Matthew 8...Acknowledging the extent of the Centurion and the Lord's positions.

Last time we looked at how the Centurion acknowledged the extent of his servant’s condition.  
Today’s Title: Acknowledging the Extent, Part 2. Of the Centurion and the Lord’s positions.  
 
Opening: Comparing / measuring yourself with others.  

• I might be a good cook, baker, designer or carpenter, but I’m a realist and I know that I’m not as good as Chip and Joanna Gaines.  

What I want us to consider today is this… 
The Centurion was acknowledging the extent of his and the Lord’s positions. 
The first extent that I want us to acknowledge is that of… 

• The Centurions position of unworthiness. 
  • Verses 7-8…7 And Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 8 The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.  
  • Jesus stated: I will come… 
  • The Centurion responded with: I am not worthy that You should come.  
    • Illustration: Rabbits leading hunters or predators away from their den, in order to create a diversion from something…their home/babies.  
    • What was the Centurion attempting to draw Jesus’ attention away from?  
      • The fact that he was a Gentile.  
        • In his book The Words and Works of Jesus Christ, J. Dwight Pentecost points out what “Edersheim says: [That] The heathen Centurion is a real historical personage. He was captain of a troop quartered in Capernaum, and in the service of Herod Antipas. We know that such troops were chiefly recruited from Samaritans and Gentiles of Caesarea. Nor is there the slightest evidence that this Centurion was a ‘proselyte of righteousness.’ The accounts both in St. Matthew and in St. Luke are incompatible with this idea. A ‘proselyte of righteousness’ could have had no reason for not approaching Christ directly, nor would he have spoken of himself as ‘unfit’ that Christ should come under his roof. But such language quite accorded with Jewish notions of a Gentile, since the houses of Gentiles were considered as defiled, and as defiling those who entered them.” (page 190).  
      • The Centurion’s perspective: I am a realist…I am a Gentile considered defiled by Jews…I can’t be directly in Your presence. 
      • “I am not worthy” (8:8).  
        • Ouk, “not”…the absolute negative adverb.  https://biblehub.com/matthew/8-8.htm 
        • Ikanos, “worthy” – pertaining to meeting a standard, fit, appropriate, competent, qualified, able, with the connotation ‘worthy,” ‘good enough.’ 
          • I am absolutely not good enough, competent enough, worthy enough for the Lord to come into my home.
        • The mystery of the gospel is that it’s available to the Gentiles now too.  
          • Ephesians 3:1-7 (NKJV) For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles— 2 if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, 3 how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, 4 by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), 5 which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: 6 that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel, 7 of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power. 
• In contrast, I want us to consider the Lord’s position of worthiness.  
  • The twenty-four elders in Revelation 4:11 (NKJV) make it a practice to fall at His feet and acknowledge that “You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created.” 
• So, in extensive comparison, the Centurion is admittedly unworthy and the Lord is worthy.  

 
 
The next extent that I want us to acknowledge is that of… 

• The Centurion and the Lord’s authority.  
  • Matthew 8:6-9a. (NKJV) 6 saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.” 7 And Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 8 The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me.  
    • The Centurion’s Authority compared to the Lord (8:9). I am also a man with authority.  
      • Authority – meaning, power exercised by rulers or others in high position by virtue of their office, ruling power, official power…the power of a particular office.  
      • I am a man of authority but mine is Limited…much like our Military and or Police Officers, he could only operate with authority within only a certain jurisdiction. His words and works were indeed limited…He was the voice to one hundred men or so, but not over the entire Roman army or the entire world.   
    • The Lord gives His followers limited authority as well.  
      • Someone gave the Centurion limited authority. God too has given His followers positions of limited authority.  
      • Authority given by God… 
        • Matthew 16:19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 
      • Authority should not be abused… 
        • Matthew 20:24-25 24 And when the ten heard it, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers. 25 But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. 
        • Parenting… 
          • Ephesians 6:4 (NKJV) And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. 
        • Workplace… 
          • Ephesians 6:9 (NKJV) And you, masters, do the same things to them, giving up threatening, knowing that your own Master also is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him. 
          • Colossians 4:1 (NKJV) Masters, give your bondservants what is just and fair, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven. 
      • God-given authority and unbelief don’t mix. Matthew 17:14-21 (NKJV)  
        • 14 And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, 15 “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. 16 So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him.” 17 Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.” 18 And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour. 19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” 20 So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. 21 However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” 
      • Under His authority: I am a representative; a living sacrifice; a child of God; a missionary; a royal priesthood – and He is LORD!!! 
      • Dante Bowe sings the song Champion. A section of the lyrics reads as follows…
        When I lift my voice and shout
        Every wall comes crashing down
        I have the authority
        Jesus has given me
        When I open up my mouth
        Miracles start breaking out
        I have the authority
        Jesus has given me
        https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/bethelmusic/champion.html 
    • The Centurion acknowledged Him as “Lord” – meaning he acknowledged Him as, one who is in position of authority (8:6, 8). An authority that was far greater than his…otherwise he wouldn’t have come to or sent representatives to Jesus.   
      • There were times when Jesus’ authority was questioned by some…Matthew 21:23 (NKJV)… 23 Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?” 
      • Nicodemus on the other hand acted similarly to that of the Centurion in John 3:1-2 (NKJV)…by faith.   
        • There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” 
          • Nicodemus acknowledged there was something Jesus’ authority could accomplish that his couldn’t. Same with this Centurion…he knew his authority was limited when it came to healing his servant. So, what authority figure did he come to? His higher military rank officers? No, he came to Jesus.   
    • Lastly, Later in the Book of Matthew the Lord states His Authority. Just in case you were wondering… 
      • Matthew 28:18 (NKJV) – And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 
        • Authority – the right to control or command, authority, absolute power…of Jesus’ total authority.  
        • “all” – meaning, everything belonging, in kind, to the class designated by the noun, every kind of, all sorts of… 
          • Unlimited Authority…in heaven and on earth. He has absolutely NO jurisdictions.  
            • He has authority over demons, illnesses, nature, eternal destiny of a soul, etc.  

 
 
Self-reflection questions:  

• What’s my position in Him?  
  • Would I consider myself as Unworthy?  
  • I am defiled and need to be considered white as snow?  
• What are you doing with the authority He’s given you? Abusing it? Using it to point others to Him?   
• Do I acknowledge His authoritative position over me and my life? Am I fully surrendered in service to Him? If an unbeliever can acknowledge it, then how much more should His followers acknowledge His position of authority in their own lives?