The Authority of Faith Text: Matthew 8:5-13
Introduction: Faith is Not a Feeling
We live in an age where faith has been thoroughly domesticated. For many in the modern church, faith is a warm feeling, a subjective experience, a private opinion about spiritual things. It is something you hug. It is a therapeutic comfort blanket we pull over ourselves when the world gets too cold. It is, in short, all about us. And because it is all about us, it is a weak and watery thing, utterly incapable of standing against the onslaughts of a hostile world.
The passage before us this morning is a bucket of ice water in the face of such sentimentalism. Here we encounter a faith that is not a feeling, but a recognition of fact. It is not a subjective hope, but an objective understanding of authority. And it is found, not in the religious heartland of Israel, but in the heart of a Roman centurion, an agent of an occupying pagan empire. This man, this outsider, this military officer, understood something about Jesus that the religious insiders had entirely missed. And what he understood is the absolute bedrock of genuine, saving faith: Jesus Christ is the supreme commander of the universe, and His Word is His power.
This is not just a quaint healing story. This is a story about a great reversal. It is a story about who gets into the Kingdom of God and who gets thrown out. And the determining factor is not your bloodline, not your church attendance, not your religious resume, but whether or not you understand and submit to the absolute, unmediated authority of Jesus Christ. This centurion's faith caused Jesus to marvel. The question for us is this: does our faith cause Jesus to marvel, or does our lack of it?
The Text
And when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, and saying, "Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented." And Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him." But the centurion said, "Lord, I am not good enough for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this man, 'Go!' and he goes, and to another, 'Come!' and he comes, and to my slave, 'Do this!' and he does it." Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who were following, "Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel. And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." And Jesus said to the centurion, "Go; it shall be done for you as you have believed." And the servant was healed that very moment.
(Matthew 8:5-13 LSB)
The Humble Request (vv. 5-7)
The scene is set in Capernaum, Jesus's base of operations. A man approaches Him, and he is a man who represents everything the Jews resented.
"And when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, and saying, 'Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented.' And Jesus said to him, 'I will come and heal him.'" (Matthew 8:5-7)
A centurion was the backbone of the Roman legion. He was a commander of about one hundred men, a career soldier, a man of discipline, authority, and likely, a man who had seen violence. He was a Gentile, an outsider, a symbol of the Roman occupation. Yet he comes to Jesus. And notice his posture. He is "pleading." This man, who could give orders and expect them to be obeyed instantly, does not command Jesus. He begs. He understands that his worldly authority means nothing here. He addresses Jesus as "Lord," Kurios, a term of deep respect.
His concern is not for himself, but for his servant, who is paralyzed and in agony. This tells us something about the character of this man. He has compassion. But the real test comes with Jesus's response. Jesus says, "I will come and heal him." This is an offer of pure grace. For a Jew, let alone a rabbi, to enter the home of a Gentile was to make himself ceremonially unclean. It was a significant social and religious barrier. Jesus, in His grace, offers to cross that line, to come under the roof of this pagan soldier. He is always willing to condescend to us in our need.
The Logic of Authority (vv. 8-9)
The centurion's reply is what makes this account so breathtaking. It reveals a theological insight that is nothing short of brilliant.
"But the centurion said, 'Lord, I am not good enough for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this man, 'Go!' and he goes, and to another, 'Come!' and he comes, and to my slave, 'Do this!' and he does it.'" (Matthew 8:8-9)
First, see his humility. "I am not good enough." He recognizes the immense gulf between himself, a Gentile sinner, and the holy presence of Christ. This is the necessary starting point for any true encounter with God. You must know your place. Pride demands that God come to it on its own terms. Humility recognizes it has no terms to offer.
Second, and this is the heart of it, he understands the nature of Christ's power. "Just say the word." He doesn't need Jesus to be physically present. He doesn't need a magic touch or a special ritual. He understands that Jesus's authority is not constrained by geography. How does he know this? He reasons from his own experience in the military. "For I also am a man under authority..."
Pay close attention to his logic. He doesn't begin by saying, "I am a man with authority." He begins by saying, "I am a man under authority." He knows his own power to command his soldiers is not his own. It is derived. It flows down from his superiors, all the way up to Caesar. Because he is submitted to a higher authority, he can exercise delegated authority. From this, he makes a stunning theological leap. He looks at Jesus and sees a man who is not under any delegated authority. He sees the Commander-in-Chief of the cosmos. He sees the one from whom all authority is derived. If his own spoken word, backed by the authority of Rome, can make soldiers move, how much more can the word of Jesus, backed by the authority of Heaven itself, make paralysis flee? He understood that for Jesus, to speak is to accomplish. His word is performative. It creates reality.
The Marvel of Faith and The Great Reversal (vv. 10-12)
The centurion's insight stops Jesus in His tracks. This is one of the few places in the Gospels where Jesus marvels.
"Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who were following, 'Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel.'" (Matthew 8:10)
Let that sink in. A pagan soldier had a more robust, more accurate, more penetrating faith than anyone Jesus had encountered among the covenant people. The people who had the Scriptures, the Temple, and the promises of God, they didn't get it. They wanted signs, they wanted a political Messiah, they stumbled over His claims. This Roman, with none of those advantages, saw with perfect clarity who Jesus was. Faith is not about your religious background; it is about seeing the authority of Jesus for what it is and banking everything on it.
Jesus then uses this moment to deliver a theological bombshell about the nature of His kingdom. This is not just about one man's faith; it's about the shape of salvation history.
"And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Matthew 8:11-12)
This is the great reversal. The "many from east and west" are the Gentiles, the nations, the outsiders like this centurion. Jesus says they are the ones who will be at the great messianic banquet, enjoying intimate fellowship with the patriarchs. They get in. And who gets thrown out? "The sons of the kingdom." This refers to the ethnic Jews who presumed their racial and religious heritage made them automatic insiders. They had a birthright, but they despised the King. They were born into the covenant community but refused to believe in the covenant Lord.
This is a devastating warning. Your heritage cannot save you. Your church membership cannot save you. Being born into a Christian family cannot save you. The kingdom of God is not entered by birthright, but by faith. And a faith that does not recognize the absolute authority of Jesus Christ is no faith at all. The place for those who reject the King, even those who grew up in the palace, is the "outer darkness," a place of eternal, furious, self-inflicted torment. Hell is the great cry of the creature who wants to be his own authority, screaming forever into a void that will not answer back.
The Word Accomplished (v. 13)
Jesus concludes the encounter by honoring the very faith He has just praised.
"And Jesus said to the centurion, 'Go; it shall be done for you as you have believed.' And the servant was healed that very moment." (Matthew 8:13)
Jesus ties the result directly to the centurion's belief. "As you have believed." Faith is the vessel into which God pours His power. It is not that faith itself has power, but it is the condition God has ordained for receiving His grace. The centurion believed Jesus's word was sufficient, and Jesus demonstrated that it was. The word was spoken, and at a distance, the servant was made whole. The reality conformed to the word of the King.
The healing was instantaneous. "That very moment." This confirms the centurion's logic. There is no time lag in the command structure of the kingdom of God. When the King speaks, reality realigns itself immediately.
Conclusion: A Faith that Marvels God
So what does this mean for us? This passage forces us to examine the kind of faith we possess. Is it a squishy, sentimental faith that is all about our needs and our feelings? Or is it a robust, centurion-like faith that is all about Christ's authority?
The centurion's faith was humble. He knew he was unworthy. Do we approach God with that same sense of our own unworthiness and His transcendent holiness?
The centurion's faith was logical. He understood the principle of authority. Do we believe that the Word of God in Scripture is the very command of the King? Do we believe that when God says something, it is true and powerful, whether we feel it or not? Do we believe His promises about forgiveness, sanctification, and glorification have the power to create that reality in us?
The great reversal Jesus spoke of is an ongoing reality. The church is filled with "sons of the kingdom" who are bored, complacent, and functionally unbelieving. They have the vocabulary and the traditions, but their hearts do not bow to the absolute authority of King Jesus. And all the while, God is calling men and women from the "east and west," from backgrounds of paganism and atheism, who hear the command of the gospel and, like the centurion, simply believe it. They come with a faith that marvels God.
The invitation to the great feast is extended to all. But the only way in is to come like the centurion, confessing that you are not worthy, and trusting that the simple word of the King is enough. Enough to heal your paralysis. Enough to forgive your sin. Enough to raise you from the dead. Just say the word, Lord. That is all the faith you need.