The Exposition of Matthew 8:5-13

October 13, 2020

(Miracles of Jesus)

Questions to be answered in this study

1. The exodus of Israel was a foreshadow of what Great New Testament truth?
2. What relationship do the 10 plagues that Moses brought on Egypt have to the miracles Jesus performed in Matthew chapters 8 & 9?
3. What is the difference in the miracles Jesus performed and the modern-day faith healers?
4. Who was the first gentile to place their faith in Jesus in the gospel of Matthew?
5. Why is it so important to study God’s Word?
6. What is God’s solution to a successful marriage?
7. What can the Holy Spirit do in our lives when we submit ourselves to Him?
8. What was the profound effect the Word of God had on the Roman Centurian’s life?
9. Why didn’t those Jewish people around Jesus also have a change of heart like that Roman Centurian?

Introduction

In the first part of our study today, we will look at the faith of a Roman Centurion; secondly, we will look at some practical applications from this story. There is a noticeable relationship between the Exodus and the coming of the Messiah; Moses foretold the people of Israel that one day in the future, another deliverer would come to Israel, Deuteronomy 18:15 (KJV), “The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;” This prophet, Jesus, would deliver them from their bondage of sin, for which the Exodus was a foreshadow.

Moses delivered Israel from Egyptian slavery, and Jesus offered to deliver Israel from the slavery of sin. Moses had Israel into the promised land. Jesus offered to deliver Israel into the kingdom of heaven. As Moses used great miracles to deliver Israel, so did Jesus as the predicted Messiah. Matthew chapters 8 and 9 record just some select miracles of Jesus. Last week we talked about the healing of the leper as Jesus began His Galilean ministry. In all, there are ten miracles recorded in these two chapters. In the Bible, events are not always recorded in chronological order, which is true of these miracles of Jesus. Mathew gives us an overview of the miracles to show that Jesus is the true Messiah foretold by the Old Testament. As I mentioned above, there is a relationship between Matthew’s writing and the events of Moses and the Exodus.

Matthew chose to record ten miracles compared to Moses using the ten plagues against Egypt. Just as Jesus introduced His Galilean ministry to Israel by the leper’s healing, God introduced Moses to his ministry by using an example of leprosy. Exodus 4:6-7 (KJV), “And the LORD said furthermore unto him, Put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow. 7And he said, Put thine hand into thy bosom again. And he put his hand into his bosom again; and plucked it out of his bosom, and, behold, it was turned again as his other flesh.” However, the miracles Jesus performed were entirely different.

Today we are looking at the second healing miracle of Jesus. The question that comes to mind is, what about the miracle workers today? Don’t they also do the things Jesus did in the New Testament? No! Jesus healed all who came before Him, and He also restored them to their original condition. For example, a leper in the last stages of leprosy, who was disfigured, was restored to normal? Today, so-called faith healers screen those who are allowed on stage to be healed. For example, I grew up with a boy my age, who had experienced polio, and one of his legs was shorter and was skin and bone and dangled as he walked on crutches. The other leg was regular. Had he tried to get on stage with one of the modern faith healers, he would have been rejected because no one has performed a miracle of restoration like that. Jesus and His Apostles also raised the dead. Do you know of that happening today? Years ago, Dr. J. Vernon McGee offered a reward to anyone who could medically prove that a faith healer had healed them; no one ever claimed that reward.

Matthew 8:5-7, “And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, 6And saying, LORD, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. 7And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.”

In the previous study, we found Jesus entering Capernaum, the town He selected as His headquarters during His public ministry, and this is where His second miracle takes place. Jesus had just returned from the mount where he had preached the first sermon of His Galilean ministry, “The Sermon on the Mount.” He receives a request from a Roman Centurion; this is a man who was over 100 men. He is a man of authority and a powerful person in the Roman empire. It can be compared to a company in a military unit today, typically consisting of 80–150 soldiers and usually commanded by a captain or a major.

This Centurion was more than the ordinary Roman Centurion because he honored the first two commandments, love of God and love of others. Somewhere along the line, this man had placed his faith in Jesus. He was a believer. Ordinarily, a slave servant would have been of no importance to his master; they were dispensable, but that is not the case with this Centurion. He was very concerned and compassionate about his servant and wanted him healed.

Romans generally went to their pagan gods for help. Why would this Centurion come to Jesus, a Jew, considered an enemy of the Roman Government? This Centurion believed Jesus was more than just a rabbi. He refers to Him as Lord. The servant’s sickness was described as a paralyzing fever that tormented the servant. The events surrounding this indicate this Centurion believed Jesus to be God the Messiah who had the power to heal.

So, the Roman Centurian was the first gentile in Matthew’s gospel that expressed faith in Jesus as far as we know. His devotion to Christ would be difficult considering his position since Jesus was considered an enemy of the Roman Empire. Jesus replied that He would come to heal the servant and began to go toward the Centurion’s house. When the Centurion hears, he says something quite unusual, as we see in the following verses:

Matthew 8:8-13, “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. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. 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 children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And Jesus said unto the Centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so let it be done for you. And his servant was healed in the same hour.”

The Centurion said to Jesus that He need not come to his house that he was not worthy for Jesus to go there. The Centurion showed his great faith in Jesus by indicating that all Jesus had to do say the Word, and his servant would be healed. The Centurion explained to Jesus that he knew how authority worked since he had men under him who obeyed his command. He showed a particular faith in Jesus to have the authority to speak, and the servant would be healed, which would be a first for Jesus. This Centurion showed his faith in Jesus that His Word had power and authority.

This Centurion apparently had previous teaching concerning the power of Jesus. He recognized Jesus as the God in Genesis who spoke the universe into existence, which could also speak, and a servant would be healed. He realized that the Word of God possesses inherent power. The Bible supports this claim: Isaiah 55:11 (KJV), “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” Notice the power Isaiah assigns to the Word of God: It is inherently powerful and can accomplish whatever God declares.

Notice in v.13, as Jesus hears and sees this man’s faith, He says, “Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee.” It was not just the Centurion’s faith that Jesus could heal; it was his belief in the power of God to do whatever He intended. Matthew records that at that instant, the Centurion’s servant was healed. I’m sure this Centurion was not surprised. His faith in God’s Word had revealed the power of God; this should be an example to the church today of how powerful God’s Word is.

The Bible is more than just a guide; it has the power to make things happen in our life. That is why it is so important to study God’s Word so that it will change our lives. God’s Word has the power to save a lost soul, heal a broken heart, break habits that are killing the body and mend broken relationships. What we cannot accomplish, God can, but it requires a change in the will of man to bring it to pass.

Broken marriages are pretty standard today, but it does not have to be that way if the will of man is changed and he has faith in the Word of God. Listen to God’s solution to a successful marriage: Ephesians 5:25-28 (KJV), “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 26That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word, 27That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. 28So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.”

To some, those may be just words, but to the dedicated believer, they come with the power to bring about change. We, as believers are not alone; we have the indwelling presence of God’s Holy Spirit to guide us into holy living and a thought pattern beyond our ability. This is when we are walking in the power of the Spirit. When we submit to the Holy Spirit, he is a powerful force to bring about new convictions, changed behaviors, healing, and godliness. Before we can experience the power of God in our life, we must have the faith of this Centurion.

What a difference it can make in our lives when we devote ourselves to building a life-long relationship with God through His Word. What an incentive to study and to know His Word. I’m not talking about just and intellectual knowledge of the Bible; I’m talking about a life-changing, genuine relationship with God through His Word and living according to that revelation.

The faith of the Roman Centurion impressed Jesus. The Centurion studied the Scripture, and it had a profound effect on his life:

• It caused him to see the truth of God and recognition of Jesus as the Messiah.
• It changed his attitude toward others, which led him to be kind and caring even to a slave.
• It turned him into a person of passion and love.

God’s purpose in His Word is to make us more like Him. That is a result that no other book except the Bible can have on a person. The question that comes to mind is, why didn’t these Jewish people around Jesus also have a change of heart? We find the answer in Mark12:24 (KJV), “And Jesus answering said unto them, “Do ye not, therefore, err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God?”  We discovered earlier that the Jews had depended on the teachings of the Pharisees and were illiterate concerning the Bible. Could that also be why a large part of the church is lost, and Biblical illiteracy is so common today?

In Matthew 8:11-12, Jesus said that the Centurion’s faith in God’s Word was an example of many gentiles who would be in the kingdom. When Jesus returns at His second coming, there will be a great feast, fulfilling the feast of the tabernacles for which the Bible says they will come from the East and the West, referring to gentiles across the world. The Pharisees referred to themselves as “the sons of the Kingdom.” Jesus says they will not be present. They will have their place among those in the lake of fire where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth in otter darkness. Salvation comes by the hearing of the Word and placing faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins.