St Matthew Chapter VIII : Verses 5-13
Contents
- Matt. viii. 5-13 (Douay-Rheims text) & Latin text (Vulgate).
- Notes on the text
Matt. viii. 5-13
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| Jesus heals the Centurion's Servant. J-J Tissot. Brooklyn Museum. |
Cum autem introisset Capharnaum, accessit ad eum centurio, rogans eum,
6 And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, and is grieviously tormented.
et dicens : Domine, puer meus jacet in domo paralyticus, et male torquetur.
7 And Jesus saith to him: I will come and heal him.
Et ait illi Jesus : Ego veniam, et curabo eum.
8 And the centurion making answer, said: Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldst enter under my roof: but only say the word, and my servant shall be healed.
Et respondens centurio, ait : Domine, non sum dignus ut intres sub tectum meum : sed tantum dic verbo, et sanabitur puer meus.
9 For I also am a man subject to authority, having under me soldiers; and I say to this, Go, and he goeth, and to another, Come, and he cometh, and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.
Nam et ego homo sum sub potestate constitutus, habens sub me milites, et dico huic : Vade, et vadit : et alii : Veni, et venit : et servo meo : Fac hoc, et facit.
10 And Jesus hearing this, marvelled; and said to them that followed him: Amen I say to you, I have not found so great faith in Israel.
Audiens autem Jesus miratus est, et sequentibus se dixit : Amen dico vobis, non inveni tantam fidem in Israel.
11 And I say to you that many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven:
Dico autem vobis, quod multi ab oriente et occidente venient, et recumbent cum Abraham, et Isaac, et Jacob in regno cælorum :
12 But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into the exterior darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
filii autem regni ejicientur in tenebras exteriores : ibi erit fletus et stridor dentium.
13 And Jesus said to the centurion: Go, and as thou hast believed, so be it done to thee. And the servant was healed at the same hour.
Et dixit Jesus centurioni : Vade, et sicut credidisti, fiat tibi. Et sanatus est puer in illa hora.
Notes
5. into Capharnaum. His own city, where He had already wrought such great miracles, notably the healing of the paralytic, and of the man with the withered hand (see St Luke v. 18-26 and vi. 6-11).
there came, etc. He came when he heard of Jesus, — i.e. of His miracles so recently wrought, and of His marvellous teaching.
centurion. One in charge of a hundred soldiers. This centurion was the Roman officer in charge of the garrison at Capharnaum, or he may have been in the army of Herod Antipas, for the Herodian princes modelled their armies on Roman lines, and often employed Roman soldiers. From the fact that the centurion had built a synagogue for the Jews, it has been conjectured that he was a proselyte to the Jewish faith.
There are two other believing centurions mentioned in the New Testament: the one who was in charge of the soldiers on Calvary, and Cornelius (see Acts x.).
Note. — In St Luke’s account we read : When he had heard of Jesus, he sent unto him the ancients of the Jews, desiring him to come and heal his servant. And when they came to Jesus, they besought him earnestly, saying to him ; he is worthy that thou shouldst do this for him. For he loveth our nation, and he hath built us a synagogue, and Jesus went with them (vii. 3-6). This difference in the two narratives can easily be reconciled. St Luke gives more details than St Matthew, who omits the coming of the ancients and of the friends. The events probably took place as follows : —
1. The centurion sent the ancients to Jesus, who set out with them for the centurion’s house.
2. The centurion then sent other friends to meet our Lord.
3. He finally came Himself.
The ancients does not necessarily mean the officers of the synagogue ; the term was also applied to leading citizens.
beseeching him. St Luke gives the motive of his earnestness — the servant (or slave) was dear to him, and being sick was ready to die. The words “was dear” signify literally “held in honour” (ἒυτιμος).
Elsewhere it is so translated. Cf. Lest perhaps one more honourable than thou be invited (St Luke xiv. 8). Receive him .... and treat with honour (Phil. ii. 29). This statement is borne out by —
1. The earnest desire of the centurion for his servant’s cure.
2. The intercession of the ancients of the Jews.
6. my servant. From St Luke’s account we find that he was a slave (δοῦλος), but he only once calls him thus ; elsewhere he agrees with St Matthew in speaking of him by the more affectionate term “ my boy ” ( ὁ παῖς μου).
sick of the palsy .... grievously tormented. This last expression seems to indicate some more acute form of disease than ordinary paralysis.
Some writers have suggested that the disease was tetanus, which is very common in hot countries. We have an example of palsy accompanied with great pain in the case of Alcimus, who was taken with a palsy, so that he could no more speak a word, nor give order concerning his house. And Alcimus died at that time in great torment (1 Mach, ix, 55, 56).
8. Lord, I am not worthy, etc. Compare these words with the testimony of the ancients : He is worthy that thou shouldst do this for him.
We have here an illustration of our Lord’s words : He that humbleth himself shall he exalted (St Luke xiv. 11).
In confessing himself unworthy, the centurion shewed that he was worthy of receiving Christ, not within his walls, but in his heart, for he would not have said this with such great faith and humility, if he had not borne in his heart Him whose entrance into his house he feared (St Augustine).
In general, Gentiles were not actuated by kindly feelings towards the Jews, possibly on account of the exclusiveness of the latter and their contempt for Gentiles. This centurion was evidently on very friendly terms with the Jews, since he had erected a synagogue for them. The Emperor Augustus had once published an edict by which he encouraged the building of synagogues, and praised them as “schools of science and virtue.” If the ruins of a synagogue, recently excavated at Tell Hum, are those of the building erected by this centurion, it must have been beautiful and costly.
The words I am not worthy, etc. are used in the Holy Mass as part of the preparation for Holy Communion.
In St Luke, the centurion’s reply is given more fully : For which cause neither did I think myself worthy to come to thee, hut say the word, and my servant shall he healed (vii. 7).
that thou shouldst enter, etc. A Jew would not enter the house of a Gentile for fear of legal defilement.
say the word. A Hebrew idiom signifying “ only command it.” “ The centurion had a just notion of Christ’s power, and our Lord greatly commended him ; whereas Martha, who said, I know that whatsoever thou shalt ask of God, God will give it thee (St John xi. 22), was reproved as having spoken amiss ; and Christ thus teaches that He Himself is the Source of Blessings, which proves that our Lord was God.”
9. I also, etc. These words mean that if the centurion, a man who himself was under authority, could command obedience, much more could Christ command disease and it would obey Him. These words shew the strong faith of the centurion, since he believed firmly that the cure did not depend on Christ’s presence, but on His will.
10. marvelled. Not according to His divine knowledge, but according to His human knowledge. “Jesus really and interiorly marvelled, owing to the experimental knowledge of the fact, just as an astronomer who predicts an eclipse, expresses his admiration and astonishment on witnessing it ” (MacEvilly).
The only other occasion when Jesus is said to have marvelled is given by St Mark, who, speaking of the Nazarenes, says. He wondered because of their unbelief, and he went through the villages round about teaching (vi. 6).
said to them that followed, — i.e. to the multitude (St Luke).
Amen I say, etc. Jesus is evidently referring only to those with whom He had come in contact during His public life. There is no comparison made between the centurion’s faith and that of the apostles, of St John the Baptist, or of our Blessed Lady. Jesus also praised the faith of another Gentile — the Syrophœnician woman (see infra, xv. 28).
11. many shall come, etc. These words are found in another context in St Luke, in our Lord’s answer to the question. Lord, are they few that are saved? (xiii. 23). Jesus teaches clearly that Gentiles as well as Jews will be saved ; but whereas, in the parallel passage in St Luke, our Lord lays special stress on the salvation of the Gentiles, in this context He calls attention rather to the exclusion of the Jews. Compare the two passages : —
St Matt. viii. 11, 12.
And I say to you that many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven : But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into the exterior darkness : there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
St Luke xiii. 29, 30.
And there shall come from the east and the west and the north and the south : and shall sit down in the kingdom of God. And behold, they are last that shall be first, and they are first that shall be last.
13. the servant was healed, etc. In St Luke we read, They who were sent, being returned to the house, found the servant whole who had been sick (vii. 10).
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
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