For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes; and to my servant, Do this, and he does it.
All Commentaries on Matthew 8:9 Go To Matthew 8
John Chrysostom
AD 407
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 isinterpreted, 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,” Hence it is said, “When he had entered into Capharnaum the centurion came to him.”.
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 hehad 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.”.
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 tobring 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.
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, butto go to his house. This He does, that we may learn the worthiness of the centurion.
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.
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 commandof 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 hastThou 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 Thouwho 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.
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 byfriends 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.
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.
