Some Thoughts on Matthew 8:5-13: The Healing of the Centurion’s Servant

8:5 When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him asking for help: 8:6 “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, in terrible anguish.” 8:7 Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 8:8 But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. Instead, just say the word and my servant will be healed. 8:9 For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I say to this one, ‘Go’ and he goes, and to another ‘Come’ and he comes, and to my slave ‘Do this’ and he does it.” 8:10 When Jesus heard this he was amazed and said to those who followed him, “I tell you the truth, I have not found such faith in anyone in Israel! 8:11 I tell you, many will come from the east and west to share the banquet with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, 8:12 but the sons of the kingdom will be thrown out into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 8:13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go; just as you believed, it will be done for you.” And the servant was healed at that hour. (NET Bible)

Matthew 8:5-13 is Matthew’s second story about healing in this particular section of his gospel. The first is found in vv. 1-4 (Jesus’ healing of the leper), and our story of healing is followed by another, which is found in vv. 14-17 (Jesus’ healing of Peter’s mother-in-law). Moreover, this literary section is concluded with a message from Jesus about discipleship (vv. 18-22).  Furthermore, this pattern of alternating stories of miraculous works followed by a teaching about discipleship repeats itself two more times till the end of chapter nine (8:23-9:13; 9:14-9:38). 

To begin to comprehend the full significance of this passage, we must first grasp some basic information about Roman centurions and how they were viewed by Jews in the first century. In the ancient world, a section of roughly 100 soldiers were under the command of a centurion (“century” means 100 years). Also, Roman soldiers participated in pagan religious worship to the divine emperor and were not viewed highly by the Jewish people in the first century. So, compare this man to Jesus and it seems rather odd that he would approach Jesus in the first place…right? They really don’t have that much in common. Again, the Centurion is a professional soldier, and Jesus is a man of peace; the Centurion is a Gentile and Jesus is a Jew; the centurion is a pagan worshipper and Jesus is the Son of God.

But the narrative seems to suggest that the two have much in common. For one, this particular centurion, a high rating Roman officer, seems to be a man of high character and quality as indicated by his concern for a lowly servant and Jesus, rating quite highly in the divine order, is too a man of high character and has great concern for humanity. So in many respects, both individuals are excellent examples of humility (For more on Jesus’ humility see Phil. 2:5-11). But, to understand their connection more fully we must look more closely at the narrative.

I think that their main connection is the location where our narrative takes place and what it signifies. Capernaum has already been mentioned as Jesus’ hometown in 4:13 (cf. 9:1; 17:24), and is presently marked by the astonishing faith that Jesus finds in this Roman centurion and a far cry away from what will later be Jesus’ condemnation of Capernaum for its unbelief (11:23). So not only does the centurion’s faith bring him to Jesus, but in many respects this centurion and Jesus have much in common as they are an example of faith, which have come out of Capernaum.

And there are things we can learn from the centurion’s request and statement and Jesus’ response. As for Jesus’ response we can learn about discipleship and ministering to people who are not ethnically and culturally like us, and as for the centurion’s request and statement we can learn about what it means to have great faith. So, let us begin by first examining the centurion’s request.

We have much to gain from observing and modeling the humility of the centurion and this teaching is two fold. First, the centurion humbles himself before Jesus not on behalf of himself but for a lowly servant (vv. 5-6). Now there is some debate as to whether the Greek term pais means “son” or “servant” but the point is that this individual was probably considered part if not all of the centurion’s family. In the ancient world, Roman soldiers were not permitted to have legal families during their two decades of military service, so this servant might be the only member of what the centurion would consider family. Moreover, the evidence that this centurion considers this slave a family member is witnessed by the economic cost for a slave in those days and instead of just letting the slave pass away from natural causes and thus saving the centurion some great financial costs (roughly one third of his annual pay), he considers this slave to be a treasured member of his family and comes to Jesus on his behalf.

Second, the centurion humbles himself by acknowledging his inferior status (vv.5-6). In other words, this highly rated Roman military officer comes to Jesus, who is a non-Roman citizen under the rule of the Roman government, and entreats (or pleads) him to do something for his dying servant. So what we have witnessed first is that the centurion’s request is an example of humility as he comes on behalf of another and acknowledging his inferior status and what we witness next from the centurion is wisdom.

The wisdom of the Centurion is also two fold. The Centurion recognizes Jesus’ authority (v.6). It’s very likely that he has heard of Jesus’ miraculous works and who he has claimed to be, and as a result addresses him with the title “Lord” as it contrasts with what Jesus’ enemies call him (i.e. Teacher. Cf. 26:25, 49.). This centurion shows faith not only by humbling himself and entreating Jesus but also by recognizing who Jesus was and the power and authority he possessed that is far superior to his own concerning this matter.

In addition to recognizing Jesus’ authority he recognizes his divinity as well. Now I think that the centurion’s recognition of Jesus’ divinity is ever clear in vv. 8-9. First, in response to Jesus’ claim that he will come to the servant and heal him in v.7, the centurion says no, but why? Why does the centurion feel himself not fit to have Jesus in his house? I think part of the reason is a feeling of personal inadequacy at a moral and/or spiritual level, not because he is a horrible person per se, but mostly because he knows the majesty and authority the God-man possesses and what he is capable of doing: “Just say the word and my servant will be healed.” (v.8b).

Now the significance of the centurion’s recognition of Jesus’ ability to simply command something that is followed by its fulfillment is further expounded upon in v.9. Here, the centurion’s statement that he “too is a man under authority” implies that he is referring to Jesus as the other man who is also under authority. And just like the centurion who has authority over others, Jesus too has authority over others. The centurion is under the authority of Caesar and there are some who are under him (i.e. soldiers and slaves) and there is something under them (i.e. work). The centurion gives a command that implies that it must be fulfilled. In the same manner, Jesus, under the authority of the Father, gives a command to the one under him (the Holy Spirit), and that work gets done.

Now this command fulfillment pattern is found among the literature of the ANE. Specifically in an Ugaritic Poem (dating about 1200 BC) titled the Epic of King Keret. In this poem, Keret is struck with multiple misfortunes. Although he had seven wives, they all either died or deserted him. Also, he had no surviving children so no heir to his throne. Following such a horrible tragedy, he is left alone crying himself to sleep. One night, while he is praying and lamenting his plight, the god El appears before him and commands him to go and do a number of things and the rest of the poem is him carrying out these commands. Also, we can find a biblical example of this command fulfillment pattern: Creation. God creates by commanding and it is fulfilled.

So, Jesus, the God-man, can command that something be done and it will be done and this is the reason why the centurion’s request and later statement that if Jesus would “just say the word” then his servant will be healed is an example of great faith. This leads me into my next point.  

The acceptance of Jesus. (Keep in mind that this is part one of two concerning Jesus’ response.) First, Jesus accepts the centurion’s attitude as one of faith-greater than the faith of “anyone in Israel.” (v. 10). So the first lesson to be gained from this text is the nature of true faith. Jesus calls the centurion’s request and statement an example of great faith because it implies the authority that Jesus has. All Christ had to do was speak and command something and that command would be done. In this passage, all Jesus had to do was to command that the disease be healed and it would obey, and Jesus had this ability because he was divine, and by the centurion saying “just say the word” it demonstrated recognition of who Jesus truly is. In many ways this is what faith is. We live by faith in that we recognize the authority that God has and the role that we play within salvation history. For we are under the rule of God as he commands us to do something and this is the second lesson to be gained from this text: The abandonment of ethic and cultural prejudices when witnessing and ministering to people different than you. Also, by Jesus saying that the faith of the centurion is greater than anyone in Israel points us to a truth that every Christian needs to be reminded of: Those closest to the truth often take it for granted. Therefore, let us be like the centurion who recognizes the power of the truth of God communicated to us in the Word and in the personage of Jesus Christ!

This brings us to my final observation: the anticipation of Jesus- which is also two fold (being positive and negative). First, Jesus regards this exceptional example of faith by a Gentile as the promise of more Gentiles to come (v.11). This further emphasizes the fate of those you haven’t heard and the responsibility that we bear to minister to them. Once more, Jesus commands that in order to properly disciple nations we must abandon any prior ethnic and culture prejudices. Also, this banquet imagery we see in v.11 is a way of describing the fellowship and celebration that these Gentiles will experience as being part of the people of God in the kingdom of heaven.

But Jesus also anticipates something rather negative (v.12). The “sons of the kingdom” are surely to be interpreted as Jewish people- those who expected salvation based upon their ethic decent from Abraham. But instead of being destined for salvation, they are destined for damnation “where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” The weeping indicates mourning over their eternal state and the gnashing indicates anger. This sober warning to the Jewish nation of Jesus’ day is just as important to complacent Christians today.

This episode is capped off by a statement from Jesus that brings about what the centurion and the reader had already anticipated (v.13), and I think what this passage teaches us overall is that true genuine faith anticipates a favorable or positive response or reaction. Now this response might not always be witnessed, experienced or enjoyed here on earth, but it will surely be done so in heaven!