Nobleton Community Church
29084 Sentinel Street PO Box 224
Nobleton, Florida 34661
Rev. Paul V. Lehmann, Pastor
813-389-8683
Nobletoncommunitychurch.org
info@nobletoncommunitychurch.org
OUR VISION IS:
To experience SPIRIT-FILLED WORSHIP AND PRAYER
To be involved in EVANGELISM, DISCIPLINING AND TRAINING PEOPLE
To use our SPIRITUAL GIFTS
To SERVE AND REACH PEOPLE FOR CHRIST, BOTH
“ACROSS THE STREET AND ACROSS THE WORLD”
Nobleton Community Church
Date September 22, 2024
Text Matthew 8:1-17
Pastor Paul Lehmann
As we continue in Matthew, we begin to see glimpses of the greatness of Jesus. In the first few chapters of Matthew we saw how he was destined for greatness — that he was God’s chosen Messiah, the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies, born of a virgin, without sin. In the second section of Matthew, the Sermon on the Mount, we see that he is a great teacher. He taught as no man had taught before — with an authority that amazed the crowds. And now, as we turn to the pages of Matthew 8, we see Jesus doing great things — performing incredible miracles — including silencing a raging storm and driving out demons.
In this section of Matthew’s gospel we also see Jesus issuing a challenge to his followers — a challenge to go beyond the mundane “business-as-usual” routine of daily life and, instead, strive to achieve the greatness that Christ has in store for all who follow him.
In the weeks to come we will examine closely Matthew 8-10, because it contains the Master’s Guide To Greatness. If you want your life to be great, then you won’t want to miss this series. Now, keep in mind, when I talk about “greatness” I’m not referring to fame or notoriety or any other kind of human recognition. Those things may or may not be part of the package.When I refer to living a great life, I’m talking about living a life that has impact in this generation and for generations to come. Think of the man who led to Christ the man who led Billy Graham to Christ. The obedience of the evangelist, Mordecai Ham, changed the course of history, and yet, without some research you would never know his name.Jesus calls us to greatness, The first lesson in greatness is very simple: You cannot give what you do not have.
An apple tree will never produce a peach — it’s impossible. A man without a penny to his name cannot give you a million dollars — he doesn’t have it to give. In the same way, we cannot share the power of God with other people if we haven’t experienced the power of God in our own lives. It’s impossible. You can’t give what you don’t have. So, in order to make a difference in the lives of others, we need to open up our own lives to God, nd let him begin to make a difference in us. Many of you are way ahead of me on this. You’re saying, “How can I even begin to think about changing the world when my own life is falling apart? I don’t have it together, how can I expect to help anyone else get it together?”
Today we’ll look at three stories in Matthew 8 — three people whose lives were changed by the power of God. These stories teach us how to experience God’s power in our lives; they teach what to do you when you need a miracle. Let’s take a look at each one.
- THE LEPER Matthew 8:
1 When he came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him.
2 A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”
3 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing he said. “Be clean!” Immediately the man was cured of his leprosy.
4 Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”
2000 years later, it’s easy to miss the significance of what took place here. Fortunately, we don’t have firsthand knowledge of leprosy as did people during Jesus’ day. Though the illness still exists in some areas, it is, for the most part, contained. Leprosy is a highly communicable disease. You can contract it simply by being in close proximity to someone who has it. And if you touch that person, your chance of getting it increase significantly. Because of this, a person who had leprosy became one of society’s outcasts. In Palestine, during the time of Jesus, the leper was not allowed within the city limits of Jerusalem. And in the circumstances in which lepers were allowed in a public place, the leper was required to warn others of their disease by crying out “Unclean! Unclean!”
Jewish law forbade people from even saying “hello” to a leper. And, unless you wanted to be labeled “unclean” yourself, you were required by law to stay at least six feet away anyone with leprosy — except on windy days, and then the distance was increased to 150 feet. [William Barclay; The Gospel of Matthew Vol. 1; page 296] And yet, Jesus allowed this unclean man to approach him, and have a conversation with him, and then Jesus reached out and touched him! This tells us a lot about Jesus’ attitude toward people: as far as he is concerned, there’s no such thing as being “unclean.” He considers no one untouchable.There may be things about your past that have made you feel unclean. Things that have happened, things you have done that cause you to think: “I’ve given up my chance to do something great with my life. God could never use me now. I’ll just have to settle for mediocrity”. Nothing could be further from the truth. You’re never so unclean that Jesus cannot clean you. You’re never so lost that Jesus cannot save you. You’re never so far gone that Jesus cannot use you. If he is willing to reach out and touch a leper, he is willing to reach out and touch you. Notice how Jesus treats this man. With condescending pity? Not at all. He treats him like a responsible human being; as he heals him he issues 2 commands: Tell no one about this, and show yourself to the priest. Tell no one. Why did Jesus tell the leper to tell no one about his healing? Aren’t we supposed to tell others what Christ has done for us? Jesus gave this command for a reason. He was not a showman. He healed people out of compassion, not out of self-promotion. He knew his miracles would get the recognition they deserved without him proclaiming it. Show yourself to the priest. The Jews had a set of detailed instructions (Leviticus 14) about ceremonial cleansing for a person who had leprosy. Once a person had gone through those steps, they were declared to be clean, healed of leprosy, and were no longer social outcasts. Once again, they were accepted into the community. Jesus was telling this man: Move on with your life. You’re no longer an outcast; you’re part of the community. What this story teaches us about experiencing the power of God is that miracles and obedience go hand in hand. God wants you to experience his power in your life, but it comes with a condition: he wants you to obey.
Sometimes what he asks you to do may not make perfect sense to your own limited understanding, but there is a reason for everything he asks you to do.If you want to experience God’s miraculous power, if you want to achieve greatness, then you must understand: Greatness goes hand-in-hand with obedience.
Next, let’s look at the story of…
- THE CENTURION verse 5
5 When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help.
6 “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering.”
7 Jesus said to him, “I will go and heal him.”
8 The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.
9 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
10 When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, “I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith…”
13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! It will be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed that very hour.
A centurion was a Roman military leader who was in charge of 100 men. (Centurion…century…100) There are two remarkable things about this man. (1) As Jesus said, he showed great faith. (2) He also showed great compassion. He came to Jesus on behalf of a slave, asking for his help because the servant was “in terrible suffering.” In those days, slaves typically wouldn’t be considered worthy of such concern — especially from a hard-boiled military leader — but this man’s attitude was different. And his attitude resulted in his experiencing the power of God. Jesus said this man had great faith. Why? What was it about his faith that was so praiseworthy?
First of all, it was a “no-limits” faith. He understood that Jesus could heal his servant from where he stood, without having to make the journey to his home. He understood the authority of God, the power of God. He knew that Jesus wasn’t just performing parlor tricks on people who with psychosomatic maladies; he was the ultimate healer, he was God’s chosen one.So, he said, “Jesus, I’m not worthy for you to come to my home. Say the word right now, and my servant will be healed.” This centurion’s faith was remarkable because it was a “no-limit” faith; he truly understood the power of God.
Also, it was a humble faith. This centurion understood the grace of God. He knew that he wasn’t worthy, and he didn’t pretend to be. He was a Gentile, and Jesus was a Jew. He was a soldier, and Jesus preached non-violence and turning the other cheek. He was a slave-owner, and Jesus certainly didn’t advocate that custom, either.
So, he didn’t come to Jesus saying, “Do this for me, because I have earned it.” Instead, he said, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof…”
He was saying, “I’m not worthy, but I’m asking you anyway.” This centurion’s faith was great because he understood something that we need to strive to understand ourselves: God’s work in our lives is a work of grace. He’s not good to us because we are good; he’s good to us because he is good. Has this ever happened to you? You’re in a desperate situation and you need God’s help, so you approach him as if you’re sitting down at a negotiating table, and you bring a special offer — one that you hope he can’t refuse.”God, I’m a good father to my children, and a good husband. I go to church most Sundays, unless there’s a game on, and I never pad my expense account at work. Now, I need your help, and if you’ll get me out of this mess, I’ll start to tithe…and I’ll read my Bible every day…and I’ll call my children and grand children more often.” We say things like that, and in the back of our mind we imagine God’s response: “O.K. Just this once, but I’ll be watching you, buddy. “That’s not the way it works. That’s not faith; it’s bargaining. And none of us are in a position to bargain with God.
The centurion understood this, so he didn’t try to negotiate a deal with Jesus. He knew that anything Jesus did for him would be an act of grace. Do you know what grace is? Undeserved kindness. If you need to experience God’s power, you can.But understand this: it’s not coming to you as a payback, it’s coming to you as a present. It’s a gift.
The centurion’s faith was remarkable also because it was a compassionate faith. He understood the kindness of God. He was so moved by his servant’s suffering that he appealed to Jesus on behalf of his servant.Now, let’s be practical for just a moment. For the centurion, there was a bottom-line benefit to his servant being healed: The servant could get out of his sick-bed and go back to work. But the centurion’s attitude wasn’t “I want to protect my investment.” It was, “I want to ease this man’s suffering.”
Some of you may have read Bruce Wilkinson’s Prayer of Jabez. The first part of the prayer is to say, “Lord, bless me.” There are some who’ve missed his point. The idea is not to be blessed so that you can stockpile blessings. The idea is to be blessed so that you can bless others.This story teaches us that compassion is a key to experiencing God’s power in your life. Greatness goes hand in hand with compassion.
- PETER’S MOTHER-IN-LAW Verses 14-15
14 When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever.
15 He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him.
When Matthew records that Peter’s mother-in-law had a fever, he’s not referring to a mild case of the flu — something that would pass after a few days of rest and relaxation. A “fever” in New Testament times referred to a serious illness. It could have been Malta fever, which lasted months and most often resulted in death. It could have been similar to typhoid fever, or it could have been malaria, which was the most common fever people suffered from, and was nearly always fatal, in the first century.
When Jesus came to Peter’s house, he touched the woman’s hand and she was healed. We learned in the story of the Centurion that Jesus doesn’t need to touch someone to heal them — or even be in the same room with them — and yet, he touched both the leper and Peter’s mother-in-law. This gives us insight into the tender, compassionate nature of Jesus. He treated people with kindness and dignity.As soon as she was healed, Peter’s mother-in-law “began to wait on him.” The message here is obvious. Her response to experiencing a miracle was to begin serving Jesus.
Experiencing God’s power and serving him go hand-in-hand. That is what greatness is. It doesn’t come through being served, but through serving. Jesus said…
Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. (Mark 10:43-44)
Greatness and service go hand-in-hand.
A great life is not determined by what we get, it’s determined by what we give. And we cannot give what we do not have. In order to achieve greatness — to live a life that benefits the world for generations to come — we must first experience God’s miracle-working power in our own lives.
Today, if you’ve come here thinking “I need a miracle…I need God to move in my life”, I want you to realize this: you’re positioned for greatness.
God wants you to experience his power. He wants to bless you, so that you can do great things with your life. God wants you to experience his power so that you can walk in obedience…so that you can reach out to others with compassion…so that you can live a life of service.
That is what “greatness” is — and it is within your reach.
No matter what your life has been like up to this point — even if you consider yourself a spiritual leper — Jesus is willing to reach out and touch you today, and you will never be the same.