Christ’s Word is enough for the faithful.

 

Sermon for Epiphany 3, January 23, 2022

Peace to the believers, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Matthew 8:1-13  When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds followed him.  ²Just then, a leper came to him and bowed down to him, saying, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”  ³Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him.  “I am willing,” he said.  “Be clean.”  Immediately he was healed of his leprosy.  ⁴Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one.  Instead, go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”  ⁵When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him and pleaded with him, ⁶“Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed and suffering terribly.”  ⁷Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”  ⁸The centurion answered, “Lord, I am not worthy for you to come under my roof.  But only say the word, and my servant will be healed.  ⁹For I am also a man under authority, with soldiers under me.  I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”  ¹⁰When Jesus heard this, he marveled.  He said to those who were following him, “Amen I tell you: I have not found such great faith in anyone in Israel.  ¹¹I tell you that many will come from the east and the west and will recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.  ¹²But the children of the kingdom will be thrown out into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”  ¹³Jesus said to the centurion, “Go.  Let it be done for you as you have believed.”  And his servant was healed at that very hour. (EHV)

Christ’s Word is enough for the faithful.

Dear brothers and sisters of the Lord,

            Over the course of His ministry, Jesus did countless miracles, far more than are recorded in the Bible. (John 21:25)  Each of the miracles show Jesus’ divine nature, and that He has authority over all things, authority over nature, over disease and illness, power to heal close at hand, and power to heal from a distance, and even authority over death.  Here, we see Jesus perform two miracles of healing, but we also see two great expressions of faith, and we learn that Christ’s Word is enough for the faithful.

The first man approaching Jesus in our text was a leper.  That disease made him an outcast.  This skin disease forced any who suffered from it to keep away from other people, even their families.  We might compare it, slightly, to some of the restrictions that have been forced upon people during the current pandemic, but for this man to come out in public and plead for Jesus’ help was already an act of faith.  He was breaking the rules to be out among the crowds.  He certainly shouldn’t have come close to so popular a teacher.  Thus, we have to assume he was desperate for a cure.

At the same time, look closely at the man’s plea, and you will see the reality of his faith.  The leper doesn’t beg Jesus to heal him.  He doesn’t offer any reason why Jesus should.  The man didn’t try to coerce Jesus into performing the miracle.  He simply offered this statement of faith, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”  The leper doesn’t say, “If you are able, or let’s make a deal,” but “if you are willing, you can make me clean.” 

Consider what is being said there.  Yes, the leper desired to be healed.  However, that afflicted man trusted enough in Jesus to leave it to Jesus to decide what was best, and if that meant he had to remain leprous, shunned, hurting, and shamed, the leper was willing to accept that his Lord knew best.  It is a great show of faith for us.  He believed that Christ’s Word is enough for the faithful.

It shows how we should approach our Savior in times of trouble or pain, not demanding things go our way, or giving in to despair or trying to play games, but laying our needs before the Lord in humble trust that He is taking care of us and will do exactly what is best for us in every moment.  It is a pretty safe bet that few of us, myself included, always live up to his shining example.

That day, the leper’s prayer was answered in the way he most hoped for.  Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him.  “I am willing,” he said.  “Be clean.”  Immediately he was healed of his leprosy.  We marvel at the power Jesus demonstrated, but perhaps we should marvel more at the kindness Jesus showed with His touch.  Touching a leper horrified the Jews of that day.  No one would consider it.  Yet, Jesus reaches out and touches the untouchable.  We are reminded that the holy One of Israel, the Son of God from all eternity, came down to earth to dwell with sinners and the wretched refuse of humanity to heal us from our worst affliction which is sin. 

Jesus was willing to make Himself unclean before His Father in heaven so that we would be cleansed forever.  That is what Christianity is all about.  “God made him, who did not know sin, to become sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)  Furthermore, Jesus among us is not a one-time event, for before He returned to His Father’s side in heaven, Jesus promised, “Surely I am with you always until the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)  And we are comforted, because Christ’s Word is enough for the faithful.

The second man who came to Jesus for help shows us a slightly different aspect of true faith: a centurion came to [Jesus] and pleaded with him, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed and suffering terribly.”  Like the leper’s plea, this request doesn’t demand or beg but simply presents the problem to Jesus’ attention trusting that He will intercede.  Jesus’ response was an immediate willingness to go heal that troubled, hurting child.  Here is where we see the full extent of that centurion’s faith.  The centurion answered, “Lord, I am not worthy for you to come under my roof.  But only say the word, and my servant will be healed.  For I am also a man under authority, with soldiers under me.  I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 

A Roman commander was not typically a humble man.  He was used to giving orders that were followed precisely and quickly without question.  But to Jesus, he says, “I am not worthy to have You in my house.”  Now, that is certainly true of every person on earth, for St. Paul wrote, “There is no one who is righteous, not even one.  There is no one who understands.  There is no one who searches for God.  They all turned away; together they became useless.  There is no one who does what is good; there is not even one.” (Romans 3:10-12) 

This hardened Roman centurion understood that Jesus is true God who is far above all of us in holiness and might.  Yet, he understood one thing more about Jesus.  Notice the way the centurion speaks about Jesus and authority: “only say the word, and my servant will be healed.  For I am also a man under authority.”  In other words, he believed that Christ’s Word is enough.

This centurion is both humble and bold at the same time, but he understood Jesus.  Jesus came to earth under the authority of His Father in heaven, and by acknowledging that authority as the Creator of the world, the centurion has confident faith that Jesus can help him.  Whether the centurion knew that the world was made through the Word Made Flesh, or not, he knew Jesus had the authority from God to heal. 

You and I can be comforted here as well for just as Jesus has the authority to heal, He also has the authority to forgive, and Jesus has granted that authority to His Church, so that under the authority Jesus has granted to us through faith, we can forgive the sins of penitent sinners. 

In fact, that is why pastors are ordained, to put us under the authority of Jesus to forgive the penitent sinner and to expel the impenitent. (1 Corinthians 5:13)  We call this the public administration of the office of the keys, for Jesus told His disciples, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.  Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:19)  Therefore, when you hear your pastor declare to you, “By the authority of God and of my holy office I forgive you all your sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” believe that your sins are forgiven as completely and fully as if Jesus or the Father was speaking those healing words to you face to face, for we declare it to you under Jesus’ authority.

After Jesus heard the centurion’s reply, “He marveled.  He said to those who were following him, ‘Amen I tell you: I have not found such great faith in anyone in Israel.  I tell you that many will come from the east and the west and will recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.’”  This is Jesus’ promise to us who believe that Christ’s Word is enough for the faithful.  We have a home in heaven not because of anything good in us or any works we have done, nor because of the strength of our faith, or our background, or any other self-promotion.  We are saved through faith worked in us through the Word of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The opposite of saving faith is to question or deny the words of Scripture.  All of the Bible testifies about Jesus.  The Jewish leadership of Jesus’ day accepted the laws of Moses and the words of the prophets (or at least thought they did), but they rejected the Savior about whom it was all about.  Many didn’t believe Jesus’ testimony about Himself.  Many likewise rejected the idea that He was fulfilling the Scriptures they claimed to accept.  For them, Jesus could only offer doom.  He said, “But the children of the kingdom will be thrown out into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Many Jews thought they had a place in God’s kingdom because their bloodlines traced back to Abraham, but they didn’t have the faith of Abraham.  Rather, they trusted in themselves and their own works, and their destiny had become the gloom and darkness of eternal separation from God.

You and I can enjoy a different future.  As those two men came to Jesus, they trusted Him implicitly.  They trusted Him to know what was best and how to help them.  They recognized that they were unworthy of any blessing, but also that because of God’s love, Jesus could restore the afflicted individuals.  Jesus blessed their faith with the healing they sought. 

You and I have come before our Lord again this morning for the healing of our souls, and by the hearing of God’s Word, we are reassured that Jesus has restored us to a place in His family, and a home in heaven, for Jesus lived for us, died for us, and rose again on Easter morning so that we and the whole world may know that all our sins are forgiven, both in heaven and on earth. 

Then, through the faith we have been granted by the Word of our Savior in the Gospel and baptism, and strengthened by His body and blood in the bread and wine of His holy Supper, we have forgiveness of all sins, and a sure and certain future in the kingdom of heaven.  Many of our world still look for signs, and others still seek human wisdom, but Christ’s Word is enough for the faithful.  Amen.

Peace to you all, for the LORD is good.  His mercy endures forever.  His faithfulness continues through all generations.  Amen.