The following "Question" was asked by a member of the congregation at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, and "Answered" by their pastor, John MacArthur Jr. It was transcribed by Anjela Paje of Spokane, WA, from the tape, GC 1301-Q, titled "Bible Questions and Answers Part 19."  A copy of the tape can be obtained by writing, Word of Grace, P.O. Box 4000, Panorama City, CA 91412 or by dialing toll free 1-800-55-GRACE.  ©1980. All Rights Reserved.

Question

You taught back in Matthew, when you taught about Jesus going to Capernaum, and a Centurion approached him, and asked Him to heal his paralyzed slave. I was just curious about the account in 8:5. It said that the Centurion came to Him. Then I ran into an account back in Luke. In Luke 7, it talks about the same incident, and he talks about the fact that the Centurion sent one of the Jewish elders. Then you go further down inside, further into the passage, and it talks about the fact that in Matthew, the same account, is that the fact that later on Jesus went to the Centurion’s house. In Luke, it says the Centurion sent one of his servants out to stop Him. 

Answer

When I taught that passage, if you will listen to the tape, you will see that I harmonized those two accounts. They can be easily harmonized. The purposes that the writer has in mind are very important. You see, you are touching on a problem known as a "synoptic problem." The Synoptics or the Matthew, Mark, Luke gospels are synopsis of the life of Christ. John stands alone because it doesn’t focus on the life of Christ chronologically. There is no birth account or anything. It focuses on His deity. But, the ones that focus on His life, the Synoptics, have variations in many of the accounts, depending upon the focus and intent of the writer.

Now, Matthew tends to condense things. For example, when you received a man’s emissary, you received the man. Now, this was a Jewish concept. If you received a man’s ambassador, you received the King. In this case, Matthew is simply saying that when you receive the man sent by the Centurion, you receive the Centurion. In other words, Matthew’s point is to condense the thing to get at what he wants to get at. And, if you just compare the passages, as I tried to do when I preached on it, you will find that they harmonize wonderfully. And, that if you just follow the flow, there is really no problem at all.

In fact, the apparent discrepancies in the synoptic problem are already resolved if we just carefully study the text. We have been fighting those things off for years from the liberal critics. And, there is really no problem. So, I would suggest to you a book that you should buy that will help you a lot. It is called, The Life of Christ in Stereo. It is written by a man named, Cheney. And, what it is, you have heard of a harmony of the gospels? You can buy a harmony of the gospels where, in four columns, you get the whole New Testament. They are all laid out beside each other. But what Cheney did was integrate the four gospels and called it, The Life of Christ in Stereo, so that he puts all of the things together, so you read the flow of all the narratives in their natural, normal, chronological sequence. And, then, I think, if you read that, on this passage or any of those other passages, it will be very helpful in helping you to resolve those kinds of things.

Added to Bible Bulletin Board's "MacArthur’s Questions and Answers" by:

Tony Capoccia
Bible Bulletin Board
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