The Importance of Faith and its Transforming Power
Matthew 8:5-13: The Faith of the Centurion
Introduction
Barriers are common in today’s society. There are cultural barriers, social barriers,
economic, political, and religious barriers.
We have trouble interacting with people who are different from us. Jesus has called us to overcome these
barriers. A passage that highlights, and
exemplifies this breaking down of walls is Matthew 5:13-18, the story about a
centurion’s faith. The centurion was a
Roman, and Jesus a Jew.[1] Historically, these two groups did not get
along very well, yet Jesus converses with this man. He praises the great faith of the
centurion. Jesus is at work tearing down
barriers here. He demonstrated that
faith is better than status or works. Those
who heard Jesus’ words for themselves, or read the words from the gospel
according to Matthew, were transformed by the message this passage
contains. To enter the kingdom of
heaven, faith alone is needed. The outer
man has nothing to do with salvation.
This story shows that we must all be transformed by faith, and in so
doing we will break down walls in society and bring others into a restored
relationship with God as well.
Matthew 8:5-13, the Faith
of the Centurion
In this particular passage in Matthew, a centurion approached Jesus
and asked him to heal his servant, who was at home, and Jesus agreed. The centurion, however, told Jesus that he
did not have to come to his home, but rather just had to tell him that his
servant would be healed and he would be satisfied. The centurion indicated that he was familiar
with just having to say a word and have something be done because of his
authority in the Roman army. Jesus
marveled at this man’s faith and exclaimed to the crowd of followers around him
that he had not even come across such strong faith in the people of Israel
(the Jews). He therefore healed the
centurion’s servant immediately and told the crowd that there would be many
coming from foreign places and entering the kingdom of heaven, but that some
from Israel
would not enter.
Transformation: The First
Level
There are three different levels to this passage. In order to fully understand this passage, we
must look at three different audiences.
First of all, we can look at the passage and see what it says
directly. Jesus is speaking to the
centurion, and there is a crowd of followers surrounding Jesus, as there often
was during his years of ministry. Just
by reading this passage we can see that Jesus’ words can have a tremendous
impact on those who hear them. While
Jesus is talking directly to the centurion, we must take a closer look, and see
that he is really trying to change the lives of those following him. The centurion already has a great faith, and
as Jesus himself later said, it was not the healthy that need a doctor, but the
sick.[2] Thus, Jesus was more concerned with the
crowds around him, composed mostly of Jewish men and women, who were still
questioning his validity and his claim to the title Messiah.
This crowd had surrounded him in the town of Capernaum,
located on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus had moved here from Nazareth
and had made Capernaum
the base of his missionary work.[3] The Roman centurion probably knew about this
place because of his military base’s proximity to the town.[4] It was about the year AD 27. The people of Capernaum
were mainly farmers and fishermen, but industry and trade also supported the
economy in Capernaum. The Damascus
road was close to the town, which supported the trade network. [5] The Jewish followers would be well acquainted
with foreigners, particularly because of the trade routes and the Roman
military base. However, they would not
be too concerned about the spiritual welfare of these foreigners, because their
religion was meant for their own Jewish group alone.[6]
We can look at the life of one individual in particular, a Jewess by
the name of Elizabeth. Her husband was a farmer, and looked after a
plot of land behind their house. She
would help her husband look after their animals and crops, as well as work in
the kitchen preparing the daily meals.
She was used to hard work, long days, and little rest. God had blessed her family, however, because
the nearby Roman guard was kinder to the dominant Jewish population than many
other Roman bases in the region. In
fact, just the other year, the Roman centurion had funded the construction of a
new synagogue in Capernaum! Surely the Lord had blessed them
greatly. Therefore, every Sabbath, she
would accompany her husband to the outer court of this synagogue and give
thanks to God for their many blessings.
She followed the law of God as laid out in the Torah and as taught to
her by her husband. She was glad to be a
part of this special people that God had called to be his own. But then she began hearing of a Jew from Nazareth, a man called
Jesus, who was preaching to fellow Jews around the country side. In fact, she had found out from her husband
just the other day that Jesus had come to stay at Peter’s house right here in Capernaum, and would
probably be staying there for a long time to come. Elizabeth
had heard rumours about Jesus. He was
teaching strange things, saying that they were not quite following God’s law,
and that the Torah meant something slightly different than what they had all
thought.[7] She was curious about this man who could
supposedly heal people from diseases.
Her cousin had just fallen ill, and perhaps Jesus could go to her. Elizabeth
was also cautious, however, because too many men had tried to fight against the
Roman domination and their rebellions had simply ended in futile bloodshed and
failure. Surely God was still looking
out for them, though, and would save his holy people from their suffering at
the hands of pagans.
Now, let us take this picture of Elizabeth,
a fictional character, but one resembling a true historical personage, and
place her in the crowd following Jesus in Capernaum.[8] She was aware of the Roman presence in Capernaum, and was not too
antagonistic towards the soldiers, especially since the centurion seemed to be
friendly toward the Jews. Neither was
she open to sharing her life and faith with them, for they were truly
outsiders. She was part of a people
called to a holy life, called to following the one true God. It was a special calling open only to a
few. She was curious what Jesus would do
when he saw this centurion walking up to him, but assumed that he would
probably only give him a passing glance while continuing on to his
destination. When she heard the
exchange, she was surprised, and upset.
The “divine grace” of God was not just hers alone; it did not belong
only to her people. God’s grace was
available for everyone through faith in Christ.
Status had nothing to do with God’s gift; indeed, God’s grace was being
extended to those on the outer fringes of society as well.[9] Elizabeth
was under the impression that the Jews would gain access to God’s kingdom
because of their lineage. Abraham, their
father, had been the one considered righteous by God.[10] Surely this lineage would count for
something. According to Jesus, all that
history was not enough any longer to enter into the kingdom of heaven. Salvation was no longer reserved strictly for
the Jews, and this was certainly a surprising realization.
Jesus was trying to broaden Elizabeth’s
surroundings. He wanted to show her that
God had created all mankind and that every human was important to him. She was so intent on her lineage, so entrenched
in the stubbornness of her people, that she needed a shock to be able to
experience a change in her thinking.
Jesus provided that shock factor in his statement regarding the
salvation of foreigners at the expense of the Jews. In verse 12, he said that “the subjects of
the kingdom” would be expelled. Elizabeth’s security was
now completely washed away, and she was scared – surprised and scared. Lest she be too scared to do anything about
this, however, Jesus also showed her the way to salvation: faith. He praised the great faith of the centurion
and indicated by his statement regarding the servant’s healing that blessings
would come to those with faith.[11] Jesus also wanted to show Elizabeth that a strong faith, a belief that
Jesus could actually do all he set out to do, would be enough to get her
through tough times. That is to say, faith
in Christ provides the opportunity for Jesus to exercise his authority over our
situation.[12]
Elizabeth would take more care to befriend her neighbour, Junia, the wife of a
cousin of one of the Roman soldiers. She
believed what Jesus had said, some Jews may not experience the kingdom of heaven.
Therefore, Elizabeth would do more to take part in God’s
rescue mission. She had heard earlier
from Jesus that the Torah was more than just a series of laws stipulating how
to live. It was meant to change hearts,
to enable Jews to truly love their neighbours.[13] From this moment on, Elizabeth would try harder to share her
meager belongings with those in need.
She would talk to Junia about Jesus, and bring her along whenever she
heard that Jesus was talking with the crowds.
Her life would be transformed by the interactions with Jesus; Elizabeth would become a more
caring, more concerned woman of faith.
She would trust in Jesus. She
believed now that he was the Messiah and would save her and others, whoever
would believe.
Transformation: The Second
Level
The second level of interaction in this passage took place between
the writer of the Gospel of Matthew and his first century audience. The book of Matthew was probably written
around AD 85 by a Jewish scribe who had been a follower of Matthew, one of the
twelve disciples.[14] The writing style of this book indicates that
the author was comfortable with using Greek, rather than Aramaic, which would
have been the case had Matthew the disciple written it. Thus, we can be reasonably certain that the author
of Matthew was a Jewish scribe, as mentioned, who was working in Antioch, compiling the
teachings of Jesus according to Matthew.[15]
This scribe’s audience would have consisted of members of the Jewish
Diaspora, like himself, who had come to Antioch (also known as Syrian Antioch)
fleeing the persecution in Jerusalem. Antioch was a large
commercial centre, as many trade routes went directly through the town. Because of this commercialism, Antioch’s population
consisted of a number of different ethnic groups.[16] One character who may have read the Matthean
scribe’s gospel is Cassius, a Jewish fisherman who worked on the docks in Antioch.[17] He was first exposed to Christianity through
another Antiochian fisherman, Jonas. Jonas
had invited him to a meeting of The Way.
Members of The Way believed that Jesus was the Messiah. Cassius thought Jonas abandoned the Jewish
faith to participate in this Christianity.
He thought Jonas had too little regard for the Torah and God’s special
calling for the Jews. And yet, out of
curiosity, he accompanied Jonas to one of the meetings to see for himself what
these people actually believed. When he
arrived at the meeting house, he was surprised to see a number of different ethnicities
present. There were Greeks, and some
fellows Jews that he knew from the synagogue.
There were also Syrians and Romans!
Apparently, Jesus the Messiah (if that is truly who he was, Cassius was
not quite certain yet) had come to save all people, not just his holy nation of
Israel. Cassius did not quite think this was fair;
after all, he had lived his whole life paying the tithe and following God’s
law. He had been privileged to be part
of that special nation of God. All of a
sudden, others could join in as well, others who did not have such a special
heritage? Moreover, Romans, who had
subjected Israel
for decades, could experience God’s grace?
This was a bit of a shock to Cassius, but as he heard Matthew’s version
of the news about Jesus, he began to realize that Jesus had some important things
to say. Jesus had a very different idea
of what the Torah meant, and suggested that it change the inner being of every
man, rather than just let it govern the outer appearance. This certainly made
more sense to Cassius, as he remembered how the Pharisees cared little about
their people but pretended to be so holy.[18] Cassius decided to go to another meeting of
The Way to find out more about how Jesus was going to transform everyone into
true righteousness-seeking people.
Cassius, having heard Matthew 8:5-13 read at one of the meetings of
the Way, accepted the initial message a bit easier that Elizabeth had. After all, there were more cultural groups than
the Jews present at the gathering.[19] Clearly, Jesus had come to include all
peoples in the kingdom of heaven. The
more he thought about this story, though, the more Cassius realized the change
that would occur in his life if he truly accepted Jesus’ implicit message. Keeping the Torah was not enough
anymore. The Torah could only train
Cassius in the way that Jesus wanted him to go.[20] Following the Torah only initiated the inner
change that Cassius needed to experience, that of believing in Christ’s power,
and then acting on it, like the centurion.
The Matthean scribe included the story about the centurion because
he wanted to show that Jesus cared about the Gentiles. Antioch
was a city teeming with both Jews, and Gentiles – Romans, Syrians, and Greeks. The Jews would have been rather hesitant to
include the other groups in their own religion, even after they had become
Christians. Including this story would
have helped the Matthean scribe drive his point home that now there is no Jew
or Greek, only individuals loved by God.[21]
Moreover, the Gospel according to
Matthew is an entire book devoted to showing how the Torah was meant to demonstrate
the proper way for relating with one another.
The Torah was meant to help the Jews practice love the way God loved,
the way that God was love. Jesus was
calling all his followers to a “greater righteousness”, one more involved than
keeping the letter of the law. [22] The story of the centurion proves that merely
keeping the law is no longer sufficient for salvation. Greater righteousness, greater faith, is
needed. The Matthean scribe included
this particular story, then, to support his argument that Jesus was opening up
the doors to everyone, providing each human with the opportunity for salvation. Furthermore, the scribe was demonstrating
that following the law was insufficient for salvation, and that this new
opportunity required faith in Jesus. Cassius
had to have the faith like a centurion, a faith strong enough to believe that
Jesus could do all he said he could do.
Cassius would be impacted by the reading of this passage by treating
others with a greater kindness. He
realized that having a strong faith in Jesus would spill over into the rest of
his life. That is to say, he understood
that the greater faith that Jesus required of his followers would lead to a
greater representation of Jesus within himself.
Believing in the all-powerful nature of Christ would enable Cassius to trust
that Jesus cared about his troubles, such as when those traders would swindle
Cassius out of a fair trade for his fish.
What could Cassius do when they used false scales to weigh the coins and
barter for his goods? If he upset them,
he would lose his customers. In this
situation, however, Cassius realized now that he could turn the other cheek.[23] He had to remember that Jesus cared for even
these Roman merchants. He now believed
that Jesus was the Messiah, the true son of God that had been spoken of by the
prophets. Jesus rescued him from his
sin. He had to show others that they
could experience the same salvation.
Just like the centurion believed Jesus could heal, so Cassius believed
that Jesus would give him strength, courage, and kindness toward these
Romans. Perhaps in so doing, he could win
them over.
Transformation:
The Third Level
Since scripture is God-breathed, and
useful for teaching, rebuking, and correcting, a contemporary audience can also
be transformed by the reading of God’s word.[24] For myself, I am both like and unlike the
previous two characters who have been impacted by the story of the centurion’s
faith. First of all, I am a Gentile, not
a Jew, and therefore do not have that cultural heritage of being part of a
specific nation called by God to represent God’s covenant to all humankind. I am more open to the idea that God has come
to save all nations, because I am part of one of those nations who were once
far off but have now been called near to God through the blood of Christ.[25] However, I still sometimes think that God
should not extend his mercy and grace to various people, such as murderers,
adulterers, or pornography addicts. The
truth of the matter, as we can see from this passage in Matthew, is that God
has extended his grace to all people, and some who think they are deserving may
not enter the kingdom of heaven, while others, “more terrible sinners”, will be
able to enter the kingdom through a change of heart and a faith in Jesus
Christ. If they truly believe that
Christ has covered their sins, grievous though I may think they may be, God
will still see fit to restore a relationship with them. And others, if they are not careful, may end
up banished from the kingdom even though they carried out good works.
In the end, I am transformed by this passage in a profound way. Like the early church characters, I come away
from hearing about the centurion with two specific changes. First of all, I will seek to be more open to all
sorts of people, regardless of whether I may think them worthy of God’s love or
not. God’s mission, to seek and save
fallen humanity, includes everyone, and I cannot decide who should be saved.[26] Second, I am reminded that status or good
works have nothing to do with salvation.
I will seek to be more faithful in my relationship with God, to truly
believe, like the centurion, that whatever God says, that he will do. This mindset will be a powerful
life-transformer, in that I will no longer be relying on my own strength, but
on God’s, and he will come through every time.
In these two things, greater kindness and greater faith, I am like the
two characters from history. Like
Elizabeth who befriended her Roman neighbour, I will make more of an effort to reach
out to those who are near to me, but who I previously thought were beneath me,
or too different from me to interact with.
In this way, I will mirror Jesus’ love toward the centurion. Like Cassius, when times are tough, when I am
poor, or have been taken advantage of at work, I will take the high road, and
believe that Jesus can reach into my situation and save me, if I but ask him to
help.
Conclusion
The story about the faith of the centurion highlights the need for faith
in Christ. By faith alone we will be
saved. Jesus praised the faith of the
centurion above the works of the law-abiding Jews. The Matthean scribe underlined the fact that
Jesus was calling both Jews and Gentiles alike to a greater righteousness, a
life-changing transformation that would occur only through faith in Christ. Today, we can experience the same
transformation if we believe in Jesus and his atoning work, and pass this
message onto others. If we give our
faith room to go past simple “head” knowledge and become life-altering “heart”
knowledge, we will draw closer to God, as Jesus said we would.
Bibliography
BibleGateway. A Roman
Exception. Found online at:
<http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/index.php?action=getCommentaryText&cid=1&source=1&seq=i.47.8.4>. Accessed April 12, 2009.
Casting
Crowns. If We Are the Body. Sony
Imports, 2003.
Clarke,
Howard. The Gospel of Matthew and its Readers. Indianapolis: Indian University
Press, 2003.
Cousar, Charles
B. An
Introduction to the New Testament: Witnesses to God’s New Work. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster
John Knox Press, 2006.
Ewing, W. Capernaum. Found online at: <http://bibleatlas.org/capernaum.htm>. Accessed April 12, 2009.
France, R.
T. “Faith.” Pages 223-226 In Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels. Edited by Green, Joel B., Scott McKnight, and
I. Howard Marshall. Downers Grove:
InterVarsity Press, 1992.
Henry,
Matthew. Matthew Chap. VIII: Christ Heals the Centurion's Servant. Commentary on the Whole Bible, Vol. 5
(Matthew to John). Found online at:
< http://www.ccel.org/ccel/henry/mhc5.Matt.ix.html>. Accessed April 14, 2009.
NIV Archaeological Study Bible: An Illustrated Walk
Through Biblical History and Culture. Grand
Rapids: Zondervan, 2005.
Saddington,
D.B. “The Centurion in Matthew 8:5-13:
Consideration of the Proposal of Theodore W. Jennings, Jr., and Tat-Siong Benny
Liew.” Journal of Biblical Literature 125, no. 1 (2006): 140-142.
Scott, Ian. Witnesses
of Hope: A Pathway into the New Testament.
Found online at:
<http://www.tyndale.ca/~iscott/WitnessesOfHope/index.php?chapter=5§ion=1>. Accessed April 13, 2009.
Wiersbe, Warren
W. Be
Loyal. Wheaton, Illinois:
SP Publications, 1980.
[1] Some scholars suggest the centurion may have been a Syrian, and
others suggest we can never know the centurion’s exact identity, but the
underlying point is that the centurion was certainly not a Jew. See: Howard Clarke, The Gospel of Matthew and its Readers, (Indianapolis:
Indian University Press, 2003), 99. See also: D. B. Saddington, “The Centurion in
Matthew 8:5-13: Consideration of the Proposal of Theodore W. Jennings, Jr., and
Tat-Siong Benny Liew,” JBL 125, no. 1
(2006), 142.
[2] Matt 9:12
[3] Matt 4:13. See also: Matthew
Henry, Matthew Chap. VIII: Christ Heals
the Centurion's Servant, Commentary
on the Whole Bible, Vol. 5 (Matthew to John), (Found online at:
<
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/henry/mhc5.Matt.ix.html>).
[4] W. Ewing, Capernaum,
(Found online at: http://bibleatlas.org/capernaum.htm). See also: Luke 7:5. Luke indicates that the centurion built
(funded) a synagogue, so he must have been quite closely linked to this town.
[5] NIV Archaeological Study
Bible: An Illustrated Walk Through Biblical History and Culture (Grand Rapids: Zondervan,
2005), 1643.
[6] Henry, Matthew Chap. VIII.
[7] Refer to the Sermon on the Mount, found in Matt 5-7.
[8] The character of Elizabeth
is entirely fictional, and is partially based on a character in Ian Scott, Witnesses of Hope: A Pathway into the New
Testament, (Found online at:
(<http://www.tyndale.ca/~iscott/WitnessesOfHope/index.php?chapter=5§ion=1>),
3.9.21-3.9.27.
[9] Charles B. Cousar, An
Introduction to the New Testament: Witnesses to God’s New Work, (Louisville, Kentucky:
Westminster John Knox Press, 2006), 121.
See also: Henry, Matthew Chap.
VIII. See also: Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Loyal, (Wheaton, Illinois: SP
Publications, 1980), 57-58.
[10] BibleGateway, A Roman
Exception, (Found online at:
http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/index.php?action=getCommentaryText&cid=1&source=1&seq=i.47.8.4).
[11] Matt 8:10, 13.
[12] R. T. France, “Faith” In Dictionary
of Jesus and the Gospels (eds. Green, Joel B., Scott McKnight, and I.
Howard Marshall, Downers Grove: InterVarsity
Press, 1992), 223.
[13] See the Sermon on the Mount, Matt 5-7.
[14] Scott, Witnesses,
4.2.6. Some scholars still insist that
Matthew was written between AD 50-60, but the most recent sources indicate that
the later date is more reliable. See p.
1556 of my bible.
[15] Scott, Witnesses, 4.2.8.
[16] NIV Archaelogical Study Bible,
1904.
[17] The character of Cassius is entirely fictional and his description
is in part based on a character from Scott, Witnesses,
4.11.8-4.11.13.
[18] Cousar, An Introduction,
115.
[19] Scott, Witnesses, 4.3.4.
[20] Ibid., 4.6.5.
[21] Biblegateway, Roman
Experience.
[22] Scott, Witnesses, 4.6.2.
[23] Matthew 5:39.
[24] 2 Timothy 3:16
[25] Ephesians 2:13
[26] I am reminded of a Casting Crowns song, If We Are the Body, where they sing, “Jesus paid much too high a
price for us to pick and choose who should come.” (Sony Imports, 2003).
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