Verses 6-9, “Then Jesus went with them. And when He was already not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to Him, saying to Him, 'Lord, do not trouble Yourself, for I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof. Therefore I did not even think myself worthy to come to You. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man placed under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to one, "Go," and he goes; and to another, "Come," and he comes; and to my servant, "Do this," and he does it.' When Jesus heard these things, He marveled at him, and turned around and said to the crowd that followed Him, 'I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!' ” A Roman centurion leader demonstrates his understanding of authority to Jesus and causes Him to marvel. For this earthly leader to have greater understanding of spiritual matters than God's chosen people, the Jews, especially considering all that God had done for them, is quite remarkable. What I love is that his earthly authority had not gone to his head, and he was humble enough to submit to a higher spiritual authority, which is pretty rare these days.
John the Baptist sent two of his disciples to Jesus to ask Him if He was the Coming One. Verses 22-23, “Jesus answered and said to them, 'Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.' ” There are really only two reactions to Jesus...you will either be convicted of sin and repent, or you will be offended. The same thing is true of hearing God's word preached today. Many will walk out the door offended by the truth and find another church where they can be free to sin and free from the conviction of sin. Few will receive the correction and experience God's grace. Paul writes of this same observation when he says in 2 Corinthians 2:15-16, “For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life.”
Verses 24-30, “When the messengers of John had departed, He began to speak to the multitudes concerning John: 'What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed those who are gorgeously appareled and live in luxury are in kings’ courts. But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written: "Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You." For I say to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.' And when all the people heard Him, even the tax collectors justified God, having been baptized with the baptism of John. But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the will of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.” Those who were baptized by John had already repented in preparation of the Messiah and had no trouble receiving what Jesus said to them. The religious leaders on the other hand were hard hearted and would not receive John's baptism and message, so no wonder would not receive the words of Jesus either.
Verses 31-35, “And the Lord said, 'To what then shall I liken the men of this generation, and what are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, saying: "We played the flute for you, And you did not dance; We mourned to you, And you did not weep." For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, "He has a demon." The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, "Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!" But wisdom is justified by all her children.' ” There will be those who will not cease to find excuses not to receive the truth, no matter how or how often it is presented to them. Because they reject the truth, they will be sent strong delusion by God, allowing them to believe the lies of the enemy. 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12, “The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” This is the just judgement of God, whose desire is that none would perish and all would receive salvation, but He will not violate our free will.
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