Church Fathers Commentary Matthew 8:10-13

"And when Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. And I say unto you, that many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven: but the sons of the kingdom shall be cast forth into the outer darkness: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth. And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; as thou hast believed, [so] be it done unto thee. And the servant was healed in that hour." — Matthew 8:10-13 (ASV)

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

1. Hom. in Div. 5
2. super Gen. c. Man. i. 8
3. cont. Faust. xxii, 74
4. Serm., 62, 4
5. cont. Faust., xvi. 24
6. Serm., 62. 3