The
Authority Over Paralysis
5 Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a
centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, 6 saying, “Lord,
my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.”
7 And Jesus said to him, “I will come and
heal him.”
8 The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I
am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a
word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I also am a man
under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one,
‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and
to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
10 When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said
to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found
such great faith, not even in Israel! 11 And I say to you
that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the sons
of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be
weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 Then Jesus said to
the centurion, “Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be
done for you.” And his servant was healed that same hour.
—Matthew 8:5–13
The
story of “The Unacceptable Gentile” becomes one of the greater
illustrations of faith. Calvin said, “This officer had been healed
by God before his servant was healed by Jesus.” The setting was in
Capernaum, the unique city which Jesus had chosen for His base of
operation, a city open to the trade movements of the world.
Significantly, early in Jesus’ ministry, the Gentile is seen coming
to Him, and the interchange sets forth the priority of faith over
nationality. God’s compassion is for all men alike, based on faith
in Him. In Luke’s account (7:1–10) the centurion sent emissaries
from the Jewish elders to entreat Jesus to help him, for they said
the centurion “was worthy.”
The centurion’s approach is striking, not only in his
humility, but in that he attests Jesus’ authority by an
illustration from his own command under the authority of Rome. He
thereby recognized Jesus’ authority as under the command of God,
with resources and power commensurate with the command! The centurion
states that he is a man “under” authority, recognizing that the
extent of one’s authority is determined by the authority over him.
For the centurion, this meant that the authority of Rome, who was
Caesar, was over him granting him authority. The meaning of his
statement is, “I know how to obey, myself being under authority,
and having others under me I know how servants obey.” By
implication, seeing Jesus to be under God’s authority, he extends
the perimeters of Jesus’ authority to all that God grants. There is
in this a humble awareness that authority is given.
In this passage and in comparison with Luke 7:1–10 and
John 4:46–54, recognition is given to the unique faith of the
Gentile. Matthew emphasizes Jesus’ words that Gentiles will be
seated with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. The
Old Testament prophets refer to a coming eschatological banquet, at
which the Messiah will include the Gentiles (Is. 25:6; Mic. 4:2).
Jesus affirms this anticipation in His comments regarding the faith
of this Gentile centurion and adds His judgment on the unbelief of
the children of Israel. Luke, in a different context, confirms Jesus’
statement (Luke 13:28–29).
Without going to the man’s home, Jesus simply said,
“Go your way; and as you have believed, so let if be done for
you.” The fact that the servant was healed that very same hour
verifies Jesus’ authority and also the centurion’s faith.
A suggestion for this passage would be an outline as
follows: (1) the request that overrides barriers, vv. 5–6; (2) the
response that overwhelms the seeker, v. 7; (3) the results that His
“oversight” achieves, vv. 8–9 and (4) the reality that occurs
in confirmation of faith, vv. 10–13.
The
centurion’s servant healed (vv. 5–13). A centurion
was an officer over 100 men in the Roman army. Every centurion
mentioned in the Gospels and Acts was a gentleman of high character
and sense of duty, and this man was no exception. The fact that he
was concerned about a lowly servant-boy indicates this. The word
“palsy” indicates a kind of paralysis.
It would seem that everything about this man would
prevent him from coming to Jesus. He was a professional soldier, and
Jesus was a Man of peace. He was a Gentile, and Jesus was a Jew. But
this soldier had one thing working for him: he was a man of great
faith. This centurion understood that Jesus, like himself, was under
authority. All Christ had to do was speak the word and the disease
would obey Him the way a soldier obeyed his officer. It is worth
noting that only those who are under authority have the right
to exercise authority.
Twice in the Gospels it is recorded that Jesus marveled:
here, at the great faith of the Gentile centurion; and in Mark
6:6, at the great unbelief of the Jews. Matthew recorded two
“Gentile” miracles: this one, and the healing of the daughter of
the Syrophoenician woman (Matt. 15:21–28). In both cases, the Lord
was impressed with their great faith. This is an early indication
that the Jews would not believe, but the Gentiles would. Also, in
both of these miracles, our Lord healed from a distance. This
was a reminder of the spiritual position of the Gentiles “afar off”
(Eph. 2:12).
8:12,
13 Sons
of the kingdom
refers to the Jews who had the covenants and the promises, and who
should have been heirs of the kingdom. The idea that Gentiles would
take their place in the coming kingdom was unthinkable to the Jews.
Outer darkness,
meaning “the
darkness outside,” speaks of the experience of those who do not
endure and so will not reign in the kingdom (Matt. 22:13; Rom. 8:17;
2 Tim. 2:12, 13; 2 John 8; Rev. 3:11).
Living with Christ in heaven is a gift (John 3:16; Rom. 4:1–8;
6:23) to be received without cost. But the reign with Christ is a
prize to be won with great effort (compare 1 Cor. 9:24–27; Rev.
22:12).
10–13.
The words from the east and west, are taken from Psalm 107 (with
allusions also to Isa 49:12; 59:19; Mal 1:11). Here Christ is
referring to the gathering in of the Gentiles through the preaching
of the gospel, culminating in their final gathering at the time of
His second coming. Sit down, i.e., recline (Gr anaklinō)
to eat. It was customary in those days to recline at meals, resting
on one’s left elbow. There are also references to this ancient
custom in the great banquet parables of the wedding feast of our Lord
(see 22:1–14). The children of the kingdom, refers to those to whom
the kingdom really belongs. The natural claim to that kingdom had
been given to the Jews. Their reception of Christ as Messiah could
potentially have brought in the kingdom, that had been promised by
the Old Testament prophets. However, their eventual rejection of the
Messiah caused the postponement of a literal kingdom on earth. Outer
darkness refers to the condemnation of the second death. There shall
be … gnashing of teeth. There is used emphatically to draw
attention to the fact that such severe punishment is in fact a
reality. Even though he was a Gentile, the servant was healed because
of the faith of the centurion. The contrast to this incident drawn by
Jesus emphasizes the foolishness of Israel’s rejection of Him as
Messiah.
That
is, in short, many of those who are now heathens shall be saved; and
many of the Jews shall be damned. Many,
not all, shall come
from the east and west,
from all parts, from the remotest parts in the world. Luke saith,
east, west, north,
and south, Luke
13:29: so Isa. 11:12; 43:5, 6. And
sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of God;
in heaven, where Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the heads of the Jewish
nation, are, to whom the promises were made; or, in the church of
God, for the church triumphant and militant are both but one church.
They shall sit down
with them, as men sit down at a banquet, an expression oft used to
signify the rest and pleasure the saints shall have in heaven, Isa.
25:6–8; Luke 22:29, 30. But
the children of the kingdom,
the Jews, who boast much that they are the children of Abraham, and
think themselves the only church, and the only heirs of glory, and
who are indeed the only church of God as yet, shall
be cast out into outer darkness:
either the darkness of errors, ignorance, and superstition, the
gospel light shall not shine upon them, they shall be no more the
church of God; or, the darkness of hell, where shall be nothing but
pain and misery, and lamentations for the gospel, and the grace
thereof, first offered to them, but unthankfully rejected by them, by
which they judge themselves unworthy of the grace of God and of
eternal life, Acts 13:46.
In his Gospel, Matthew often
arranges his material topically rather than chronologically. We see
this in the sections immediately following the Sermon on the Mount,
where he gathers together a series of miracle stories. We looked at
the first of these miracles, the healing of a leper, in the previous
chapter, and we will examine two more in this chapter. The first of
these two healings, that of the centurion’s servant, is very
important for us because it speaks volumes to me about what it means
to be a Christian. As we will see, there is an element of application
here that touches the very heart of Christianity.
Matthew begins, Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum,
a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him (v. 5). Capernaum, the
city where Jesus lived and made His headquarters during his Galilean
ministry, was one of many towns and villages along the northwest
shore of the Sea of Galilee. It had a bustling fishing industry, as
well as numerous merchants, artisans, and scribes. Although it was
not a strong Roman outpost, there were some soldiers stationed there.
A centurion was one who had command of a hundred soldiers. It is very
possible that, as small as the garrison at Capernaum was, the man who
came to Jesus in this story was the top Roman officer in the city.
But he came in abject humility, not asking Jesus for help but begging
for it.
What was the centurion’s request? Matthew tells us
that he said, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed,
dreadfully tormented” (v. 6). The centurion did not explain why
the servant was paralyzed. It could have been the result of an
injury, a stroke, or some other malady. Sadly, in that day, when
someone suffered paralysis, it was considered to be a permanent
condition. But not only was the servant paralyzed, he was “dreadfully
tormented.” Here we are even more in the dark; it is unclear
whether the servant was tormented by pain or some other factor.
When we looked at Jesus’ healing of the leper in the
previous chapter, we saw that the leper said, “If You are willing,
You can make me clean.” There was no question in the leper’s mind
about Jesus’ ability or power to cure leprosy; his only question
had to do with Jesus’ willingness. Jesus assured him, “I am
willing,” and cleansed him. The willingness of Jesus to enter into
the torment of those around Him was made manifest once again in His
ready response to the centurion’s plea for his servant: “I
will come and heal him” (v. 7).
The Faith of a Gentile
Now, I would expect the centurion to have been delighted
by Jesus’ answer and to have said: “Great, let’s go. Let’s
hurry. Let’s not waste a moment, because as we speak my servant is
in agony.” But that is not what he said. Instead, the centurion
answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come
under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed”
(v. 8). The centurion replied: “No, Jesus, You don’t need to come
with me. In fact, it wouldn’t be appropriate for You to come to my
home. I am not worthy to have You in my home.”
As we have already seen in Jesus’ willingness to touch
a leper, societal conventions meant nothing to Him when it came to
redeeming people who were suffering. Jesus had no hesitation about
going to the home of a Roman centurion. Yet, the centurion was
hesitant about Jesus’ coming under his roof. Perhaps this centurion
was aware that the Jewish rules and regulations barred Jews from
entering the private residences of Gentiles, because the Gentiles
were considered to be ceremonially unclean. Perhaps he knew that the
Jews hated the Romans as much as any conquered people hate their
conquerors. In any case, he was reluctant for Jesus to go so far as
to come to his house.
The centurion continued, “For I also am a man under
authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’
and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my
servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it” (v. 9). The centurion
was saying that he was thoroughly familiar with authority, being one
who was under the authority of superior officers and one who
exercised authority over soldiers. However, I think there is a subtle
hint here of recognition that Jesus spoke under authority, the
authority of God. He communicated the authority of God whenever He
spoke, as we saw in Matthew 7:29. Furthermore, the centurion clearly
recognized that Jesus had authority to heal. So, he simply
acknowledged Jesus’ authority and ability to heal the servant with
a word from a distance.
Matthew then writes, When Jesus heard it, He marveled
(v. 10a). This is one of only two times in all of the New Testament
that the Greek verb thaumazō is used with respect to Jesus.
It means “to wonder at” or “to marvel.” This word is used
frequently in accounts of Jesus’ miracles, but there it describes
the reaction of those who witnessed His signs. Their normal response
was astonishment or amazement. Here, however, Jesus is astonished.
That which astonished Him was the faith of this Gentile. He said
to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found
such great faith, not even in Israel!” (v. 10b).
But Jesus did not stop there; He went on to remark about
the larger implications of the presence of such faith in a Gentile
rather than an Israelite: “And I say to you that many will come
from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in
the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out
into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth”
(vv. 11–12). This is incredible. Jesus said people from all over
the earth would be part of the kingdom of heaven, while many
Israelites would be cast out, to their everlasting grief. Jesus was
prophesying the opening of the kingdom of God to the Gentiles, which
began to happen in the early church, as recorded in the book of Acts.
The Promise of God
A friend of mine who lives in the western United States
wrote to me recently and told me that he was planning a surprise
fiftieth birthday party for his wife. He was going to have a
“Scripture party.” I had never heard of a Scripture party, but he
explained it in the letter. During the party, all the guests would
quote their favorite Bible verses and say why those verses meant so
much to them. My friend knew that Vesta and I would not be able to
attend the party because we live so far away, so he asked us to
record our favorite verses on video to be played at the party. We
thought that was a wonderful idea, so we recorded a short video clip
in which I shared my favorite verse and told why I like it, and then
I recorded one for Vesta, because she could not talk about her
favorite verse without tearing up.
Now, my favorite verse of Scripture is Genesis 15:17:
“And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that
behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed
between those pieces.” Sometimes at conferences people ask me to
sign books or even their Bibles, and sometimes they ask me to add my
“life verse.” I’m not sure what a life verse is, but at some
point I began writing down Genesis 15:17. Almost invariably, when I
write that verse with my signature, the person will come back ten or
fifteen minutes later to ask, “Did you mean to write this verse?”
When I assure the person that I did, he will ask, “That’s your
favorite verse?” When I say yes, he will always ask why, so I have
to explain.
Genesis 15 recounts the occasion when God renewed His
promise to give Abraham the land of Canaan, and Abraham said to God,
‘How shall I know that I will inherit it?” (v. 8). God
condescended to Abraham’s weakness, which was really unbelief. He
commanded Abraham to get a heifer, a goat, a ram, a turtledove, and a
pigeon, then to cut them in pieces, and to arrange the pieces in two
rows, forming a path. After Abraham obeyed, God made him fall into a
deep sleep, and during that sleep, “a smoking oven and a burning
torch … passed between those pieces.”
The book of Hebrews unwraps this strange event for us:
“For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by
no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, ‘Surely blessing I
will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you’ ”
(6:13–14). The author of Hebrews understood that this was a
theophany, that God was manifesting Himself in the smoking oven and
the burning torch, and that He was forging a covenant with Abraham
and symbolically saying to him: “If I do not keep My word, may I be
torn asunder, just as you have cut these animals in two. I am
swearing by Myself, by My holy character.” That was how God
reassured Abraham. And God’s reassurance to Abraham reassures me.
It reminds me that God cannot break His word.
Vesta’s favorite verses are 1 John 3:1–2: “Behold
what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be
called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because
it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has
not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is
revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.”
This passage reminds us that someday we will have the beatific
vision. We will see God face-to-face, and the light of His
countenance will flood us with glory.
Experience versus Scripture
Back in the early 1960s, the charismatic movement began
to make inroads in Lutheran circles, Episcopalian circles, and even
Presbyterian circles. The first year I taught college, it seemed to
me that all the students in my theology class had been turned onto
the Pentecostal faith. They were speaking in tongues, having exotic
experiences, and asking me all kinds of questions that I couldn’t
answer. These students became very interested in and excited about
the power of God, and they started to live by believing in this
power. For instance, if they were in a car that ran out of gas, they
would lay hands on the gas tank, believing that God would cause the
car to operate without gasoline. I became swept up in their
enthusiasm, but as I went through this stage, I kept being
disappointed by unfulfilled expectations. Thankfully, God helped me
see that I could not live my Christian life by my feelings and
experiences. I realized I needed the Word of God, for that is where I
find my stability, my confidence, my ability to persevere, and my
hope. Whether this experience or that experience is of the Holy
Spirit, I never know for sure. But I know this—the Bible is God’s
Word.
In my life, I have had some ineffable experiences of
being overwhelmed and enveloped by the presence of God. Those
experiences were so profound, so acute, that I was content to die on
the spot. I said: “This is enough. I don’t need anything else.”
I’m sure that many of you reading this book know what I’m talking
about, having had similar experiences of the sweetness of the
presence of Jesus. There is nothing like it. But in fifty years of
being a Christian, those experiences have been very rare, and they
cannot be conjured up. There is no formula to create a sovereign
manifestation of the presence of God.
However, I can always rely on God’s Word. I do not
have to have a mystical experience in order to hear the Word. It is
available to me every day. All I have to do is open the book, and
when I open the book, I behold the Word of God. Every time I’m
tempted to pursue the ecstasies of experience, I think back to the
time of Jesus’ great temptation and testing in the wilderness, when
Satan unleashed all of the horrors of hell against Him. But Jesus
responded to the devil by saying, “Man shall not live by bread
alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God”
(Matt. 4:4). We will enjoy God’s immediate presence for eternity,
but for now, we are to live by His Word.
That’s the lesson of the centurion. He was saying to
Jesus: “You don’t have to come. Just say the word and my servant
will be healed. I know the power of Your word. I know that the
universe is here because You spoke it into being. You said, ‘Let
there be light,’ and there was light. I believe all authority in
heaven and on earth is given to You.”
Jesus marveled at the faith of this Roman. Then He said,
“Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for
you.” And his servant was healed that same hour (v. 13). Jesus
never touched the paralyzed man like He touched the leper. He simply
commanded His healing, and it happened.
This is what the Christian faith is all about: “Speak,
Lord, for Your servant hears” (1 Sam. 3:9). The Word of God has the
power to change our lives. We can depend on it and live by it.
Matthew tells us: Now when Jesus had come into
Peter’s house, He saw his wife’s mother lying sick with a fever.
So He touched her hand, and the fever left her. And she arose and
served them (vv. 14–15). Jesus parted from the centurion and
went to Peter’s house, but there He found Peter’s mother-in-law
sick in bed. Jesus healed her also, and as a measure of how thorough
was her healing, she got out of her bed and served Jesus and those
with Him. The Greek word that is used here is diakoneō, from
which we get the word deacon. This is appropriate, for the
only legitimate response to the healing power of Jesus is to serve
Him.
8:5–7 centurion. A Roman officer in
charge of a hundred men. In Luke’s account (Luke 7:1–5), others
came to Jesus on his behalf, but Matthew does not mention them. The
accounts are not contradictory; Matthew, as is often the case, simply
abbreviates the story. He actually reports what the centurion said
through his messengers, based on the idea that what a person
does through an agent is what the person himself does (cf. note on
John 3:17).
8:8 Addressing Jesus as Lord (cf. v. 2),
the Roman centurion reveals a remarkable sensitivity for Jewish
traditions, saying that he is unworthy of receiving Jesus into his
Gentile home. A Jew who entered the home of a Gentile became
ceremonially unclean (see Acts 10:28).
8:10 The centurion seems to understand what no
one in Israel understands: Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah.
Jesus marveled, commending the centurion for his exemplary
faith and censuring Israel for lack of faith.
8:11–12 recline at table. The peoples of
the earth who respond to Jesus’ ministry will join the patriarchs
at the end-time messianic banquet in the kingdom of heaven (Rev.
19:9), fulfilling God’s promise to Abraham (Gen. 12:3). But the
sons of the kingdom (a Semitic term for national Israel) will
lose their claim to the kingdom unless they follow the centurion’s
example of faith. weeping and gnashing of teeth. This
description of terrible suffering in hell appears several times in
Matthew (cf. Matt. 13:42, 50; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30) and in Luke
13:28.
The
Authority Over Paralysis
5 Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a
centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, 6 saying, “Lord,
my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.”
7 And Jesus said to him, “I will come and
heal him.”
8 The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I
am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a
word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I also am a man
under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one,
‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and
to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
10 When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said
to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found
such great faith, not even in Israel! 11 And I say to you
that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the sons
of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be
weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 Then Jesus said to
the centurion, “Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be
done for you.” And his servant was healed that same hour.
—Matthew 8:5–13
The
story of “The Unacceptable Gentile” becomes one of the greater
illustrations of faith. Calvin said, “This officer had been healed
by God before his servant was healed by Jesus.” The setting was in
Capernaum, the unique city which Jesus had chosen for His base of
operation, a city open to the trade movements of the world.
Significantly, early in Jesus’ ministry, the Gentile is seen coming
to Him, and the interchange sets forth the priority of faith over
nationality. God’s compassion is for all men alike, based on faith
in Him. In Luke’s account (7:1–10) the centurion sent emissaries
from the Jewish elders to entreat Jesus to help him, for they said
the centurion “was worthy.”
The centurion’s approach is striking, not only in his
humility, but in that he attests Jesus’ authority by an
illustration from his own command under the authority of Rome. He
thereby recognized Jesus’ authority as under the command of God,
with resources and power commensurate with the command! The centurion
states that he is a man “under” authority, recognizing that the
extent of one’s authority is determined by the authority over him.
For the centurion, this meant that the authority of Rome, who was
Caesar, was over him granting him authority. The meaning of his
statement is, “I know how to obey, myself being under authority,
and having others under me I know how servants obey.” By
implication, seeing Jesus to be under God’s authority, he extends
the perimeters of Jesus’ authority to all that God grants. There is
in this a humble awareness that authority is given.
In this passage and in comparison with Luke 7:1–10 and
John 4:46–54, recognition is given to the unique faith of the
Gentile. Matthew emphasizes Jesus’ words that Gentiles will be
seated with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. The
Old Testament prophets refer to a coming eschatological banquet, at
which the Messiah will include the Gentiles (Is. 25:6; Mic. 4:2).
Jesus affirms this anticipation in His comments regarding the faith
of this Gentile centurion and adds His judgment on the unbelief of
the children of Israel. Luke, in a different context, confirms Jesus’
statement (Luke 13:28–29).
Without going to the man’s home, Jesus simply said,
“Go your way; and as you have believed, so let if be done for
you.” The fact that the servant was healed that very same hour
verifies Jesus’ authority and also the centurion’s faith.
A suggestion for this passage would be an outline as
follows: (1) the request that overrides barriers, vv. 5–6; (2) the
response that overwhelms the seeker, v. 7; (3) the results that His
“oversight” achieves, vv. 8–9 and (4) the reality that occurs
in confirmation of faith, vv. 10–13.
The
centurion’s servant healed (vv. 5–13). A centurion
was an officer over 100 men in the Roman army. Every centurion
mentioned in the Gospels and Acts was a gentleman of high character
and sense of duty, and this man was no exception. The fact that he
was concerned about a lowly servant-boy indicates this. The word
“palsy” indicates a kind of paralysis.
It would seem that everything about this man would
prevent him from coming to Jesus. He was a professional soldier, and
Jesus was a Man of peace. He was a Gentile, and Jesus was a Jew. But
this soldier had one thing working for him: he was a man of great
faith. This centurion understood that Jesus, like himself, was under
authority. All Christ had to do was speak the word and the disease
would obey Him the way a soldier obeyed his officer. It is worth
noting that only those who are under authority have the right
to exercise authority.
Twice in the Gospels it is recorded that Jesus marveled:
here, at the great faith of the Gentile centurion; and in Mark
6:6, at the great unbelief of the Jews. Matthew recorded two
“Gentile” miracles: this one, and the healing of the daughter of
the Syrophoenician woman (Matt. 15:21–28). In both cases, the Lord
was impressed with their great faith. This is an early indication
that the Jews would not believe, but the Gentiles would. Also, in
both of these miracles, our Lord healed from a distance. This
was a reminder of the spiritual position of the Gentiles “afar off”
(Eph. 2:12).
8:12,
13 Sons
of the kingdom
refers to the Jews who had the covenants and the promises, and who
should have been heirs of the kingdom. The idea that Gentiles would
take their place in the coming kingdom was unthinkable to the Jews.
Outer darkness,
meaning “the
darkness outside,” speaks of the experience of those who do not
endure and so will not reign in the kingdom (Matt. 22:13; Rom. 8:17;
2 Tim. 2:12, 13; 2 John 8; Rev. 3:11).
Living with Christ in heaven is a gift (John 3:16; Rom. 4:1–8;
6:23) to be received without cost. But the reign with Christ is a
prize to be won with great effort (compare 1 Cor. 9:24–27; Rev.
22:12).
10–13.
The words from the east and west, are taken from Psalm 107 (with
allusions also to Isa 49:12; 59:19; Mal 1:11). Here Christ is
referring to the gathering in of the Gentiles through the preaching
of the gospel, culminating in their final gathering at the time of
His second coming. Sit down, i.e., recline (Gr anaklinō)
to eat. It was customary in those days to recline at meals, resting
on one’s left elbow. There are also references to this ancient
custom in the great banquet parables of the wedding feast of our Lord
(see 22:1–14). The children of the kingdom, refers to those to whom
the kingdom really belongs. The natural claim to that kingdom had
been given to the Jews. Their reception of Christ as Messiah could
potentially have brought in the kingdom, that had been promised by
the Old Testament prophets. However, their eventual rejection of the
Messiah caused the postponement of a literal kingdom on earth. Outer
darkness refers to the condemnation of the second death. There shall
be … gnashing of teeth. There is used emphatically to draw
attention to the fact that such severe punishment is in fact a
reality. Even though he was a Gentile, the servant was healed because
of the faith of the centurion. The contrast to this incident drawn by
Jesus emphasizes the foolishness of Israel’s rejection of Him as
Messiah.
That
is, in short, many of those who are now heathens shall be saved; and
many of the Jews shall be damned. Many,
not all, shall come
from the east and west,
from all parts, from the remotest parts in the world. Luke saith,
east, west, north,
and south, Luke
13:29: so Isa. 11:12; 43:5, 6. And
sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of God;
in heaven, where Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the heads of the Jewish
nation, are, to whom the promises were made; or, in the church of
God, for the church triumphant and militant are both but one church.
They shall sit down
with them, as men sit down at a banquet, an expression oft used to
signify the rest and pleasure the saints shall have in heaven, Isa.
25:6–8; Luke 22:29, 30. But
the children of the kingdom,
the Jews, who boast much that they are the children of Abraham, and
think themselves the only church, and the only heirs of glory, and
who are indeed the only church of God as yet, shall
be cast out into outer darkness:
either the darkness of errors, ignorance, and superstition, the
gospel light shall not shine upon them, they shall be no more the
church of God; or, the darkness of hell, where shall be nothing but
pain and misery, and lamentations for the gospel, and the grace
thereof, first offered to them, but unthankfully rejected by them, by
which they judge themselves unworthy of the grace of God and of
eternal life, Acts 13:46.
In his Gospel, Matthew often
arranges his material topically rather than chronologically. We see
this in the sections immediately following the Sermon on the Mount,
where he gathers together a series of miracle stories. We looked at
the first of these miracles, the healing of a leper, in the previous
chapter, and we will examine two more in this chapter. The first of
these two healings, that of the centurion’s servant, is very
important for us because it speaks volumes to me about what it means
to be a Christian. As we will see, there is an element of application
here that touches the very heart of Christianity.
Matthew begins, Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum,
a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him (v. 5). Capernaum, the
city where Jesus lived and made His headquarters during his Galilean
ministry, was one of many towns and villages along the northwest
shore of the Sea of Galilee. It had a bustling fishing industry, as
well as numerous merchants, artisans, and scribes. Although it was
not a strong Roman outpost, there were some soldiers stationed there.
A centurion was one who had command of a hundred soldiers. It is very
possible that, as small as the garrison at Capernaum was, the man who
came to Jesus in this story was the top Roman officer in the city.
But he came in abject humility, not asking Jesus for help but begging
for it.
What was the centurion’s request? Matthew tells us
that he said, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed,
dreadfully tormented” (v. 6). The centurion did not explain why
the servant was paralyzed. It could have been the result of an
injury, a stroke, or some other malady. Sadly, in that day, when
someone suffered paralysis, it was considered to be a permanent
condition. But not only was the servant paralyzed, he was “dreadfully
tormented.” Here we are even more in the dark; it is unclear
whether the servant was tormented by pain or some other factor.
When we looked at Jesus’ healing of the leper in the
previous chapter, we saw that the leper said, “If You are willing,
You can make me clean.” There was no question in the leper’s mind
about Jesus’ ability or power to cure leprosy; his only question
had to do with Jesus’ willingness. Jesus assured him, “I am
willing,” and cleansed him. The willingness of Jesus to enter into
the torment of those around Him was made manifest once again in His
ready response to the centurion’s plea for his servant: “I
will come and heal him” (v. 7).
The Faith of a Gentile
Now, I would expect the centurion to have been delighted
by Jesus’ answer and to have said: “Great, let’s go. Let’s
hurry. Let’s not waste a moment, because as we speak my servant is
in agony.” But that is not what he said. Instead, the centurion
answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come
under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed”
(v. 8). The centurion replied: “No, Jesus, You don’t need to come
with me. In fact, it wouldn’t be appropriate for You to come to my
home. I am not worthy to have You in my home.”
As we have already seen in Jesus’ willingness to touch
a leper, societal conventions meant nothing to Him when it came to
redeeming people who were suffering. Jesus had no hesitation about
going to the home of a Roman centurion. Yet, the centurion was
hesitant about Jesus’ coming under his roof. Perhaps this centurion
was aware that the Jewish rules and regulations barred Jews from
entering the private residences of Gentiles, because the Gentiles
were considered to be ceremonially unclean. Perhaps he knew that the
Jews hated the Romans as much as any conquered people hate their
conquerors. In any case, he was reluctant for Jesus to go so far as
to come to his house.
The centurion continued, “For I also am a man under
authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’
and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my
servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it” (v. 9). The centurion
was saying that he was thoroughly familiar with authority, being one
who was under the authority of superior officers and one who
exercised authority over soldiers. However, I think there is a subtle
hint here of recognition that Jesus spoke under authority, the
authority of God. He communicated the authority of God whenever He
spoke, as we saw in Matthew 7:29. Furthermore, the centurion clearly
recognized that Jesus had authority to heal. So, he simply
acknowledged Jesus’ authority and ability to heal the servant with
a word from a distance.
Matthew then writes, When Jesus heard it, He marveled
(v. 10a). This is one of only two times in all of the New Testament
that the Greek verb thaumazō is used with respect to Jesus.
It means “to wonder at” or “to marvel.” This word is used
frequently in accounts of Jesus’ miracles, but there it describes
the reaction of those who witnessed His signs. Their normal response
was astonishment or amazement. Here, however, Jesus is astonished.
That which astonished Him was the faith of this Gentile. He said
to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found
such great faith, not even in Israel!” (v. 10b).
But Jesus did not stop there; He went on to remark about
the larger implications of the presence of such faith in a Gentile
rather than an Israelite: “And I say to you that many will come
from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in
the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out
into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth”
(vv. 11–12). This is incredible. Jesus said people from all over
the earth would be part of the kingdom of heaven, while many
Israelites would be cast out, to their everlasting grief. Jesus was
prophesying the opening of the kingdom of God to the Gentiles, which
began to happen in the early church, as recorded in the book of Acts.
The Promise of God
A friend of mine who lives in the western United States
wrote to me recently and told me that he was planning a surprise
fiftieth birthday party for his wife. He was going to have a
“Scripture party.” I had never heard of a Scripture party, but he
explained it in the letter. During the party, all the guests would
quote their favorite Bible verses and say why those verses meant so
much to them. My friend knew that Vesta and I would not be able to
attend the party because we live so far away, so he asked us to
record our favorite verses on video to be played at the party. We
thought that was a wonderful idea, so we recorded a short video clip
in which I shared my favorite verse and told why I like it, and then
I recorded one for Vesta, because she could not talk about her
favorite verse without tearing up.
Now, my favorite verse of Scripture is Genesis 15:17:
“And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that
behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed
between those pieces.” Sometimes at conferences people ask me to
sign books or even their Bibles, and sometimes they ask me to add my
“life verse.” I’m not sure what a life verse is, but at some
point I began writing down Genesis 15:17. Almost invariably, when I
write that verse with my signature, the person will come back ten or
fifteen minutes later to ask, “Did you mean to write this verse?”
When I assure the person that I did, he will ask, “That’s your
favorite verse?” When I say yes, he will always ask why, so I have
to explain.
Genesis 15 recounts the occasion when God renewed His
promise to give Abraham the land of Canaan, and Abraham said to God,
‘How shall I know that I will inherit it?” (v. 8). God
condescended to Abraham’s weakness, which was really unbelief. He
commanded Abraham to get a heifer, a goat, a ram, a turtledove, and a
pigeon, then to cut them in pieces, and to arrange the pieces in two
rows, forming a path. After Abraham obeyed, God made him fall into a
deep sleep, and during that sleep, “a smoking oven and a burning
torch … passed between those pieces.”
The book of Hebrews unwraps this strange event for us:
“For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by
no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, ‘Surely blessing I
will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you’ ”
(6:13–14). The author of Hebrews understood that this was a
theophany, that God was manifesting Himself in the smoking oven and
the burning torch, and that He was forging a covenant with Abraham
and symbolically saying to him: “If I do not keep My word, may I be
torn asunder, just as you have cut these animals in two. I am
swearing by Myself, by My holy character.” That was how God
reassured Abraham. And God’s reassurance to Abraham reassures me.
It reminds me that God cannot break His word.
Vesta’s favorite verses are 1 John 3:1–2: “Behold
what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be
called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because
it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has
not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is
revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.”
This passage reminds us that someday we will have the beatific
vision. We will see God face-to-face, and the light of His
countenance will flood us with glory.
Experience versus Scripture
Back in the early 1960s, the charismatic movement began
to make inroads in Lutheran circles, Episcopalian circles, and even
Presbyterian circles. The first year I taught college, it seemed to
me that all the students in my theology class had been turned onto
the Pentecostal faith. They were speaking in tongues, having exotic
experiences, and asking me all kinds of questions that I couldn’t
answer. These students became very interested in and excited about
the power of God, and they started to live by believing in this
power. For instance, if they were in a car that ran out of gas, they
would lay hands on the gas tank, believing that God would cause the
car to operate without gasoline. I became swept up in their
enthusiasm, but as I went through this stage, I kept being
disappointed by unfulfilled expectations. Thankfully, God helped me
see that I could not live my Christian life by my feelings and
experiences. I realized I needed the Word of God, for that is where I
find my stability, my confidence, my ability to persevere, and my
hope. Whether this experience or that experience is of the Holy
Spirit, I never know for sure. But I know this—the Bible is God’s
Word.
In my life, I have had some ineffable experiences of
being overwhelmed and enveloped by the presence of God. Those
experiences were so profound, so acute, that I was content to die on
the spot. I said: “This is enough. I don’t need anything else.”
I’m sure that many of you reading this book know what I’m talking
about, having had similar experiences of the sweetness of the
presence of Jesus. There is nothing like it. But in fifty years of
being a Christian, those experiences have been very rare, and they
cannot be conjured up. There is no formula to create a sovereign
manifestation of the presence of God.
However, I can always rely on God’s Word. I do not
have to have a mystical experience in order to hear the Word. It is
available to me every day. All I have to do is open the book, and
when I open the book, I behold the Word of God. Every time I’m
tempted to pursue the ecstasies of experience, I think back to the
time of Jesus’ great temptation and testing in the wilderness, when
Satan unleashed all of the horrors of hell against Him. But Jesus
responded to the devil by saying, “Man shall not live by bread
alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God”
(Matt. 4:4). We will enjoy God’s immediate presence for eternity,
but for now, we are to live by His Word.
That’s the lesson of the centurion. He was saying to
Jesus: “You don’t have to come. Just say the word and my servant
will be healed. I know the power of Your word. I know that the
universe is here because You spoke it into being. You said, ‘Let
there be light,’ and there was light. I believe all authority in
heaven and on earth is given to You.”
Jesus marveled at the faith of this Roman. Then He said,
“Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for
you.” And his servant was healed that same hour (v. 13). Jesus
never touched the paralyzed man like He touched the leper. He simply
commanded His healing, and it happened.
This is what the Christian faith is all about: “Speak,
Lord, for Your servant hears” (1 Sam. 3:9). The Word of God has the
power to change our lives. We can depend on it and live by it.
Matthew tells us: Now when Jesus had come into
Peter’s house, He saw his wife’s mother lying sick with a fever.
So He touched her hand, and the fever left her. And she arose and
served them (vv. 14–15). Jesus parted from the centurion and
went to Peter’s house, but there He found Peter’s mother-in-law
sick in bed. Jesus healed her also, and as a measure of how thorough
was her healing, she got out of her bed and served Jesus and those
with Him. The Greek word that is used here is diakoneō, from
which we get the word deacon. This is appropriate, for the
only legitimate response to the healing power of Jesus is to serve
Him.
8:5–7 centurion. A Roman officer in
charge of a hundred men. In Luke’s account (Luke 7:1–5), others
came to Jesus on his behalf, but Matthew does not mention them. The
accounts are not contradictory; Matthew, as is often the case, simply
abbreviates the story. He actually reports what the centurion said
through his messengers, based on the idea that what a person
does through an agent is what the person himself does (cf. note on
John 3:17).
8:8 Addressing Jesus as Lord (cf. v. 2),
the Roman centurion reveals a remarkable sensitivity for Jewish
traditions, saying that he is unworthy of receiving Jesus into his
Gentile home. A Jew who entered the home of a Gentile became
ceremonially unclean (see Acts 10:28).
8:10 The centurion seems to understand what no
one in Israel understands: Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah.
Jesus marveled, commending the centurion for his exemplary
faith and censuring Israel for lack of faith.
8:11–12 recline at table. The peoples of
the earth who respond to Jesus’ ministry will join the patriarchs
at the end-time messianic banquet in the kingdom of heaven (Rev.
19:9), fulfilling God’s promise to Abraham (Gen. 12:3). But the
sons of the kingdom (a Semitic term for national Israel) will
lose their claim to the kingdom unless they follow the centurion’s
example of faith. weeping and gnashing of teeth. This
description of terrible suffering in hell appears several times in
Matthew (cf. Matt. 13:42, 50; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30) and in Luke
13:28.
