessed by this podcast, please subscribe to the podcast, leave a positive rating or review wherever you listen. But most importantly, tell a friend what you learned. And if you can, tell him where you learned it. Thank you to Reggie Coates for the use of his beautiful song Tenacious. You can find all of Reggie's music at heartfeltmusic.org. Thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Krisan Marotta, and I'll see you next week at Wednesday in the Word.