Well, hello everyone and welcome back. This is our daily devotional for Wednesday, November 19th, 2025. And I am delighted to have this time with you. Now y'all look, it's Wednesday. It's not too late for you to plan to be here with us tonight. I'm gonna be presenting on my Israel trip. Again, this is Israeli food, but there'll be regular stuff, but it's gonna be fantastic, okay? Really really excited about tonight. I'll have the the projector on all that kind of stuff But I'm excited to share with you about this wonderful experience that I've had some of the challenges that I now face as I try to work through things and think about things and Really just a wonderful time but to say that it's transformative This was a transformative experience for me is putting it mildly especially as it comes to doing what we're doing right now. Where Matthew chapter eight, when we were together yesterday, we saw Jesus come down from the mountain. Remember, I showed you the picture of the garden. Oh, wait a second. I think I have it right here. Picture of the garden where it is supposed that the leprous man, the man with leprosy came to Jesus. They planted a garden there and that's where Jesus formed that wonderful miracle. And we talked all about, yeah, I know it was gross. I'm sorry if you were eating this or eating breakfast while you were watching this. pretty pretty bad stuff leprosy, but We saw the sign that Jesus gave and also the testimony aspect to all of this even the hint of that Messianic secret, but today we're continuing along and like I said this trip was transformative for me because as we're gonna read in just a moment verse 5 when Jesus had entered Capernaum and Y'all, I had the profound blessing of going to Capernaum, seeing the place that these things would have happened. And the garden that I showed you was right outside of Capernaum, just down from the Mount of the Beatitudes, where the Sermon on the Mount was offered. And even here today, the courtyard of the synagogue there in Capernaum, where it was supposed that the centurion came to meet Jesus or send his representatives. Y'all, really, really amazing stuff. But what's much more amazing than my experience in seeing this place firsthand is the message of God's word. So we're gonna pick up reading in Matthew 8, verse five, but before we read anything, let's go to the Lord in prayer. Our God and our Father, would you be with us now and would you guide us in this time that it would be pleasing to you, that it would be beneficial for us, that the lights would be turned on for us to see the truth of your word and also, the calling that you give us to trust in you, for you alone are worthy of our trust. You alone are worthy of our worship. Forgive us for the times that we have sought fulfillment, purpose, meaning, healing even, from other avenues when instead we should be turning to you. So please, by your Holy Spirit, guide us in this time that we would be convicted by your word, amazed by your word, and Father, committed to following your word. and we pray it all in Christ's name, amen. All right, so Matthew chapter eight, verse five. Now this is right after Jesus healed the leper. He's come down from the Mount of Beatitudes. We saw yesterday the spot where Jesus healed the leper, there in the garden that they have planted. And today, what we find in verse five is that when Jesus had entered Capernaum, A centurion came to him asking for help. Now, first off, Capernaum is on the Sea of Galilee, major fishing village. If you watch the Daily Devotionals from there, you'll know a lot of very important things happened in Capernaum. They call it the city of Jesus. He lived there for three years, okay? Also, that's where he gets seven out of the 12 disciples. Lots of very, very important things happened there, including what is about to be said right here. A centurion came to him asking for help. You know what a centurion is? Centurion was an officer in the Roman Empire's army. And originally, that term centurion meant that he was in charge of 100 men. Century, centurion, right? Look at the root word. But as things developed, centurions actually, that terminology was also used for men that were in charge of what we would consider like a battalion. You're talking about hundreds upon hundreds of men. So a high ranking officer in the Roman army is who has come to Jesus. Now this ought to tell us something. He's in Israel, but if he's a Roman officer, a centurion, he's not Jewish. He's a Gentile. Now, why does that matter? Well, to you and me, it's like, ah, that's no big deal. We might say that. I will say this is interesting. So on the flight over, did not have a pleasant flight to Israel. One of the reasons was is that a Hasidic Jew, you know, if you've seen like in New York City, the guys that wear the black coats and they have the long curly hair thing and they wear the interesting hat, That was my seatmate. Okay, and we were crammed in together and he kept falling asleep and he'd lean over on me and eventually I figured out I ended up asking one of the guys on the trip that was Jewish and not a Hasidic ultra Orthodox Jew and the guy got really upset because he'd fall asleep and he'd lean over on me and I'd you know, I'd kind of jostle him awake because That's gross, and he didn't smell very good. But nevertheless, that's not why. And he got so upset by that. Well, the reason he got so upset by it was because I'm a Gentile, though I could get into Israel. But nevertheless, I talked about that last week. My great grandmother was Jewish. But he believed that every time he touched me, he became unclean. And he was visibly upset and shaken by that, which I got to say, you know, nobody's particularly clean, you know, on an airplane on a 12 hour flight, but I had taken a shower, you know, I mean, I was in good shape. I was not the one that was really smelling bad, but it's not unclean in terms of hygiene. It's unclean in terms of religion. Now, that's the first time I've ever experienced that in my life. Interestingly enough, I saw more Hasidic Jews on that flight from New Jersey to Israel than I saw while I was in Jerusalem, but all of that is beside the point. Bringing it back to Matthew chapter 8, this is a really big deal that a Gentile has come to a Jew in the first place. As I've told you before, Gentiles, Romans hated the Jews. And Jews, to use the term hate is not big enough, they loathed. Romans and especially Roman soldiers they had this thing where it was a law that a Roman soldier can make you carry his rock all That kind of stuff and you'd have to carry it for a mile. Jesus said hey don't carry one carry it, too But there was this, you know candid casual hatred between Jew and Gentile Gentiles Romans hated the Jews because they knew that that the Jews believed if they even touched him, they became ceremonially unclean. That's why you find that interesting exchange between Pilate and the high priest when they're trying to figure out what to do with Jesus. He's like, hey guys, guys, yeah, come on in. No, they don't want to go in his house. No, no, no, no. Come on in. Come on in, guys. The reason is, if they had stepped across this threshold, they believe they would have become ceremonially unclean. It's the Passover. And it's basically Pontius Pilate taunting, mocking the Jews. All right? So plenty of hatred on both sides for one another. And yet, this centurion comes to him. And it doesn't just come to him. He comes to him asking for help. Lord, he said, my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering. Jesus said, I will go and heal him. Now, my interesting visual aid for the day is, all it says is that when Jesus had entered Capernaum, as things develop, we find out that Jesus is teaching in the synagogue. It is highly likely, and the tradition says, that it is this courtyard right here Right here, that's over here is the remains of the synagogue there in Capernaum. And it's believed that this is the courtyard that the centurion would have found Jesus in. And we see that pattern throughout Jesus' ministry. When he's in Jerusalem, he's teaching in the temple courts, okay? When he's in different towns, he goes to the synagogue, he's outside the synagogue. Most likely, it would have been right here, right where I was, that the centurion would have come to Jesus. Now, let me just go ahead and deal with something gross, nasty, an interpretation that I've heard from this that is absolutely ludicrous, okay? There are those that take this passage and they try to turn the centurion into a homosexual man. And they say, no, no, no, see, this is indicative, if you look at some of the language, it's indicative of his servant, he was actually in a relationship. You know, that's trash. That is equal to, actually it's not, it's a little bit even more ludicrous because there's zero indication whatsoever here that it would have been a homosexual relationship that is being discussed here, that the centurion and this servant are together. for a couple of reasons. The language does not indicate that. Number two, we know that when Jesus encounters people that are in sin, he always tells them, go and sin no more. Number three, it's just a little too convenient given how the story develops. Y'all know how society works. Society tries to make you think that homosexual men especially are the kindest, most considerate, wisest, most tempered, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, just the best human beings on planet Earth. And I'm not gonna make any comment on that. other than medical stuff and all sorts of things indicate quite the contrary to these things. But y'all, this is just way too easy for someone to say, hey look, look at what Jesus says about the centurion. This is Jesus saying it's okay to be gay. This is like the same people who say that David and Jonathan are an example of a homosexual relationship, or it makes me sick, it makes me want to throw up just to say it, that Jesus and John are an example of a homosexual relationship. Do not buy those lies. That is people trying to input into God's Word. It's called eisegesis. They're putting into God's Word, they're adding into God's Word what is not there. Now, what is the nature of this relationship? I don't know. Apparently, this servant is extremely important to this centurion. We have no indication whatsoever that there's anything nefarious going on. All we know is what the centurion said. Lord, he said, my servant lies at home, paralyzed and in terrible suffering. Verse seven, Jesus said to him, I will go and heal him. Okay, fascinating. The guy comes, the centurion, the Gentile comes to Jesus, the Jew, and says, hey, this is going on. Jesus said, I'm going to go and heal. But listen to this. Verse 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. Now y'all, we see a few things going on here. Number one, this whole business of, I don't deserve you to have you come under my roof. It's as if he's saying, I know I'm unclean. I know I'm a Gentile. I don't deserve you coming under my roof. We see a similar response, though, not about the Jew-Gentile thing from Peter. You know, Jesus would go on to calm the wind and the waves on the Sea of Galilee, and I got to go out in a boat on the Sea of Galilee. Spectacular experience. But it's after that that Peter looks at Jesus and says, depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man. This shows us something about the nature of Christianity and what it means to really follow Jesus. There's no room for haughtiness in Christianity. Remember how the Beatitudes start. Blessed are the poor in spirit. You're poor in spirit because you see your sin. You mourn over your sinfulness. The product of that is meekness. The centurion, like Peter would be, is meek in the presence of the Savior. because he recognizes the fact that this is God. Jesus is perfect, I am not. But it's not just that that we need to recognize. What we need to recognize is faith. Jesus says to him, I'm gonna come and heal him, but out of love for his servant who is in agony and terrible suffering, he's paralyzed, he said, just say the word and my servant will be healed. And then he gives the rationale. He says, verse 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 doesn't. What this centurion has said, this man in authority, has said to Jesus is, I too am a man in authority, but I'm only in authority over soldiers. But if I tell them to go, they go. If I tell them to come, they come. If I say do this, they do it. What this centurion has done is he's looked at the Lord Jesus and without a moment's hesitation, without a shred of doubt, he says, look, you don't have to come to my house. Look, I know how it works. I give the command and my orders are followed. You can give the command too. We can talk about faith, right? We can talk about what it means to truly believe, but this right here, this is faith. So much so, verse 10, when Jesus heard this, he was astonished. Now, be careful with the word astonished. It does not mean that he was surprised. What this means instead is it's almost like a flabbergasted thing. Jesus knows what's in his heart. It's not that, it's just his reaction to this. It's not a surprise to him, but he's astonished and he said to those following him, he doesn't say it to the man, he says to those following him, I tell you the truth, 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 darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. " Now, what's he talking about there? Well, first off, Jesus recognizes that this centurion, that man believes. He's akin to the prayer meeting out at the little country church because it's a drought and the farmers need rain and it's so awful. Everything's dry, it's the dust bowl and they need rain. And so they decide to hold a special prayer meeting for rain. But only one shows up with an umbrella, right? It makes me emotional having been in the place but even more so being convicted about what real faith looks like is being convinced, being certain, already having concluded that Jesus is Lord. And Jesus is astonished, and he says, nobody, I haven't found one person in Israel with faith like this. And think about those that he had seen. Okay, including his mother, right? Got that Roman Catholic thing going on, the reverence of Mary, including John the baptizer. Take your pick, the disciples that he's called, nobody compares to the centurion, because the centurion gets it. So first and foremost, the answer, the question that we must answer is, do we get it? And you can only answer that question We talked about yesterday, James, right, where James says, if you need, ask, but don't ask with doubt. Any such man is the double-minded man. He's like a boat tossed by the wind and the waves kind of thing. Only you know if you ask believing. Do you ask knowing? Do you know that there is not any situation beyond God's control? Do you know without a shadow of a doubt that he can redeem anything, anyone, anytime, any place? That's the God that we serve, the one who is able to do immeasurably more than we could ever ask or imagine. But are you convinced of that? Is it something that God might do or are you convinced that he will? I can't answer that question. I know that many times I have not been. I prayed in doubt, but this centurion shows us the way that we should go in terms of trust. But what's all this other business about this? I say to you, verse 13, no, excuse me, verse 11, that many will come from the east and the west and 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. Well, which one is it? Is it gonna be members of the kingdom? What he's talking about here is he's just finished dealing with this Gentile, or he's dealing with this Gentile, this centurion, who he says has greater faith than anybody else in Israel. This whole business about the great feast is a picture of heaven in all of its fullness. The kingdom come, right? When we all sit down, interestingly enough, Jesus told his disciples, we're not gonna celebrate the Passover again until I return. So that ought to say something about your traditions, right? But nevertheless, if you think that celebrating a Passover meal will take you closer to Jesus, Jesus himself said, we're not going to do this again until we get to heaven. But that's the picture that he's pointing to here is heaven. And he's saying, when the kingdom comes in all of its fullness, when we're seated down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob at the great feast, the table is going to be filled with those that come from the East and those from the West. But the subjects of the kingdom itself are going to be thrown out. Whenever you see weeping and gnashing of teeth, it's always a picture of hell. Darkness, weeping, gnashing of teeth. He's always talking about hell when he uses that imagery. But the subjects of the kingdom that he's talking about are the Jews. He's talking about Israel. He's talking about how, hey, listen, there's gonna be people that come from the East and from the West, like this Centurion, who's not a Jew, he's a Gentile, he has greater faith than anybody I've found, and it's gonna be people like him that come to the table, whereas you Jews who deny me, You Jews who reject me, he came unto his own, but his own would not receive him. You're the ones that are gonna be thrown out into the darkness, into the wailing, into the gnashing of teeth. You know, this does away with the notion of, and quote me if you use this term, universalism. There is a false doctrine out there, and John Hagee has espoused it, and so have others, where people are going to be saved by virtue of their ethnicity, that Jews are going to go to heaven just by being Jews. You know, Jesus very clearly says that is not true. And also, if you fast forward to John 14, 6, he says something else. He's the only way, the only truth, and the only life. Nobody comes to the Father but by Him. 1 John 2, you can't have the Father if you don't have the Son. And what Jesus is simply doing here, remember who Matthew's primary audience is. He's writing to Jews. Some of them have converted to Christianity, some of them have not. He's telling them this gospel. And he's saying, look what Jesus said. He's saying, it's not about your bloodlines. It's not about your ethnicity. It's not about who your daddy was or your granddaddy or grandma. Do you believe? Are you trusting in Jesus Christ alone? If so, then you will be at that great feast. But y'all, there's more to it than just that. Not only will you be at that great feast, Christianity is not just about what's gonna happen someday, though that someday is very important. Not Sunday, someday. When Jesus comes in all of his fullness, it's gonna be glorious. I'm not trying to denigrate that. But that's not what Christianity is just about. We don't have eternal fire insurance, okay? Don't cheapen Christianity. Christianity isn't about someday, it's about today. It's about right now. How do we know that? Verse 13, then Jesus said to the centurion, go, it will be done just as you believed it would. And his servant was healed at that very hour. You know, the benefit of faith in Christ is not just heaven one day, it's his transforming work today, right now. He still transforms. He still heals. He still intervenes. He still makes people new creations in Him for the glory of God and by the power of the Holy Spirit. The question is, do you believe? Will you trust in Him? And what that looks like is what the centurion did, being convinced, living it out. What a wonderful example we get here. And again, the fact that it took place right there in that courtyard. What a wonderful example that we find here of Jesus making it very clear that our calling is to trust. We don't have to know the future. We don't have to understand all the dynamics. We're told to trust and to trust that he's working. So let me encourage you to do that. Let's pray. Our Father and our God, we thank you so much that you never give up on us. that you're always working, that you are intervening, that Jesus is building his church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. Let us be like that centurion who trusted fully, completely. He was convinced. Let us be convinced too of your grace, your love and your mercy. And let us in turn be gracious and loving and merciful with others and let us love you. And we pray it all in Jesus name, amen. Well, I'd like to thank you all for being a part of this time. Lord willing, we'll see you tonight. Six o'clock is when we start eating. If you can't get here until after that, that's fine too. No guarantees that, you know, if you get here at 6.55, we're going to start at seven. So, you know, maybe get some hummus or something like that. But y'all, try to get here when you can. Love to have you, love to have that time with you. And thank you for giving me this time with you now. Take care.