He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses

 Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented."  And Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him."  The centurion answered and said, "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof.  But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.  For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me.  And I say to this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."  When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, "Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!  And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.  But the sons of the kingdom will be cast into outer darkness.  There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you."  And his servant was healed that same hour.

Now when Jesus had come into Peter's house, He saw His wife's mother lying sick with a fever.  So He touched her hand, and the fever left her.  And she arose and served them."  When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed.  And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:

"He Himself took our infirmities
And bore our sicknesses."

- Matthew 8:5-17

On Saturday we read that when Jesus ended His Sermon on the Mount, the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.  When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him.  And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean."  Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed."  Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.  And Jesus said to him, "See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."

 Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented."  A centurion (a Gentile) was an officer in the Roman legion, with the title denoting that he commanded 100 men.  My study bible comments here that Jesus is the Savior of all, and in Him ethnic distinctions are void.

And Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him."  I will come, my study bible explains, has been read by many Greek scholars as a question:  "Shall I come?"  Either way, my study bible comments, Jesus is ready to deal gracious with this Gentile, even to enter his house -- which would result in Him being unclean in the eyes of the Jews.  In this sense, we see a parallel to the healing of the leper by touch (see Saturday's reading, above).

The centurion answered and said, "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof.  But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.  For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me.  And I say to this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."   My study bible calls this an unusual expression of faith on the part of the centurion, by calling Jesus, who is a Jew, "Lord."  It says that the centurion's statement, "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof," is often quoted in liturgical texts as an ideal expression of humility.

When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, "Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!"  Only twice in the gospels do we read that Jesus marveled.  One other occasion was at the unbelief in His hometown of Nazareth (Mark 6:6).  The second is here, at the belief of this foreigner, the centurion.

"And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.  But the sons of the kingdom will be cast into outer darkness.  There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you."  And his servant was healed that same hour.   My study bible comments that in these statements Jesus nullifies any ideas of ethnic superiority.  Those rejected sons of the kingdom are both the Jews who deny Christ and those raised in the Church who do not live their faith, it says.  Outer darkness and weeping and gnashing are descriptions of the state of the unrighteous dead in Sheol (or Hades) in the Jewish tradition (see Enoch 103:8).  They are also common expressions found in Matthew (13:42, 50; 24:51; 25:30) and occur in Luke as well (Luke 13:28).

Now when Jesus had come into Peter's house, He saw His wife's mother lying sick with a fever.  So He touched her hand, and the fever left her.  And she arose and served them."  When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed.  And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:  "He Himself took our infirmities / And bore our sicknesses."  This passage reveals to us that Peter was married (see also 1 Corinthians 9:5, where Peter is called Cephas).  Peter's family home in Capernaum becomes a "headquarters" for Jesus' Galilean ministry, and so the people are brought to Him there.  My study bible comments that Christ's healing miracles are divorce.  Here He heals Peter's mother-in-law by touch.  In the earlier verses of today's reading, He healed the centurion's servant by a word.  Peter's mother-in-law's healing is immediately, but others are gradual (Mark 8:22-25) or they require the cooperation of the healed person, or of that person's loved ones (Luke 8:54-55) or friends (Mark 2:3-5).  As the quotation from Isaiah 53:4 reveals, Christ's miracles are manifestations of His mission to heal and redeem "an ailing humanity" (as my study bible terms it).

In today's reading we're given different healings, and it is indeed interesting to note the differences in them.  In one case, the healed person is a servant of an official of the Roman Legion, a centurion.  We have to remember how despised the Romans were, generally speaking, as an occupying force, and in particular how an officer of the Legion would have been broadly viewed and feared by the people, so that we understand this text well.  That is not necessarily the case with this particular officer (for we must ask ourselves how and why he approaches Jesus in this community, and with such humility), but in terms of the text itself, it makes the occasion highly noteworthy.  It is made all the more significant by Jesus' statement about the faith He finds in the centurion, and the contrast Jesus makes to many of the "sons of the kingdom" who will be "cast into outer darkness."  Indeed, as my study bible points out, the centurion is a model of faith and humility when he says, "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof."   Moreover, the centurion is appealing on behalf of a beloved servant, a gracious act indeed.  Peter's mother-in-law is a matriarch of the household.  She is healed and also gets up to serve, but she holds a high position.  Additionally, to serve Christ is a place of great honor.  She hasn't the kind of worldly power and authority that the centurion commands, but she is nevertheless a respected figure in this Jewish household, and, one presumes, in their community.  As my study bible comments, Jesus heals from a distance and with a word for the centurion's servant.  He heals directly and by touch with this woman, Peter's mother-in-law, who gets up to serve Him in the household, restored to her place.  As my study bible indicates, in Christ there really are no boundaries.  Our reading from Saturday illustrated a similar point, when He healed the leper by touch.  But boundaries aren't simply extended in the ways in which we might understand them materially, or in a worldly sense such as we might expect them to be.  This isn't a question of "rights" but one of grace.  Everything happens through and with faith, and with the humility before Christ that must go with faith.  This expansion and enhancement of an understanding of God's kingdom does not come through a legalistic sense, but rather through a connection of trust, a connection in the heart.  For this is what faith is.  The Greek root of the word for faith actually means "trust."  Trust implies confidence, the kind of confidence which this commanding officer in today's reading put into Jesus, recognizing Christ's authority, even through his humility.  We extend this confidence and trust in Jesus, in turn, through our own expressions of compassion, signifying an extension of community.  Let us consider how we are called by Christ, and what we do when we have confidence in Him, recognizing His authority, and expressing our humility before Him.  Today in the United States, it is Memorial Day, a day when we recognize the sacrifices of soldiers, and so perhaps an appropriate day for today's reading about the centurion.  Let us consider the quotation from Isaiah:  "He Himself took our infirmities / And bore our sicknesses."  Our Lord, the One in whom we can place all our confidence and trust, made the ultimate sacrifice for all of us, and took on our infirmities and sicknesses, the true model of what constitutes a hero.  Let us remember His love (John 15:13) and the place to which He calls us.