WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:20.359 open them to Matthew chapter 8. Matthew chapter 00:00:20.359 --> 00:00:22.559 8. We'll be looking this morning at the first 00:00:22.559 --> 00:00:24.500 13 verses, but I'm going to do it a little bit 00:00:24.500 --> 00:00:26.019 differently. I'm just going to read the first 00:00:26.019 --> 00:00:29.460 four and then we'll pray. And then we'll go to 00:00:29.460 --> 00:00:32.560 the other ones as they come up in the text. It 00:00:32.560 --> 00:00:34.679 says, When he, that is Jesus, had come down from 00:00:34.679 --> 00:00:36.420 the mountain, that is the Sermon on the Mount, 00:00:36.619 --> 00:00:41.479 great multitudes followed him. And behold, a 00:00:41.479 --> 00:00:44.939 leper came and worshipped him. Some of your translations 00:00:44.939 --> 00:00:47.520 might say bowed before him. The Greek word is 00:00:47.520 --> 00:00:49.899 proskuneo, and that's what it means, bowed before 00:00:49.899 --> 00:00:54.799 him. Lord, if you are willing, you can make me 00:00:54.799 --> 00:00:58.560 clean. Then Jesus put out his hand and touched 00:00:58.560 --> 00:01:03.219 him, saying, I am willing. Be cleansed. And immediately 00:01:03.219 --> 00:01:07.560 his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus said to him, 00:01:08.400 --> 00:01:12.200 See that you tell no one, but go your way, show 00:01:12.200 --> 00:01:14.739 yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that 00:01:14.739 --> 00:01:18.819 Moses commanded as a testimony to them. Let's 00:01:18.819 --> 00:01:22.939 pray. Father, Lord, this morning, Lord, we open 00:01:22.939 --> 00:01:25.799 your holy and eternal word. Lord, your word is 00:01:25.799 --> 00:01:28.459 life and it is light. Lord, it directs our path 00:01:28.459 --> 00:01:32.159 and guides us. But Father, it is life, Lord, 00:01:32.200 --> 00:01:35.260 as it is illuminated and empowered by your spirit. 00:01:36.599 --> 00:01:40.459 God, we need you this morning. Lord, would you 00:01:40.459 --> 00:01:42.500 help us to see, Lord, what Christ has done for 00:01:42.500 --> 00:01:45.859 us. Lord, would you help us to see our hopeless, 00:01:46.079 --> 00:01:49.819 helpless condition, our uncleanness and inability 00:01:49.819 --> 00:01:53.099 apart from him. God, would you make much of your 00:01:53.099 --> 00:01:56.189 son through the weakness. and foolishness of 00:01:56.189 --> 00:01:59.489 preaching. Lord, the weakness and foolishness 00:01:59.489 --> 00:02:02.390 is on my part. May glory and honor be on his. 00:02:02.829 --> 00:02:07.109 And I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. As we open 00:02:07.109 --> 00:02:09.129 Matthew 8, we have to understand that our Lord 00:02:09.129 --> 00:02:11.430 has just finished preaching that great sermon. 00:02:11.789 --> 00:02:14.590 It's the Sermon on the Mount. And in that sermon, 00:02:14.669 --> 00:02:16.550 remember, we took the time, pretty much the better 00:02:16.550 --> 00:02:19.289 part of a year, and in it, Jesus is explaining 00:02:19.289 --> 00:02:23.629 how life in his kingdom works. And we could really 00:02:23.629 --> 00:02:26.349 say that his kingdom is essentially a reversal 00:02:26.349 --> 00:02:29.789 of man's kingdom. And what I mean by that is 00:02:29.789 --> 00:02:32.310 what is praised in man's kingdom is rejected 00:02:32.310 --> 00:02:36.169 in God's, and what is rejected or despised in 00:02:36.169 --> 00:02:38.949 man's kingdom is honored in the kingdom of God. 00:02:39.810 --> 00:02:42.550 So think with me. In man's kingdom, it's going 00:02:42.550 --> 00:02:46.530 to be made up of the strong, the powerful, the 00:02:46.530 --> 00:02:51.370 influential, the beautiful. But Jesus tells us 00:02:51.370 --> 00:02:54.409 that God's kingdom is made up of the weak, the 00:02:54.409 --> 00:02:57.990 inconsequential, the nobodies, the rejects, the 00:02:57.990 --> 00:03:03.210 outcasts. There were large crowds, and they were 00:03:03.210 --> 00:03:05.849 eagerly following Jesus, and they were listening 00:03:05.849 --> 00:03:08.990 to every word that he uttered. In fact, in chapter 00:03:08.990 --> 00:03:11.530 5, we are told that the reason the Lord went 00:03:11.530 --> 00:03:13.930 up on the mountain to teach them is because the 00:03:13.930 --> 00:03:16.289 crowds were so large, that was the best vantage 00:03:16.289 --> 00:03:18.689 point he had to be able to influence them and 00:03:18.689 --> 00:03:21.349 to issue the sermon. Crowds were that big, he 00:03:21.349 --> 00:03:24.590 had to go up in order to teach them. But in Matthew 00:03:24.590 --> 00:03:27.650 chapter 8, we see a pivot. Matthew is pivoting 00:03:27.650 --> 00:03:31.169 from the teaching of Jesus now to his actions, 00:03:31.370 --> 00:03:35.139 to his miracles. So in chapter 5, he goes up 00:03:35.139 --> 00:03:37.659 on the mountain to teach. In chapter 8, he comes 00:03:37.659 --> 00:03:41.219 down from the mountain to heal. Now we are told 00:03:41.219 --> 00:03:44.400 that Jesus taught the people with great authority. 00:03:44.840 --> 00:03:46.879 Such great authority that the people were left 00:03:46.879 --> 00:03:49.680 astonished because he taught them not like scribes 00:03:49.680 --> 00:03:51.879 and Pharisees, but he taught them as one who 00:03:51.879 --> 00:03:55.240 had authority in himself. So he's teaching with 00:03:55.240 --> 00:03:59.060 this great authority, and now he's going to authenticate 00:03:59.060 --> 00:04:03.159 his teaching by his actions. He's going to work 00:04:03.159 --> 00:04:06.020 miracles among them. And that's what these miracles 00:04:06.020 --> 00:04:09.080 were really designed to do. They were to authenticate 00:04:09.080 --> 00:04:12.780 that the messenger had come from God. Because 00:04:12.780 --> 00:04:14.419 anyone can come on the scene and say something. 00:04:15.219 --> 00:04:18.399 Jesus is going to back it up. So now he finished 00:04:18.399 --> 00:04:21.100 preaching in chapter 7. He comes down from the 00:04:21.100 --> 00:04:24.519 mountain. And that crowd had not dispersed. They're 00:04:24.519 --> 00:04:27.639 still there. Because Jesus was overwhelmingly 00:04:27.639 --> 00:04:31.379 popular, and the people would not allow him to 00:04:31.379 --> 00:04:35.560 go anywhere unless they were thronging and flocking 00:04:35.560 --> 00:04:38.759 to him. So you always see Jesus, when he's ministering 00:04:38.759 --> 00:04:43.699 publicly, there's a large crowd gathering. Now 00:04:43.699 --> 00:04:45.860 what's so interesting about that is against this 00:04:45.860 --> 00:04:49.079 backdrop of a large crowd, we read in verse 2, 00:04:49.259 --> 00:04:55.319 a leper came. A leper came to Jesus. That's really 00:04:55.319 --> 00:04:58.240 interesting because of all the places that a 00:04:58.240 --> 00:05:01.620 leper should not be was in a great crowd of people. 00:05:02.639 --> 00:05:04.720 We need to understand that when the Bible uses 00:05:04.720 --> 00:05:07.100 the term leper, it covers a multitude of skin 00:05:07.100 --> 00:05:10.540 diseases, not just Hansen's disease, which we 00:05:10.540 --> 00:05:13.579 know as leprosy today. So now for a leper to 00:05:13.579 --> 00:05:17.459 be in the crowd was already a violation of the 00:05:17.459 --> 00:05:20.300 law of Moses. You go back to the Levitical law 00:05:20.300 --> 00:05:22.860 in chapter 13 and we read what Moses had written. 00:05:23.389 --> 00:05:26.470 Now the leper on whom the sword is, his clothes 00:05:26.470 --> 00:05:29.509 shall be torn, his head bare, he shall cover 00:05:29.509 --> 00:05:34.610 his mustache and cry, unclean, unclean. He shall 00:05:34.610 --> 00:05:37.689 be unclean all the days he has the sword. He 00:05:37.689 --> 00:05:40.509 shall be unclean. He is unclean and he shall 00:05:40.509 --> 00:05:44.990 dwell alone. His dwelling shall be outside the 00:05:44.990 --> 00:05:48.250 camp. Now friends, life for the leper would have 00:05:48.250 --> 00:05:51.730 been very hard. There was a social stigma attached 00:05:51.730 --> 00:05:54.850 to this disease. First of all, they were forced 00:05:54.850 --> 00:05:57.189 to live in isolation away from others outside 00:05:57.189 --> 00:06:01.910 the camp, outside the community. This meant that 00:06:01.910 --> 00:06:04.329 this man would not be able to participate in 00:06:04.329 --> 00:06:07.250 religious life. He was forbidden from going to 00:06:07.250 --> 00:06:09.730 the synagogue. He was forbidden from going to 00:06:09.730 --> 00:06:12.670 the temple to worship. So there was also not 00:06:12.670 --> 00:06:16.430 just social isolation, spiritual alienation as 00:06:16.430 --> 00:06:19.889 well. And he was required to let anyone who might 00:06:19.889 --> 00:06:22.829 dare even approach him know that he was a leper. 00:06:23.279 --> 00:06:26.660 We just read his clothes had to be torn. Now, 00:06:26.699 --> 00:06:28.860 some say the head had to be shaved or it had 00:06:28.860 --> 00:06:31.860 to be disheveled. So he had disheveled hair or 00:06:31.860 --> 00:06:34.360 a shaved head, and he had to be crying out. If 00:06:34.360 --> 00:06:36.240 anyone was making their way to him, that he was 00:06:36.240 --> 00:06:40.279 unclean. He'd have to yell out, unclean, to make 00:06:40.279 --> 00:06:43.199 sure that no one came near him. So if you look 00:06:43.199 --> 00:06:45.480 at him, he was viewed as a social contagion, 00:06:45.500 --> 00:06:48.120 and life would have been absolutely miserable. 00:06:49.100 --> 00:06:51.339 But what made matters even worse for the leper 00:06:51.339 --> 00:06:54.920 was that in that day, many saw this disease as 00:06:54.920 --> 00:06:57.800 a punishment from God. He was just reaping what 00:06:57.800 --> 00:07:00.779 he had sown. In fact, they thought that the very 00:07:00.779 --> 00:07:03.939 fact that this man had leprosy would have meant 00:07:03.939 --> 00:07:05.980 that he was under God's displeasure or under 00:07:05.980 --> 00:07:09.459 God's curse. So think about life of this man. 00:07:10.199 --> 00:07:14.360 Full of shame. He's lonely. And there's torment. 00:07:15.439 --> 00:07:19.019 Obviously, he could not work. There is no social 00:07:19.019 --> 00:07:21.459 system of that day, so he's forced to beg and 00:07:21.459 --> 00:07:24.160 rely on the charity of others if he's going to 00:07:24.160 --> 00:07:27.019 survive. They were always asking for alms and 00:07:27.019 --> 00:07:30.759 for food. If this man happened to be a husband 00:07:30.759 --> 00:07:34.199 or a father, that meant he could no longer provide 00:07:34.199 --> 00:07:35.980 for his own family and they too would suffer, 00:07:36.120 --> 00:07:40.060 adding to his torment. But we haven't even talked 00:07:40.060 --> 00:07:43.300 about the physical toll. Leprosy often brought 00:07:43.300 --> 00:07:46.540 severe pain as it affected the nerves. There 00:07:46.540 --> 00:07:49.139 was no modern medicine. You didn't pop a pill. 00:07:49.680 --> 00:07:54.019 There was no cure. So life would have felt hopeless 00:07:54.019 --> 00:07:57.399 for this man. Everyone you knew was afraid to 00:07:57.399 --> 00:08:01.819 be around you. They saw you as the disease. I 00:08:01.819 --> 00:08:03.660 think about this. It's similar to when the pandemic 00:08:03.660 --> 00:08:07.029 hit back in 2020 when COVID first came out. You 00:08:07.029 --> 00:08:08.589 know, someone would get that, and everyone was 00:08:08.589 --> 00:08:10.350 afraid. So the patient was placed in isolation. 00:08:10.750 --> 00:08:13.009 I mean, even medical community, if they went 00:08:13.009 --> 00:08:15.509 in, they had to be wearing the PPE, the gowns, 00:08:15.509 --> 00:08:17.689 the masks, the gloves. And the COVID patient 00:08:17.689 --> 00:08:20.209 was placed in isolation, everyone avoiding him 00:08:20.209 --> 00:08:24.649 or her at all costs. That was for a short period 00:08:24.649 --> 00:08:27.350 of time. But this gives you some idea how this 00:08:27.350 --> 00:08:30.089 leper would have been viewed and how he would 00:08:30.089 --> 00:08:33.950 have been seen in the community. And we read 00:08:33.950 --> 00:08:37.159 in verse 2, That there was a leper in the crowd 00:08:37.159 --> 00:08:42.460 and he came to Jesus. He decided to come to Jesus. 00:08:42.519 --> 00:08:45.740 Why? Friends, put yourself in this man's shoes. 00:08:47.019 --> 00:08:51.100 What hope did he have? What other options were 00:08:51.100 --> 00:08:53.960 available to him? He was either going to die 00:08:53.960 --> 00:08:57.200 alone or he would live the rest of his life in 00:08:57.200 --> 00:08:59.899 isolation unless he was cured and there was no 00:08:59.899 --> 00:09:03.500 cure. Now, yeah, he knew the law. He knew what 00:09:03.500 --> 00:09:05.649 Leviticus said. He knew that the law said you 00:09:05.649 --> 00:09:09.470 don't approach anyone. But desperate times call 00:09:09.470 --> 00:09:12.429 for desperate measures. Now this man was in the 00:09:12.429 --> 00:09:17.009 crowd. So we know that he knew of Jesus' ability 00:09:17.009 --> 00:09:18.570 to heal. Now you're saying, how do you know that? 00:09:19.409 --> 00:09:21.889 You have to do the timeline. You go back to chapter 00:09:21.889 --> 00:09:26.110 4 of Matthew, verse 23. And Jesus went about 00:09:26.110 --> 00:09:28.210 all Galilee, and that's where he's at right now, 00:09:28.370 --> 00:09:31.190 teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel 00:09:31.190 --> 00:09:34.320 of the kingdom. healing all kinds of sickness 00:09:34.320 --> 00:09:37.159 and all kinds of disease among the people. Then 00:09:37.159 --> 00:09:41.519 his fame went haywire throughout all Syria, and 00:09:41.519 --> 00:09:43.639 they brought to him all sick people who were 00:09:43.639 --> 00:09:45.639 afflicted with various diseases and torments 00:09:45.639 --> 00:09:48.279 and those who were demon -possessed and epileptics 00:09:48.279 --> 00:09:53.860 and paralytics, and he healed them. Great multitudes 00:09:53.860 --> 00:09:58.970 followed him. Megas, the word. Mega crowds. From 00:09:58.970 --> 00:10:01.190 Galilee, from Decapolis, those are the ten Gentile 00:10:01.190 --> 00:10:04.009 cities around northern Galilee there. Jerusalem, 00:10:04.129 --> 00:10:06.450 that's southern. Judea, that's the southern part 00:10:06.450 --> 00:10:09.009 of Israel. This is the whole country and beyond 00:10:09.009 --> 00:10:14.210 the Jordan. Everyone had heard of Jesus. Now 00:10:14.210 --> 00:10:19.090 this multitude in chapter 4, verse 25, it's the 00:10:19.090 --> 00:10:21.450 same crowd because immediately you go into chapter 00:10:21.450 --> 00:10:24.529 5. Jesus seeing the multitudes goes up on the 00:10:24.529 --> 00:10:27.970 mountain. So this man's here, right? Jesus goes 00:10:27.970 --> 00:10:31.470 up and preaches in Matthew 5, 6, and 7. It's 00:10:31.470 --> 00:10:33.669 the same crowd that we find in chapter 8, our 00:10:33.669 --> 00:10:36.009 text today, because Jesus just came down from 00:10:36.009 --> 00:10:38.830 the mountain. So that means this leper had been 00:10:38.830 --> 00:10:41.269 part of that crowd who heard Jesus preach and 00:10:41.269 --> 00:10:43.970 had seen Jesus heal. And I think that's important. 00:10:44.970 --> 00:10:48.350 Because it shows us why he reasoned, there's 00:10:48.350 --> 00:10:53.169 hope. Jesus could heal me. If he could cure others, 00:10:53.210 --> 00:10:56.350 epileptics and paralytics, he could cure me. 00:10:58.509 --> 00:11:00.830 But even more importantly, he must have reasoned, 00:11:00.830 --> 00:11:05.190 Jesus will accept me. But why would he think 00:11:05.190 --> 00:11:08.629 that? The only reason I can think that he knew 00:11:08.629 --> 00:11:10.730 he'd be accepted is because of what Jesus had 00:11:10.730 --> 00:11:14.450 just preached. As he heard Jesus preaching about, 00:11:14.629 --> 00:11:19.070 blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are the 00:11:19.070 --> 00:11:23.429 meek. Hope is arising in this man's soul. He 00:11:23.429 --> 00:11:25.309 knows his own inability. He can't do anything. 00:11:25.529 --> 00:11:28.419 He knew that he was ceremonially unclean. But 00:11:28.419 --> 00:11:30.879 both of those things, knowing his own inability, 00:11:31.200 --> 00:11:34.519 knowing he's not clean, made him a great candidate 00:11:34.519 --> 00:11:39.240 for the kingdom of God. Why? What does he have 00:11:39.240 --> 00:11:44.779 to offer Jesus? Nothing. He must strictly rely 00:11:44.779 --> 00:11:49.000 on the mercy of God. But he knew that the kingdom 00:11:49.000 --> 00:11:53.500 of God is made up of outsiders. He knew the kingdom 00:11:53.500 --> 00:11:57.759 of God is made up of nobodies. There was no greater 00:11:57.759 --> 00:12:01.840 outsider and no one more rejected than a leper. 00:12:03.220 --> 00:12:06.139 He knew what that was like. Others stood away 00:12:06.139 --> 00:12:09.139 from him, stood far from him. But he assumed 00:12:09.139 --> 00:12:12.580 Jesus wouldn't do that. He certainly heard Jesus 00:12:12.580 --> 00:12:14.480 and he believed what he was saying, so Jesus 00:12:14.480 --> 00:12:17.000 must be a safe place for him. So without fear 00:12:17.000 --> 00:12:19.080 of being rebuked, without fear of being rejected, 00:12:19.320 --> 00:12:21.919 this man has the courage to come and he bows 00:12:21.919 --> 00:12:25.100 before Jesus, proskuneo, worship some translations. 00:12:25.460 --> 00:12:27.379 It doesn't mean he's worshiping his God here, 00:12:27.500 --> 00:12:29.639 because not even his own disciples get that yet. 00:12:30.019 --> 00:12:33.259 He bows down paying homage and reverence to him. 00:12:33.799 --> 00:12:35.679 And he came down and bowed and he said, Lord, 00:12:35.779 --> 00:12:40.690 if you're willing, you can make me clean. Now 00:12:40.690 --> 00:12:43.149 think with me. If the crowds were so big, and 00:12:43.149 --> 00:12:45.750 no doubt many other people are clamoring to get 00:12:45.750 --> 00:12:49.029 to Jesus, how did this unclean leper manage to 00:12:49.029 --> 00:12:54.129 get to him? Now I can't be dogmatic here. But 00:12:54.129 --> 00:12:56.169 do you suppose it could be that everyone who 00:12:56.169 --> 00:12:57.990 saw this leper moved out of the way when they 00:12:57.990 --> 00:13:01.230 saw him walking? Because if he touched any of 00:13:01.230 --> 00:13:06.129 them, even slightly, they became unclean. So 00:13:06.129 --> 00:13:09.509 remember, how does he look? Tattered, torn clothes? 00:13:10.670 --> 00:13:13.710 Disheveled hair. The people knew what he was. 00:13:14.190 --> 00:13:16.289 And when they saw him walking, I believe that 00:13:16.289 --> 00:13:18.090 this crowd is kind of like the Red Sea parting. 00:13:18.190 --> 00:13:19.830 Just all these people would have moved out of 00:13:19.830 --> 00:13:22.049 the way. They wanted to avoid him like the plague. 00:13:23.210 --> 00:13:25.309 But that allowed him to make his way to Jesus. 00:13:26.870 --> 00:13:29.250 And finally, he's before Jesus. He bows down 00:13:29.250 --> 00:13:34.529 and calls him Lord. Kurios, Master. It's a posture 00:13:34.529 --> 00:13:38.659 of humility. It's a posture of respect. But this 00:13:38.659 --> 00:13:41.700 man not only shows great humility, he shows great 00:13:41.700 --> 00:13:46.879 faith. Lord, if you are willing, you can make 00:13:46.879 --> 00:13:49.639 me clean. This is not an admission of doubt. 00:13:50.419 --> 00:13:53.059 He's not doubting Jesus' ability at all. In fact, 00:13:53.080 --> 00:13:55.899 he's convinced, Jesus, you can do this. So there's 00:13:55.899 --> 00:13:58.700 no doubt whatsoever of Jesus' ability to heal 00:13:58.700 --> 00:14:01.720 him, but he was unsure whether or not Jesus would 00:14:01.720 --> 00:14:05.710 heal him. So not knowing the will of God, not 00:14:05.710 --> 00:14:08.429 knowing Jesus' will, he appeals to the Lord's 00:14:08.429 --> 00:14:10.710 mercy. If you're willing, you can make me clean. 00:14:12.230 --> 00:14:15.090 Let me just say this as a side note. That's how 00:14:15.090 --> 00:14:19.289 we come to the Lord in prayer as well. We know 00:14:19.289 --> 00:14:25.169 God can. We don't know if it is his will. So 00:14:25.169 --> 00:14:28.149 we pray, Lord, if you are willing, if this is 00:14:28.149 --> 00:14:31.389 in your plan, God, if this brings you glory and 00:14:31.389 --> 00:14:34.360 honor, Now in this case, we don't have to wait 00:14:34.360 --> 00:14:36.620 long because look at verse 3. Jesus put out his 00:14:36.620 --> 00:14:40.120 hand, don't miss the words, and touched him. 00:14:41.620 --> 00:14:44.799 Did Jesus have to touch him? Couldn't he have 00:14:44.799 --> 00:14:47.340 just said the word? They said, yeah, touched 00:14:47.340 --> 00:14:51.480 him and said, I am willing. Be cleansed. That's 00:14:51.480 --> 00:14:54.940 what's amazing here. Jesus is breaking the protocol. 00:14:56.159 --> 00:14:58.580 He stretched out his hand to touch this man. 00:14:59.300 --> 00:15:02.059 The leper had moved toward Jesus and bowed down, 00:15:02.139 --> 00:15:06.200 but he didn't touch Jesus. Jesus is now closing 00:15:06.200 --> 00:15:09.779 the gap and he's going to touch this man. All 00:15:09.779 --> 00:15:12.779 kinds of people looking. They know who this man 00:15:12.779 --> 00:15:16.480 is just by looking at him. What are they thinking? 00:15:17.259 --> 00:15:21.299 Is Jesus crazy? I'm the great teacher? He's going 00:15:21.299 --> 00:15:25.360 to touch a leper? Didn't Jesus know the law? 00:15:25.480 --> 00:15:26.740 Didn't he know if he touched him, that's going 00:15:26.740 --> 00:15:30.970 to make him defiled? But what was the leper thinking? 00:15:32.490 --> 00:15:36.450 No one's touched me in such a long time. Is this 00:15:36.450 --> 00:15:40.029 really happening? Could this be the day when 00:15:40.029 --> 00:15:42.269 I'm healed and I'm rid of this terrible disease? 00:15:43.750 --> 00:15:47.710 Jesus touched him and immediately, immediately 00:15:47.710 --> 00:15:50.470 his leper's sleeve was cleansed. Immediately 00:15:50.470 --> 00:15:53.970 his skin is clear. One second earlier, he's a 00:15:53.970 --> 00:16:00.000 leper. One second later, he's a whole man. Still 00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:02.460 had on the same tattered clothes. His hair was 00:16:02.460 --> 00:16:06.960 still shoveled. But he's a new man. By the way, 00:16:06.980 --> 00:16:10.299 Jesus did not become unclean either. The leper 00:16:10.299 --> 00:16:14.039 became clean. Jesus did not become defiled, but 00:16:14.039 --> 00:16:18.419 the man was restored. Jesus' holiness is not 00:16:18.419 --> 00:16:20.600 diminished by activity with our sinfulness at 00:16:20.600 --> 00:16:25.039 all. But what we see is something. Yeah, we see 00:16:25.039 --> 00:16:29.799 the Lord's power. But we knew about that. He 00:16:29.799 --> 00:16:34.279 revealed his love and his mercy, his compassion. 00:16:35.340 --> 00:16:38.659 To whom? To those who are on the periphery of 00:16:38.659 --> 00:16:44.720 life. No one wants them. With Jesus' touch, the 00:16:44.720 --> 00:16:48.919 lepers made whole. He's no longer broken. He 00:16:48.919 --> 00:16:51.500 can rejoin his family. And he can rejoin the 00:16:51.500 --> 00:16:54.559 rest of society. What he was unable to do for 00:16:54.559 --> 00:16:57.340 himself, Jesus did for him. No matter how hard 00:16:57.340 --> 00:17:00.500 this man tried, he could have never caused his 00:17:00.500 --> 00:17:04.640 own cleansing. He was unable to do it. His leprosy, 00:17:04.640 --> 00:17:07.940 it's incurable. But Jesus did for him what nobody 00:17:07.940 --> 00:17:10.140 else in the entire world could have done for 00:17:10.140 --> 00:17:14.779 him, the miracle that made him whole. What's 00:17:14.779 --> 00:17:18.299 the point? Friends, if you are in Christ this 00:17:18.299 --> 00:17:22.660 morning, we know what this is like. We can relate 00:17:22.660 --> 00:17:26.200 to this man. We too had an incurable disease. 00:17:27.339 --> 00:17:29.740 The disease we had was far worse than leprosy. 00:17:29.759 --> 00:17:32.319 Yet we were unable to do anything about it. We 00:17:32.319 --> 00:17:34.720 could not heal ourselves. We were unable to offer 00:17:34.720 --> 00:17:37.920 the cure. But Jesus did for us what we could 00:17:37.920 --> 00:17:43.200 never do for ourselves. He touched us and took 00:17:43.200 --> 00:17:46.700 away our sin and gave us his righteousness. You, 00:17:47.019 --> 00:17:50.680 in Christ, have been cleansed and have been made 00:17:50.680 --> 00:17:55.319 whole by this same Jesus. Now Jesus then said 00:17:55.319 --> 00:17:58.009 to the man, don't tell anyone. But you need to 00:17:58.009 --> 00:17:59.089 go to the priest, because that's what the law 00:17:59.089 --> 00:18:01.309 said. When the leper was going to rejoin the 00:18:01.309 --> 00:18:03.650 community, a priest had to examine him. But why 00:18:03.650 --> 00:18:06.589 not tell anyone? Well, the crowds were massive. 00:18:07.130 --> 00:18:09.589 So too much publicity is going to make ministry 00:18:09.589 --> 00:18:11.630 that much more difficult. It's already hard enough 00:18:11.630 --> 00:18:14.829 for him. And besides, he wasn't doing miracles 00:18:14.829 --> 00:18:17.769 for some ostentatious display. Jesus was not 00:18:17.769 --> 00:18:20.049 wanting to be known as the miracle worker. Rather, 00:18:20.269 --> 00:18:22.789 those miracles were done to authenticate his 00:18:22.789 --> 00:18:26.700 teaching. the miracles all were pointing to something 00:18:26.700 --> 00:18:29.339 far greater. So he wasn't sitting there wanting 00:18:29.339 --> 00:18:31.660 to entertain the masses by displays of miraculous 00:18:31.660 --> 00:18:34.940 power. So he said, don't tell anyone, but go 00:18:34.940 --> 00:18:37.220 down and tell the priest. Because the law said, 00:18:37.400 --> 00:18:39.519 go before a priest. The priest is going to examine 00:18:39.519 --> 00:18:41.559 him, he's going to look for any signs of leprosy, 00:18:41.599 --> 00:18:44.180 and then he's going to declare him clean by giving 00:18:44.180 --> 00:18:46.539 him a certificate by which he could show to the 00:18:46.539 --> 00:18:48.700 world, I have been cleansed of this, and now 00:18:48.700 --> 00:18:52.900 I can rejoin the rest of society. That's the 00:18:52.900 --> 00:19:00.019 leper. Verse 5. Now Jesus leaves that area. Now 00:19:00.019 --> 00:19:04.140 when he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came 00:19:04.140 --> 00:19:07.200 to him pleading with him, saying, Lord, my servant 00:19:07.200 --> 00:19:11.599 is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented. 00:19:12.819 --> 00:19:15.799 Jesus said to him, I will come and heal him. 00:19:16.740 --> 00:19:18.779 The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not 00:19:18.779 --> 00:19:21.539 worthy that you should come under my roof, but 00:19:21.539 --> 00:19:23.819 only speak a word and my servant will be healed. 00:19:24.580 --> 00:19:26.819 For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers 00:19:26.819 --> 00:19:30.619 under me. And I say to one, go, and he goes, 00:19:30.680 --> 00:19:32.680 and to another, come, and he comes, and to my 00:19:32.680 --> 00:19:36.160 servant, do this, and he does it. Just say the 00:19:36.160 --> 00:19:40.400 word, Jesus. And when Jesus heard that, he marveled 00:19:40.400 --> 00:19:42.220 and said to those who followed, Assuredly, I 00:19:42.220 --> 00:19:44.480 say to you, I have not found such great faith, 00:19:44.579 --> 00:19:48.740 not even in Israel. So Jesus leaves the mountain 00:19:48.740 --> 00:19:50.839 area, right? The Sermon on the Mount. He leaves, 00:19:50.839 --> 00:19:53.359 he enters in Capernaum. This is the base of his 00:19:53.359 --> 00:19:55.759 operations while in Galilee. This is where most 00:19:55.759 --> 00:19:58.299 of his miracles will take place. Capernaum's 00:19:58.299 --> 00:20:00.519 on the north shore, the north side of the Sea 00:20:00.519 --> 00:20:04.980 of Galilee. It's there, 2011, Tim and Kenny went 00:20:04.980 --> 00:20:07.240 with me. So again, this is his base of operations 00:20:07.240 --> 00:20:11.180 here. It is in Capernaum now that Matthew introduces 00:20:11.180 --> 00:20:16.299 us to another outsider. This time it's a centurion. 00:20:17.259 --> 00:20:19.960 Okay, well, we know who they are. A centurion 00:20:19.960 --> 00:20:24.720 was a well -respected, mid -level officer, and 00:20:24.720 --> 00:20:26.940 he was in charge of about 100 other soldiers. 00:20:27.000 --> 00:20:29.859 That's why it's called a centurion. Only the 00:20:29.859 --> 00:20:32.019 most talented soldiers could work their way up 00:20:32.019 --> 00:20:34.900 and become centurions. And they had a lot of 00:20:34.900 --> 00:20:37.500 responsibility given to them. They had to train 00:20:37.500 --> 00:20:39.759 other soldiers. They were responsible for their 00:20:39.759 --> 00:20:41.880 welfare and their conduct while under their own 00:20:41.880 --> 00:20:45.140 care. So when they're in Israel, because that's 00:20:45.140 --> 00:20:47.279 where they're at, they had to enforce Roman law. 00:20:48.009 --> 00:20:50.630 They had to collect the taxes and they had to 00:20:50.630 --> 00:20:55.309 keep order. And because of this, the Jews despised 00:20:55.309 --> 00:20:58.509 them. Why? Because the Jewish people felt that 00:20:58.509 --> 00:21:01.809 the Roman army was unjustly occupying their land. 00:21:02.250 --> 00:21:04.549 I mean, they looked at the Romans as unclean 00:21:04.549 --> 00:21:07.250 people. They're these pagan oppressors who had 00:21:07.250 --> 00:21:09.509 invaded their sacred spaces and they didn't like 00:21:09.509 --> 00:21:12.670 it at all. Get them out of Israel. Get them out 00:21:12.670 --> 00:21:16.140 of Jerusalem. So it is bad enough that this man 00:21:16.140 --> 00:21:18.440 we're reading about, not only was he a Gentile, 00:21:18.460 --> 00:21:23.640 but he was an officer in the army who was occupying 00:21:23.640 --> 00:21:28.079 their land. That made it worse. So there's no 00:21:28.079 --> 00:21:31.220 self -respecting Jew who felt that any member 00:21:31.220 --> 00:21:33.799 of the Roman army would have any inheritance 00:21:33.799 --> 00:21:36.480 in the kingdom of God. So that's not going to 00:21:36.480 --> 00:21:39.700 make it. Certainly the scribes and Pharisees, 00:21:39.700 --> 00:21:41.660 their leading religious officials, They would 00:21:41.660 --> 00:21:43.759 not have offered to help this man. They would 00:21:43.759 --> 00:21:48.220 have considered him a dog, unclean, just like 00:21:48.220 --> 00:21:52.160 the leper was. But once more, Matthew is showing 00:21:52.160 --> 00:21:56.180 us a picture. There's an outsider who has the 00:21:56.180 --> 00:22:00.700 temerity to come to Jesus. But he's not seeking 00:22:00.700 --> 00:22:03.539 anything for himself. This man does not come 00:22:03.539 --> 00:22:06.059 asking for a miracle from Jesus or himself, but 00:22:06.059 --> 00:22:09.049 rather from one of his servants. He said, Lord, 00:22:09.170 --> 00:22:13.829 my servant is at home paralyzed and he's dreadfully 00:22:13.829 --> 00:22:17.210 tormented. We don't know why he was paralyzed. 00:22:17.950 --> 00:22:21.809 We don't know how he became that way. So we don't 00:22:21.809 --> 00:22:24.390 need to speculate there. The Bible does say that 00:22:24.390 --> 00:22:27.150 he was dreadfully tormented, but it doesn't even 00:22:27.150 --> 00:22:29.990 explain what the torment was. Was he wracked 00:22:29.990 --> 00:22:33.849 with pain? Was there an accident? Was it something 00:22:33.849 --> 00:22:37.599 far more sinister? We don't know. All we see 00:22:37.599 --> 00:22:41.839 is verse 7. Jesus said, okay, I will come and 00:22:41.839 --> 00:22:44.619 I will heal him. Do you remember when Jesus touched 00:22:44.619 --> 00:22:47.519 the leper? That's scandalous. He broke with protocol. 00:22:48.559 --> 00:22:50.980 Jesus going to this man's house? That's scandalous. 00:22:51.099 --> 00:22:55.039 He's breaking with protocol. To enter a Gentile's 00:22:55.039 --> 00:22:58.079 house would have been a major social faux pas. 00:22:58.279 --> 00:23:01.880 Why? The Jews considered Gentiles unclean. If 00:23:01.880 --> 00:23:04.460 Jews had to go into Gentile territory as they 00:23:04.460 --> 00:23:06.880 re -entered Israel, they would shake the dust 00:23:06.880 --> 00:23:09.400 off their shoes and off their clothes. They didn't 00:23:09.400 --> 00:23:11.599 want even Gentile dust being upon them. So to 00:23:11.599 --> 00:23:14.519 enter into this man's house would have been defiling 00:23:14.519 --> 00:23:18.319 ceremonially for Jesus. You can get an idea of 00:23:18.319 --> 00:23:20.839 how this was if you remember Peter in Acts chapter 00:23:20.839 --> 00:23:22.839 10. Do you remember when he saw the vision of 00:23:22.839 --> 00:23:25.839 the unclean animals? So you had an angel go to 00:23:25.839 --> 00:23:28.400 Peter and say, Peter, arise and eat. And Peter 00:23:28.400 --> 00:23:31.059 said, no, I'm not eating unclean food. That thing 00:23:31.059 --> 00:23:33.759 happened three times. The whole point was that 00:23:33.759 --> 00:23:36.119 angel was trying to get Peter, you're going to 00:23:36.119 --> 00:23:38.700 go to a Gentile's house and enter it and preach 00:23:38.700 --> 00:23:42.680 the gospel to him. It took an angel with a vision 00:23:42.680 --> 00:23:47.880 three times to get Peter to do that. Racial prejudices 00:23:47.880 --> 00:23:52.410 ran very deep at this time. Very deep. There 00:23:52.410 --> 00:23:55.009 was no social interaction, no fellowship between 00:23:55.009 --> 00:23:58.049 Jews and Gentiles. They did not like each other. 00:23:58.569 --> 00:24:01.309 Again, often Jews are referred to Gentiles as 00:24:01.309 --> 00:24:04.329 dogs. Do you remember when the lady came to Jesus 00:24:04.329 --> 00:24:06.450 and Jesus said, it's not fit to give the children's 00:24:06.450 --> 00:24:10.569 food to the dogs. This was how they were viewed. 00:24:12.289 --> 00:24:14.630 But just as Jesus touched a leper, he said, I'm 00:24:14.630 --> 00:24:19.230 willing to go to your house. Scandalous. But 00:24:19.230 --> 00:24:21.930 the centurion said, no, Lord, I'm not worthy. 00:24:22.829 --> 00:24:26.769 Jesus, I'll go back with you. And what's so surprising 00:24:26.769 --> 00:24:30.349 is this man declined that offer. Why did he decline 00:24:30.349 --> 00:24:32.069 the offer? Well, we don't have to wonder because 00:24:32.069 --> 00:24:37.670 the text tells us. He says, I'm not worthy for 00:24:37.670 --> 00:24:41.690 you to enter into my house. He was a military 00:24:41.690 --> 00:24:46.630 man. He understood authority and rank. He understood 00:24:46.630 --> 00:24:50.210 that, Jesus, you are my superior. This is a great 00:24:50.210 --> 00:24:53.450 display of humility. He knows how authority works. 00:24:53.549 --> 00:24:55.809 He's a man with authority, right? As an officer, 00:24:55.930 --> 00:24:57.809 he said, no, Jesus, you can't do this because 00:24:57.809 --> 00:25:00.529 I know what it's like to issue commands to my 00:25:00.529 --> 00:25:04.130 subordinates and they have to obey my word. And 00:25:04.130 --> 00:25:06.329 he says, your, this is what he's saying, your 00:25:06.329 --> 00:25:11.420 word has more authority than my own. Your word 00:25:11.420 --> 00:25:13.480 has supernatural authority. Yeah, I can tell 00:25:13.480 --> 00:25:15.599 a servant to come and he has to come. I can tell 00:25:15.599 --> 00:25:17.460 him to go and he has to go. I can tell him to 00:25:17.460 --> 00:25:19.720 do this and he has to go do this. He says, but 00:25:19.720 --> 00:25:22.559 you, you have the authority to say to a disease, 00:25:22.759 --> 00:25:26.980 be gone and the disease leaves. I'm not worthy 00:25:26.980 --> 00:25:30.700 for you to come to my house. And apart from that, 00:25:30.900 --> 00:25:34.059 he knew that he didn't need to come all the way 00:25:34.059 --> 00:25:37.539 to his house. Why? Because the authority that 00:25:37.539 --> 00:25:40.059 Jesus possessed was not... limited by distance. 00:25:41.579 --> 00:25:44.779 He says, only speak a word and my servant will 00:25:44.779 --> 00:25:47.819 be healed. He touched the leper. He didn't have 00:25:47.819 --> 00:25:50.480 to. He doesn't have to touch this paralyzed man. 00:25:51.119 --> 00:25:53.460 But notice the display of faith in this Roman 00:25:53.460 --> 00:25:56.380 man. Only speak a word and I know my servant's 00:25:56.380 --> 00:25:59.019 going to be healed. Just speak it, Jesus. That's 00:25:59.019 --> 00:26:01.339 all I need you to do. Because if you speak it, 00:26:01.380 --> 00:26:05.799 it's going to happen. This is incredible faith. 00:26:06.859 --> 00:26:09.279 Now keep in mind what Matthew is doing here because 00:26:09.279 --> 00:26:12.000 let's not lose sight of this is a book written 00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:15.640 for an audience. Matthew is highlighting events. 00:26:15.880 --> 00:26:20.500 Why? He's not telling us who Jesus is. He's showing 00:26:20.500 --> 00:26:26.079 us who he is. He is the one whose word has authority. 00:26:26.720 --> 00:26:29.519 What kind of authority? What cleanses lepers 00:26:29.519 --> 00:26:33.359 and it heals paralyzed men. So Matthew, by pointing 00:26:33.359 --> 00:26:35.039 these miracles out, and you're going to see that 00:26:35.039 --> 00:26:37.319 as we continue through the chapters, he is showing 00:26:37.319 --> 00:26:40.579 to everyone who will read this gospel that Jesus 00:26:40.579 --> 00:26:43.579 of Nazareth is the Messiah sent from heaven. 00:26:45.079 --> 00:26:48.940 The people couldn't see it. Verse 10. But when 00:26:48.940 --> 00:26:51.220 Jesus heard what this man just said, he marveled, 00:26:51.220 --> 00:26:55.619 astonished. And he says, my goodness, I've not 00:26:55.619 --> 00:26:58.920 heard of such great faith at all, not even in 00:26:58.920 --> 00:27:03.720 Israel. The irony of irony is here. This Gentile 00:27:03.720 --> 00:27:06.819 showed far greater faith than anyone in Israel. 00:27:08.599 --> 00:27:11.940 The outsider got it. Now he didn't understand 00:27:11.940 --> 00:27:14.059 everything about who Jesus was at that time. 00:27:14.740 --> 00:27:17.539 But he was on the right track. He knew enough. 00:27:18.640 --> 00:27:22.519 But the insiders, the ones who should have seen 00:27:22.519 --> 00:27:25.740 it, the ones who had all the prophets and the 00:27:25.740 --> 00:27:31.250 prophecies, they were blinded to Jesus. So Matthew's 00:27:31.250 --> 00:27:34.509 starting to show something. The outsiders are 00:27:34.509 --> 00:27:37.329 beginning to understand who Jesus is and his 00:27:37.329 --> 00:27:41.730 mission better than the insiders, better than 00:27:41.730 --> 00:27:46.390 his own countrymen. See, there's a foreshadowing 00:27:46.390 --> 00:27:49.609 that's taking place. Israel is going to be hardened 00:27:49.609 --> 00:27:53.170 to the gospel of Christ, and the Gentiles are 00:27:53.170 --> 00:27:56.170 going to embrace it. And we ought to be saying, 00:27:56.250 --> 00:28:01.259 thank you, Lord. Verse 11. Jesus said, I say 00:28:01.259 --> 00:28:05.440 to you that many will come from east and west. 00:28:05.519 --> 00:28:08.079 These are Gentile nations. And they will sit 00:28:08.079 --> 00:28:10.160 down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom 00:28:10.160 --> 00:28:15.980 of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom, they 00:28:15.980 --> 00:28:19.000 will be cast out into outer darkness. There will 00:28:19.000 --> 00:28:22.460 be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Those coming 00:28:22.460 --> 00:28:24.200 from east and west, those are Gentiles, folks. 00:28:24.420 --> 00:28:26.619 Just like this centurion, and they're going to 00:28:26.619 --> 00:28:30.259 be welcomed into the kingdom of God. The sons 00:28:30.259 --> 00:28:35.039 of the kingdom. Those are the Jews. They're the 00:28:35.039 --> 00:28:37.579 natural sons. They're the ones to whom the covenant 00:28:37.579 --> 00:28:40.359 was given. They had all the advantages in the 00:28:40.359 --> 00:28:43.940 world. And Jesus said they will be cast out because 00:28:43.940 --> 00:28:48.420 of their unbelief. Many foreigners, many outsiders, 00:28:48.640 --> 00:28:53.619 many unclean people entering. The insiders, the 00:28:53.619 --> 00:28:58.119 natural sons are shut out. Why? This is exactly, 00:28:58.359 --> 00:29:02.700 folks, what Paul talked about in Romans 9. Verse 00:29:02.700 --> 00:29:06.440 30. What shall we say then? That Gentiles who 00:29:06.440 --> 00:29:09.240 did not pursue righteousness, that's us, have 00:29:09.240 --> 00:29:12.059 attained to righteousness, even the righteousness 00:29:12.059 --> 00:29:16.140 of faith. But Israel, on the other hand, pursuing 00:29:16.140 --> 00:29:20.359 the law of righteousness, has not attained to 00:29:20.359 --> 00:29:24.140 the law of righteousness. Why? Because they did 00:29:24.140 --> 00:29:27.880 not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the 00:29:27.880 --> 00:29:31.650 works of the law. For they stumbled, they tripped 00:29:31.650 --> 00:29:34.589 over that stumbling stone. That's Jesus himself. 00:29:35.869 --> 00:29:39.950 As it is written, Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling 00:29:39.950 --> 00:29:45.009 stone and a rock of offense, and whoever believes 00:29:45.009 --> 00:29:51.009 on him will not be put to shame. Most Jews were 00:29:51.009 --> 00:29:55.670 trying to enter the kingdom by obeying the law 00:29:55.670 --> 00:29:58.890 really well. Take the Apostle Paul before being 00:29:58.890 --> 00:30:01.869 converted. They were trying to earn their way. 00:30:02.029 --> 00:30:04.430 And consequently, they're trying hard. They're 00:30:04.430 --> 00:30:06.890 living moral lives. They're living pious lives. 00:30:07.170 --> 00:30:09.349 They're trying to honor God. And Jesus said, 00:30:09.410 --> 00:30:11.269 you will be denied entrance into the kingdom. 00:30:13.269 --> 00:30:15.009 And yet you have these outsiders, these dirty 00:30:15.009 --> 00:30:16.549 people, the pagans. They don't know God. They're 00:30:16.549 --> 00:30:20.329 idolaters. Sons of wrath. Ephesians 2. That's 00:30:20.329 --> 00:30:24.579 us. But they don't get rejected. Why? Because 00:30:24.579 --> 00:30:27.680 they begin to see God's grace works and we start 00:30:27.680 --> 00:30:32.359 to see our own unworthiness, our own just condemnation, 00:30:32.380 --> 00:30:37.680 and we rely only on the mercy of God. We don't 00:30:37.680 --> 00:30:41.359 deserve it. That's the point. But the Jews never 00:30:41.359 --> 00:30:43.839 deserved it. But they thought they could earn 00:30:43.839 --> 00:30:46.940 it if I just try harder and harder and I keep 00:30:46.940 --> 00:30:49.480 that law. And Jesus is the stumbling block because 00:30:49.480 --> 00:30:51.759 he's like, I'm the only one. I'm the true Israel. 00:30:52.160 --> 00:30:53.619 That's what Matthew showed in the beginning of 00:30:53.619 --> 00:30:56.299 the gospel. I'm the true Israel. I'm the true 00:30:56.299 --> 00:30:58.500 son. I'm the only one who can do this, and you've 00:30:58.500 --> 00:31:00.960 got to come to me. And they're like, no, far 00:31:00.960 --> 00:31:04.019 be it. And they crucified him. They thought, 00:31:04.119 --> 00:31:05.819 the Jews thought they had a guaranteed place 00:31:05.819 --> 00:31:07.900 in God's kingdom. Why? Because of their lineage. 00:31:08.220 --> 00:31:10.660 Because of their heritage. But without faith 00:31:10.660 --> 00:31:13.519 in Christ, no one enters in the kingdom of heaven. 00:31:14.700 --> 00:31:19.039 So both the leper and the centurion, they saw 00:31:19.039 --> 00:31:21.970 their need. Because they knew they were humbled. 00:31:22.509 --> 00:31:25.490 They knew they were powerless to fix it. But 00:31:25.490 --> 00:31:28.069 that was just the beginning. They also saw the 00:31:28.069 --> 00:31:32.950 answer in Jesus. They both came to Jesus in faith, 00:31:33.049 --> 00:31:35.369 believing that he could do for them what they 00:31:35.369 --> 00:31:37.930 could never do for themselves. So what was the 00:31:37.930 --> 00:31:40.450 end result with the centurion? Verse 13. Jesus 00:31:40.450 --> 00:31:43.029 said to them, Go your way, and as you have believed, 00:31:43.430 --> 00:31:45.829 so let it be done to you. And the servant was 00:31:45.829 --> 00:31:48.650 healed from that same hour. He was right. Jesus' 00:31:48.849 --> 00:31:52.980 word did it. So they came humbly, both of them, 00:31:53.000 --> 00:31:55.940 came believingly, and they find the solution 00:31:55.940 --> 00:31:59.420 they were looking for. The message for us is 00:31:59.420 --> 00:32:04.640 the same. If we come humbly to Jesus, believingly, 00:32:04.640 --> 00:32:10.160 you will also see that he is not only the only, 00:32:10.279 --> 00:32:13.440 but the ultimate solution we are looking for. 00:32:14.539 --> 00:32:18.049 There's a narrow gate, Jesus said. That door 00:32:18.049 --> 00:32:21.529 of humility and faith, it's so very narrow, but 00:32:21.529 --> 00:32:25.789 it leads to life. Whoever would be saved must 00:32:25.789 --> 00:32:29.750 come to the end of himself, truly knowing that 00:32:29.750 --> 00:32:32.670 you are absolutely unable and powerless to earn 00:32:32.670 --> 00:32:38.130 God's favor. Nothing. Nothing in my hands I bring. 00:32:39.190 --> 00:32:43.430 Only to thy cross I cling. You must believe, 00:32:43.549 --> 00:32:45.549 friends, you must be convinced that Jesus is 00:32:45.549 --> 00:32:50.180 the one sent from heaven. by God, who can do 00:32:50.180 --> 00:32:53.720 for you what you could never do for yourself. 00:32:56.079 --> 00:32:58.039 Notice what he said. Many sons of the kingdom 00:32:58.039 --> 00:33:00.819 would be cast out into outer darkness and there's 00:33:00.819 --> 00:33:05.019 weeping and gnashing of teeth. We all weep at 00:33:05.019 --> 00:33:08.599 times, don't we? Everyone weeps at some point. 00:33:09.779 --> 00:33:12.180 But those redeemed by Christ will come to a day 00:33:12.180 --> 00:33:15.200 when weeping will be no more. For we're told 00:33:15.200 --> 00:33:17.400 in that great final book of the Revelation that 00:33:17.400 --> 00:33:20.160 God will wipe away every tear from our eye and 00:33:20.160 --> 00:33:25.539 sorrow will only be a distant memory. But there 00:33:25.539 --> 00:33:29.519 is a weeping that does not end. There is a weeping 00:33:29.519 --> 00:33:32.720 that will be bitter and last for all eternity. 00:33:34.859 --> 00:33:38.259 That's the weeping of the lost, shut out of the 00:33:38.259 --> 00:33:41.640 kingdom, those who would not bow the knee to 00:33:41.640 --> 00:33:45.619 Christ. Their weeping will be so severe it will 00:33:45.619 --> 00:33:49.619 cause them to gnash their teeth. What bitter 00:33:49.619 --> 00:33:54.759 regret. What soul's anguish. How foolish they 00:33:54.759 --> 00:33:58.000 have been. But Matthew is showing us something 00:33:58.000 --> 00:34:05.259 as well. God is gracious and merciful and he 00:34:05.259 --> 00:34:08.099 grants mercy freely upon those whom we may least 00:34:08.099 --> 00:34:11.360 expect. Isn't that good news? That is really 00:34:11.360 --> 00:34:14.610 good news. That it's on those who are the outsiders. 00:34:14.889 --> 00:34:17.750 Those are rejected. Those who are going to sit 00:34:17.750 --> 00:34:20.210 down in this great feast in the kingdom, and 00:34:20.210 --> 00:34:21.929 they're going to sit down with Abraham, Isaac, 00:34:22.010 --> 00:34:25.409 and Jacob, they are the one who hold on to Jesus. 00:34:25.530 --> 00:34:28.110 They have seen him, they believe him, and they 00:34:28.110 --> 00:34:32.070 plead for his mercy. What is it that you hope 00:34:32.070 --> 00:34:34.190 will earn an entrance into the kingdom of God? 00:34:36.090 --> 00:34:42.380 It is only, it is enough that Jesus died. And 00:34:42.380 --> 00:34:45.380 that he died for me. I need no other argument. 00:34:45.420 --> 00:34:50.820 I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus 00:34:50.820 --> 00:34:56.179 died and that he died for me. That's it. That's 00:34:56.179 --> 00:34:59.860 it. Why would God the Father let me into heaven? 00:35:00.000 --> 00:35:02.059 Why should he let me in the kingdom? If it's 00:35:02.059 --> 00:35:05.260 anything I've done, I'm damned. I deserve none 00:35:05.260 --> 00:35:08.110 of it. I've been confronted with my sin. I understand 00:35:08.110 --> 00:35:11.409 I'm broken. I understand I'm a rebellious, just 00:35:11.409 --> 00:35:13.570 one who's lifted up his hands against the Lord. 00:35:15.010 --> 00:35:18.110 I don't deserve his mercy. Lord, if it's based 00:35:18.110 --> 00:35:21.630 upon me, you should not let me in. But I believe 00:35:21.630 --> 00:35:24.969 that Jesus died and that he died for me. That's 00:35:24.969 --> 00:35:29.030 the one. I'm united to him. He's the one that 00:35:29.030 --> 00:35:31.989 said I could come. Look at that last verse in 00:35:31.989 --> 00:35:35.219 verse 33. Let's read it again, Romans 9. Behold 00:35:35.219 --> 00:35:37.420 I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and a rock of 00:35:37.420 --> 00:35:41.119 offense. But look at this last phrase. And whoever 00:35:41.119 --> 00:35:46.699 believes on him will not be put to shame. Do 00:35:46.699 --> 00:35:49.039 you believe that? Do you really believe that? 00:35:49.079 --> 00:35:54.739 The one that believes on him will never be put 00:35:54.739 --> 00:35:58.179 to shame. The Jews could not accept that righteousness 00:35:58.179 --> 00:36:03.280 comes through trusting Christ. Not through performing 00:36:03.280 --> 00:36:05.960 the deeds of the law. That's why Paul wrote in 00:36:05.960 --> 00:36:08.000 Romans 10, he goes over, one chapter over, and 00:36:08.000 --> 00:36:11.579 he says, hey, listen, for Christ, he's the end 00:36:11.579 --> 00:36:16.519 of the law for righteousness to everyone who 00:36:16.519 --> 00:36:20.000 believes. Amen. That's it. That's the gospel. 00:36:21.260 --> 00:36:24.780 To everyone who believes on Christ, your sins 00:36:24.780 --> 00:36:27.219 have been remitted, righteousness has been granted, 00:36:27.380 --> 00:36:30.360 and you have been made a son of God. You will 00:36:30.360 --> 00:36:34.820 never be put to shame. Do you believe that? This 00:36:34.820 --> 00:36:39.280 is the good news of what our Lord has done. And 00:36:39.280 --> 00:36:40.880 friends, we don't just get to talk about it. 00:36:41.340 --> 00:36:43.460 Can we tell Jesus thank you as we commune with 00:36:43.460 --> 00:36:46.500 him? Let us thank him for his broken body. Let 00:36:46.500 --> 00:36:48.739 us thank him for his shed blood. Let us thank 00:36:48.739 --> 00:36:51.079 him for his sacrifice. Let us thank the divine 00:36:51.079 --> 00:36:53.739 father for sending in love his son. Let us thank 00:36:53.739 --> 00:36:55.719 the Holy Spirit for awakening us and showing 00:36:55.719 --> 00:36:58.719 us our need. And today we come and we come in 00:36:58.719 --> 00:37:05.420 here sinful. And miserable. And broken and weak. 00:37:06.239 --> 00:37:12.360 And we're like, I'm not worthy. That table, it's 00:37:12.360 --> 00:37:18.000 for outsiders. Rejects. Broken, sinful people. 00:37:19.099 --> 00:37:23.320 Who can come to Jesus Christ. Jesus welcomes 00:37:23.320 --> 00:37:25.860 you at his table. He wants to minister to you. 00:37:26.099 --> 00:37:30.219 He wants to serve you. As we commune with the 00:37:30.219 --> 00:37:33.980 risen. Lord, as he has prescribed. The deacons 00:37:33.980 --> 00:37:35.480 are to come and pass out the elements at this 00:37:35.480 --> 00:37:35.679 time.