And they that were sent, returning to the house, found the servant whole that had been sick.
And they that were sent, returning to the house, found the servant whole that had been sick. In Matthew we read, "And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way: and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed the self-same hour" (Matthew 8:13), teaching, that as in these bodily diseases, so in the salvation of the soul, all hinges on faith. No doubt this was conveyed to him in the form of a message through the "friends" that brought the second message. Whether Jesus now visited this centurion we are not informed.
Remarks:
(1) How devoutly would this centurion, as he thought of the Providence that brought him into contact with the chosen people, and thus turned his pagan darkness into light, exclaim with the sweet Psalmist of Israel, "The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage"! (Psalms 16:6). And Cornelius also (Acts 10:1, etc.); and Lydia (Acts 16:14). And by what wonderful providences have hundreds and thousands since then been brought, as by accident and through circumstances the most trivial, into contact with the truth which has set them free! But, perhaps, if we knew all, it would be found that in every case it is in a way perfectly casual and all unexpected that the ear first hears effectually the loving Voice which says, "Look unto me, and be saved." And if so, what materials will this afford for wonder in heaven, when the whole story of each one's life will stand up before his view distinct and vivid; and what a fund of blissful conversation will be thus provided, when the redeemed will, as we may reasonably believe, exchange with each other their past experience, as each says to the other, "Come, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what He hath done for my soul!"
`When this passing world is done, When has sunk yon glaring sun, When we stand with Christ in glory, Looking o'er life's finished story,
Then, Lord, shall I fully know - Not till then, how much I owe.' (-McCHEYNE)
(2) Bright as was the radiance which shone from the Old Testament upon this mind that had been reared in Pagan darkness, it rested not there, but was only guided by it to Him of whom Moses, in the law, and the Prophets did write. Nor was his a hesitating or superficial faith. Capernaum being the place of Christ's stated residence while in Galilee, this devout officer seems to have not only heard His public addresses, but made himself sufficiently acquainted with the wonders of His gracious hand to have every doubt as to His claims removed, and a profound conviction implanted in his mind of His divine dignity. When, therefore, he has need of His interposition, he applies for it with undoubting confidence, "beseeching Him to come and heal His servant." But he shrinks from a personal application as "unworthy to come to Him;" and though he had petitioned Jesus to come and heal his servant, he sends again to say that it was too much honour to him that He should come under his roof, but that since one word of command from Him would suffice, he would be content with that. What wonderful faith is this for a convert from paganism to reach! The arguments by which he illustrates the power of Jesus to order diseases to be gone-as servants in entire subjection to their Master and Lord-are singularly expressive of a faith in the sovereignty of Christ over the elements of nature and the forces of life to which nothing was impossible. And when we "see how faith wrought with his works (in loving God's nation and building them a synagogue), and by works his faith was made perfect;" and when we observe how all this anxiety of his was not like that of Jairus for the life of an only daughter (Luke 8:42), nor like that of the nobleman for his son (John 4:47), but for a servant that was dear to him, can we wonder that Jesus should say, "I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel"?
(3) If the Lord Jesus had been a mere creature, could He have suffered such views of Him to pass uncorrected? But instead of this-as on every other occasion-the more exalted were men's views of Him, ever the more grateful it was to His spirit. See the notes at Luke 5:1-11, Remark 2. 4. There is too good reason to fear that those very elders of the Jews who besought Jesus to come and heal the Centurion's servant, and enforced their petition so well, had themselves none of the centurion's faith in the Lord Jesus. Our Lord's words seem to imply as much. And when He says that this centurion was, after all, but one of a class which, from the most distant and unpromising spots, would occupy the highest places and be in the most favoured company in the kingdom of heaven-while those that had been nursed in the arms and dandled upon the knees and had sucked the breasts of God's lawgivers and prophets, and basked in the sunshine of supernatural truth and divine ordinances, without any inward transformation, would be thrust out, and found weltering in anguish and despair-what a warning does it utter to the religiously favoured, and what encouragement does it hold out to work hopefully among the pagan abroad and the outcasts at home, that "there are first which shall be last, and there are last which shall be first!"
This incident is special to our Evangelist, and its occurrence in Luke's Gospel alone illustrates that charming characteristic of it-its liking for those scenes, circumstances, and sayings of Jesus which manifest His human tenderness, compassion, and grace. The time is expressly stated in the opening words.