THE CENTURION’S UNDERSTANDING OF
THE KINGDOM OF GOD
11-28-21
This message may be viewed live streaming video at youtube.com and
tabernacleofmoses.org today Sunday at 11:00 am, and repeated 24/7
thereafter. The video, audio, and study notes are archived.
Commentary: God is “the invisible God” (Col 1:15). God is Thought
(i.e., invisible). God’s Thoughts are expressed as Angels [1] in heaven
and revealed to earthly us clothed as His Words [2].
1. angel = Heb: to dispatch as a deputy; messenger.
[i.e., the message]
2. (John 1:14) And the Word [Gk: logos] [of
God, i.e., the Bible] was made flesh [clothed in Jesus], and dwelt
among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten
of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
YOU
ARE “A GOOD SOLDIER OF JESUS CHRIST”
(2 Tim 2:1-4) Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace [Gk:
the divine influence upon the heart and its reflection in the life;
including gratitude] that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that
thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to
faithful [Gk: trustworthy: believing] men, who shall be able to teach
others also. Thou therefore endure hardness [Gk: undergo
hardship: endure afflictions, suffer trouble], as a good soldier [Gk: a
camperout, warrior /// fig. the angels, the celestial luminaries] of
Jesus Christ. No man that warreth [Gk: to serve in a military
campaign, to contend with carnal inclinations: go to warfare]
entangleth himself with [Gk: to entwine, involve with] the affairs
[matters, activities] of this life; that he may please him who hath
chosen him to be a soldier. [In God’s army hierarchy we each have rank,
and those above us, and those below us]
GOD’S INVISIBLE THOUGHTS (HIS SENT ANGELS) ARE MANIFESTED TO US
CLOTHED AS HIS WORDS
(Matt 8:5-8) And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there
came unto him a centurion [Gk: the captain of one hundred men] [a
soldier] [1], beseeching [imploring, pleading, begging] him, And
saying, Lord [Gk: supreme in authority], my servant [Gk: boy slave:
young man] lieth at home sick of the palsy [2,3], grievously [Gk:
terribly, vehemently] tormented [Gk: tortured: pained, tossed,
vexed]. And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal [Gk: to
wait upon menially] [i.e., serve] him [4]. [note the two extreme
polars of “boy slave” and “supreme in authjority”] The centurion
answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy [i.e., a clear expression of
humility] that thou shouldest come under my roof [under my hospitality,
i.e., under my responsibility and authority, under me]: but speak the
word [Gk: logos] [i.e., send your angels] only [5], and my servant
shall be healed [Gk: cured: made whole] [6].
1. Commentary: Why was this man appointed a “captain”
(syn: head, chief, boss, commander) in charge of the lives of 100 men?
Answer: because he understood what was needful and obeyed.
2. palsy = Gk: dissolved /// loosened, paralyzed or
enfebbled: feeble /// destroyed, melted.
3. Commentary: “palsy” = not under his own control,
out of self-control (no “temperance” Gal 5:23), i.e., possessed by
unclean (Gk: impure, specif. demonic: foul) spirits (fallen angels Psa
104:4; Heb 1:7; i.e., defiling words).
4. (John 1:14) And the Word [Gk: logos] [angels
of God, i.e., the Bible] was made flesh [clothed in/as Jesus], and
dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only
begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
5. (Psa 107:20) He sent his word [angels], and healed
them, and delivered them from their destructions.
6. (Prov 4:20-22) My son, attend to my words
[my angels]; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not
depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart [Heb:
mind]. For they are life [Heb: alive] unto those that find them,
and health to all their flesh.
(Matt 8:9,10) For I am a man [1] under [Gk: beneath, below]
[submitted to] authority, having soldiers [Gk: warriors] [i.e., angels]
under [Gk: beneath, below] [submitted to] me: and I say to this man,
Go, and he goeth [obeys]; and to another, Come, and he cometh [obeys];
and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it [obeys]. When Jesus
heard it, he marvelled [Gk: wondered; by implic. to admire: have in
admiration], and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I
have not found so great [Gk: so vast as this] faith [Gk: persuasion,
moral conviction: belief] [based on understanding], no, not in Israel.
1. Commentary: the centurion presents his
understanding of his own life-style with his soldiers that parallels
the life-style of Jesus Christ with His angels.
UNDERSTAND
“THE CHILDREN OF THE KINGDOM” ARE ALL THE ANGELS
(Matt 8:11,12) And I say unto you, That many [“the good seed”]
[1] shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down [i.e., be
accepted into fellowship] with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the
kingdom of heaven [2]. But the children of the kingdom [“the
tares”] shall be cast out into outer darkness [i.e., no Light, no love,
cold, eternal solitary loneliness]: there shall be weeping and gnashing
of teeth.
1. (Matt 13:38) The field is the world; the
good seed are the children of the kingdom [originated from the Tree of
Life (eternal)]; but the tares [Gk: darnel or false grain] are the
children of the wicked one [having also originated from the Tree of
Life (eternal) but they became impure, mingled and perverted seed
through the influence of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
2. Commentary: thereby evidentially illustrating and
proving themselves to be “the good seed” of the children of the
kingdom. Additionally, the phrase “the children of the kingdom” is used
only by Matthew and then twice, in Matt 8:12 & 13:38, having the
exact same meaning.
AS THOU HAST BELIEVED, SO BE IT DONE UNTO THEE
ACCORDING TO YOUR FAITH BE IT UNTO YOU
(Matt 8:13) And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as
thou hast believed [“According to your faith be it unto you” Matt
9:29], so be it done unto thee [1]. And his servant was healed in the
selfsame hour.
1. (Matt 9:27-31) And when Jesus departed
thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou Son of
David, have mercy on us. And when he was come into the house, the
blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am
able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord. Then touched he
their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you. And
their eyes were opened; and Jesus straitly charged them, saying, See
that no man know it. But they, when they were departed, spread abroad
his fame in all that country.