Matthew 8:5-13

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Matthew 8:5-13
As we read about this centurion, keep in mind that Matthew’s gospel is specifically written to the Jews. In spite of this, Matthew persists in bringing up the Gentiles. There were at least four references to Gentiles in the first four chapters, and now, immediately following the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew again presents a Gentile worshiper. We are reminded of Paul’s statement in Romans 11:13-14, “For I speak to you Gentiles…if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them.” It seems that Matthew is also provoking his own people with the faith of the Gentiles.This is one of the few occasions when Jesus marveled. But what about the centurion was so amazing? Notice in the text that Jesus was willing to come to the man’s house and heal his servant. However, the centurion would not allow him saying he understood Jesus’ authority. With the authority of Jesus, the distance between Him and the home of the centurion was insignificant. The centurion believed Jesus could say the word and his servant would be healed. This is an excellent lesson on the meaning of authority. Jesus later says, “All authority is given to Me in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18). What then does it mean to be under His authority? To use the centurion’s words, when Jesus says, “Do this,” we must do it or else we are rebelling against His authority.

Jesus immediately uses the faith of the centurion to foretell the disbelief and eventual judgment of the Jewish nation. The Gentiles, who will come from “east and west,” will sit down in the kingdom with the fathers of the Jewish nation. But the Jews, who longed for such a position, would be cast out into outer darkness. The “weeping and gnashing of teeth” is significant here. This agony is not a result of some kind of pain inflicted in hell, but of the knowledge of what was lost. There will be more than the Jews who will feel this agony. How sad for a person to get to the day of judgment and agonize over the knowledge of what was lost because of putting this world before service to the Lord.
Berry Kercheville