IF-Sermon

 Matt 8:1-10

1 When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him.

 

2 And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. 

 

3 And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 

 

4 And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.

 

5 And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him,

 

6 And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. 

 

7 And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.

 

8 The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. 

 

9 For* I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. 

 

10 When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.

 

John 14:15: "If ye love me, keep my commandments."

John 8:36: "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed."
James 2:17: "Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone."

 Matthew 18:15: "Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother."   

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  To break down the etymology of "if," we need to trace its historical linguistic roots:

  • Old English:
    • The word originates from Old English "ġif," which meant "if, whether, so."
  • Proto-Germanic:
    • This Old English term comes from Proto-Germanic "*jabai," which also meant "when, if."
  • Further Back:
    • There are suggestions of deeper roots, with potential connections to Proto-Indo-European.
    • There are also suggestions that it could have originated from an oblique case of a noun meaning "doubt"
  • Evolution:
    • Over time, "ġif" evolved into the Middle English "if" or "yif," and eventually into the modern English "if."

  Essentially, "if" has a long history within the Germanic language family, consistently serving to express conditions or possibilities.