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Sermon for Epiphany 3
Romans 12:16-21 + Matthew 8:1-13
In our opening hymn this morning, we reviewed some of the highlights of the Epiphany season, how Jesus’ divinity was manifested in wonderful ways: by the star that led the wise men to find Him and worship in Bethlehem, by His baptism in the Jordan River, by changing water into wine at the wedding at Cana, and, from today’s Gospel, by making whole palsied limbs and fainting soul…Manifest in gracious will, ever bringing good from ill. Yes, Jesus’ divinity was manifested in those healing miracles. But something about His divinity was also manifested in those accounts. The hymn we just sang captures it, from the perspective of the leper and the centurion who came to Jesus for help: In Thee, Lord, have I put my trust. Leave me not helpless in the dust. Let me not be confounded. Let my faith, O Lord, be always firmly grounded in Thy Word. In these two healing accounts, the Lord reveals His willingness to help those who seek help from Him, and He leaves us with this truth: No one who trusts in Christ will be disappointed.
The leper approached Jesus, fell down before Him, and prayed, Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean. What a beautiful, simple little prayer! He makes no demands of Jesus, as if he deserves His help. He expresses a firm confidence in Jesus’ ability to help. You can make me clean. And he leaves the decision whether or not to heal him entirely up to Jesus’ good and gracious will. If You are willing. That’s the power of God’s word, to work such faith in this man’s heart. That’s the power of the message about Jesus: that He has come to save unworthy sinners.
What was Jesus’ response to that prayer? Mark’s Gospel tells us that Jesus was moved with compassion. That He reached out and touched the leper. The Clean One touches the unclean one and says, I am willing. Be clean. And he was clean. I am willing, Jesus said. He didn’t need to pray to God the Father and ask if He was willing. I am willing. That’s a manifestation of His Godhood. And of His complete power over sickness and disease. And of His compassion for the wretched, for the helpless, for the needy, for the downtrodden, for the outcast. The leper trusted in Jesus, and he was not disappointed.
Jesus’ compassion is always there, because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever. His willingness to cleanse sinners from their sin is also always there, as John writes: If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. With regard to physical maladies in this life, Jesus isn’t always willing to remove them. That willingness was almost entirely restricted to the three years of His earthly ministry, to prove His divinity and His power to save, not just from physical maladies, but from sin, death, and the devil. But He is always willing to help us bear those maladies. You remember St. Paul’s famous “thorn in the flesh,” whatever it was. He pleaded with Jesus to remove it, but what did the Lord tell him? My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness. But at the end of this age, He will be willing to cleanse us completely, both our sinful flesh and all the maladies that go along with it. Then we will hear Him say, “Be clean.” And we will be, completely, perfectly, and forever.
After He cleansed the leper, Jesus wasn’t done with him just yet. He told him, See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.
With cleanness comes a command: Go, do as the Law requires. We note that the cleansing happens first, and then comes the command. So also when Jesus absolves you of your sins, He doesn’t put the absolution at the end, after you’ve obeyed His commands, after you’ve done your works of penance or satisfaction. No, He absolves, and then He commands you to go and sin no more, to love God and to love your neighbor. “You are clean,” He says. Now live as a clean person, as a testimony to those around you. As Paul wrote in today’s Epistle: Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
So much for Jesus’ interaction with the leper. Now let’s turn to the centurion.
A Roman centurion came to Jesus with a request. Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented. Now, sometimes, Jesus made people wait a moment to get an answer from Him, to test their faith, to hold them up as an example, to force them to stop trusting in what their eyes could see and to cling only to His Word. But none of that was necessary with this centurion. Immediately Jesus replied, I will come and heal him.
And then, amazingly, it was the centurion who stopped him and said, no. No, Lord, I am not worthy that you should come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. To him, this was a very simple matter. He understood chain of command. The superior gives an order to the officer under his command, and the command is obeyed. Or else! The simple word the centurion had already heard about Jesus was enough to convince him that Jesus was the Superior, the one with authority to issue a command, from anywhere on earth, from anywhere in the universe. The word of Jesus was all the centurion craved, and would be all that he needed to know that his servant would be made well.
We’re told that Jesus marveled at this saying. Truly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! What was Jesus astonished at? Not the centurion’s status. Not his worthiness or his good works. He was astonished that anyone, and especially a Gentile who had not been raised in the true faith, should have such a great faith, firmly grounded in the Person of Christ and in the Word of Christ, in Jesus as the Commander in charge of sickness and health, of nature itself, of the fate of mankind! Faith that Jesus was the kind of God who cared about unworthy sinners, and who would not allow those who trusted in Him to be disappointed.
The centurion was an anomaly in Israel at that time. But he wouldn’t remain alone.
I tell you that many will come from the East and the West and will sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. There will be many more who look to Jesus with this kind of humble faith, who trust wholly in the power of His Word. They will come from all over the world, from the East and the West, from every race among men. People will hear and be convinced, not by the power of the rational arguments people make for Jesus, not by the power of their own reason. They will hear the simple word about the goodness and power of Jesus—His goodness displayed first and foremost in His death on the cross for our sins, His power displayed first and foremost in His resurrection from the dead—and they will repent of their sins. They will receive the gift of faith. They will look to Jesus with genuine trust in His word, in spite of what their human reason may tell them.
At the same time, though, a sad future is foretold: But the children of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. The physical children of Abraham will be cast out into outer darkness. Why? Because they didn’t want the free salvation Jesus was bringing. They didn’t want to listen to His Word that revealed their sin and their need for a Savior sent from heaven. They actually thought of themselves as “good people,” people who were worthy of God’s help, worthy of a place at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. How wrong they were.
How wrong is anyone who dares to think that way, and it’s a common way for people to think. Even Christians must beware, because as the evil in the world around us increases, our flesh would have us put ourselves up on a pedestal and believe ourselves to be more worthy of God’s favor and forgiveness and help than others.
Not so. The one whom God accepts, the one whom God helps, the one whom God praises is the one who brings no worthiness of his own to God, but who trusts firmly in God’s promises, in His acceptance for the sake of Christ alone.
When we do that, when we rely, not on ourselves, not on what we wish God would do, but only on what He has promised to do for the sake of Christ, then we can expect that Jesus’ response to us will be like His response to the centurion: As you have believed, so let it be done.
When you believe in God’s promises, when you trust in the word of Christ above everything else, you will have a favorable answer from God every time. Not because you are so good, not because your prayers are so good, but because, by approaching Jesus in faith, you’re approaching the very One who makes you worthy of God’s help, the very One who came into the world to help and to save sinners. Trust in Christ! Trust in His Word! And you can be sure, you will never be disappointed. Amen.
