Matthew 8:13 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way— This most evidently proves that the centurion was come out of his house, as we have observed on Matthew 8:5. There is in these words of our Saviour a strong insinuation, thatthe centurion had conceived no higher an idea of his divine power than was just; As thou hast believed, so, &c. After these words many manuscripts read, And the centurion, returning to his house, found that his servant, &c. See Wetstein. This miracle, says Macknight, is generally supposed to have been the same with that related, Luke 7:1; Luke 7:50 yet they seem to have been different. For, 1. According to St. Matthew, it was the centurion's son (παις) who was sick; whereas, according to Luke, it was his servant (δουλος). It is true, Luke once uses the Greek word παις, which signifies a son; a circumstance which has led many to confound the two miracles: yet there is little in it, as we are directed to explain that word by the name δουλος, servant, which he uses no less than three times. On theother hand, we are under no necessity to translate the original word παις in Matthew by servant, but upon the supposition that the miracles are the same. 2. Matthew's centurion came in person, being to ask a favour for his son; whereas Luke's centurion, considering with himself that he was to petition Jesus in behalf of a slave, first prevailed with the elders of the town to present his petition: afterwards, on second thoughts, he deputed some intimate friends to hinder Jesus from coming. The maxim indeed of the civilians, that he who causes another to do any thingmay be said to do it himself, is thought by many a sufficient reconciliation of this difference. But it is not so; for though the law establishes that maxim, to render the execution of justice effectual, it cannot well be allowed in history; the perfection of which lieth in the exactness of the narration. And therefore, seeing Matthew has expresslyaffirmed that the centurion came beseeching Jesus; that Jesus said to him, I will come, &c. that the centurion answered, I am not worthy, &c. and that Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way, and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee: to interpret these things as said to a man's friends, would be extremely harsh, and contrary to all the rules of history. 3. There is not the smallest hint given in Matthew, that the centurion of whom he speaks was a proselyte. On the contrary, there is an insinuation that he was not, in the opposition that is stated between his faith and the faith of the Israelites; and in the declaration which our Lord was pleased to make on this occasion; viz. that many should come from the east and west, that is, from all countries, and sit down in the kingdom of God while the children of the kingdom, who looked on themselves as having the only natural right to it, should be excluded for ever. Whereas the centurion of whom St. Luke speaks was a lover of the Jewish nation, and had built them a synagogue, perhaps in Italy, or some other heathen country; and so was, in all probability, a proselyte of righteousness; for which cause the principal people of the town cheerfully undertook to solicit Jesus in his behalf. On the other hand, there are three similar circumstances attending these miracles, which have made the bulk of readers confound them. 1. They were both performed in the town of Capernaum, after Jesus had preached sermons which in substance are pretty much the same. To this I reply, that these sermons were different; the one in Matthew having been preached on a mountain; whereas that in Luke was delivered on a plain, Luke 17:2. Both the centurions dwelt in Capernaum. But this might easily happen; as in the space of twelve or fourteen months different companies of Roman soldiers in Herod's pay, with their officers, may have been stationed there: or there may have been two centurions in Capernaum at the same time, whose soldiers might be quartered in the town and the neighbouring villages. 3. Both centurions made the same speech to Jesus, the one in person, the other by his friends; Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come, &c. But this circumstance may be accounted for in the following manner: As the faith of the first centurion, who was a heathen, took its rise from the extraordinary cure which Jesus had performed on the nobleman's son, the address of the second might take its rise from the success of the first; which could not miss of being well known both in the town and country. Much encouraged, therefore, by that instance of Christ's goodness, the second centurion might expect something on behalf of his slave, especially as he was himself not a heathen by religion, but a proselyte to Moses, and a lover of the Jews, and had built them a synagogue: besides, he had engaged the elders of the city to present his petition. However, when the elders were gone, recollecting his brother centurion's speech, that had been so favourably received, he bethought himself of sending some friends, with the same speech improved by this farther circumstance of humility, that he did not think himself worthy so much as to come into Christ's presence. See Luke 7:6-7. This being an eminent instance of faith and humility, Jesus would not let it pass without due approbation. He honoured it with the same high encomium which he had passed on the like faith and humility in the other centurion: only, as this was not a heathen by religion, he did not, as formerly, set his faith and the reward of it in opposition to the faith of the Jews. This opposition he stated afterwards, when one asked him, Are there few to be saved? Luke 13:28. To conclude: that two centurions should have had one his son, and the other his slave, cured in Capernaum, withlikecircumstances,isno more improbable, than that the temple should have been twice purged, the multitude twice fed, and the fishes twice caught by miracle, and with the same circumstances.