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. 

Matthew 8:10 

Christ appreciates great faith in Him. In the text before us, He speaks in glowing terms of the great faith of the centurion who had said that only a word from Christ would be all that was necessary to heal his paralyzed servant. Christ responded to this statement with the words before us. When He passed this remark, He was elevating the status of the faith of a Roman soldier of the occupying Imperial army above anything He and had found in Israel, God’s chosen people. This would have jolted His audience. They would never have expected Christ to be so complimentary toward a gentile. Thus, we see that Christ gives faith to unlikely people and then appreciates their exercise of it. We may be members of a despised demographic. We may not be part of the prevailing ‘in’ crowd. This does not stop us from having faith in Christ and exercising that faith in tangible ways. The centurion rested upon the bare word of Christ. He required nothing more than a word from the Word. It would satisfy him and meet his need. If he could rely on the word of Christ, we can as well. Christ is as good as His word.  

Our Gracious Master and our God, 
we rejoice that You are utterly worthy of our faith. 
We praise You, that as we trust in You, 
You bring everything to pass that rewards our faith. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

9:30 am Worship Service
10900 Huron Street
Northglenn, CO

Scripture: Matthew 8:1-13

When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, ⁶ saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.” And Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 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. For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And 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.” 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.

Sermon: Only Speak A Word – Tomm Tice

1. This man had an accurate estimation of Christ and of himself.
2. This man had a good understanding of the power of Christ’s word.
3. This man had faith that Christ commended and rewarded.

Westminster Shorter Catechism Question #69

What is forbidden in the sixth commandment?

The sixth commandment forbiddeth the taking away of our own life, or the life of our neighbor, unjustly, or whatsoever tendeth thereunto.

Worship

Psalm 100
Be Thou My Vision
Amazing Grace

And Jesus said to him, I will come and heal him. 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. For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And 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.  

Matthew 8:7-9 

The centurion who appealed to Christ to heal his paralyzed servant had great faith in the power of Christ’s word. As a Roman soldier, he was used to giving orders and following them. He understood the power of the word of someone in authority. His estimation of Christ was such that he considered only a word to be necessary to heal his servant. Beyond that, he was uncharacteristically humble for an officer of Rome’s occupying army. His attitude was, ‘I am not worthy that you should come under my roof.’ Like the Canaanite woman whose faith in Christ was also great, this man approached Christ with true humility, and implicit faith in the power of His word. We can both admire the faith of this man and learn from it. Christ has made promises to us. He has given His word. What more do we need to do than to approach Him in humility, asking Him to fulfill His word to us? If this man had such faith in Christ, that he would depend upon His bare word, how much more can we, whom He has already redeemed by free and sovereign grace, depend on the word of Him, Who is the Living Word.  

O, Glorious, Living Word of God, 
we rejoice that You are truth, and speak truth. 
We praise You that we can utterly rely upon Your Word, 
and the power of it. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, saying, Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented. 

Matthew 8:5-6 

Christ seemed abundantly willing to drop everything to go to the house of the centurion and heal his servant. This is interesting when we consider Christ did not always respond this way. We have lately been considering the Canaanite woman who appealed to Christ to heal her demon-possessed daughter. Christ had seemed quite unwilling to help her. His reluctance set the stage for her to demonstrate how great her faith in Him really was. She articulated such a high view of Him that He praised her great faith. Because Christ knows all, He understood that for the great faith of this centurion to become clear to all, He had to set the stage differently. Therefore He responds to his request with, ‘I will come and heal him.’ Different people require unique situations in order for their faith to emerge. Because people are unique, their faith shows itself in response to varied circumstances. Christ knows best how to arrange those circumstances. In this case, the centurion would respond with an answer so full  of faith that Christ would praise it for being great. He may put us in circumstances so as to reveal our faith. He does all things well.  

Our Wise and Wonderful Savior, 
we rejoice that You know best, 
how to bring our faith to the fore. 
We praise You that You arrange all things,  
in such a way, as to increase and reveal our faith. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, saying, Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented. 

Matthew 8:5-6 

Faith knows no nationality. The text before us speaks of a centurion of the Roman army. He was not of the nation of Israel, but rather an officer in the occupying army of Imperial Rome. Rome despised Israel, as the attitude of Pilate reflects. Therefore, it is rather remarkable that this centurion came to Jesus. Herein we see the exceptional Person Christ is, as well as the sovereign plan of God. This centurion is one of the few people whose faith Christ commends. God has, throughout history chosen unusual people to display faith. We may look back in history to people like Ruth and Rahab to find other examples of those who in the sovereign plan of God demonstrated that God grants faith to people whom others would judge as very unlikely candidates for grace.  In this case, the centurion steps up to show what Christ would later describe as greater faith than He had found anywhere in Israel. We ought not feel as if we are to unworthy to have great faith in Christ. We may consider ourselves to be outsiders, yet Christ makes Himself available to those who are unlikely candidates for grace. 

Our Great and Gracious God, 
we rejoice that You condescend to those of us who are of low estate. 
We praise You that You choose whom You will, 
even those that others would pass over. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning