Jesus said, “Go” to grant the request of this authority figure.  With faith and humility he asked for a miracle for his servant and not for himself.

Please share your thoughts, your own application or questions in the comments at the end.

COMMAND 51: “Go…”

Mt 8:13

RECIPIENT:  Jewish elders of Capernaum as representatives of a local Roman centurion

CONTEXT:  My notes  about the context of this command  

Mt 8:5-13 And when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, imploring Him, ⁶and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented.”  ⁷Jesus *said to him, “I will come and heal him.”  ⁸But 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.  ⁹For 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.}”  ¹⁰Now 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.  ¹¹I 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; ¹²but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
¹³And Jesus said to the centurion…

Luke does not record the command but provides rich context.

Lk 7:2-5  And a centurion’s slave, who was highly regarded by him, was sick and about to die.  ³When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders asking Him to come and save the life of his slave.  ⁴When they came to Jesus, they earnestly implored Him, saying, “He is worthy for You to grant this to him; ⁵for he loves our nation and it was he who built us our synagogue.”  ⁶Now 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; ⁷for 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.”  ⁹Now 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.”

COMMAND FULL TEXT AND IMMEDIATE RESULT:  

Mt 8:13  “Go; it shall be done for you as you have believed.”

RESULT:  

Mt 8:13b And the servant was healed that very moment.

DEFINITIONS:  Key Greek Words – Removes ambiguity of the Bible text

word: Strong’s #    Greek   pronunciation   — definition   

go:  G5217  ὑπαìγω  hoop-ag’-ō  – to lead (oneself) under, that is, withdraw or retire as if sinking out of sight, literally or figuratively

shall be done:  G1096  γιìνομαι  ghin’-om-ahee – to cause to be, that is, (reflexively) to come into being, used with great latitude literally, figuratively, intensively, etc

you have believed: G4100  πιστευìω  pist-yoo’-ō  – to have faith (in, upon, or with respect to, a person or thing), that is, credit; by implication to entrust

MY COMMENTS AND NOTES:  

I think that this centurion exercised true servant leadership by meeting the needs of his servant.  Luke’s version makes clear that the man is not a Jew but righteous.  He presented himself through Jewish messengers imploring Jesus to come and heal his servant, possibly his child.  In faith, with humility this authority figure asked for a miracle for his servant and not for himself. The servant or child was healed through the righteous authority figure’s faith.   

The centurion was wise to send Jewish messengers.  Jesus’ stated mission while bodily on the Earth was to the Jewish nation.  Jesus sent His disciples out to convert the world.  

The role of authority

Mk 9:33-35  They came to Capernaum; and when He was in the house, He began to question them, “What were you discussing on the way?”  ³⁴But they kept silent, for on the way they had discussed with one another which of them was the greatest.  ³⁵Sitting down, He called the twelve and *said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.”

Action and prayer for healing:  This verse is in the context of a local church

Ja 5:16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

MY PERSONAL APPLICATION:   I encourage you to make your own application

In whatever role of parental, governmental, church or occupational authority I have, I will care enough about the people under my authority to assist them practically and to exercise faith by praying for them.  This is a trait of true leadership.

Below, please share your comments , question or perhaps your own application for this command

© 2018 Christopher Carlson

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB