In the Fulness of Time/Part 41

By: Dr. Thomas O. Figart; ©2007

Jesus is revealed to us in Matthew as a Healer. This month Dr. Figart explains what we learn about Him and about faith from the story of the Centurion’s servant.

Previous Article

Healing Paralysis: Overcoming the Helplessness of Sin 8:5-13

Request of the Centurion for Healing of his servant. 8:5-6

Matthew 8:5-6 “And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, and saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.”

The Greek word for centurion is hekatonarchos, literally, “ruler of a hundred.” He was employed by the government of Herod Antipas as part of the regional occupation forces of Palestine. The account in Luke mentions that he “loved” (agapa) the Jews and had built them a synagogue. Even the elders of the Jews were willing to come to Jesus on behalf of this centurion. Luke also mentions the affection that the centurion had for his slave (doulos), and that the Jewish elders considered the centurion “worthy” (exios) enough for Jesus to come and heal his servant. The illness of the servant is translated “palsy” (A.V.) but the actual word is paralutikos, or paralysis, from paralu-o literally meaning “loose on the side,” indicating relaxed nerves and weakness of limbs. Whatever the disease really was, it involved terrible pains, so much so that Luke, the physician remarks that he was “ready to die” (Luke 7:2).

Response of Christ to the Centurion. 8:7

Matthew 8:7 “And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.”

When Jesus responded, He actually said, “I, even I, will come,” the emphatic pronoun showing His willingness, or perhaps even His determination to go. From the following verses it would seem that the centurion did not expect Jesus to come to his home; rather he thought that Jesus would merely speak the word and his servant would be healed.

Reasoning of the Centurion’s Faith. 8:8-9

Faith in Christ’s Ability to heal. 8:8

Matthew 8:8 “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.”

Even though the Jewish elders considered this centurion “worthy,” (axios) he did not consider himself “worthy” (hikanos). These two words are similar, axios referring to the weight of a person’s character or deeds, and hikanos referring to sufficiency or competency. The man felt insufficient to have Christ in his house. In Luke 7:6 he sent a second group, his friends, to tell Jesus not to “trouble” Himself, using skullo, a strong word which was used by the Greeks to express severe trouble or pain, in comparison with being skinned alive! He probably could not have found a more graphic way of expressing his own sense of lowliness at the thought of causing such trouble to Christ. Yet, he did feel that Christ was all-sufficient to heal his servant with a mere word. Some have suggested that he did not want to be responsible for causing a godly Jew to become ceremonially unclean by entering a Gentile home, but this is speculative, and is not in the text. Surely, if the man’s faith was so great (verse 10) that he believed Christ could heal from a distance, he would have little trouble believing that Christ could keep Himself clean. Rather, his emphasis was on the ability of Christ to accomplish the impossible!

Faith in Christ’s Authority to heal. 8:9

Matthew 8:9 “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.”

The NIV translates, “For I myself am a man under authority,” signifying that he knew well the concept of delegated authority in the military system. A soldier who disobeyed a centurion would be disobeying the emperor himself. “Precisely because Jesus was under God’s authority, He was vested with God’s authority, so that when Jesus spoke, God spoke… and Jesus’ word must therefore be vested with God’s authority, that is able to heal sickness” (Carson, Ibid., p. 201). It is evident that this centurion was a real believer in the sovereignty and deity of Christ.

Recognition of the Centurion’s Faith. 8:10-12

Greater than any individual in Israel. 8:10

Matthew 8:10 “When Jesus heard it, he marveled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no not in Israel.”

Just how great the centurion’s faith was, is shown by the reaction of Christ, in that He “marveled” (from thaumadzo, to gaze in wonder). Many times this word indicates how people marveled at Jesus (cf. 8:27; 9:8, 33; 15:31), but the only other time it is recorded that Jesus marveled, is at the lack of faith in His hometown of Nazareth, so much so that “He could do no mighty works there” (Mark 6:5-6). Yet, here is a Gentile whose faith surpasses any in Israel! Wuest’s Expanded Translation puts it this way: “Assuredly I am saying to you, in the case of not even one person did I find such great faith in Israel.” In the same manner when He ministered to the Syrophoenician woman, another Gentile, Jesus said, “O woman, great is thy faith” (Matthew 15:28).

Greater than in Israel collectively. 8:11-12

Matthew 8:11-12 “And I say unto you that many shall come from the east and west and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

It needs to be kept in mind constantly that Jesus is performing these miracles to prove His Messiahship to Israel. The “kingdom of heaven” is pictured here as a physical kingdom wherein resurrected patriarchs are sitting down. Luke 12:37 pictures this sitting down as a wedding feast, where Jesus says He will serve them, and in Matthew 22:13 the resultant separation of those who were invited to this wedding feast but made excuses, is the same as here in Matthew 8:12; they are “cast into outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth” (22:13).

Up to this point Jesus has received no response of faith on the part of the nation Israel, which would be necessary to establish His earthly kingdom. But He has continued preaching about this “kingdom of heaven” and the faith of the Gentile centurion brings to the fore the contrasting unbelief of His own people who received Him not. Even the elders of the Jews who were sent to Jesus by the centurion were strangely silent when it involved any relationship to Christ as their Messiah/King.

According to the Prophets, Gentiles would be included in that Kingdom. This is evident from a comparison of Amos 9:11-12 with Acts 15:14-17 where “all the nations” will seek the LORD. As far back as the Abrahamic Covenant in Genesis 12:1-3, “all families of the earth” shall be blessed in the Messianic Seed. Right here in Matthew 8:10 is the expression of Gentile faith in Christ’s sovereignty and deity which is greater than any that is seen in Israel!.

Even more severely, Christ predicts that the “sons of the kingdom shall be cast into outer darkness.” This is not the first time in Matthew that a warning of judgment is leveled against the unbelieving Israelites. In 3:11-12 Christ prophesied of a purging of the chaff from the wheat by “unquenchable fire,” and He will repeat this in Matthew 22:24-25. It is not surprising then, that He uses this occasion of healing the centurion’s servant as a reminder that Israel must turn unto Him as Messiah/King or have this severe judgment with its eternal punishment. The kingdom could and would have been established, had the nation received Him. Up until Matthew 11-12 He graciously gave them opportunity to repent, but they refused (11:20). Had they repented and received the kingdom, it would still have been necessary to purge out the unbelieving “sons of the kingdom” who are the “rebels” of Ezekiel 20:28.

Jesus clearly distinguished between the physical seed of Abraham and the spiritual children of Abraham, and said of the unbelieving Jews, “Ye are of your father the devil” (John 8:37-44). The Apostle Paul made the same distinction in Romans 9:6-8: “For they are not all Israel who are of Israel; Neither because they are the seed of Abraham are they all children . . . That is, they who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God, but the children of promise are counted as the seed.” Only true believers will be permitted in that kingdom.

Reward of the Centurion’s Faith. 8:13

Matthew 8:13 “And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it unto thee. And his servant was healed in the very same hour.”

The reward of healing was not in proportion to his faith, but exactly as he believed; that is, the centurion believed that Jesus did not to come into the house and touch the servant, but merely speak a word. This is exactly what Jesus did, just as the man believed He could. There were times Jesus healed when no mention of faith is made, and at other times, as in Matthew 15:28 where the woman’s great faith is involved. Since He is sovereign and omnipotent, His choice of methods is unlimited.

“In the fulness of time,” when we are in the “kingdom of heaven” with Jesus, He will be able to explain all our questions about His methods!

Read Part 42