I rejoiced with those who said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord.” Psalm 122:1

Faith in Christ

The Third Sunday after Epiphany – Pr. Anderson sermon
St. Matthew 8:1-13 “Faith in Christ”
January 26, 2025 | Christ Lutheran Church

In Nomine Iesu
+ + +
Almighty and everlasting God, the Consolation of the sorrowful and the Strength of the weak, may the prayers of those who in any tribulation or distress cry unto You graciously come before You, so that in all their necessities they may mark and receive Your manifold help and comfort; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, ever one God, now and forever. Amen. (The Lutheran Liturgy, companion altar book for The Lutheran Hymnal, p. 73)

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. (Rom. 1:7, etc.)

The sermon text for today is taken from the 8th chapter of the Gospel according to St. Matthew. We read selected verses in Jesus’ name:

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. 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.”
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. I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
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.

These are Your words, heavenly Father. Sanctify us by Your truth, Your Word is truth. Amen. (Joh. 17:17)

In Christ Jesus, who is always with you, and you know this to be true because of your faith in Him, dear fellow redeemed:

In our Gospel text for today, we hear one of the three sola’s of our Lutheran teaching. The first sola is having “faith alone.” Now, “grace alone” and “Scripture alone” are important as they culminate around the sola of faith alone. In Christianity, faith is of utmost importance, and we see it today with the many church bodies that exist in Christendom. It is good that we talk about our faith in Christ. The problem we usually run into is when we are asked to define the word, “faith”. When we try to define it, it will seem like an impossible task without using the word itself. While its definition is important, what is even more important is being able to defend the faith and hope we have. Without our faith, we would be lost. So, as we hear how Jesus’ commends people in Scripture for their great faith, we have confidence that we also have great faith in Christ.

In our text we find faith in Christ in not one, but two individuals who sought out Jesus. As our text begins, When [Jesus] came down from the mountain, great crowds followed Him. And behold, a leper came to Him and knelt before Him, saying, “Lord, if You will, You can make me clean.” Jesus had just finished His sermon on the mount. At the end of the sermon, the man would have heard the words, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened” (Matthew 7:7-8). On hearing this gracious Word of how the heavenly Father cares for him, the leper is putting his life into the Father’s hands. If the man continues without God’s help, he then must remain outside of his community. Upon hearing Jesus’ Word, he asks to be cleaned.

And Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 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.” With mercy and the breath of His Word, the leper is cleansed from his physical illness. As quickly as Jesus cures this man, He tells him to not say anything about it. Why would Jesus tell him to be quiet about such a great blessing? Jesus has just finished preaching and revealing the power of His teaching. His teaching is the Father’s teaching. While many hate it, in this sermon Jesus preached, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Matthew 5:17). So, to not put the emphasis on the miracle but to put emphasis on His Word, He sends the man to uphold what the law says for a person who has recovered from the illness. As faith in Christ is faith in His Word, there were many and are many who are against His Word even though He taught nothing new.

For the people, this does look new. There were certain groups you did not associate with. The two people in our text for today fit those kinds of groups that Jesus was not supposed to talk to, let alone help them. The leper was a man who was not clean. As Jesus makes the leper clean, He will now encounter the second man. This man would be a Gentile, just as bad as the leper who had a physical illness. When He entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to Him, appealing to Him, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” And He said to him, “I will come and heal him.” The centurion was not up at the sermon on the mount, but he was stationed where Jesus stayed, so he would have known who Jesus was. As we see in our text, unlike Jesus’ people, this gentile realizes the help that Jesus brings. Jesus being the caring Son of God, does not ignore this Gentile soldier.

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. 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.” These are the words that sink our consciences. They sink because we know Jesus’ response to the centurion, and we tend to believe we can never have faith like this. This wrong way of thinking keeps us away from where we strengthen our faith. We are never to doubt or worry about how the Father is with us and provides for us. Yet, in hardships, the devil will try to get us to say prayers nonchalantly, that, “maybe God will protect me from this, or cure my relative of that.” With impatience, we think to fix things, it must be under our control. Our faith cannot be in the things of this world. As the centurion confessed, our faith must always be found in admitting our unworthiness of God’s salvation. We truly don’t deserve Him to come under our roof. In admitting this we then hear the Words to why we have hope. We ask if He is willingly, and His answer is “I will come.”

These two men understood they could do nothing to better the situations that were laid before them. The first man asking if Jesus was willing and the second calling himself unworthy, both relying on Jesus’ Word to take away the pains in their lives. Jesus’ Word prevails as He is willing, and He tells the centurion he has strong faith. 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. I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. Many can recline like this Gentile because they hear and believe in the Word that is preached to them. The Word of God that is active and changes hearts.

This change reveals their faith in Christ and His Word. It is their only foundation. The centurion reveals his confidence by reviewing how his men follow his orders. As he can say a word of command, Jesus can say His Word and it will deliver His people. His Word delivers His people not only from the physical aches and pains this fallen world has to offer. His Word delivers them from the spiritual enemies that seek to put them into the darkness. While the people deserve the darkness, the darkness is defeated, and lepers and Gentiles will join the feast reclined at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Even these men were not more special than anyone else. They faced the darkness and, in their failings, had faith in the coming Christ to save them.

With a confident faith in God, anything is possible. You have seen the impossible as He revealed Himself to you in your flesh with His lowly birth. What looked as though it was impossible, that impossible now speaks directly to you in His Word. You hear how He delivers you, just as He delivered the servant of the centurion. 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. This can only happen if it truly is the Son of God who reveals Himself with healing in His wings. He reveals it as Jeremiah prophesied, “I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me, and I will forgive all the guilt of their sin and rebellion against me” (Jeremiah 33:8). As Jeremiah reveals the state of mankind, sinful, unworthy, and full of rebellion, faith in Christ is having the complete confidence of what Jeremiah says is true. You hear Him tell the leper and the centurion His will is to cleanse you, forgive you, and take away your sins.

As God reveals Himself to you in His Word, you see just how important it was for Him to take your place. You know you live in a broken world and that brokenness affects you every day. It tries to bring you down and as it does, it wants you to think your faith is futile. Your faith is not futile because your Savior carries out the Father’s will perfectly. His perfect faith in the Father’s will and plan allows Him to willingly take up the cross for the forgiveness of your sins. He never suffered impatience. Through His death and resurrection, He clothes you with His complete trust in the will of His heavenly Father. Your faith in Christ continues to be preserved because it is not your own. You have faith alone in your Savior because the Holy Spirit brings this faith into your heart and the forces of darkness will never snuff it out.

In the world, it looks like faith is easily snuffed out. Faith disappears not because of the spiritual problems that affect your lives, but it fades away because you can push it away. Your faith grows because like anything that grows, it must be fed. You feed it here today, when you hear in the Word how your faith in Christ is a free gift that saves you from your sins. You see its power in Baptism and the miracle of the Lord’s Supper. As you feed your faith today, you continue to feed it daily as you engage in the Word. Your faith will remain strong and as the bad times come, you know through the certainty of Jesus’ Word, they will cease because, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4). You see your Savior active through the Means of Grace in your life, and with His strength, you truly have great faith in Christ. Amen.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
+ + +