Now there was at Capernaum a certain centurion, that isa captain of a hundred men, and he had a servant sick. And being full of faith, he sent to the Lord Jesus, in order that He might heal him.1 But the humble Lord replied, “I will come and heal him.” When the centurion knew this, he sent back to Him, saying, “Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldest enter under my roof ; but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.” On this Jesus commended his faith, and went no further, but healed the servant at a distance. But when, in the same city, a certain nobleman, that is, a petty ruler, went in person to Jesus and besought Him to come to his house and heal his sick son, Jesus declined to go, and chose to perform the cure at a distance. Here consider the value of faith in the case of the centurion, and the humility of the Lord, who willed to go Himself to the servant, but avoided the house of pomp and state. See, then, that we ought not to accept persons. Our Lord was ready to honour by His presence the soldier’s servant more than the ruler’s son. We ought, then, to beware of eye-service, and not to be influenced by external magnificence; we should rather look to the intention and goodness of him who may need our services, and not be guided by complaisance in our charitable actions but by charity.
← Chapter 21 · Contents · Chapter 23 →
Footnotes
-
S. Matt viii. 5 ; S. Luke vii. 2. ↩