Matthew 8.1-13

September 13, 2024
La Valla

Matthew 8.1-13

Galilean Ministry: Breaking Boundaries

Text

1 As he descended from the hill, large crowds followed him. 2 A leper came to him and knelt, saying, “Lord, if you want to, you can make me clean.” 3 He reached out his hand and touched him, saying, “I do want to. Be made clean.” Immediately the man was cleansed of his leprosy. 4 Then Jesus said, “See that you tell no one, but go show yourself to a priest, and offer the sacrifice that Moses proscribed as testimony to them.”

5 When he came to Capernaum, a Roman centurion asked to see him. He said, “Sir, my servant is laying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” 6 Jesus said, “I will come and heal him,” 7 but the centurion responded, “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I am a man under the authority of others, and I have soldiers who are under me. I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes. I say to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does.” 10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed, and said to his followers, “Amen I say to you, from no one in Israel have I found this much faith. 11 And I tell you, many will come from the East and the West to recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven. 12 But there are children of the Kingdom who will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” 13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go, and what you believed would happen, let that happen for you.” The servant was healed on that very hour.

Comments

The first two stories in the Galilee Ministry involve Jesus crossing social boundaries. Lepers (which in the Bible can refer to people with a variety of skin conditions, not just Hansen’s Disease) were excluded from common society (see Lev 13). It speaks to Jesus’ sense of compassion and inclusion that he is unbothered by being in the presence of leper or by touching him. Similarly, when a Roman centurion (something like a lieutenant) comes to Jesus asking him to heal his servant, Jesus does not hesitate to offer to go to the centurion’s home to heal him. This is remarkable, given that the man was a military officer of the empire occupying Jesus’ country. The centurion, perhaps sensitive to awkwardness of the situation he might be putting Jesus in, expresses his confidence that Jesus could heal his servant from a distance. Jesus is impressed by the man’s trust and declares that there will be Gentiles (“from the East and the West”) who will have a share in the promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, while at the same time there be members of the ethnic Israel (“children of the Kingdom”) who will fail to attain it.