Kyle has written a number of books, including the matthew commentary in the. Welcome to practical christianity foundation at practical. He achieved the rank of centurion by distinguishing himself above others in the brutal roman martial arts. But i think they refer to the same miracle because. According to these accounts, a roman centurion asks jesus for his help because his servant is ill. The main idea is faith, but the miracle could also be outlined around the centurion. He responds in amazement at the centurions confidence that jesus neednt actually come to. Im using it to great avail as leader of an adult bible study class. The healing of the centurions servant, or the faith that. Whichever is the case, jesus did heal the centurions servant. Capernaum is the scene of the healing of the centurions servant matthew 8. The centurion fully understood that jesus healing power was not a magic trick that required the magicians.
Early in his ministry, jesus returned to capernaum and was approached by a centurion whose favorite servant was near death. A harmony of the four gospels, 2nd ed, baker books pub. Healing the centurions servant is one of the miracles said to have been performed by jesus of. Be diligent is just what i wanted an intelligent, in depth, yet easily understood commentary on the littlecovered book of mark. Because the synoptic gospels are repetitive, this smaller book of the bible gets short shrift. This one, performed shortly after the sermon on the mount, is one of only two miracles that he did in the presence of and for gentiles.
Jesus proceeded from the mountain to capernaum, which was now his home, or headquarters. This miracle shows that humility and faith go hand in hand and are closely connected with healing. As a notforprofit research foundation, our goal is to serve the global community in matters of faith in god and his son jesus christ by producing the holy scriptures in an easyto. Jesus agreed to go and heal the servant, but the centurion stopped jesus and said, just say the word, and my servant will be healed. When asked to heal the slave, he goes with the jewish elders 7. Study guide for matthew 8 by david guzik blue letter bible. The healing of the centurions servant focus online. What the bible says about healing of the centurions servant. Welcome to practical christianity foundation practical christianity foundation is a notforprofit research foundation committed to producing an easytoread devotional commentary series on the books of the bible. Matthew, chapter 8 united states conference of catholic bishops. Matthew describes him as pleading with jesus on behalf of his servant.
He says that the reason that the lord jesus was able to heal the centurions servant was that he recognized, by extrasensory perception, that his spontaneous work of healing was to take place in the centurions servant. The story is not recounted in the gospels of either john or mark. This shows us that the term disciples has a somewhat broad meaning in the gospel of matthew, and must be understood in its context. There are differences in the gospel accounts of this miracle. For now, until i know all the facts, what possible explanation is there for this difference. As a term for the place of judgment, darkness has a literal meaning in the first place cf. Jesus heals a centurions servant now when jesus had entered capernaum, a centurion came to him, pleading with him, saying, lord, my servant is. The centurion was one the most unlikely persons to amaze jesus. William barkley, in his commentary on the book of matthew, goes to great lengths to explain away this miracle, as professor barkley generally does. He was a roman, stationed in palestine to subject the jews to the emperors rule.