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NT Doctrine -- Matthew 8:1-13 - Ed Hurst - 11-13-2021
Those who seek to study the life of Christ and harmonize the Gospels generally make one very serious error: They assume that similar sounding events must be the same event, so it's necessary to dispute how the authors sequence them. It makes a lot more sense to assume that Jesus said the same things the same way on multiple occasions. That's how real teachers and prophets do things.
Further, given the people He blesses come from the same basic culture, it's quite likely they would tend to approach Him in the same way regarding some need. If someone testifies, "I said this and did that, and He healed me," then we should assume others will decide to use the same approach. They treat it like a protocol of supplication before a lord. So, when we see something that lacks strong distinguishing details, it's better to assume the author didn't somehow forget the sequence, but that the same scene repeats itself at times.
Another issue is that the Gospel writers themselves often use ambiguous language about when certain events took place, pulling them together in themes. We can see that Matthew does this at times, but so does Luke and Mark, and John makes no pretense at chronology unless he flatly says so. Matthew tells us that a leper came to Jesus in faith for healing right after the Sermon on the Mount. Luke recounts a similar event earlier in the story line, as does Mark. How many lepers did Jesus heal, and how likely is it that the story would have spread among the leper community in Galilee? There's no reason to discount Matthew putting this incident in sequence here in our text.
Given the protocols, the leper would have approached from a distance out in front of the crowd following Jesus, and would have stopped after declaring himself unclean, and promptly asking if Jesus was willing to heal him. Jesus would step forward, while the crowd hung back, and would have performed this miracle. Then He would give His standard instruction for cleansed lepers. The issue is not that leprosy was communicable, but it was a matter ritual defilement, which figures large in the next story.
With the Centurion's Servant, we catch a glimpse of faith no longer common in Israel. Notice how Luke (7:1-10) is probably more precise about how the Centurion didn't come in person, but sent one of his servants. It shows a Greek approach to the story. However, in Matthew's more Hebraic approach to storytelling, he says the Centurion came, because educated Hebrew readers were long used to the idea of assuming that any such servant represented faithfully his master. In terms of what happened, it might as well have been the man himself. Keep this in mind when reading the Old Testament in particular.
We see the Centurion was exceedingly sharp, and understood this quite clearly. He knew that Jewish men would be loath to enter a Gentile dwelling, because it would make them ritually unclean, the same as with lepers. It was a hassle to then go bathe and stay away from everyone until sundown. So he simply pointed out that the exercise of authority didn't require personal presence, a very Hebrew concept. If the Centurion could send a servant, and everyone take for granted he acted on his master's command, why could not Jesus command the natural world like a servant? And indeed, this is the way it works.
Luke then leaves out a very Hebrew comment Jesus made over this whole scene. Nobody doubts that, in the Kingdom of Heaven, the ancient heroes of faith would be at home God's courts. We should expect to see the Patriarchs there. The English translation is far less picturesque than the Greek words Matthew uses: "From the rising of the sun to the setting, many will come to lounge with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of the Sky." We would say they'll kick back in comfort. This implies that hoards of Gentiles will be allowed into the Kingdom. "But the sons of the Kingdom" -- referring to those who descend from the Patriarchs by blood -- "will be tossed out into the darkness, and they will wail and gnash their teeth" at the opportunity they lost.
This becomes a recurring theme with Jesus. His teaching was meant to restore the Covenant as the entrance to the Kingdom of Heaven. That a herd of Gentiles would meet the requirements without being part of the nation leaves us with the recognition that the Covenant of Moses wasn't the only way to find peace with God. Rather, it's the faith glowing within the veil of the Covenant that God is hoping everyone finds, because that's how we are welcomed into His Presence.
RE: NT Doctrine -- Matthew 8:1-13 - jaybreak - 11-14-2021
The centurion/servant narrative always freaked me out a little but, because Jesus made a huge statement about him and his level of faith, and by comparison, the historical faith of Israel. I am assuming Jesus was using a bit of Hebrew exaggeration there, to make a point, but even so, the declaration probably shocked others that heard it. Even reading the centurion's words that triggered Jesus' "marveling," it doesn't even feel all that faithful on the surface, so I assume the way in which the centurion approached him indicated he understood something about the nature of the covenant that maybe not a lot of people did.
RE: NT Doctrine -- Matthew 8:1-13 - Ed Hurst - 11-14-2021
Exactly, Jay: The Centurion understood the Jewish hesitance to enter a Gentile residence, and accepted it as the Word of God. He knew that God was consistent in His own Laws. If there was to be a blessing for Gentiles, too, then it would surely not require His Son to violate the Covenant. So, the only logical assumption left was that Jesus could command nature just as surely as he could command his servants. This is part of the Covenant promises, but the Jews had pretty much stopped believing in miracles, whereas the Centurion had no hesitation.