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Hello again! I hope your week has gone well, my friend. Here’s a look at pages 1 and 2 of my Scripture-study sheets after answering Questions 3, 4, and 5.
Last Week’s Work
Question 3 (Major Characters)
Focusing on characters, I found and marked just three:
- He, him, Lord, I, you, and Jesus. As always, I marked each reference with a blue cross.
Did you notice the first reference to Jesus in this passage is a pronoun? And here’s the thing: all the characters in this story are men. So how do I know that first he in verse 5 is Jesus? I did a quick check of other translations of this passage—of the eight translations I checked (see blueletterbible.org), six of them used Jesus instead of he in verse 5. Isn’t it awesome to have so many great resources right at our fingertips?!
In this passage, I noticed Jesus entered Capernaum (v5) and volunteered to go heal a servant in the household of someone with whom Jewish leaders wouldn’t approve of (v7). When the centurion said He didn’t need to go to the servant to heal him, Jesus declared no one in Israel (who shared his nationality and belief system) had faith like the centurion’s (v10). In fact, Jesus prophesied many Jews will be thrown out of the kingdom, while those from other locations will feast with the forefathers of Judaism (vv11-12). And—as the centurion expected—Jesus spoke, and the servant was healed (v13). - Centurion, my, him, I, man under authority, me, and you, marked with green and red circles.
On my Question 1 summary, I marked centurion for further research. I think it’s a Roman military title. If so, it’s even more noteworthy that he called Jesus, “Lord” twice (v6, v8). That really doesn’t square with my impression of a centurion: a military leader from the occupying authority treating a Jewish rabbi with respect? His request shows he had compassion for his suffering servant (v6,8), and he declares himself unworthy to host Jesus (v8). He’s also totally convinced all Jesus has to do is speak and the servant will be healed (v8), and he was right (v13). The only part of this profile that seems congruent with what I thought of centurion is his self-description of someone who understands obedience (man under authority) in verse 9. - Servant, him, and he, marked with a yellow box.
This man is described by his master as faithful (v9). He became paralyzed and suffered terribly (v6). His healing depended on his master bringing the matter to Jesus’s attention (v6), and Jesus giving permission that it be done (v13).
Question 4 (Locations)
I marked several locations. Four of these you might remember I underlined in red in my summary because I don’t know as much as I would like about them. Those are:
- Capernaum (v5). I recognize the name of this location, mainly from reading (not studying) the New Testament. In fact, I’m pretty ignorant of biblical geography, and what those places might have been like at the time.
- East and west (v11) where the many come from who will dine with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
- Kingdom of heaven (v11) where the feast will be.
- Outer darkness and place (v12), where the sons of the kingdom will be thrown.
Question 5 (Time)
Here are the time references I marked:
- This story happened when [Jesus] had entered Capernaum] (v5).
- When Jesus heard [the centurion’s humble statements vv8-9] (v10), he was amazed and commented about the centurion having more faith than God’s chosen people.
- That very moment, (v13), when Jesus permitted it be done as the centurion believed, and the servant was healed.
I also marked the verb will in the prophecy verses (vv11-12) because I was drawn to them: Jesus spoke about the future here. Almost all the rest of the dialog is in present tense.
Isn’t this getting good? Let’s keep digging!
Dig In Challenges
For next week, let’s focus on three more questions, so open with prayer, then read through Matthew 8:5-13 again, and:
- Answer Question 6: What does the Author Repeat? by marking each (and its synonyms or pronouns) with a different icon;
- Record what you find for Question 7: What Comparisons does the Author Use? by looking for and noting comparisons and contrasts in the text; and then
- Respond to Question 8: What Special Statements does the Author Record? by marking the blessings, commands, curses, prayers, promises, and warnings found in the passage.
I hope you’ll join me here next week to compare answers and insights!