3 And when he heard of Jesns, he ■ent onto him the elders of the Jews, beseeching him that he would come and heal his serrant.
4 And when the^ came to Jesus, they besonght him instantly, saying, That he was worthy for whom he should do this :
6 For he loyeth our nation, and he hath built us a synsgogue.
6 Then Jesus went with them. And when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself: for I am not worthy that thou snouldest enter under my roof :
7 Wherefore neither thought I my- self worthy to come unto thee : but
say in a word, and my servant diall be healed.
8 For I also am a man set under authority, haying under me soldiers, and I say unto one, Gro, and he goeth ; and to another, Come^and he cometh ; and to my serrant, Bo this, and he doeth it.
9 When Jesus heard these things, he marrelled at him, and turned hun about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I hare not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
10 And they that were sent, return- ing to the house, found the serrant whole that had been sick.
These verses describe the miraculous cure of a sick man. A centurion, or officer in the Roman army, applies to our Lord on behalf of his servant, and obtains what he requests. A greater miracle of healing than this, is nowhere recorded in the Gospels. Without even seeing the sufferer, without touch of hand or look of eye, our Lord restores health to a dying man by a single word. He speaks, and the sick man is cured. He commands, and the disease departs. We read of no prophet or apostle, who wrought miracles in this manner. We see here the finger of God.
We should notice in these verses the kindness of the centurion. It is a part of his character which appears in three ways. We see it in his treatment of his servant. He cares for him tenderly when sick, and takes pains to have him restored to health. — We see it again in his feeling towards the Jewish people. He did not despise them as other Gentiles commonly did. The elders of the Jews bear this strong testimony, " He loveth our nation." — ^We see it lastly in his liberal support of the Jewish place of worship at Capernaum. He did not love Israel