When he entered Capernaum, a centurion approached him and appealed to him, 6 saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully.” 7 He said to him, “I will come and cure him.” 8 The centurion said in reply, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed. 9 For I too am a person subject to authority, with soldiers subject to me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come here,’ and he comes; and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith. 11 I say to you, many will come from the east and the west, and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the banquet in the kingdom of heaven, 12 but the children of the kingdom will be driven out into the outer darkness, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.” 13 And Jesus said to the centurion, “You may go; as you have believed, let it be done for you.” And at that very hour [his] servant was healed.
14 Jesus entered the house of Peter, and saw his mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. 15 He touched her hand, the fever left her, and she rose and waited on him.
16 When it was evening, they brought him many who were possessed by demons, and he drove out the spirits by a word and cured all the sick, 17 to fulfill what had been said by Isaiah the prophet: “He took away our infirmities and bore our diseases.”
After healing a man with leprosy, Jesus enters Capernaum and is approached by a centurion. A centurion was a Roman military officer with about one hundred men under his command, accustomed to giving orders and seeing them carried out. His request is striking because he is a Gentile, a non-Jew, who comes to Jesus with concern for his servant, who is suffering at home, and with confidence that Jesus can heal him.
The centurion’s answer reveals both humility and faith. He knows that Jesus does not need to enter his house in order to heal. As a soldier, he understands authority. His own commands are obeyed because he acts under a higher authority. In a deeper way, he recognizes that Jesus acts with divine authority. When Jesus speaks, sickness must obey. His words, “Lord, I am not worthy,” have entered the prayer of the Church before Holy Communion, where believers ask Christ to heal the soul by his word.
Jesus praises the centurion’s faith and then points ahead to the gathering of many people “from the east and the west” (v. 11). These words show that God’s saving plan is wider than one nation. Israel remains the people through whom God prepared the way for the Messiah, and Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are the patriarchs through whom God’s covenant promises were handed on. Yet those promises were always ordered toward blessing all nations. In Jesus, that promise begins to be fulfilled openly.
The banquet with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is an image of sharing in the kingdom of heaven. A banquet suggests joy, communion, and welcome into God’s household. Jesus is teaching that Gentiles, such as this centurion, will be welcomed into the kingdom through faith. The centurion does not belong to Israel by birth, but he approaches Jesus with humility, trust, and confidence in the authority of his word.
Jesus also gives a serious warning. The “children of the kingdom” refers to those who had received the promises and should have recognized God’s work in Jesus (v. 12). Their danger is that they may fail to receive the Messiah sent to them and rely on outward belonging instead of living faith. Belonging outwardly to God’s people must be joined to living faith. The centurion’s faith shows the kind of trust that receives what Christ gives: he comes humbly, asks confidently, and believes that the word of Jesus has power to heal.
The healing takes place “at that very hour” (v. 13). Jesus heals from a distance because his word carries his authority. This prepares us to understand the wider mission of the Church. Many believers will never have seen Jesus in the flesh, as the people of Galilee did, yet they will come to him through faith and receive life through his word.
Matthew then shows Jesus entering Peter’s house. Peter’s mother-in-law is lying in bed with a fever. Jesus sees her need, touches her hand, and the fever leaves her. She rises and waits on him (vv. 14-15). Her service is more than a small household detail. It shows that healing received from Christ leads to service. When Christ restores a person, that gift bears fruit in love of God and neighbor.
That evening, many suffering people are brought to Jesus. Some are sick, and some are possessed by demons, meaning they are tormented by evil spirits. Jesus drives out the spirits “by a word” and cures the sick (v. 16). Matthew explains this with the words of Isaiah: “He took away our infirmities and bore our diseases” (v. 17; Isaiah 53:4). Jesus’ healings reveal his compassion and his authority, but they also point beyond physical cures. They announce the kingdom of God and the deeper healing he will bring through his suffering, death, and resurrection.
Lord Jesus Christ, only say the word, and we shall be healed. Give us the humility and faith of the centurion, restore us by your mercy, and help us serve you with grateful hearts. Amen.
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Sources and References
- The New American Bible, Revised Edition. Washington, DC: Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, 2011. Matthew 8:5-17 and notes on Matthew 8:5, 8, 10, 11-12, 14, 16, and 17.
- Hahn, Scott, and Curtis Mitch. The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2010. Pages 20-21, notes on Matthew 8:5, 8, 11, 12, and 17.
- Casciaro, José María, gen. ed. The Navarre Bible: New Testament, Expanded Edition. Dublin: Four Courts Press; New York: Scepter Publishers, 2008. Pages 72-73, notes on Matthew 8:5-13, 8:14-15, and 8:16-17.
- Brown, Raymond E., Joseph A. Fitzmyer, and Roland E. Murphy, eds. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1990. Page 648, paragraphs 54-56.
- Aguilar Chiu, José Enrique, Richard J. Clifford, Carol J. Dempsey, Eileen M. Schuller, Thomas D. Stegman, and Ronald D. Witherup, eds. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. New York: Paulist Press, 2018. Pages 925-926.
- Collins, John J., Gina Hens-Piazza, Barbara Reid OP, and Donald Senior CP, eds. The Jerome Biblical Commentary for the Twenty-First Century. Third Fully Revised Edition, with a Foreword by Pope Francis. London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2022. Pages 1187-1188.
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