The faith of the Centurion

 Matthew 8:1-13

A man with leprosy[a] came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. 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.”

The Faith of the Centurion

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.

I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Jesus responds to human need. Teaching preaching and healing go together: his authority is expressed in what he says and what he does.

The leper. To the Jew, lepers were unclean, untouchable. Jesus could have healed the man with a look, or a word instead he reaches out and touches him.

The centurion's boy Jesus' mission is to 

Israel, but nowhere among his own people has he found faith to equal that of the Roman officer who recognized authority when he saw it.

Why?

The authority of Jesus over any man, he is the son of the Lord.

Jesus close to the unclean people, letter. Treat kindness to none Jews. For his faith shows the respective to Jesus Christ.

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登山寶訊很重要的是以誰為中心，我們看重的是什麼? 不要以自己為中心，要以神為中心。

大麻瘋患者的禱告，主若肯，他知道耶穌能。重點放在主的權柄，求主的肯，對主的權柄的尊重。

百夫長卻很疼愛僕人的軍官，統治者遇到困難，反而來求被統治者。尊重猶太人潔淨的規矩，尊重猶太人人不去外邦人家中的律法，因此他尊重耶穌的權柄。雖然他是軍官可以命令，要求。這裏是求耶穌的權柄彰顯出來。他不是吩咐耶穌來做事情，這是以神為中心的禱告。

這麼有信心的禱告，是指相信神的權柄，順服神的權柄。不是要神為我做這個、做那個。以色列人最後變成為自己求。讓我們更認識神，順服耶穌的權柄

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How?

Faith in Jesus Christ is the basic rock in our life.