---
title: Matthew 8:5
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/matthew-8-5/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/matthew-8-5.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: Matthew 8:5
testament: NT
section: Gospels
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# Matthew 8:5

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came and pleaded with Him,

## NWT Wording of the Key Phrase

- NWT (2013 revision): "When he entered Capernaum, an army officer came to him, pleading with him"

## JW Usage

Matthew 8:5 introduces the centurion who pleads with Jesus for his servant's healing. The Watchtower uses this account as a proof-text for the Jewish "law of agency" (shaliach): Matthew records the centurion personally approaching Jesus, while Luke 7:1-5 records that he sent Jewish elders on his behalf. The discrepancy is read as evidence that an agent's acts can be attributed to the sender — and the principle is then extended to Jesus, who acts as Jehovah's agent without himself being divine.

## Protestant Usage

Affirm the legitimate observation: Matthew and Luke do attribute the same actions to the centurion and his messengers respectively, and Jewish agency law treats an agent's acts as the sender's acts. Then expose the limit. No Old or New Testament agent (1) is called by God's personal name or title, (2) accepts worship, (3) claims to be God, or (4) is entrusted with spirits at death. Jesus does all four. Pair Matthew 8:5 with John 20:28 (Thomas: "my Lord and my God"), Acts 7:59 (Stephen entrusting his spirit to Jesus), and Revelation 22:8-9 (an angel refusing John's worship and redirecting it to God). Agents redirect; Jesus accepts. The shaliach principle is real — but it is Jesus who exceeds every limit it places on a creature.

## Arguments Using This Verse

- [The Law of Agency Doesn't Work](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/law-of-agency.md) — Agents Are Never Called God [Deity of Christ]
- [The Career Extension of Blood-Guilt](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/blood-guilt-firearms-careers.md) — Romans 13:4 — God Appoints the Sword-Bearer [Practice]