Church Fathers Commentary Matthew 8

St. Jerome: After the preaching and teaching, an occasion for working miracles is offered, so that the mighty works that followed might confirm the preceding doctrine.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: Because He taught them as one having authority, He also acts with authority in His works as one with the power to cure. He does this so it would not be supposed that He taught this way from ostentation. Therefore, it says, When Jesus descended from the mountain, great multitudes followed him.

Pseudo-Origen: While the Lord taught on the mountain, the disciples were with Him, for it was given to them to know the secret things of the heavenly doctrine. But now, as He came down from the mountain, the crowds followed Him, for they had been altogether unable to ascend the mountain. Those who are bowed down by the burden of sin cannot climb to the sublime mysteries.

But when the Lord came down from the mountain—that is, when He stooped to the weakness and helplessness of the others, pitying their imperfections—great multitudes followed Him. Some followed for His renown, most for His doctrine, some for cures, or to have their needs met.¹

Haymo of Halberstadt: Alternatively, the mountain on which the Lord sat symbolizes Heaven, as it is written, Heaven is my throne (Isaiah 66:1). When the Lord sits on the mountain, only the disciples come to Him. This is because before He took upon Himself the frailty of our human nature, God was known only in Judeaⁱ; but when He came down from the height of His divinity and took upon Himself our human frailty, a great multitude of the nations followed Him.

This shows teachers that they should regulate their speech, speaking the word of God according to each person's ability to receive it. For teachers ascend the mountain when they show the higher precepts to the mature, and they come down from the mountain when they show the lesser precepts to the weak.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: Among others who were not able to ascend the mountain was the leper, bearing the burden of sin, for the sin of our souls is a leprosy. The Lord came down from the height of heaven as if from a mountain, so that He might purge the leprosy of our sin. And so the leper, already prepared, meets Him as He came down.

Pseudo-Origen: He works the cures below and does none on the mountain, for there is a time for all things under heaven: a time for teaching and a time for healing. On the mountain He taught, cured souls, and healed hearts. When this was finished, as He came down from the heavenly heights to heal bodies, a leper came to Him and adored Him. Before he made his request, he began to adore, showing his great reverence.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: He did not ask Him as one would ask a human physician, but adored Him as God. For faith and confession make a perfect prayer. Thus the leper, in adoring Him, fulfilled the work of faith, and in his words, he fulfilled the work of confession, adoring Him and saying:

Pseudo-Origen: "Lord, by You all things were made; You, therefore, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean." Your will is the work, and all works are subject to Your will. You of old cleansed Naaman the Syrian of his leprosy by the hand of Elisha, and now, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.

St. John Chrysostom: He did not say, If thou wilt ask of God, or, If thou wilt make adoration to God, but simply, If thou wilt. Nor did he say, "Lord, cleanse me," but left everything to Him, thereby acknowledging Him as Lord and attributing to Him power over all things.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: And so he rewarded a spiritual Physician with a spiritual reward; for just as physicians are won over by money, so Christ is won over with prayer. We offer God nothing more worthy than faithful prayer. In that he says, If thou wilt, there is no doubt that Christ's will is ready for every good work; the only doubt is whether that cure would be beneficial for him, because health of body is not good for everyone. The phrase If thou wilt is therefore as much as to say, "I believe that You will whatever is good, but I do not know if this, which I desire for myself, is good."

St. John Chrysostom: He was able to cleanse by a word or even by mere will, but He put out His hand—He stretched forth his hand and touched him—to show that He was not subject to the Law, and that to the pure, nothing is impure. Elisha, in contrast, kept the Law in all strictness and did not go out and touch Naaman, but sent him to wash in the Jordan. But the Lord shows that He does not heal as a servant, but as Lord He heals and touches.

His hand was not made unclean by the leprosy; rather, the leprous body was made pure by His holy hand. For He came not only to heal bodies, but to lead the soul to true wisdom. Just as He did not forbid eating with unwashed hands, so here He teaches us that it is the leprosy of the soul—which is sin—that we ought to dread. The leprosy of the body is no obstacle to virtue.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: Although He transgressed the letter of the Law, He did not transgress its meaning. The Law forbade touching leprosy because it could not prevent the touch from causing defilement. Therefore, it did not mean that lepers should not be healed, but that those who touched them should not be polluted. So He was not polluted by touching the leprosy, but purified the leprosy by touching it.

Damascenus (De Fide Orthodoxa, 3.15): For He was not only God, but man also, and from this He performed divine wonders by touch and word; for the divine acts were done through His body as through an instrument.

St. John Chrysostom: But no one accuses Him for touching the leper, because His hearers were not yet filled with envy against Him.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: Had He healed him without speaking, who would have known by whose power he had been healed? So the will to heal was for the sake of the leper; the word was for the sake of those who watched. Therefore He said, I will; be thou clean.

St. Jerome: It is not to be read, as most of the Latins think, as one phrase, I will cleanse thee. Instead, it should be read separately: He first answers, I will, and then the command follows, be thou clean. The leper had said, If thou wilt; the Lord answers, I will. The leper first said, Thou canst make me clean; the Lord spoke, Be thou clean.

St. John Chrysostom: Nowhere else do we see Him using this word, even when performing a most remarkable miracle. But He adds I will here to confirm the opinion of the people and the leper concerning His power. Nature obeyed the word of the Purifier with appropriate speed, after which it says, and immediately his leprosy was cleansed. But even this word, "immediately," is too slow to express the speed with which the deed was done.

Pseudo-Origen: Because he was not slow to believe, his cure was not delayed. He did not linger in his confession, and Christ did not linger in His cure.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Luke mentions the cleansing of this leper, though not in the same order of events. It is his custom to recall things that were omitted and to place later events earlier, as they were divinely suggested to him. In this way, the evangelists later wrote down things they had known before, as these events were recalled to their minds.²

St. John Chrysostom: When healing his body, Jesus bids him tell no one: Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man. Some say He gave this command so that people would not, out of malice, distrust his cure. But this is a foolish thing to say, for He did not cure him in such a way that his cleansing could be called into question. Rather, He bids him "tell no one" to teach us that He does not love ostentation and glory.

How is it, then, that to another whom He had healed He gives the command to go and tell it? What He taught in that case was only that we should have a thankful heart, for He does not command that it should be published abroad, but that glory should be given to God. He teaches us, then, through this leper not to be desirous of empty honor, and through the other, not to be ungrateful but to attribute all things to the praise of God.

St. Jerome: And truly, what need was there for him to proclaim with his mouth what was clearly shown in his body?

St. Hilary of Poitiers: Or, silence was commanded so that this healing might be sought rather than offered.

St. Jerome: He sends him to the priests, first, because of His humility, that He might seem to defer to the priests. Second, so that when they saw the leper cleansed they might be saved, if they would believe in the Savior; or, if not, that they might be without excuse. And lastly, so that He might not seem to be violating the Law, as He was often charged.

St. John Chrysostom: He neither broke the Law everywhere, nor observed it everywhere, but sometimes did one and sometimes the other. The one action prepared the way for the wisdom that was to come; the other silenced the irreverent tongue of the Jews and condescended to their weakness. For this reason, the Apostles are also seen sometimes observing and sometimes neglecting the Law.

Pseudo-Origen: Alternatively, He sends him to the priests so that they might know that he was not cleansed in the manner prescribed by the Law, but by the operation of grace.

St. Jerome: It was ordained in the Law that those who had been cleansed of leprosy should offer gifts to the priests, as it follows: ...and offer thy gift as Moses commanded for a testimony to them.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: This is not to be understood as, Moses commanded it for a testimony to them, but rather, Go thou and offer for a testimony.

St. John Chrysostom: For Christ, knowing beforehand that they would not profit by this, did not say, "for their amendment," but for a testimony to them. This means it was for an accusation against them, and as a testimony that all things that should have been done by Me have been done. But even though He knew they would not profit by it, He did not omit anything that needed to be done; yet they remained in their former ill-will.

He also did not say, "The gift that I command," but that Moses commanded, so that for the time being He might commit them to the Law and close the mouths of the unjust. So that they could not say He usurped the honor of the priests, He fulfilled the work of the Law and put them to the test.

Pseudo-Origen: Alternatively, He said, offer thy gift, so that all who see may believe the miracle.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: Or, He commanded the offering so that if they later sought to cast him out, he would be able to say, "You received gifts for my cleansing; how can you now cast me out as a leper?"

St. Hilary of Poitiers: Or we may read it as, Which Moses commanded for a testimony, since what Moses commanded in the Law is a testimony, not the effective cause.

The Venerable Bede: Should anyone be perplexed as to why the Church does not receive Moses' offering when the Lord seems to approve it here, let him remember that Christ had not yet offered His body as a burnt offering. It was necessary that the typical sacrifices should not be taken away before that which they typified was established by the testimony of the Apostles' preaching and by the faith of the believing people.

This man symbolized the whole human race, for he was not only leprous but, according to the Gospel of Luke, is described as "full of leprosy." For all have sinned, and need the glory of God; namely, that glory by which they might be cleansed from the vanity of their former ways when the Savior's hand is stretched out (that is, the Word made flesh) and touches human nature. Thus, those who had long been abominable and cast out from the camp of God's people might be restored to the temple and the priest, and be able to offer their bodies as a living sacrifice to Him to whom it is said, Thou art a Priest for ever (Psalm 110:4).³

Remigius of Auxerre: On a moral level, the leper signifies the sinner, for sin makes the soul unclean and impure. He falls down before Christ when he is ashamed of his former sins. Yet he ought to confess and seek the remedy of repentance; so the leper shows his disease and asks for a cure. The Lord stretches out His hand when He offers the aid of divine mercy, upon which the remission of sin immediately follows. And the sinner ought not to be reconciled to the Church except by the judgment of the priest.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: After teaching His disciples on the mount and healing the leper at the foot of the mount, the Lord came to Capernaum. This is a mystery, signifying that after the purification of the Jews, He went to the Gentiles.

Haymo of Halberstadt: For Capernaum, which is interpreted as "the town of abundance" or "the field of consolation," signifies the Church. Gathered from the Gentiles, the Church is filled with spiritual abundance, according to the verse, "That my soul may be filled with marrow and fatness" (Psalm 63:5). Amid the troubles of the world, it is comforted with heavenly things, as it is written, "Your consolations have delighted my soul" (Psalm 94:19). This is why it says, "When he had entered into Capernaum, the centurion came to him."

St. Augustine of Hippo: This centurion was a Gentile, for Judea already had soldiers from the Roman empire.¹

Pseudo-Chrysostom: This centurion was the first-fruits of the Gentiles, and in comparison to his faith, all the faith of the Jews was unbelief. He did not hear Christ teach, nor did he see the leper who was cleansed. But just from hearing that the leper had been healed, he believed more than what he had heard. In this way, he mystically represented the Gentiles who were to come, who had neither read the Law nor the Prophets concerning Christ, nor had seen Christ Himself perform His miracles. He came to Him and pleaded, saying, "Lord, my servant lies at home paralyzed and is suffering terribly."

Notice the goodness of the centurion, who was so anxious and in such a hurry for his servant's health, as if he would suffer a loss not of money, but of his own well-being, by the servant's death. He considered no difference between the servant and the master; their station in this world may be different, but their nature is the same.

Notice also his faith, in that he did not say, "Come and heal him," because he knew that Christ, who stood there, was present everywhere. And notice his wisdom, in that he did not say, "Heal him here on this spot," for he knew that the Lord was mighty to act, wise to understand, and merciful to listen. Therefore, he simply stated the sickness, leaving the healing to the Lord's merciful power. The phrase "and is suffering terribly" shows how much he loved him. For when someone we love is in pain or tormented, even if it is only slightly, we think they are suffering more than they really are.

Rabanus Maurus: He recounts all these things with grief—that he is "sick," that it is with "palsy," and that he is "suffering terribly" with it—in order to show the sorrow of his own heart and to move the Lord to have mercy. In the same way, everyone ought to feel for their servants and take care of them.

St. John Chrysostom: Some say that he says these things as an excuse for not bringing the sick man himself. For it was impossible to bring someone who was paralyzed, in great torment, and at the point of death. But I believe it is a sign of his great faith; since he knew that a word alone was enough to restore the sick man, he considered it unnecessary to bring him.²

St. Hilary of Poitiers: Spiritually interpreted, the Gentiles are the sick in this world, afflicted with the diseases of sin, with all their limbs completely weakened and unfit for the duties of standing and walking. The mystery of their salvation is fulfilled in this centurion's servant, who is clearly shown to be a leader of the Gentiles who would come to believe. What sort of leader this is, the song of Moses in Deuteronomy teaches: "He set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the angels" (Deuteronomy 32:8).

Remigius of Auxerre: Or, the centurion represents those among the Gentiles who were the first to believe and were perfect in virtue. For a centurion is one who commands a hundred soldiers, and a hundred is a perfect number. Rightly, therefore, the centurion prays for his servant, because the first-fruits of the Gentiles prayed to God for the salvation of the whole Gentile world.

St. Jerome: The Lord, seeing the centurion's faith, humility, and thoughtfulness, immediately promises to go and heal him: "Jesus said to him, 'I will come and heal him.'"

St. John Chrysostom: Here Jesus does something He has never done before. He always follows the wish of the person asking, but here He anticipates it, not only promising to heal the servant but also to go to his house. He does this so that we may learn the worthiness of the centurion.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: If He had not said, "I will come and heal him," the centurion would never have answered, "I am not worthy." Christ promised to go because the request was for a servant, in order to teach us not to favor the great and overlook the humble, but to honor poor and rich alike.

St. Jerome: Just as we praise the centurion's faith in believing that the Savior could heal the paralytic, so we see his humility in professing himself unworthy for the Lord to come under his roof, as it follows: "And the centurion answered and said to him, 'Lord, I am not worthy that you should come under my roof.'"

Rabanus Maurus: Conscious of his Gentile life, he thought he would be more burdened than benefited by this act of condescension from Him, with whose faith he was indeed filled, but with whose sacraments he was not yet initiated.

St. Augustine of Hippo: By declaring himself unworthy, he showed himself worthy for Christ, the Word of God, to enter—not into his house, but into his heart. He could not have said this with such faith and humility if he had not already carried in his heart the One he was hesitant to welcome into his house. And indeed, it would have been no great blessing for Jesus to enter his walls if He had not already entered his heart.

St. Peter Chrysologus: Mystically, his house was the body that contained his soul, which in turn holds the freedom of the mind through a heavenly vision. But God disdains neither to inhabit flesh nor to enter the "roof" of our body.³

Pseudo-Origen: And now also, when the leaders of the Church—holy men acceptable to God—enter your home, the Lord enters in them, and you should consider yourself as receiving the Lord. And when you eat and drink the Lord's Bodyⁱ, the Lord enters under your roof, and you should then humble yourself, saying, "Lord, I am not worthy." For where He enters unworthily, He enters for the condemnation of the one who receives Him.⁴

St. Jerome: The thoughtfulness of the centurion appears in this: that he saw the Divinity hidden beneath the covering of a body. Therefore, he adds, "But speak the word only, and my servant will be healed."

Pseudo-Chrysostom: He knew that unseen angels stood by to minister to Him, who turn His every word into action. Indeed, even if angels were to fail, diseases are still healed by His life-giving command.

St. Hilary of Poitiers: He also says that only a word was needed to heal his servant because the entire salvation of the Gentiles comes from faith, and the life of all of them is found in the Lord's commands.

Therefore, he continues, saying, "For I also am a man set under authority, having soldiers under me; and I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."

Pseudo-Chrysostom: He has here unfolded the mystery of the Father and the Son by the secret prompting of the Holy Spirit. It is as if he is saying, "Though I am under the command of another, I still have the power to command those who are under me. So also You, though under the command of the Father insofar as You are Man, still have power over the angels."

But Sabellius, seeking to prove that the Son is the same as the Father, might claim that it should be understood this way: "If I, who am set under authority, still have the power to command, how much more power do You have, who are under the authority of no one?" But the words do not support this interpretation. For he did not say, "If I, being a man under authority," but rather, "For I also am a man set under authority," clearly pointing to a resemblance between himself and Christ in this respect, not drawing a contrast.

St. Augustine of Hippo: If I, who am under command, still have the power to command others, how much more power do You have, whom all powers serve!

Glossa Ordinaria: You are able, without Your bodily presence, to say to this disease, "Go," and it will leave him; and to say to health, "Come," and it will come to him, all through the ministry of Your angels.⁵

Haymo of Halberstadt: Or, we may understand those who are set under the centurion to be the natural virtues, in which many of the Gentiles were strong, or even our good and bad thoughts. Let us say to the bad thoughts, "Depart," and they will depart; let us call the good thoughts, "Come," and they will come; and let us command our servant—that is, our body—to submit itself to the divine will.

St. Augustine of Hippo: What is said here seems to disagree with Luke's account: "When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant" (Luke 7:3). And again, "When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying, 'Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof.'"⁶

St. John Chrysostom: Some say that these are two different events, an opinion which has much to support it. Of the centurion in Luke, it is said, "He loves our nation, and he is the one who built us our synagogue;" but of this one, Jesus says, "I have not found such great faith in Israel." From this, it might seem that the centurion in Luke's account was a Jew.

In my opinion, however, they are both the same person. Luke's account, which says he sent Jews to ask Jesus to come, reveals their friendly assistance. We can suppose that when the centurion wanted to go to Jesus himself, he was held back by the Jews, who offered to go in his place to bring Jesus to him. But as soon as he was free from their persistent requests, he then sent his own message, saying, "Do not think I failed to come out of disrespect, but because I considered myself unworthy to receive you in my house."

So when Matthew reports that the centurion spoke these words himself, not through friends, it does not contradict Luke's account. Both evangelists simply portrayed the centurion's deep concern and his correct understanding of Christ. We can suppose that he first sent this message through friends as Jesus approached, and then, when Jesus arrived, he repeated it himself. But even if they are relating different stories, they do not contradict each other but rather supplement one another.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Matthew, therefore, intended to summarize everything that passed between the centurion and the Lord—which was actually done through others—in order to praise his faith, just as the Lord said, "I have not found such great faith in Israel." Luke, on the other hand, narrated the entire event exactly as it happened, so that we would be forced to understand the sense in which Matthew, who could not be mistaken, meant that the centurion came to Christ himself—that is, he came figuratively, through faith.

St. John Chrysostom: Indeed, there is no necessary contradiction between Luke's statement that he had built a synagogue and the fact that he was not an Israelite. It was entirely possible for someone who was not a Jew to have built a synagogue and to love the Jewish nation.

St. John Chrysostom: Just as what the leper had affirmed concerning Christ's power, If you will, you can cleanse me, was confirmed by the mouth of Christ, saying, I will; be clean, so here He did not blame the centurion for bearing testimony to Christ's authority, but even commended him. Moreover, the Evangelist signifies something greater than commendation in the words, But Jesus, hearing it, marvelled.

Pseudo-Origen: Observe how great and what it is that God the Only-Begotten marvels at. Gold, riches, and principalities are in His sight like a shadow or a flower that fades. In the sight of God, none of these things is wonderful, as if it were great or precious—only faith is. He wonders at faith, pays honor to it, and esteems it as acceptable to Himself.¹

St. Augustine of Hippo: But who was it that had created this faith in him, if not He who now marveled at it? And even if it had come from any other source, how could He marvel, who knew all future things? When the Lord marvels, it is only to teach us what we ought to wonder at, for all these emotions in Him are not signs of passion, but the examples of a teacher.²

St. John Chrysostom: For this reason, He is said to have marveled in the presence of all the people, giving them an example that they also should wonder at Him. For it follows, And he said to them that followed, I have not found so great faith in Israel.

St. Augustine of Hippo: He praises his faith but gives no command to leave his profession as a soldier.³

St. Jerome: He is speaking of the present generation, not of all the patriarchs and prophets of past ages.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: Andrew believed, but it was after John had said, Behold the Lamb of God (John 1:36). Peter believed, but it was by reading the Scriptures. And Nathanael first received a proof of His divinity and then spoke his confession of faith.

Pseudo-Origen: Jairus, a ruler in Israel, when making a request for his daughter, did not say, Speak the word, but, Come quickly. Nicodemus, hearing of the sacrament of faith, asks, How can these things be? (John 3:9). Mary and Martha say, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died (John 11:21), as if distrusting that God's power could be in all places at the same time.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: Alternatively, if we were to supposeⁱ that his faith was even greater than that of the apostles, Christ's testimony to it must be understood in a relative sense. Every good quality in a person should be commended according to their character and background. For instance, it would be a great thing for a common man to speak with wisdom, but for a philosopher, the same would be nothing wonderful. In this way it may be said of the centurion, In none other have I found so great faith in Israel.

St. John Chrysostom: For it is one thing for a Jew to believe, and another for a Gentile.

St. Jerome: Or perhaps, in the person of the centurion, the faith of the Gentiles is preferred to that of Israel. And so He continues, But I say unto you, Many shall come from the east and from the west.

St. Augustine of Hippo: He says not all, but many; and these are from the east and west, for by these two directions, the whole world is meant.⁴

Haymo of Halberstadt: Or, from the east will come those who pass into the kingdom as soon as they are enlightened; from the west, those who have suffered persecution for the faith even to the point of death.

Or, he who comes from the east is one who has served God from childhood; he from the west is one who has turned to God in old age.

Pseudo-Origen: How then does He say in another place that the chosen are few? Because in each generation there are few who are chosen, but when all are gathered together on the day of visitation, they will be found to be many. They shall sit down does not refer to a bodily posture but to spiritual rest, not with human food but at an eternal feast, with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven, where there is light, joy, glory, and eternal length of days.

St. Jerome: Because the God of Abraham, the Maker of heaven, is the Father of Christ, Abraham is also in the kingdom of heaven. With him will sit the nations who have believed in Christ, the Son of the Creator.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Just as we see Christians called to the heavenly feast, where the bread is righteousness and the drink is wisdom, so we see the Jews in their state of rejection. The children of the kingdom shall be cast into outer darkness refers to the Jews, who received the Law and observed the types of all things that were to come, yet did not acknowledge the realities when they were present.

St. Jerome: Or, the Jews may be called the children of the kingdom because God reigned among them previously.

St. John Chrysostom: Or, He calls them the children of the kingdom because the kingdom was prepared for them, which was the source of their greater grief.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Moses set before the people of Israel no other God than the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and Christ sets forth the very same God. He was so far from seeking to turn that people from their own God that He threatened them with the outer darkness precisely because He saw they had turned away from their God.

In this kingdom, He tells them, the Gentiles will sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob for no other reason than that they held the same faith as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Christ gives this testimony to these patriarchs, not as though they were converted after death or received justification after His passion.⁵

St. Jerome: It is called outer darkness because whoever the Lord casts out leaves the light.

Haymo of Halberstadt: He shows what they will suffer there when He adds, There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. He thus uses a metaphor to describe the sufferings of tormented limbs: the eyes shed tears when filled with smoke, and the teeth chatter from cold. This shows that the wicked in hell will endure both extreme cold and extreme heat, according to the verse in Job, They shall pass from rivers of snow to the scorching heat (Job 24:19).

St. Jerome: Weeping and gnashing of teeth are proof of bones and a body. Truly, then, there is a resurrection of the same limbs that sank into the grave.

Rabanus Maurus: Or, the gnashing of teeth expresses the passion of remorse: a repentance that comes too late and a self-accusation for having sinned with such stubborn wickedness.

Remigius of Auxerre: Alternatively, by outer darkness, He means foreign nations. These words of the Lord are a historical prediction of the destruction of the Jews—that they were to be led into captivity for their unbelief and scattered over the earth. Tears are usually caused by heat, and the gnashing of teeth by cold. Weeping, then, is ascribed to those who would be dispersed into the warmer climates of India and Ethiopia, and gnashing of teeth to those who would dwell in the colder regions, such as Hyrcania and Scythia.

St. John Chrysostom: But so that no one might suppose that these were nothing more than pleasant words, He makes them credible by the miracle that follows: And Jesus said to the centurion, Go, and be it done to thee as thou hast believed.

Rabanus Maurus: It is as though He had said, "According to the measure of your faith, so be your grace." For the Lord's merit may be communicated even to servants, not only through their own faith but also through their obedience to their master. It follows, And his servant was healed in the self-same hour.

St. John Chrysostom: In this, we should admire the speed of the healing, which shows Christ's power not only to heal but to do so in an instant.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Just as the Lord did not enter the centurion's house in His body but healed the servant—present in majesty but absent in body—so He went among the Jews only in the body. Among other nations, He was not born of a virgin, nor did He suffer, endure human pains, or perform divine wonders. And yet, what was spoken was fulfilled: A people that I have not known hath served me, and hath obeyed me by the hearing of the ear (Psalm 18:43). The Jews saw Him, yet crucified Him; the world heard, and believed.⁶

Anselm of Canterbury: Having shown the healing of the whole human race in the leper, and that of the Gentiles in the centurion's servant, Matthew now portrays the healing of the synagogue in Peter's mother-in-law.

He relates the case of the servant first, either because it was the greater miracle and the grace was greater in the conversion of the Gentiles, or because the synagogue would not be fully converted until the end of the age when the fullness of the Gentiles had entered in. Peter's house was in Bethsaida.

St. John Chrysostom: Why did He enter Peter's house? I think it was to eat, for the text continues, And she arose, and ministered to them. He stayed with His disciples to honor them and make them more zealous.

Observe Peter's reverence for Christ. Although his mother-in-law lay at home sick with a fever, he did not urge Him to go there at once, but waited until His teaching was completed and others were healed. From the beginning, he was instructed to prefer others to himself.

For this reason, Peter did not even bring Him there; Christ went in of His own accord. He intended to show what He would grant to a disciple, especially after the centurion had said, I am not worthy that you should come under my roof. He did not hesitate to enter the humble hut of a fisherman, instructing us in everything to trample on human pride.

Sometimes He heals by a word, and sometimes He reaches out His hand, as He did here: He touched her hand, and the fever left her.¹

For He did not always work miracles with a display of surpassing power, but would sometimes remain hidden. By touching her body, He not only banished the fever but restored her to perfect health. Because her sickness was one that medicine could cure, He showed His power to heal by doing what medicine could not: giving her back perfect health and strength at once. This is indicated by what the Evangelist adds: And she arose, and ministered to them.

St. Jerome: Normally, great weakness follows a fever, and the effects of sickness begin to be felt just as the patient starts to recover. But the health that is given by the Lord's power is complete all at once.

Glossa Ordinaria: And it is not enough that she is cured; strength is also given to her, for she arose and ministered unto them.²

St. John Chrysostom: This phrase, she arose and ministered unto them, shows at once the Lord's power and the woman's devotion to Christ.

The Venerable Bede: Figuratively, Peter's house is the Law, or the circumcision. His mother-in-law is the synagogue, which is, as it were, the mother of the Church committed to Peter. She is in a fever—that is, she is sick with zealous hatred and persecutes the Church. The Lord touches her hand when He transforms her carnal works into spiritual ones.

Remigius of Auxerre: Alternatively, Peter's mother-in-law can be understood as the Law, which, according to the Apostle, was made weak through the flesh—that is, through a carnal understanding. But when the Lord, through the mystery of the Incarnation, appeared visibly in the synagogue, fulfilled the Law in His actions, and taught that it must be understood spiritually, the Law was immediately joined with the grace of the Gospel. It then received such strength that what had been a minister of death and punishment became a minister of life and glory.

Rabanus Maurus: Or, every soul that struggles with fleshly lusts is sick with a fever. But when touched by the hand of divine mercy, it recovers its health, restrains the concupiscence of the flesh with the bridle of continence, and with the same limbs that had served uncleanness, it now ministers to righteousness.

St. Hilary of Poitiers: Alternatively, Peter's mother-in-law shows the sickly condition of infidelity, to which free will is closely related, being united to it as if by the bonds of marriage. By the Lord's entrance into Peter's house—that is, into the body—unbelief is cured. This unbelief was previously sick with the fever of sin, and now it ministers to the Savior in duties of righteousness.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Matthew does not say when this miracle was done—that is, after what event or before what event. We do not need to assume that it took place immediately after the event that precedes it in the narrative; he may be returning here to something he had previously omitted. For Mark relates this after the cleansing of the leper, which seems to follow the Sermon on the Mount, about which Mark is silent. Luke also follows the same order as Mark in relating this event concerning Peter's mother-in-law, also inserting it before that long sermon which appears to be the same as Matthew's Sermon on the Mount.³

But what does it matter in what order the events are told? Whether something previously omitted is brought in later, or what was done later is told earlier, is unimportant, as long as the author does not contradict another evangelist or himself in the same story. Since it is not in anyone's power to choose the order in which they remember things they once knew, it is likely that each of the Evangelists felt obligated to relate events in the order that God brought them to his memory. Therefore, when the order of events is not clear, the specific narrative sequence that any one of them followed should not matter to us.

St. John Chrysostom: Because the crowd of believers was now very great, they would not leave Christ, even though it was getting late. Instead, in the evening they brought the sick to Him: When it was evening, they brought to him many that had demons.

St. Augustine of Hippo: The words, Now when it was evening, show that the evening of that same day is meant. This would not have been implied if it had only said, "when it was evening." ¹

Remigius of Auxerre: Christ the Son of God, the author of human salvation, the fountain and source of all goodness, provided a heavenly medicine: He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all that were sick. He sent away demons and diseases with a word, so that by these signs and mighty works, He might show that He had come for the salvation of the human race.

St. John Chrysostom: Observe how the Evangelist recounts a great number of healings here, not describing each case individually but summarizing an innumerable flood of miracles with a single phrase.

So that the greatness of the miracle—that so many people with such various diseases could be healed in such a short time—would not cause disbelief, he brings forward the Prophet to testify to what was done: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities.

Rabanus Maurus: He took them not to possess them Himself, but to take them away from us; and He bore our sicknesses in the sense that He carried for us what we were too weak to bear.

Remigius of Auxerre: He took on the infirmity of human nature in order to make us strong, who had previously been weak.

St. Hilary of Poitiers: And by the passion of His body, according to the words of the Prophet, He absorbed all the infirmities of human weakness.

St. John Chrysostom: The Prophet seems to have intended this to refer to sins; why, then, does the Evangelist apply it to bodily diseases? It should be understood that either he is quoting the text literally, or he intends to teach that most of our bodily diseases originate from sins of the soul, for death itself has its root in sin.

St. Jerome: It should be noted that all the sick were healed not in the morning or at noon, but around sunset, just as a kernel of wheat dies in the ground so that it may produce much fruit.

Rabanus Maurus: Sunset foreshadows the passion and death of Him who said, While I am in the world, I am the light of the world (John 9:5). While He lived for a time in the flesh, He taught only a few of the Jews; but after trampling the kingdom of death underfoot, He promised the gifts of faith to all the Gentiles throughout the world.