The Healing of a Gentile.
Mat 8:5 After His entry into Capernaum, a Captain [Centurion] came to Him, and entreated Him.
Mat 8:6 "Sir," he said, "my servant at home is lying ill with paralysis, and is suffering great pain."
Mat 8:7 "I will come and cure him," said Jesus.
Mat 8:8 "Sir," replied the Captain, "I am not a fit person to receive you under my roof: merely say the word, and my servant will be cured.
Mat 8:9 For I myself am also under authority, and have soldiers under me. To one I say 'Go,' and he goes, to another 'Come,' and he comes, and to my slave 'Do this or that,' and he does it."
Mat 8:10 Jesus listened to this reply, and was astonished, and said to the people following Him, "I solemnly tell you that in no Israelite have I found faith as great as this.
Mat 8:11 And I tell you that many will come from the east and from the west and will recline at table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of the Heavens,
Mat 8:12 while the natural heirs of the Kingdom will be driven out into the darkness outside: there will be the weeping aloud and the gnashing of teeth."
Mat 8:13 And Jesus said to the Captain, "Go, and just as you have believed, so be it for you." And the servant recovered precisely at that time. WNT
Introduction
This story is written about at length in Luke 7: 1 - 10
Leon Morris comments, “It is better to see Matthew as abbreviating the story and leaving out certain in-essential details to his purpose. What a Man does through his agents he may be said to do himself. So Matthew gives the gist of the centurion’s communication to Jesus whereas Luke gives greater detail……. Matthew seems to be concerned primarily with the Centurion’s faith and Nationality; to him the messengers were irrelevant, even a distraction. But Luke was interested in the man’s character and specifically his humility; to him the messengers were a vital part of the story.
Mat 8:5 After His entry into Capernaum a Captain [Centurion KJV] came to Him, and entreated Him.
There came unto him a centurion - A centurion was the commander of 100 men in the Roman armies. Judea was a Roman province, and garrisons were kept there to preserve the people in subjection. This man was probably by birth a pagan. See Mat_8:10.Barnes
Mat 8:6 "Sir," he said, "my servant at home is lying ill with paralysis, and is suffering great pain."
Lord - Rather, Sir, for so the word κυριε should always be translated when a Roman is the speaker.
Is lying at home - Βεβληται, lieth all along; intimating that the disease had reduced him to a state of the utmost impotence, through the grievous torments with which it was accompanied.
Sick of the palsy - Or a paralytic. See Mat_4:24. This centurion did not act as many masters do when their servants are afflicted, have them immediately removed to an infirmary, often to a work-house; or sent home to friends or relatives, who probably either care nothing for them, or are unable to afford them any of the comforts of life. In case of a contagious disorder, it may be necessary to remove an infected person to such places as are best calculated to cure the distemper, and prevent the spread of the contagion. But, in all common cases, the servant should be considered as a child, and receive the same friendly attention. If, by a hasty, unkind, and unnecessary removal, the servant die, are not the master and mistress murderers before God?A.Clark
Is suffering great Pain {Grievously tormented (deinōs basanizomenos). Participle present passive from root basanos (see note on Mat_4:24). The boy (pais), slave (doulos, Luk_7:2), was a bedridden (beblētai, perfect passive indicative of ballō) paralytic.
einōs basanizomenos).4) to vex with grievous pains (of body or mind), to torment
Mat 8:7 "I will come and cure him," said Jesus.
Matthew moves straight from the soldier's request to Jesus’ agreement to heal him. So now Jesus is willing to enter the home of Gentile which was not normal as Gentiles were unlcean and by entering his home you could become unclean too.
So if the Teacher agrred to go then he would be open to harsh criticism. L.M.
Mat 8:8 "Sir," replied the Captain, "I am not a fit person to receive you under my roof: merely say the word, and my servant will be cured. WNT
Mat 8:8 But the centurion replied, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. ESV.
Notes:
But the centurion replied, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof,
This was an expression of great humility. It refers, doubtless, to his view of his “personal” unworthiness, and not merely to the fact that he was a “Gentile.” It was the expression of a conviction of the great dignity and power of the Saviour, and of a feeling that he was so unlike him that he was not suitable that the Son of God should come into his dwelling.
So every truly penitent sinner feels - a feeling which is appropriate when he comes to Christ. Barnes
merely say the word, and my servant will be cured. WNT
Notes
All that was needed was for Jesus to say the Word. The Word was the Instrument “with” which the servant will be healed. Leon Morris.p.193
Until now there had been no example of Jesus Healing at a distance, so the centurion’s faith was amazingly strong. L.M.
See here the pattern of that living faith and genuine humility which ought always to accompany the prayer of a sinner: Jesus can will away the palsy, and speak away the most grievous torments. The first degree of humility is to acknowledge the necessity of God’s mercy, and our own inability to help ourselves: the second, to confess the freeness of his grace, and our own utter unworthiness. Ignorance, unbelief, and presumption will ever retard our spiritual cure. A.Clark
Mat 8:9 For I myself am also under authority, and have soldiers under me. To one I say 'Go,' and he goes, to another 'Come,' and he comes, and to my slave 'Do this or that,' and he does it."
Notes
For I myself am also under authority, and have soldiers under me.
- He had full confidence in the ability of Jesus to heal his servant, and requested him simply to give the command. This request he presented in a manner appropriate to a soldier. I am a man, says he, under authority. That is, I am subject to the commands of others, and know how to obey. I have also under me soldiers who are accustomed to obedience. I say to one, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes. I am “prepared,” therefore, to believe that your commands will be obeyed. As these obey me, so do diseases, storms, and seas obey you. If men obey me, who am an “inferior” officer, subject to another, how much more shall diseases obey you - the original source of power having control over all things! He asked, therefore, simply that Christ would give commandment, and he felt assured he would be obeyed.Barnes
“When God commands the plants to blossom, they bear blossoms.
When he commands them to bear seed, they bear seed.
When he commands them to bring forth fruit, they put forth their fruits.
When he commands them to ripen, they grow ripe.
When he commands them to fade, and shed their leaves, and remain inactive, involved in themselves, they thus remain, and are inactive.”
Cap. 14. p. 62. See Raphelius.
Mat 8:10 Jesus listened to this reply, and was astonished, and said to the people following Him, "I solemnly tell you that in no Israelite have I found faith as great as this.
Notes
"I solemnly tell you that in no Israelite have I found faith as great as this.
Great Faith of the Centurion.
When Jesus heard it, he marveled - He wondered at it, or he deemed it remarkable.
I have not found so great faith - The word “faith,” here, means “confidence” or belief that Christ had power to heal his servant. It does not of “necessity” imply that he had saving faith; though, from the connection and the spirit manifested, it seems probable that he had. If this was so, then he was the first Gentile convert to Christianity, and was a very early illustration of what was more clearly revealed afterward - that the pagan were to be brought to the knowledge of the truth.
No, Not in Israel - Israel was a name given to “Jacob” Gen_32:28-29, because, as a prince, he had power with God; because he persevered in wrestling with the angel that met him, and obtained the blessing. The name is derived from two Hebrew words signifying “Prince” and “God.” He was one of the patriarchs, a progenitor of the Jewish nation; and the names “Israel and Israelites” were given to them, as the name Romans to the Roman people was in honor of Romulus, Barnes
Mat 8:11 And {But} I tell you that many will come from the east and from the west and will recline at table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of the Heavens,
Mat 8:12 while the natural heirs of the Kingdom will be driven out into the darkness outside: there will be the weeping aloud and the gnashing of teeth."
Notes:
Here is a Contrast. Israel the Chosen people of God is contrasted with the Many from the East and the West.
Jesus takes occasion from the faith of a Roman centurion to state that this conversion would not be solitary; that many pagans - many from the east and west would be converted to the gospel, and be saved, as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were. The phrase “from the east and from the west,” in the Scripture, is used to denote the “whole world,” Isa_45:6; Isa_59:19. The phrase, “shall sit down,” in the original, refers to the manner of sitting at meals (see the notes at Mat_23:6); and the enjoyments of heaven are described under the similitude of a feast or banquet - a very common manner of speaking of it, Mat_26:29; Luk_14:15; Luk_22:30. It is used here to denote felicity, enjoyment, or honor. To sit with those distinguished men was an honor, and would be expressive of great felicity.
Mat 8:13 And Jesus said to the Captain, "Go, and just as you have believed, so be it for you." And the servant recovered precisely at that time. WNT
Notes
And Jesus said to the Captain, "Go, and just as you have believed, so be it for you."
Let the mercy you request be equal to the faith you have brought to receive it. According to thy faith be it done unto thee, is a general measure of God’s dealings with mankind
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