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
Hilary of Poitiers
AD 368
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.” .
Also he therefore says that it needed only a word to heal his son, because allthe 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 aman 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.”
