The third thing I want you to notice about him was his humility. A man who serves an occupying force might be the very opposite of humble. There are people who are arrogant and don’t even occupy a position. Yet here was a soldier, a Gentile ruling over a downtrodden people. He could have thrown his weight around. He could have said, “I have the right to attention. I have the right to everything I want.” And yet he was anything but that kind of man. He was very humble toward Jesus. He recognized Jesus as one to whom he should pay the utmost respect. He came to him saying, “Lord.” 

Now I have used the title of the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind in order to develop a title for this series of conversations which Jesus Christ had with the people of his day as recorded in Matthew’s Gospel, changing it to “Encounters of the Fourth Kind.” That, of course, is meant to pique your curiosity. What are encounters of the fourth kind? Or for that matter, since we’re speaking spiritually, what are encounters of the first, second, and third kinds, too?

When I read these verses that talk about God being in this city forever, I think to something else that Ezekiel wrote about. Ezekiel, as I pointed out at the very end of his prophecy, gives that revelation of the new name for Jerusalem, "the Lord is there." But that itself makes me think of something that occurs earlier in his book. In chapter 10 you have what is perhaps the lowest and most discouraging point in the entire prophecy. Ezekiel is standing on a height, perhaps the Mount of Olives, looking out over the city towards the west. And as he looks, it’s nighttime, and God gives him a vision of what’s happening in the city.