Encounters with Jesus Series: A Centurion’s Servant

Matthew 8 verses 5-13 

Ice Breaker

Probably none of us have been in a situation of living in a country that has been taken over by another nation, but try to imagine the challenges that such a situation would bring.

To what extent might you (a) comply and (b) react against such a situation?

Introduction

A centurion was a Roman military officer with authority over around 100 soldiers. As a Roman soldier in Judea was there to keep Roman power over the Jews, he would have been seen as the very enemy the Messiah would come to overthrow. That the centurion would set aside his busy affairs to possibly travel some distance to Capernaum for a servant, shows a remarkable degree of love for him – under Roman law a master had the right to kill a servant, and was expected to do so if the servant was ill or injured and so was unable to work. Capernaum was a main thoroughfare for traders and travellers so it is quite possible that there was a military base there.

It was against Jewish Law for a Jew to enter the home of a Gentile, but not against God’s Law!

Read - Matthew 8 verses 5-13

QUESTIONS

Q.1 There are a number of references to centurions in the New Testament – how many can you identify, and what is a common feature?

Q.2 how does this incident show that Jesus practised what he preached? (Matthew 5 verses 41-47)

Q.3 why do you think the centurion felt unworthy in Jesus’ presence?

Q.4 how does the centurion show remarkable humility and faith in Jesus?

Q.5 what do you think is the significance of Jesus’ response (verses 10-12)?

Q.6 how would you define faith?

Q.7 Jesus talks about believers taking their place in the kingdom of heaven. What does Jesus say about this in these verses (11-12)?

Q.8 Our studies this term are to help us in our Christian discipleship. What might we learn from Jesus’ encounter with this centurion, a man who was regarded as an enemy of the Jewish nation?

PRAYER

You might like to begin by saying the Lord’s Prayer together – and the need to forgive (always a challenge).

Pray for places in the world where enemies face one another with a view to their destruction.

Pray too for any countries known to you which have been overtaken by another nation.

Are their people in my life/your life that we should deal with in ways that Jesus dealt with this centurion?