TODAY’S READINGS
The Gospel is from Mt 8:5-11, the famous passage in which a Roman centurion comes to ask a big favor of Jesus.
Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof;
only say the word and my servant will be healed. (v. 8)
“The Jews of this time regarded any Jew who entered a Gentile’s house as contracting legal impurity (cf. Jn 19:28; Acts 11:2-3). This centurion has the deference not to place Jesus in an embarrassing position in the eyes of his fellow Israelites. He shows that he is convinced that Jesus has power over disease and illness; he suggests that if Jesus just says the word, he will do what is needed without having to visit the house; he is reasoning, in a simple, logical way, on the basis of his own professional experience. Jesus avails of this meeting with a Gentile believer to make a solemn prophecy to the effect that his Gospel is addressed to the world at large; all men, of every nation and race, of every age and condition, are called to follow Christ.” (The Navarre Bible: St. Matthew, 88)
“The Son of Man does not have a material resting place. Jesus lays his head instead on the pillow of the centurion’s confession, which has opened wide the doors of his life to the divine presence and activity. The crowds had been listening to Jesus all through the Sermon on the Mount. But this man now offers to Jesus’ ears the balm that alone soothes the stress of all his labor, the response that is the greatest act of thanksgiving possible on the part of man. The Lord does not add a single word to what the centurion says: even the Word cannot improve on those words of faith.” (Leiva-Merikakis, Fire of Mercy, Heart of the Word, Vol. I, 333)
“The centurion who asked Jesus to heal his servant showed great trust in him. To trust is to have hope, to turn one’s heart to God. It means to root one’s life, to ground and center one’s concerns, in God.” (Bp Barron in The Word on Fire Bible: The Gospels, 63)
To close, I would like you to check out my previous posts on this episode, one of very favorites in all of Scripture. Follow the link (and all embedded links and video) below for my past insights:
Also check out its excellent portrayal in Zefferelli’s Jesus of Nazareth.
God bless.
Jesus and the Centurion in Capernaum (Matthew 8:5), miniature, de:Codex Egberti,
Trier, Stadtbibliothek, cod. 24, fol. 22r, detail
Unworthy Servant 