Matthew 8...Acknowledging the extent of the Centurion and the Crowd's faith.

In our previous times together -- in this Acknowledging the Extent series -- we have looked at…   

• How the Centurion acknowledged the extent of his servant’s condition.   
• The extent of the Centurion and the Lord’s positions.   
• The extent of the Centurion and the Lord’s power.  
• And the extent of the Centurion and the Lord’s presence 

Today’s Title: Acknowledging the extent of the Centurion and the Crowd’s faith, Part 5.  

Matthew 8:10-13 (NKJV) 10 When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! 11 And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that same hour.
 
The extent of the Centurion’s faith.

• “great faith”…”pertaining to a high degree of quality…so great/strong, to such extent…in a positive sense.”
  • Great faith was evidenced in the Centurion’s belief in Christ’s ability.
    • In vs. 5, the Centurion “…came to Him…”
    • In vs. 5 as well, He was “…pleading with Him…”
    • In vs. 6 he called Him “…Lord…”
    • In vs. 8 he said “…But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.”
    • In vs. 10 we read that “…He marveled…”
      • The Centurion’s faith caused Christ to marvel.
        • “marveled” … “to be extraordinarily impressed…wonder, marvel.”
    • In vs. 13 Christ says, “…Go your way; and as you have believed…”
    • Result…
      • In vs. 7 Christ says, “I will come to heal him.”
      • Now Christ is giving orders to the Centurion in verse 13 “GO!”
      • In vs. 13 Christ says “let it be done for you…And his servant was healed that same hour.”
      • Other Gentiles come to faith in Christ.
        • In his book, The Words and Works of Jesus Christ, J. Dwight Pentecost, …
          • P. 191 points out that “As a man of authority the centurion knew that one did not have to be personally present to execute a command. The one in authority only needed to issue the commands to have something done. The centurion recognized authority in the person of Christ and confessed that it was not necessary for Christ to come to his home. It was only necessary for Him to issue the command. This demonstrated a remarkable faith in the person and authority of Christ. Christ responded, ‘I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith’ (Matt. 8:10). Faith such as this Gentile had demonstrated would be duplicated many times by other Gentiles, for Christ added, ‘Many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast’ (v. 11). By this He was referring to Gentiles who would join with ‘Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.’…This paragraph…shows the extension of the message of salvation to multitudes of Gentiles who would believe and have their part with the faithful in Israel in the kingdom.”
      • Come – faith – forgiveness is what the Lord is looking for.
        • Christ wants us to come to Him, have faith in Him alone, and seek forgiveness/healing.
          • Matthew 4:24 Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them.
          • Matthew 9:2 Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.”
          • Mark 2:3-5 3 Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. 4 And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”
          • Luke 5:24 But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins” —He said to the man who was paralyzed, “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”
          • Matthew 9:20-22, 27-31 (NKJV)

20 And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment. 21 For she said to herself, “If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well.” 22 But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, “Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that hour.
Two Blind Men Healed
27 When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, “Son of David, have mercy on us!” 28 And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.” 29 Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith let it be to you.” 30 And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, “See that no one knows it.” 31 But when they had departed, they spread the news about Him in all that country.

Arcangues (pronounced ar-KONG) (foaled March 12, 1988–October 2006) was a French Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. He won the Group 1 Prix d'Ispahan, Prix du Prince d'Orange, Prix Eugène Adam and John Henry Handicap, but is most famous for winning the 1993 Breeders' Cup Classic as a tremendous longshot, a victory that has been called one of the biggest upsets in horse racing history… Despite big wins…Bettors sent the horse off at odds of 133–1 in the richest of the Breeders' Cup races. Under last-minute jockey Jerry Bailey, the horse caught Bertrando in the home stretch to score the biggest upset in Breeders' Cup history. His $269.20 payoff for a $2 wager remains a Breeders' Cup record. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcangues_(horse)
 
Just imagine the arrogance of the other horse racers prior to this race. Strolling up and down the rows of stalls believing that their horse was the best…why even allow this Arcangues in the race…don’t they understand the odds are against him. Believing that their odds were better because of their name or history.
 
Keep Arcangues in mind as we talk about a longshot in the eyes of this crowd in Matthew 8.
 
Notice how Christ redirects His focus from the Centurion and now to the Crowd.
 
The extent of the Crowd’s faith.

• Christ says in Great faith was evidenced in the Centurion’s belief in Christ’s ability.
  • In our parallel passage of Luke 7:9…“When Jesus heard these things, He marveled at him, and turned around and said to the crowd that followed Him…”
    • We know from John 3:2 that Nicodemus came to Jesus by night. More than likely no crowd was present. But in this instance there were many who were following.
    • We also know that it was common for Jesus to answer questions that His audience had in their minds without them asking the question out loud. So, they might have been thinking “I have faith and I think my faith is big”...so Jesus answers the question many of them were most likely pondering.
  • Matthew 8:10 “I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel.”
    • They probably assumed their faith was just fine prior to and during Him saying that. “Why would He say that to us?”
    • Nonetheless…He knows the heart of all mankind, and right now their “faith” or lack thereof is being called out by Jesus. He had done this several times throughout the Book of Matthew…mostly to His chosen Disciples.    
      • Little faith/trust…
        • Matthew 6:30 (NKJV) Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
        • Matthew 8:26 (NKJV) But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.
        • Matthew 14:31 (NKJV) And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
        • Matthew 16:8 (NKJV) But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, “O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread?
      • Depart from Me.
        • The disciples, and the also the crowd in our paragraph of study, probably assumed there was nothing wrong with their faith until Jesus called them out on it. How about not just hear from Him concerning their little faith, but how about those who heard from Him “depart from me” I’m sure they thought they were a faithful people too…a people who thought they were doing things for the Lord.  
          • Matthew 7:23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
          • Matthew 25:41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:
          • Matthew 23:27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.
        • Depart from Me is basically what Jesus was telling those who would ultimately reject Him.
        • In reference to Matthew 8, once again in his book The Words and Works of Jesus Christ, J. Dwight Pentecost,
          • P. 191 points out that “apart from faith in Christ none of Abraham’s physical descendants could have a part in the kingdom. Those who heard the kingdom offer and then rejected the person of the King thereby excluded themselves from the kingdom. They will be consigned to darkness forever (v. 12)…This paragraph is a remarkable foreshadowing of the setting aside of the nation Israel because of unbelief.”
          • James 2:14-20,24 (NKJV) Faith Without Works Is Dead
            • 14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! 20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? 24 You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.

 
 
Those in the crowd following Jesus might have only wanted to see a miracle and or want to find one wrong thing with Jesus’ ministry that they could accuse Him of. They might have been involved in ministry themselves but in it for the wrong reasons…attention, money, fame, etc.
-       For the Centurion, Christ was MARVELLED by his Faith.
-       For the crowd following, Christ was unable to find anyone, not even in all of Israel (keep in mind that the Centurion was a Gentile/Roman), who had the kind of faith this Centurion had. They would have put all kinds of bets on their own faith…only to come to find that the longshot, the underdog, stole the show.
 
Let me ask you this, what would Jesus say concerning your faith if He too turned around to address the crowds who have been following you?
-       Would He consider your faith small? Or Big?
-       Would He say “Go…let it be done for you”? or “Depart from Me I never knew you”?
-       Have you come to Jesus, placed all your faith in Him, and sought forgiveness and or healing from Him? Would you be willing to do that today?
 
 
Parallel Passage:
Luke 7:1-10
7 Now when He concluded all His sayings in the hearing of the people, He entered Capernaum. 2 And a certain centurion’s servant, who was dear to him, was sick and ready to die. 3 So when he heard about Jesus, he sent elders of the Jews to Him, pleading with Him to come and heal his servant. 4 And when they came to Jesus, they begged Him earnestly, saying that the one for whom He should do this was deserving, 5 “for he loves our nation, and has built us a synagogue.” 
6 Then Jesus went with them. And when He was already not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to Him, saying to Him, “Lord, do not trouble Yourself, for I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof. 7 Therefore I did not even think myself worthy to come to You. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. 8 For I also am a man placed under authority, having 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.” 
9 When Jesus heard these things, He marveled at him, and turned around and said to the crowd that followed Him, “I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!” 10 And those who were sent, returning to the house, found the servant well who had been sick.