Matthew 8:1-13
1 When [Jesus] came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. 2 And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” 3 And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4 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.”
5 When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, 6 “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” 7 And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 8 But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 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.” 10 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. 11 I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, 12 while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 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.
In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Today we have two very different people approaching Jesus. The first is a leper (people with leprosy are called ‘lepers’ not ‘leopards’ as some seem to think – kids and adults alike). This leper has absolutely nothing. Leprosy was a terrible skin infection that would eat away at a person’s flesh and destroy the nerves. One of the worst things about leprosy was that you could cut or burn or injure yourself and not even know it.
Leprosy did damage to a person’s body, but even worse, it damaged society. Lepers would live separately from everyone else to avoid infecting others. Even while leprosy ate away at a person’s flesh, it also ripped apart relationships – husbands and wives, parents and children. And if a leper did encounter someone who was uninfected, they would have to cry out, “Unclean! Unclean!” to avoid spreading the disease. If you heard a leper warning you of his presence, you would get out of the way to avoid becoming leprous yourself.
Contrast all of that with the second person who approaches Jesus, the centurion. 
“Centurion” was his title and meant he was a commander over one-hundred soldiers. Centurions wore impressive armor including a helmet with all the feathers sticking out of the top, a shiny breastplate, a metal skirt, and a huge shield. Like a leper, a centurion’s command was also obeyed, but not to avoid becoming one of them. A centurion could say, “Go,” and the soldier would go. “Destroy,” and they would destroy. “Kill,” and they would kill.
Roman centurions were also very religious. The Romans believed in many pagan gods, but their chief god was Jupiter, the god of the sky. They believed that Jupiter threw lightning bolts when he was angry. Romans, like many other pagan religions, believed that if you wanted something from your god, you had to offer a gift or bribe to get that god on your side like Naaman did with his silver, gold, and cloths in our Old Testament text (2 Kgs. 5:1-15). But here in this text, the centurion approaches Jesus in Capernaum with completely empty hands. His beloved servant is paralyzed and dying at home, and he can’t do anything about it. He recognizes that he has no strength, no authority, no power over the condition of his servant.
Don’t miss the significance of this. A man with his power, influence, and strength could easily replace a measly servant. All he had to do was say the word, and the soldiers under his command would find another person with better skills or more strength to be his slave. For this centurion to go to Jesus would have been a despicable display of weakness not only in the eyes of his peers but also for the soldiers under his command. More on this later. And now he approaches Jesus with no gifts, no bribes, no promises. This centurion comes with nothing but a plea, “My servant is lying at home and dying. Don’t come to my house because I am not worthy to have You under my roof. Just say the word, and he will be healed.”
Jesus marvels. And if Jesus marveled at this man’s faith, so should we. Here is “a man of strength coming in weakness, a man of wealth coming in poverty, a Gentile coming in faith” (Rev. David Petersen). With no attempt to bribe, he simply trusts in the mercy of Jesus, God in the flesh, the One with real authority and power, full of mercy and compassion.
It is no marvel that Jesus found no such faith in Israel. But instead of casting stones at them, we should ask ourselves: would Jesus find such faith among us? How often are our prayers attached to promises of living a better life, being more obedient or more faithful? How often do we try to bargain with God in order to gain His favor? Repent.
Even if from this moment on, you promised to be perfectly obedient (which is impossible), without God’s mercy you and I are still unworthy for the Lord to come under our roof. The only thing we are worthy of is to be cast into the outer darkness of hell for all eternity.
Repent, but do not despair. Jesus, God in the flesh, comes down from the mountain in order to save us. He is a God of mercy and grace. He comes to make the unworthy worthy and the unholy sacred. Jesus willingly approaches the untouchable leper to touch and heal. And Christ has compassion upon a centurion who appeared to have everything, but in reality, had nothing.
May we also have such faith as we approach our compassionate God who willingly and marvelously went to the cross to bear our sins. Christ was cast out of society with nothing but a cross and a crown of thorns. Though Jesus is the Lord of hosts, He did not call the angels to deliver Him as He was pinned to the cross. Instead, in love He shed His holy and precious blood to heal our souls. He bears all our sin in His body on the cross and proves that He is stronger than the devil. He shuts Satan’s mouth and triumphs over sin, death, and hell by His resurrection. He says, “Go,” to your sins and they go. He says, “Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden,” and you come and find rest for your soul (Mt. 11:28).
Remember, for this centurion to come to Jesus was an act of humility. He could have simply found another servant, but the centurion humbles himself to seek Jesus’ help because of his love for his servant. The centurion becomes a picture of what it means to be a Christian. His faith in Christ is manifested in love for his neighbor in a marvelous way.
The centurion is a Christ figure for his servant. Though he had power and authority, the centurion humbles himself to serve his servant. And, Christian, so do we. Through faith, we have everything since we are children of the Most High God. Yet, through love, we use our access to God in order to serve our neighbor by interceding on their behalf. Through faith, we receive treasures from above, from God. Through love we release those treasures below to our neighbors (Luther).
May our faith in Christ manifest itself in love for our neighbor so that the earth may know the mercies of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Because, first and foremost, the parable of the Good Samaritan is a picture of what Jesus has done for you. Jesus, and Jesus alone, is the Good Samaritan who has compassion. He left His throne in the glory of heaven to become your neighbor. He risks His own safety while scoundrels and robbers are roaming about. He stops to give you aid. He pours on you oil and wine. He gives up His own comfort and convenience to bring you to the inn of the holy Christian Church. And Jesus sets up an all-expenses-paid stay there promising to return. Jesus is the one who has and continues to show you mercy. Amen.
But today, I want to focus on one phrase from this text about love; it is the first phrase from v. 7, “Love bears all things.” Remember, that the second great commandment is to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Mt. 22:39). Paul writes in Gal. 6:2, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” One aspect of love is to bear another’s burdens. And there is no way to make bearing others’ burdens less burdensome.
Which brings me back to where we started about looking for ways to make life easier. Too often, we try to make our own lives easier by avoiding the Scriptural command to bear one another’s burdens. But this is unloving, and it is, in fact, sinful. I can think of three tricks we commonly use to avoid bearing the burdens of others, but I am sure there are more (if you know more, let me know after the service).
We heard about love in action in our Gospel lesson (Lk. 18:31-43). Jesus encountered blind Bartimeaus (Mk. 10:46). Bartimaeus cries out to Jesus, “Have mercy on me!” Jesus pauses on His important trek up to Jerusalem, where He is going to save the whole world. He stops to listen to Bartimeaus asking him, “What do you want me to do for you?”Bartimeaus says that he wants to receive his sight. And Jesus doesn’t start talking about Himself and the problems He is about to face even though Jesus’ burden is going to be much more than blindness. And Jesus doesn’t give advice – and if anyone is in a position to give advice it’s Jesus. Jesus simply says, “Receive your sight, your faith has made you well.”By doing this, please note, Jesus recognizes that Bartimaeus’ blindness is bad.
At first blush, this seems simple enough. Just follow Dave Ramsey’s advice for getting rid of your loans, car payments, and mortgage. Then live your life humming the Beatles, “All you need is love. All you need is love. All you need is love, love, love. Love is all you need.”
So, as our text says, put on Christ. Clothe yourself in Him. Make His life, His obedience, His perfection your coat, your suit, your dress, your shirt, your shorts, your jeans, and your pajamas. How do you do that? Galatians 3:27 says, “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”
Well, there is something more, but it isn’t anything different. Repent again. Cast off the works of darkness again. Put on Christ again. Return to the promises God made when made you His child, when you were born again of Water and the Spirit (Jn. 3:5) in your Baptism.
44 “The Lord said to my Lord,
Stop playing games with the Law, there is no contradiction in it. Instead, believe. Believe that Christ has come for you. He has given His life for you. God has purchased you with His own blood (Act. 20:28). He has removed the curse of the Law from you because He has perfectly kept the Law for you. And He gives you His perfection, His righteousness, His holiness.
32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”
Christ has come to find you. He has bound up your wounds. Jesus has poured out His healing, life-giving blood for you. Jesus nurses you in your brokenness. He has ascended into heaven and has promised to come back and pay for everything you need.
The road to the cross passes through Jericho. In the city where the walls had come-a-tumblin’ down, lived a blind man. Mark tells us that his name is Bartimeaus (Mk. 10:46). Bartimeaus heard all sorts of commotion and asked what it was all about. He is told nothing more than that Jesus of Nazareth is passing through. As blind as he is, Bartimeaus sees his opportunity and cries out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.” And don’t miss this.
Dear Charlie. Today, you are Baptized. Today, your God and Lord has had mercy upon you. Today, God joined all His promises of forgiveness, life, and salvation to water and poured out all His love upon you. The perfect, Divine love we heard in our Epistle lesson (1 Cor. 13) has been given to you and to all your brothers and sisters in Christ.
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