Synopsis VII:18 – Healing the Centurion’s Servant
KEY: Common to both gospels Common to Matthew and Luke in Added Comparison
Italics in all of the above keys identify slight variation.
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Matthew 8:5-13 5 And when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, imploring Him, 6 and saying, "Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented." 7 Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him."
8 But the centurion said, "Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed.
9 "For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, "Go!' and he goes, and to another, "Come!' and he comes, and to my slave, "Do this!' and he does it." 10 Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who were following, "Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel. 11 "I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; 12 but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
13 And Jesus said to the centurion, "Go; it shall be done for you as you have believed." And the servant was healed that very moment. NASU |
Luke 7:1-10 When He had completed all His discourse in the hearing of the people, He went to Capernaum. 2 And a centurion's slave, who was highly regarded by him, was sick and about to die. 3 When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders asking Him to come and save the life of his slave. 4 When they came to Jesus, they earnestly implored Him, saying, "He is worthy for You to grant this to him; 5 for he loves our nation and it was he who built us our synagogue." 6 Now Jesus started on His way with them; and when He was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to Him, "Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not worthy for You to come under my roof; 7 for this reason I did not even consider myself worthy to come to You, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed.
8 "For I also am a man placed under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, "Go!' and he goes, and to another, "Come!' and he comes, and to my slave, "Do this!' and he does it." 9 Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled at him, and turned and said to the crowd that was following Him, "I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith."
10 When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health. NASU |
[Column for Added Comparison in Luke]
**ITW Added Comparison** Luke 13:28-29 |
NOTES:
NOTE 1: Some also suggest that John 4:46-54 is a record of the same event. The NASU translation is as follows:
[John 4:46-54] 46 Therefore He came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine. And there was a royal official whose son was sick at Capernaum. 47 When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and was imploring Him to come down and heal his son; for he was at the point of death. 48 So Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe." 49 The royal official said to Him, "Sir, come down before my child dies." 50 Jesus said to him, "Go; your son lives." The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started off. 51 As he was now going down, his slaves met him, saying that his son was living. 52 So he inquired of them the hour when he began to get better. Then they said to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him." 53 So the father knew that it was at that hour in which Jesus said to him, "Your son lives"; and he himself believed and his whole household. 54 This is again a second sign that Jesus performed when He had come out of Judea into Galilee. NASU
However, the evidence supporting such a suggestion is only interesting at best. The few similarities are as follows:
a) In all three of the gospel records, the person restored to health is healed by Jesus from a distance.
b) In all three gospels, the sick person appears to be in Capernaum.
c) Also, in all three, the sick person's condition is severe.
d) Both Matthew and John record (in different ways) that the person was healed at the very moment of Jesus' words that the person was healed.
e) The Greek word "pais" is used to describe the sick and/or healed person in Matthew 8:6,8,13; Luke 7:7; John 4:51 ("paidion" is used in vs 49). Without a context, "pais" is known to provide the idea of "son", or "child", or "servant" in contexts that call these specific ideas out. Please consult a lexicon for details.
In spite of the slight evidence that John may be attempting to record the same event, the differences lead favorably in the direction that Matthew and Luke record one event similarly, and that John records a different healing event. These reasons and differences are noted as follows:
i) Although Luke uses "pais" in one statement (vs 7) where the centurion makes his appeal "ho pais mou" = "my servant" (NASU), Luke identifies the relationship of this person to the centurion as a "doulos" = "servant" or "slave" (Luke 7:2,3,10). Perhaps the centurion's words in verse 8 also serve as reference to the person that he wanted to have healed, since the centurion refers to "my servant" = "toe douloe mou". Nevertheless, it is clear by the overall context that Luke saw his "pais" as a servant to the centurion, not his "son" or "child".
ii) Matthew consistently uses "pais" to refer to what the NASU translates as "servant". The context is not as clear as in Luke, but Matthew also uses "toe douloe mou" or "my servant" in 8:9 as the centurion identifies the people that he has authority over. This statement about the people that the centurion has authority over is rather vague, and only the "servant" phrase is given a possessive "mou" or "of mine". In which case, this appears to be some evidence that the "pais" that Matthew refers to is not to be viewed in the sense of a "son", or a "child" of the centurion, but rather a "servant". (Depending on one's favorite gospel source theory, the discussion becomes rather speculative from here.) Nevertheless, since Matthew and Luke follow rather close on many details (in spite of some apparent differences), it appears that Luke has provided the clarity for Matthew's record of the same event.
iii) John uses "pais" once in verse 51. In this case, John has clearly set the relationship between the intercessor and the sick person as father and son. The sick person is identified as a son or "huios" in 4:46,47,50,53. The intercessor is identified as a "father" (vs 53). Therefore, John's use of the variable term "pais" would be clarified by the context as a "child" or a "son". This is clearly different than Luke, most likely different than Matthew.
iv) Matthew and Luke identify the intercessor as a "Centurion" (or "hekatontarchos"). John refers to the intercessor as both a "royal official" (or "basilikos") and also a "father" to the sick person.
v) Although the sick person appears to be in Capernaum in all three gospels, John identifies that Jesus met up with the "royal official" in Cana - about 20 miles away from Capernaum, and definitely at higher elevation. (Clearly in John's record, the intercessor met Jesus where He was in Cana and did not merely send someone else on his behalf.) In contrast, Luke indicates that Jesus met with the friends of the Centurion in Capernaum. Matthew also indicates that Jesus was in Capernaum, but on the surface, it appears that Matthew is indicating that the Centurion met him personally. See "Note 2" about this variance. Nevertheless, Jesus is identified by Matthew and Luke as being in a different location than what John indicates.
In view of all of these things, the specific differences appear more significant than the vague similarities. Therefore, it is safe to conclude that John has intentionally recorded a different event than what Matthew and Luke record in this synopsis. R.C. Foster's Chronology places John's event earlier and as a separate event (item VII:3), and commentators Leon Morris and R.V.G. Tasker state that there is little reason to believe that John has written of the same event in his gospel. Many other commentaries don't even consider (or mention) that John could be writing about the same event.
NOTE 2: There appears to be a problematic difference between Matthew and Luke in their record of the same event in this synopsis. In Matthew's case, it *appears* that the centurion has approached Jesus personally, whereas Luke explains that the centurion sent "friends" (see Luke 7:6). Some potential explanation(s) for this can be found at http://www.bible.org/docs/nt/books/luk/deffin/luke-22.htm (scroll down to the appropriate portion regarding Luke 7:1-10).
NOTE 3: One additional comparison from Luke has been placed in an extra column in order to show similar teaching/sayings between Matthew and Luke. Please observe that this additional **ITW Added Comparison** from Luke is beyond that which R.C. Foster suggested in his Chronological Arrangement. Apparently, Luke has attributed the same sort of saying of Jesus as being stated on a different occasion than Matthew. Various theories of gospel origins will cause readers to interpret this observation in various ways.
END Updated: 10/02/03