SATURDAY- 12^TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME -B

Gospel: Matthew 8:5-17: Many will come from east and west to take their places with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.

I Reading: Genesis 18:1-15: Is anything too wonderful for the Lord? I shall visit you again and Sarah will have a son.

Jesus Heals a Centurion’s Servant: Receiving and Rejecting Men, 8:5-13

This passage shows that Jesus is definitely the Messiah (v.13). He also has the power to reject the unbelieving (v.12). Jesus had the messianic power to do the mission of his Father receiving any person, regardless of the barrier. He could span every conceivable barrier.

a.     The ideological barrier: the centurion was despised, rejected and hated by Jews.

b.    The physical barriers: the centurion’s servant was ill.

c.      The spiritual barriers: the centurion was a Gentile.

Jesus receives any person who truly believes, but rejects those who do not believe, no matter who they are.

1.     Jesus’ great power was aroused to receive the rejected (v.5-9)

a.     By the centurion’s humility

1)    Begged a Jew

2)    Called Jesus Lord

3)    Jesus’ response: “I will”

b.    By the centurion’s sense of unworthiness

c.      By the centurion’s love for a slave

d.    By the centurion’s great faih

1)    In Jesus’ supreme authority and power

2)    In Jesus as Sovereign Lord (v.8)

2.     Jesus’ great power was aroused to embrace believers of every nationality (v.10-11)

a.     The Roman centurion

b.    The “many” from every place, from all nations

3.     Jesus’ great power shall reject the unbelieving (v.12)

4.     Jesus’ great power proved his Messiahship (v.13)

Jesus Heals Peter’s Mother-in-Law: Jesus’ Power and Its Purpose, 8:14-17)

One of the purposes for which Jesus came to earth was to meet the needs of individuals and families. The experience in Peter’s home shows this.

1.     Purpose 1: To meet the needs of the individuals and families (v.14-15)

a.     He visited Peter’s home

b.    He healed Peter’s mother-in-law: she arose and served

2.     Purpose 2: To meet the needs of the large crowds (v.16)

3.     Purpose 3: To prove his Messiahship (v.17)

a.     He bore the ultimate cause of disease

b.    He bore each fresh illness

Thought: No individual or family is too poor or unimportant for Jesus to visit and help. He cares for all.

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