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
Augustine of Hippo
AD 430
Serm., 62, 4: This centurion was of the Gentiles, for Judaea had already soldiers of the Roman empire.
By declaring himself unworthy, he showed himself worthy, not indeed into whose house, but into whose heart, Christ the Word of God should enter. Nor could hehave 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.
If I who am under command have yet power to command others, how much more Thouwhom all powers serve!.
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.
