Matthew 8:5 - Meaning and Application

We have here the account of Christ healing the centurion’s servant from a palsy, or paralysis. This happened in Capernaum, where Christ was living at the time (Matthew 4:13). Christ went around doing good, and he also did good at home. Every place he came to was better because of him.

The people Christ dealt with here were, first, a centurion, a Roman army officer, likely in command of the soldiers stationed at Capernaum. Even though he was a soldier, and military life often leaves little room for religion, he was a godly man, and in a very remarkable way. God has his own people among every kind of person. No one’s job or position in life can excuse unbelief or a godless life.

Though he was a Roman soldier, living among the Jews as part of their Roman rule, Christ still showed him favor. In this, Christ teaches us to do good even to our enemies, and not to feed needless national hatred. Though he was a Gentile, not a Jew, Christ welcomed him. Christ did not travel to Gentile towns, for the land of Canaan was still the land of Immanuel, God with us (Isaiah 8:8). But he did receive requests from Gentiles. So Simeon’s words were beginning to come true, that Christ would be a light to the Gentiles as well as the glory of Israel.

Matthew places this healing next to the healing of the leper, who was a Jew, and that is meaningful. Christ touched and healed the Jewish leper in person, because he preached to the Jews himself. But he healed the Gentile servant from a distance, because he did not go personally to the Gentiles. Instead, he sent his word and healed them, and in that way his power was shown even more clearly.

Second, there was the centurion’s servant, the one who was sick. Here too we see that God shows no favoritism. In Christ Jesus, there is neither circumcised nor uncircumcised, neither slave nor free. Christ is just as ready to heal a poor servant as a rich master. He himself took the form of a servant, to show respect for the lowest condition.

In this story, we can see a striking exchange of grace between Christ and the centurion. First, we see the centurion’s grace turning toward Christ. Can any good thing come from a Roman soldier? Come and see. You will find much that is good in this centurion, and he stands out as an example.

Notice his respectful approach to Jesus Christ. It showed a godly view of Jesus as one able and willing to help suffering people. He came and begged him, unlike Naaman the Syrian, another military officer, who came to Elisha more like a man of rank, demanding healing and guarding his dignity. This centurion came humbly, like a petitioner. He saw more in Christ than others did at first glance. He saw enough to honor him, even though others saw only a man whose appearance was unimpressive.

Though he was an officer and likely held a high place in the town, he put aside thoughts of his rank when he came to Christ. He came begging. The greatest people must come as beggars when they deal with Christ. He also called Jesus Lord, owning his authority and leaving the matter in his hands. He did not make a long formal request. He knew he was speaking to a wise and gracious healer, and that simply telling him the need was enough. When we honestly confess our spiritual needs and sicknesses, God does not fail to answer with peace.

He also showed a loving concern for his servant. Many people came to Christ for their children, but this is the only case here of someone coming for a servant. “Lord, my servant lies at home sick.” Masters should care for their servants when they are suffering. The servant had a palsy, which kept him from working and made his condition hard to bear. The centurion did not send him away or neglect him. He looked for the best help he could find. The servant could not have done more for the master than the master did here for the servant.

The centurion’s servants were obedient to him, and here we see one reason why. He was kind to them, and that made their obedience more willing. As we must not ignore our servants’ complaints, we must also not ignore their troubles when God afflicts them. We are made of the same substance, by the same hand, and stand on the same level before God. We must not treat them like animals.

He did not turn to witches or fortune-tellers for help. He went to Christ. Since palsy is a disease that human skill can usually not cure, his coming to Christ was a strong sign of faith in Christ’s power. He also described the servant’s condition with deep feeling. The man was severely tormented. Because he was young, his body fought hard against the disease, which made it more painful. We should have that same concern for the souls of our children and servants when they are spiritually sick, dull, and helpless. We should bring them to the means God uses for healing and life.

We also see his great humility and self-abasement. After Christ showed that he was willing to come and heal the servant, the centurion spoke with even more humility. Humble hearts often become more humble when Christ shows kindness to them. His words were, “Lord, I am not worthy that you should come under my roof” (Matthew 8:8). That shows low thoughts of himself and high thoughts of Jesus.

He does not say, “My servant is not worthy,” but, “I am not worthy.” The centurion was a great man, yet he admitted his unworthiness before God. Humility fits people of high rank very well. Christ was not outwardly impressive in the world at that time, yet the centurion, seeing him as a prophet and more than a prophet, treated him with honor.

We should value and honor what we see of God, even in people who seem far below us in outward status. The centurion came to Christ with a request, and so he spoke with great humility. When we come to Christ, and to God through Christ, we should lower ourselves in the sense of our own unworthiness. We are lowly creatures and sinful people, unfit to do anything for God, receive anything from him, or deal with him at all.

Now observe his great faith. The more humble we are, the more faith we usually have. The less confidence we place in ourselves, the stronger our trust in Jesus Christ becomes. He believed not only that Christ could heal his servant, but also that he could do it from a distance. No physical touch was needed, as in ordinary healing, and no direct contact with the sick man was necessary. The cure could be done without bringing healer and patient together.

Later we read of people who brought a paralyzed man to Christ through much difficulty and set him before him. Christ praised their faith as active faith. This centurion did not bring his servant to Christ, and Christ praised his faith as trusting faith. True faith is accepted by Christ, though it may show itself in different ways. Christ makes the kindest judgment of the different ways people seek religion, and he teaches us to do the same.

This centurion believed something that is certainly true, that Christ’s power has no limits. So distance means nothing to him. Space cannot stop the one who fills all places from knowing or acting. “Am I only a God nearby,” says the Lord, “and not a God far away?” (Jeremiah 23:23).

He also believed that Christ could heal with a word, not by sending medicine, and certainly not by using a charm. He said, “Speak the word only, and my servant will be healed.” In saying this, he acknowledged Christ’s divine power and his authority over all creatures and all powers in nature. That power lets him do whatever he chooses in the kingdom of nature. At the beginning, he raised that kingdom by an almighty word when he said, “Let there be light.”

With people, saying and doing are two different things. It is not so with Christ. That is why he is called the Arm of the Lord, because he is the eternal Word. When Scripture says, “Be warm and filled” (James 2:16), and healed, the word itself brings warmth, fullness, and healing. The centurion explained his faith in Christ’s power by pointing to the authority he had as a centurion over his soldiers, and as a master over his servants. He could say to one, “Go,” and he went.

All of them were under his command, so he could carry out orders at a distance through them. His word was law to them. A well-trained soldier knows that an officer’s command is not for argument, but for obedience. In the same way, Christ can speak, and it is done. He has that power over every bodily disease. The centurion had this authority over his soldiers, even though he himself was under authority and not the top commander. Christ has far greater power, because he is the supreme Lord of all.

His servants were quick to obey even the smallest sign of his will. We should be such servants to God. We must go and come at his command, according to the directions of his word and the guidance of his providence. We should run where he sends us, return when he calls us back, and do what he appoints. We should ask, “What does my Lord want from his servant?” When his will crosses our own, his must come first, and ours must give way.

In the same way, bodily diseases are servants to Christ. They seize us when he sends them. They leave us when he calls them back. They affect our bodies and our souls only in the way he orders. This is a comfort to all who belong to Christ, for whose good his power is at work. Every disease has his permission, carries out his command, is under his control, and must serve the purposes of his grace. Those who belong to Christ do not need to fear sickness, or what it can do, when they see it in the hand of such a good Friend.

Here we also see the grace of Christ shown toward this centurion, for he gives grace to the gracious. Christ answered him at once. The centurion only began to explain his servant’s condition, and was about to ask for healing, when Christ stopped him with these comforting words, “I will come and heal him” (Matthew 8:7). He did not say, “I will come and see him,” which would have shown him as a kind Savior. He said, “I will come and heal him,” which shows him as a mighty, all-powerful Savior. It was a great promise, but no greater than he could keep, for he has healing under his wings, and his coming brings healing.

Those who worked miracles by power given to them did not speak with this kind of certainty. Christ did, because he worked by his own power and with authority. If a minister is called to a sick friend, he can only say, “I will come and pray for him.” Christ says, “I will come and heal him.” It is a mercy that Christ can do more for us than our ministers can. The centurion asked for healing for his servant, and Christ promised to do even more than he asked or expected. Christ often goes beyond the hopes of poor petitioners.

Here we also see Christ’s humility, for he was willing to visit a poor soldier. He would not go down to see a nobleman’s sick child, when that man insisted that he come down (John 4:47-49). But he offered to go to a sick servant. In this way he showed regard for the low condition of his people and gave more honor to the part that seemed least honored. Christ’s humble willingness to come should make us even more humble before him. His kind condescension toward us should lead us to abase ourselves more deeply in his presence.

Christ praised the centurion’s faith, and from that he took occasion to speak a kind word about the poor Gentiles (Matthew 8:10-12). We can see how much strong, self-denying faith can gain from Jesus Christ, even in matters that affect many people. As for the centurion himself, Christ did more than approve him and accept him, which is the honor of all true believers. He also admired him and praised him, which is a special honor given to great believers, as was said of Job, that there was no one like him in the earth.

Christ admired him, not for his rank, but for his grace. When Jesus heard this, he marveled. This does not mean the news was new to him, because he knew the centurion’s faith, since he had given it. Rather, the faith was so great, rare, and excellent that Christ spoke of it as wonderful. He did this to teach us what we should admire. We should value holiness and the ornaments that are precious in God’s sight, not worldly show and display. The wonders of grace should move us more than the wonders of nature or providence, and spiritual growth more than any success in this world. We should say that those rich in faith, not those rich in gold and silver, have gained true glory.

Whatever is admirable in anyone’s faith must bring glory to Christ, because he will soon be admired in all who believe. He is the one who has done wonderful things in them and for them. Christ also praised this man in what he said to the crowd that followed him. Some believers are openly acknowledged by Christ in this world, through his strong and clear acts on their behalf. All believers will be confessed by him in the world to come.

“Truly, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel.” This honored the centurion, a Roman officer who was not a child of Abraham by birth, yet was an heir to Abraham’s faith. Christ found that faith in him. The point is that Christ is looking for faith, and wherever it is found, even if it is only as small as a mustard seed, he notices it. He had not found such great faith, all things considered, in proportion to the help this man had received. The poor widow was said to give more than all the others because of her heart (Luke 21:3). Though the centurion was a Gentile, he was still praised. We should not begrudge people praise just because they are outside our own group. We should be ready to give them the honor they deserve.

At the same time, this was a shame to Israel, to whom belonged the adoption, the glory, the covenants, and every help and encouragement for faith. When the Son of Man comes, he finds little faith, and because of that, he finds so little fruit. The strong faith of some people, who had very few helps for their souls, will make the guilt and ruin of many others worse. Those others had been given great abundance of the means of grace, yet they did not make good use of them. Christ said this in front of those who followed him, if by any means he might stir them up to holy jealousy, as Paul speaks of doing (Romans 11:14). They were Abraham’s descendants, so let them not allow a Gentile to pass them by, especially in the very grace for which Abraham was known.

Christ then used this moment to compare Jews and Gentiles, and he said two things that must have surprised those who were taught that salvation came from the Jews. First, many Gentiles would be saved (Matthew 8:11). The centurion’s faith was only a sample of the Gentiles’ future conversion and a sign of their welcome into the church. Jesus spoke often about this. He said it with full confidence, because he knew all people. Nothing could please him more, or anger the Jews more. Even a hint like this made the people of Nazareth furious with him (Luke 4:27).

Christ gives us here an idea of who will be saved. Many will come from east and west. He had already said that few find the way of life (Matthew 7:14), and yet here he says many will come. They are few at one time, and in one place, but when they are gathered together, they will be very many. Right now we see only one person here and there being brought to grace, but soon we will see the Captain of our salvation bringing many sons to glory (Hebrews 2:10). He will come with ten thousands of his saints (Jude 1:14), with a crowd no one can count (Revelation 7:9), with nations of the saved (Revelation 21:24).

They will come from east and west, from places far apart, yet all will meet at the right hand of Christ, the center of their unity. God has his remnant in every place, from where the sun rises to where it sets (Malachi 1:11). He will gather the chosen from the four winds (Matthew 24:31). They are scattered through the earth like seed in every part of the field. The Gentile world is especially in view here. They were long outside the promise, yet God may have had hidden ones among them even then, as he had in Elijah’s day in Israel (1 Kings 19:14). Soon after, great multitudes flowed into the church (Isaiah 60:3-4). When we get to heaven, we will miss many we thought were going there, and we will meet many we never expected.

Christ also shows what salvation itself will be like. They will come, and come together, to Christ (2 Thessalonians 2:1). Some will be brought into the kingdom of grace on earth, into the covenant of grace made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They will be blessed with faithful Abraham, and that blessing comes on the Gentiles (Galatians 3:14). This is what makes Zacchaeus a son of Abraham (Luke 19:9). Others will be brought into the kingdom of glory in heaven. They will come willingly, like doves flying home to their windows. They will sit down to rest from their labor, having finished their day’s work. Sitting suggests staying. While we stand, we are still moving, but where we sit, we mean to remain. Heaven is a lasting rest, a city that continues forever. They will sit down like those honored on a throne (Revelation 3:21), and also like guests at a feast, which is the picture here. That shows both full provision and free, familiar fellowship (Luke 22:30).

They will sit down with Abraham. People who were far apart in time, place, or outward condition in this world will all meet in heaven, including the old and the new, Jews and Gentiles, rich and poor. The rich man in hell sees Abraham, but Lazarus sits with him and leans on his breast. Holy fellowship is part of heaven’s joy. Those who seemed most unknown on earth, and who came from the ends of the world, will share glory with the famous patriarchs.

Second, many of the Jews would perish (Matthew 8:12). A strange sentence is passed: “The children of the kingdom will be thrown out.” The Jews who keep on refusing to believe, though they were born as children of the kingdom, will be cut off from the visible church. The kingdom of God, which they claimed as theirs, will be taken from them, and they will become a people no longer receiving mercy (Romans 11:20; Romans 9:31). On the last day, it will not help anyone to have been called a child of the kingdom, whether as a Jew or a Christian. People will be judged by what they truly are, not by what name they carried. If they are children in truth, then they are heirs, but many are only children in outward profession and in the family, not truly of it, and they will miss the inheritance.

Being born to believing parents makes us children of the kingdom in outward standing. But if we rest in that and have nothing else to show for heaven, we will be cast out. The punishment of those who practice evil is also described: they will be thrown into outer darkness, the darkness of those outside the church, as the Gentiles once were. The Jews were cast into that darkness, and into something worse. They were blinded, hardened, and filled with terror, as the apostle shows (Romans 11:8-10). A people cut off from the church and given over to spiritual judgments are already in deep darkness, but this points further to the state of damned sinners in hell, of which that darkness is a sad beginning. They will be cast away from God and from all true comfort, and cast into darkness.

In hell there is fire, but no light. It is complete darkness, the darkest darkness, with no trace or hope of light, not even the smallest gleam. This darkness comes from being shut out of heaven, the land of light. Those who are outside are in the regions of darkness.

But that is not the worst part. There will also be weeping and gnashing of teeth. In hell there will be deep grief, with tears that bring no relief. The pain of soul will keep eating at the lost forever, as they feel the wrath of God. There will also be great anger. Lost sinners will gnash their teeth in spite and bitter anger, filled with the fury of the Lord. They will see the happiness of others with envy, and they will look back with terror on the chance they once had to be happy, a chance now gone forever.

He cures his servant. Christ not only praised this centurion, but also gave him the very thing he asked for, as a real answer (Matthew 8:13). Notice what Christ said to him: “As you have believed, so let it be done for you.” The servant received healing for his disease, but the master received something even greater, the approval of his faith. Christ often gives comforting answers to those who pray while asking for others. It is a kindness to us when God hears us on someone else’s behalf. God restored Job’s fortunes when Job prayed for his friends (Job 42:10).

It was a great honor when Christ, as it were, gave this centurion a blank check: “Let it be done as you believe.” What more could he have asked for? Yet this same word is for all of us: “Believe, and you will receive. Only believe.” Here we see both the power of Christ and the power of faith. As Christ can do whatever he wants, so a living believer may receive whatever he asks from Christ. The oil of grace keeps multiplying until the vessels of faith run out.

The result of this word was immediate. The prayer of faith is a prayer that prevails, and it always has been and always will be. The sudden healing shows that it was a miracle, and its timing with Christ’s word shows that the miracle belonged to him. He spoke, and it was done. This proved his all-powerful authority, that his power reaches far.

A learned doctor observed that the diseases Christ healed were mostly ones that are hardest to cure by natural means, especially paralysis. He wrote that every kind of paralysis, especially when it has lasted a long time, is either incurable or very hard to treat, even in children. He often said that all the diseases brought to Christ for healing seem to have been of the most stubborn and hopeless kind.