Matthew 8:5–13
Jesus showed his disciples how to enter God’s kingdom. The only way is to believe God.
In Matthew 8:1–4, a man with leprosy trusted Jesus. Here we read about the second miracle of Jesus that Matthew recorded. It was about a centurion’s servant. (Read the last part of this section. It describes a centurion.) The centurion trusted Jesus too. He had heard about Jesus. (Read Matthew 7:3.) He called Jesus ‘ Lord’. He believed that Jesus could heal his servant. So, the centurion meant more than just ‘Sir’.
We do not know the exact illness of the servant. But we know that he could not move. The illness would get worse, until he could not breathe. Then he would die. (Compare Luke 7:2.)
The most important part here is the talk between Jesus and the centurion. Even the miracle does not seem as important as the talk in the story. The centurion said that he was not good enough. He could not expect Jesus to come to his home. He knew, too, that Jesus was a Jew. He would know that Jews did not enter the home of a ‘Gentile’. (Note: a Gentile is a person who is not a Jew.) Read John 18:28; Acts 10:28; Acts 11:2–3. He probably thought, too, that he was not in the family of God.
Yet, he did trust Jesus. He said: ‘Just say the word, and my servant will be well’ (Matthew 8:8). Jesus acted because of this trust (Matthew 8:10). He also acted because of the man’s sense of need. He spoke about the centurion’s great trust. Jesus had not found such trust among the Jews.
Because of the centurion’s trust, Jesus had some comfort for him. Jesus told him that non- Jews will be at the Messiah’s great meal. The Jews thought that it was for them only. They did not understand Isaiah 60:12. But the prophets had taught that people would come from the entire world. They would all share in God’s kingdom. (Read Isaiah 2:2–3; 11:10; 45:6; 49:6, 12; 54:1–3; 59:19; Jeremiah 3:18; 31:34; Hosea 1:9–10; 2:23; Amos 9:11–15; Micah 4:1–2 and Malachi 1:11.) In this way, Jesus comforted the centurion in his time of need.
Then Jesus said something very serious (Matthew 8:12). He said it because of the Jews. They were sure that they would be members of God’s kingdom. But Jesus said that they were on their way to hell. Jesus taught the centurion an important truth. It was this (Matthew 8:13). To believe God is the only way to get into God’s kingdom. The centurion had shown that he did believe God. Jesus confirmed that this was true. He healed his servant.
Questions
- How can I be sure that God will receive me? Where do I put my confidence? Pretend that you are applying to get into heaven. Write a letter about this.
- Read the OT references above. They are about people who come from the entire world. They will come to share God’s great meal. This is a future event. How could we start to enjoy it now? Is that something that we should do?
- How does Jesus’ teaching here affect those whom people will not accept today?
More explanation
The centurion
The centurion was an important person. He was a soldier in the army of Rome. This was a great capital city. Rome’s army ruled the country where Jesus lived at that time. (All the countries that Rome ruled had a name. It was the Roman Empire.) A division of Rome’s army was a legion. A legion had 6000 men in it. Each legion had 60 ‘centuries’. A centurion was in charge of a century. He was usually a soldier who stayed in the army for a long time.
Whenever the NT mentions a centurion, it is always with respect. (Read Matthew 27:54; Acts 10:22-26; 23:17, 24; 24:23; and 27:43.) Herod Antipas was the Roman ruler of Galilee. He would probably pay this centurion. (Herod lived at Tiberias. It was not far from the city called Capernaum.)
The centurion did not feel that he could approach Jesus. So, he asked some Jewish leaders to speak for him. (Read Luke 7:3–5.) This meant that he was probably a ‘proselyte’. A proselyte was a Gentile who was following the Jewish religion. (Note: A Gentile is a person who is not a Jew.)
