What Can be Learned From the Account of the Centurion in Matthew 8:5-13?

Those who are not careful in reading the Bible can miss the significance of the account of Jesus dealing with the centurion. Here, we will look at lessons from the account of the centurion in Matthew 8:5-13.

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

“Palsy” in Matthew 8:6 is paralytikos in the Greek text. The centurion’s servant had an illness which caused him to be immobile. It is possible he had tetanus which involves painful tightening of the jaw.

Matthew 8:7-9: “And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. 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 goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.”

The centurion understood that Jesus lived under the authority of His Father in heaven. Though it’s hard to say how much this centurion really understood the Trinity and the incarnation, he at least had an undefined perception of these. The centurion calling Jesus Lord was a recognition of His supreme, divine authority (considering that the Romans were ruling over the Jews and Jesus had no official power over the centurion on earth).

The centurion knew that Jesus could heal his servant even if He were not physically present. He rightly compared Jesus’ power to his own military authority being derived from his subjection to higher authority.

Jesus is the second person of the Trinity who is equal to the Father, yet in His humanity He needed to be subject to the Father in order to accomplish what He was sent to earth for.

John 6:38: “For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.”

Hebrews 2:8-10: “Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.”

Just because Jesus needed to live in subjection to His Father to exercise His divine authority does not mean that He put His divinity aside altogether. It also does not mean that anyone can possess the same authority which Jesus had in His humanity. He had authority in His humanity which no one else could ever possess due to His inherent divinity. His union with the Father remained perfect in His humanity. The centurion had a perception of this.

The centurion recognized that his own power and status on earth did not make him more valuable in God’s sight than others nor did they do anything to atone for his sins. The centurion’s faith also can’t be separated from the concern that he had for his servant and his willingness to do what was in his power to help his servant as he was sick and suffering. He did not despise nor disregard those who were lower in rank and status than himself. These things are also essential aspects of acceptable faith in Jesus.

This centurion recognized Jesus as Lord of all and acted accordingly. Many who teach in Jesus’ name will talk about how unworthy man is before God. However, they often teach a corrupt definition of faith in Him which doesn’t insist that people come under His authority in order to be in His grace. They might even say that anyone who thinks they actually have to obey Jesus is trying to earn God’s favor and is disqualified from His grace. What a lie. They have to discount or twist the account of the centurion, and do the same with many other things in the Bible, in order to attempt to justify their lying.

Jesus also did not rebuke this centurion for being in the military. Many who teach in Jesus’ name now say that people are living in sin simply for being in the military.

Matthew 8:10: “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.”

Jesus was obviously telling those around Him here that He had not found so great faith among the natural descendants of the twelve tribes of Israel. The terms “Israelite” and “Jew” were practically synonymous by Jesus’ time. A Jew is technically a descendant of the tribe of Judah, yet this had indisputably become the predominant tribe among the twelve tribes of Israel. Natural Israelites, regardless of their tribe, had become identified as Jews by the time of the Babylonian captivity several centuries beforehand.

Matthew 8:11-13: “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 be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.”

The thought in Matthew 8:11-12 has obviously not changed from what is written in verse 10. Jewish people who do not receive Jesus as the Messiah and obey Him accordingly are being rebuked here along with all those who think that Jews are God’s chosen people.

Jesus would also equate the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven in Matthew 19:23-24. Some people falsely claim that they are not the same.

Weeping and gnashing of teeth is a reference to being sent to the eternal fire of hell. Matthew 13:42 speaks of workers of lawlessness in God’s eyes being cast into a furnace of fire at the end of this world where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Matthew 8:12 is speaking of the same thing. There is no warrant to understand it otherwise.

The Jews in Jesus’ time were generally expecting a messiah to overthrow the Romans and set up a kingdom in which all Jewish people would rule with him. Many Jews who reject Jesus Christ still look for another messiah and have the expectation of him setting up a kingdom in which Jews rule over the rest of humanity.

Jews are called the children of the kingdom in Matthew 8:12 because the Messiah who will rule over all came from the Jews and the Gospel was first preached among the Jews. The Jewish Messiah, Jesus Christ, will indeed return to reign over all. He will reign in Jerusalem from the throne of David (as Luke 1:31-33 speaks of). Jesus makes it clear that biological lineage will not get anyone into His kingdom. Those who do not obey His Gospel and continue to walk under His authority in this age will have no part with Him afterwards.

In Jesus’ time, and throughout history, many have foolishly expected a place in the Messianic kingdom because they are Jewish. Many Christians foolishly agree with them and say that all Jews are God’s chosen people. In relation, note the warning which the Apostle Peter gave among the Jews shortly after Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Acts 3:19-26: “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people. Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days. Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed (my note- which is Jesus Christ- see Galatians 3:16)) shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.”

In Matthew 8:11-12 Jesus is saying that Gentiles who have obedient faith in Him (the King of Kings) will enter His kingdom and be with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (the faithful fathers of Israel whom King David and Jesus in His humanity descended from) while many of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob’s natural descendants will be thrown into the fire of hell to suffer there with the rest of the true God’s enemies.

God’s grace is offered to everyone. It is actually given to those who exercise obedient faith in Jesus Christ the King on Biblical terms. Natural background and heritage do not save anyone. Being Jewish does not put anyone in God’s grace. Neither does having a Christian background and/or Christian associations. Many who are commonly regarded as members of good Christian families, including many who were home schooled in conservative Christian environments, will also be cast into the fire of hell for being unbelievers who work lawlessness in God’s eyes rather than obedient believers in Christ like this centurion became. As some wrongly believe that Jewish people could not be sent to hell, many also wrongly believe that those whom they know from church or Christian home school conventions could not be sent to the fire of hell. The account of the centurion in Matthew 8:5-13 demonstrates that they are dead wrong.