Matthew 8:5-9

Ver 5. And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, 6. And saying, "Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented." 7. And Jesus saith unto him, "I will come and heal him." 8. The centurion answered and said, "Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof; but speak the word only and my servant shall be healed. 9. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, 'Go,' and he goeth; and to another, 'Come,' and he cometh; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he doeth it."

Pseudo-Chrys.: The Lord having taught His disciples on the mount, and healed the leper at the foot of the mount, came to Capharnaum. This is a mystery, signifying that after the purification of the Jews He went to the Gentiles.

Haymo: For Capharnaum, which is interpreted, The town of fatness, or, The field of consolation, signifies the Church, which was gathered out of the Gentiles, which is replenished with spiritual fatness, according to that, "That my soul may be filled with marrow and fatness," [Psalms 63:5] and under the troubles of the world is comforted concerning heavenly things, according to that, "Thy consolations have rejoiced my soul." [Psalms 94:19] Hence it is said, "When he had entered into Capharnaum the centurion came to him."

Aug., Serm., 62, 4: This centurion was of the Gentiles, for Judaea had already soldiers of the Roman empire.

Pseudo-Chrys.: This centurion was the first-fruits of the Gentiles, and in comparison of his faith, all the faith of the Jews was unbelief; he neither heard Christ teaching, nor saw the leper when he was cleansed, but from hearing only that he had been healed, he believed more than he heard; and so he mystically typified the Gentiles that should come, who had neither read the Law nor the Prophets concerning Christ, nor had seen Christ Himself work His miracles. He came to Him and besought Him, saying, "Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, and is grievously afflicted."

Mark the goodness of the centurion, who for the health of his servant was in so great haste and anxiety, as though by his death he should suffer loss, not of money, but of his well being. For he reckoned no difference between the servant and the master; their place in this world may be different, but their nature is one. Mark also his faith, in that he said not, Come and heal him, because that Christ who stood there was present in every place; and his wisdom, in that he said not, Heal him here on this spot, for he knew that He was mighty to do, wise to understand, and merciful to hearken, therefore he did but declare the sickness, leaving it to the Lord, by His merciful power to heal. "And he is grievously afflicted;" this shews how he loved him, for when any that we love is pained or tormented, thought it be but slightly, yet we think him more afflicted than he really is.

Rabanus: All these things he recounts with grief, that he is "sick," that it is with "palsy;" that he is "grievously afflicted" therewith, the more to shew the sorrow of his own heart, and to move the Lord to have mercy. In like manner ought all to feel for their servants, and to take thought for them.

Chrys., Hom. xxvi: But some say that he says these things in excuse of himself, as reasons why he did not bring the sick man himself. For it was impossible to bring one in a palsy, in great torment, and at the point to die. But I rather think it a mark of his great faith; inasmuch as he knew that a word alone was enough to restore the sick man, he deemed it superfluous to bring him.

Hilary: Spiritually interpreted, the Gentiles are the sick in this world, and afflicted with the diseases of sin, all their limbs being altogether unnerved, and unfit for their duties of standing and walking. The sacrament of their salvation is fulfilled in this centurion's servant, of whom it is sufficiently declared that he was the head of the Gentiles that should believe. What sort of head this is, the song of Moses in Deuteronomy teaches, "He set the bounds of the people according to the number of the Angels." [Deuteronomy 32:8]

Remig.: Or, in the centurion are figured those of the Gentiles who first believed, and were perfect in virtue. For a centurion is one who commands a hundred soldiers; and a hundred is a perfect number. Rightly, therefore, the centurion prays for his servant, because the first-fruits of the Gentiles prayed to God for the salvation of the whole Gentile world.

Jerome: The Lord seeing the centurion's faith, humbleness, and thoughtfulness, straightway promises to go and heal him; "Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him."

Chrys.: Jesus here does what He never did; He always follows the wish of the supplicant, but here He goes before it, and not only promises to heal him, but to go to his house. This He does, that we may learn the worthiness of the centurion.

Pseudo-Chrys.: Had not He said, "I will come and heal him," the other would never have answered, "I am not worthy." It was because it was a servant for whom he made petition, that Christ promised to go, in order to teach us not to have respect to the great, and overlook the little, but to honour poor and rich alike.

Jerome: As we commend the centurion's faith in that he believed that the Saviour was able to heal the paralytic; so his humility is seen in his professing himself unworthy that the Lord should come under his roof; as it follows, "And the centurion answered and said unto him, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof."

Rabanus: Conscious of his gentile life, he thought he should be more burdened than profited by this act of condescension from Him with whose faith he was indeed endued, but with whose sacraments he was not yet initiated.

Aug.: By declaring himself unworthy, he shewed himself worthy, not indeed into whose house, but into whose heart, Christ the Word of God should enter. Nor could he have said this with so much faith and humility, had he not borne in his heart Him whom he feared to have in his house. And indeed it would have been no great blessedness that Jesus should enter within his walls, if He had not already entered into his heart.

Chrysologus, Serm. 102: Mystically, his house was the body which contained his soul, which contains within it the freedom of the mind by a heavenly vision. But God disdains neither to inhabit flesh, nor to enter the roof of our body.

Pseudo-Origen, Hom. in div. 5: And now also when the heads of Churches, holy men and acceptable to God, enter your roof, then in them the Lord also enters, and do you think of yourself as receiving the Lord. And when you eat and drink the Lord's Body [ed. note: "I am not worthy, Lord, that Thou shouldest come unto me; but as Thou didst vouchsafe to lodge in a den or stable of brute beasts, &c." vid. Liturgy of St. John Chrys. also Bp. Andrew's Devotions, and our Communion Service. "We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under Thy Table, &c."], then the Lord enters under your roof, and you then should humble yourself, saying, "Lord, I am not worthy." For where He enters unworthily, there He enters to the condemnation of him who receives Him.

Jerome: The thoughtfulness of the centurion appears herein, that he saw the Divinity hidden beneath the covering of body; wherefore he adds, "But speak the word only, and my servant will be healed."

Pseudo-Chrys.: He knew that Angels stood by unseen to minister to Him, who turn every word of his into act; yea and should Angels fail, yet diseases are healed by His life-giving command.

Hilary: Also he therefore says that it needed only a word to heal his son, because all the salvation of the Gentiles is of faith, and the life of them all is in the precepts of the Lord.

Therefore he continues saying, "For I am a man set under authority, having soldiers under me; and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it."

Pseudo-Chrys.: He has here developed the mystery of the Father and the Son, by the secret suggestion of the Holy Spirit; as much as to say, Though I am under the command of another, yet have I power to command those who are under me; so also Thou, though under the command of the Father, in so far as Thou art Man, yet hast Thou power over the Angels.

But Sabellius perhaps affirms, seeking to prove that the Son is the same as the Father, that it is to be understood thus; 'If I who am set under authority have yet power to command, how much more Thou who are under the authority of none.' But the words will not bear this exposition; for he said not, 'If I being a man under authority,' but, 'For I also am a man set under authority;' clearly not drawing a distinction, but pointing to a resemblance in this respect between himself and Christ.

Aug.: If I who am under command have yet power to command others, how much more Thou whom all powers serve!

Gloss. ord.: Thou are able without Thy bodily presence, by the ministry of Thy Angels, to say to this disease, Go, and it will leave him; and to say to health, Come, and it shall come to him. Haymo: Or, we may understand by those that are set under the centurion, the natural virtues in which many of the Gentiles were mighty, or even thoughts good and bad. Let us say to the bad, Depart, and they will depart; let us call the good, and they shall come; and our servant, that is, our body, let us bid that it submit itself to the Divine will.

Aug., De Cons. Evan., ii, 20: What is here said seems to disagree with Luke's account, "When the centurion heard concerning Jesus, he sent unto him elders of the Jews, beseeching him that he would come and heal his servant." [Luke 7:3] And again, "When he was come nigh to the house, the centurion sent friends unto him, saying, Lord, trouble not thyself, for I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof."

Chrys.: But some say that these are two different occurrences; an opinion which has much to support it. Of Him in Luke it is said, "He loveth our nation, and has built us a synagogue;" but of this one Jesus says, "I have not found so great faith in Israel;" whence it might seem that the other was a Jew. But in my opinion they are both the same person. What Luke relates that he sent to Jesus to come to him, betrays the friendly services of the Jews. We may suppose that when the centurion sought to go to Jesus, he was prevented by the Jews, who offered to go themselves for the purpose of bringing him. But as soon as he was delivered from their importunity, then be sent to say, Do not think that it was from want of respect that I did not come, but because I thought myself unworthy to receive you into my house. When then Matthew relates, that he spoke thus not through friends, but in his own person, it does not contradict Luke's account; for both have only represented the centurion's anxiety, and that he had a right opinion of Christ. And we may suppose that he first sent this message to Him by friends as He approached, and after, when He was come thither, repeated it Himself. But if they are relating different stories, then they do not contradict each other, but supply mutual deficiencies.

Aug.: Matthew therefore intended to state summarily all that passed between the centurion and the Lord, which was indeed done through others, with the view of commending his faith; as the Lord spoke, "I have not found so great faith in Israel." Luke, on the other hand, has narrated the whole as it was done, that so we might be obliged to understand in what sense Matthew, who could not err, meant that the centurion himself came to Christ, namely, in a figurative sense through faith.

Chrys.: For indeed there is no necessary contradiction between Luke's statement, that he had built a synagogue, and this, that he was not an Israelite; for it was quite possible, that one who was not a Jew should have built a synagogue, and should love the nation.