MONDAY- First Week of Advent: Year- A

Gospel: Matthew 8:5-11: Many will come from east and west to take their places in the kingdom of heaven.

I Reading: Isaiah 2:1-5: The Lord draws all nations together into the eternal peace of God’s kingdom.

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

Jesus had the  messianic power to receive any person, regardless of barrier and also he had the power to reject anyone, even though who professed to be the children of the kingdom, that is, the religious.

Jesus receives anyone who truly believes and rejects those who do not believe, no matter who they are. The ideological, physical and spiritual barriers are broken down healing a centurion’s servant. The great faith of the centurion is demonstrated and appreciated here.

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 faith

          1) In Jesus’ supreme authority and power

          2) In Jesus’ sovereign Lord

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.

Thought: What a lesson for us! The great need is for intercessory prayer and love for all, no matter who they are and what others may think.

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