---
title: "Catena Aurea: The Four Gospels"
author: "Thomas Aquinas"
translator: "John Henry Newman (ed.)"
languages: [en]
shelf: "Commentaries"
section: 48 of 394
url: https://scriptura.si/works/thomas-aquinas-catena-aurea-the-four-gospels/48/
cite: "Thomas Aquinas, tr. John Henry Newman (ed.), Catena Aurea: The Four Gospels, section 48. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/thomas-aquinas-catena-aurea-the-four-gospels/48/"
---

# Catena Aurea: The Four Gospels

*Thomas Aquinas, tr. John Henry Newman (ed.)*

The four Gospels read through chains of quotations from the Church Fathers.

## 48. Matthew 8 · 2 of 5

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/thomas-aquinas-catena-aurea-the-four-gospels/48/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/thomas-aquinas-catena-aurea-the-four-gospels/48/#p-N

[¶0] Remigius: Or, in the centurion are figured those of the Gentiles who first believed, 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.

[¶1] Jerome: The Lord seeing the centurion’s faith, humbleness, and thoughtfulness, straightway promises to go and heal him; "Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him."

[¶2] Chrysostom: Jesus here does what He never did; He always follows the wish of the supplicant, but here He goes before it, and not only promises to heal him, but to go to his house. This He does, that we may learn the worthiness of the centurion.

[¶3] Pseudo-Chrysostom: Had not He said, "I will come and heal him," the other would never have answered, "I am not worthy." It was because it was a servant for whom he made petition, that Christ promised to go, in order to teach us not to have respect to the great, and overlook the little, but to honour poor and rich alike.

[¶4] Jerome: As we commend the centurion’s faith in that he believed that the Saviour was able to heal the paralytic; so his humility is seen in his professing himself unworthy that the Lord should come under his roof; as it follows, "And the centurion answered and said unto him, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof."

[¶5] Rabanus: Conscious of his gentile life, he thought he should be more burdened than profited by this act of condescension from Him with whose faith he was indeed endued, but with whose sacraments he was not yet initiated.

[¶6] Augustine: By declaring himself unworthy, he shewed himself worthy, not indeed into whose house, but into whose heart, Christ the Word of God should enter. Nor could he have said this with so much faith and humility, had he not borne in his heart Him whom he feared to have in his house. And indeed it would have been no great blessedness that Jesus should enter within his walls, if He had not already entered into his heart.

[¶7] Chrysologus, Serm. 102: Mystically, his house was the body which contained his soul, which contains within it the freedom of the mind by a heavenly vision. But God disdains neither to inhabit flesh, nor to enter the roof of our body.

[¶8] Pseudo-Origen, Hom. in div. 5: And now also when the heads of Churches, holy men and acceptable to God, enter your roof, then in them the Lord also enters, and do you think of yourself as receiving the Lord. And when you eat and drink the Lord’s Body [Source note: ed. note: "I am not worthy, Lord, that Thou shouldest come unto me; but as Thou didst vouchsafe to lodge in a den or stable of brute beasts, etc." vid. Liturgy of St. John Chrys. also Bp. Andrew’s Devotions, and our Communion Service. "We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under Thy Table, etc."] , then the Lord enters under your roof, and you then should humble yourself, saying, "Lord, I am not worthy." For where He enters unworthily, there He enters to the condemnation of him who receives Him.

[¶9] Jerome: The thoughtfulness of the centurion appears herein, that he saw the Divinity hidden beneath the covering of body; wherefore he adds, "But speak the word only, and my servant will be healed."

[¶10] Pseudo-Chrysostom: He knew that Angels stood by unseen to minister to Him, who turn every word of his into act; yea and should Angels fail, yet diseases are healed by His life-giving command.

[¶11] Hilary: Also he therefore says that it needed only a word to heal his son, because all the salvation of the Gentiles is of faith, and the life of them all is in the precepts of the Lord.

[¶12] Therefore he continues saying, "For I am a man set under authority, having soldiers under me; and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it."

[¶13] Pseudo-Chrysostom: He has here developed the mystery of the Father and the Son, by the secret suggestion of the Holy Spirit; as much as to say, Though I am under the command of another, yet have I power to command those who are under me; so also Thou, though under the command of the Father, in so far as Thou art Man, yet hast Thou power over the Angels.

[¶14] But Sabellius perhaps affirms, seeking to prove that the Son is the same as the Father, that it is to be understood thus; ’If I who am set under authority have yet power to command, how much more Thou who are under the authority of none.’ But the words will not bear this exposition; for he said not, ’If I being a man under authority,’ but, ’For I also am a man set under authority;’ clearly not drawing a distinction, but pointing to a resemblance in this respect between himself and Christ.

[¶15] Augustine: If I who am under command have yet power to command others, how much more Thou whom all powers serve!

[¶16] Gloss. ord.: Thou are able without Thy bodily presence, by the ministry of Thy Angels, to say to this disease, Go, and it will leave him; and to say to health, Come, and it shall come to him.Haymo: Or, we may understand by those that are set under the centurion, the natural virtues in which many of the Gentiles were mighty, or even thoughts good and bad. Let us say to the bad, Depart, and they will depart; let us call the good, and they shall come; and our servant, that is, our body, let us bid that it submit itself to the Divine will.

[¶17] Aug., De Cons. Evan., ii, 20: What is here said seems to disagree with Luke’s account, "When the centurion heard concerning Jesus, he sent unto him elders of the Jews, beseeching him that he would come and heal his servant." [[Luk 7:3]] And again, "When he was come nigh to the house, the centurion sent friends unto him, saying, Lord, trouble not thyself, for I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof."

[¶18] Chrysostom: But some say that these are two different occurrences; an opinion which has much to support it. Of Him in Luke it is said, "He loveth our nation, and has built us a synagogue;" but of this one Jesus says, "I have not found so great faith in Israel;" whence it might seem that the other was a Jew. But in my opinion they are both the same person. What Luke relates that he sent to Jesus to come to him, betrays the friendly services of the Jews. We may suppose that when the centurion sought to go to Jesus, he was prevented by the Jews, who offered to go themselves for the purpose of bringing him. But as soon as he was delivered from their importunity, then be sent to say, Do not think that it was from want of respect that I did not come, but because I thought myself unworthy to receive you into my house. When then Matthew relates, that he spoke thus not through friends, but in his own person, it does not contradict Luke’s account; for both have only represented the centurion’s anxiety, and that he had a right opinion of Christ. And we may suppose that he first sent this message to Him by friends as He approached, and after, when He was come thither, repeated it Himself. But if they are relating different stories, then they do not contradict each other, but supply mutual deficiencies.

[¶19] Augustine: Matthew therefore intended to state summarily all that passed between the centurion and the Lord, which was indeed done through others, with the view of commending his faith; as the Lord spoke, "I have not found so great faith in Israel." Luke, on the other hand, has narrated the whole as it was done, that so we might be obliged to understand in what sense Matthew, who could not err, meant that the centurion himself came to Christ, namely, in a figurative sense through faith.

[¶20] Chrysostom: For indeed there is no necessary contradiction between Luke’s statement, that he had built a synagogue, and this, that he was not an Israelite; for it was quite possible, that one who was not a Jew should have built a synagogue, and should love the nation.

[¶21] Ver. 10. 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.11. And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of Heaven.12. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."13. And Jesus said unto the centurion, "Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee." And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.

[¶22] Chrysostom: As what the leper had affirmed concerning Christ’s power, "If thou will, thou canst cleanse me," was confirmed by the mouth of Christ, saying, "I will, be thou clean;" so here He did not blame the centurion for bearing testimony to Christ’s authority, but even commended him. Nay more; it is something greater than commendation that the Evangelist signifies in the words, "But Jesus hearing marvelled."

[¶23] Pseudo-Origen, Hom. in Div. 5: Observe how great and what that is at which God the Only-begotten marvels. Gold, riches, principalities, are in His sight as the shadow or the flower that fadeth; in the sight of God none of these things is wonderful, as though it were great or precious, but faith only; this He wonders at, and pays honour to, this He esteems acceptable to Himself.

[¶24] Aug., super Gen. c. Man. i. 8: But who was He that had created this faith in him, but only He who now marvelled at it? But even had it come from any other, how should He marvel who know all things future? When the Lords 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 examples of a teacher.

[¶25] Chrysostom: Wherefore He is said to have thus wondered 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."

[¶26] Aug., cont. Faust. xxii, 74: He praises his faith, but gives no command to quit his profession of a soldier.

[¶27] Jerome: This He speaks of the present generation, not of all the Patriarchs and Prophets of past ages.

[¶28] Pseudo-Chrysostom: Andrew believed, but it was after John had said, "Behold the Lamb of God;" [[Joh 1:36]] Peter believed, but it was by reading the Scriptures; and Nathanael first received a proof of His Divinity, and then spoke forth his confession of faith.

[¶29] Pseudo-Origen: Jairus, a prince in Israel, making request for his daughter, said not, ’Speak the word,’ but, ’Come quickly.’ Nicodemus, hearing of the sacrament of faith, asks, "How can these things be?" [[Joh 3:9]] Mary and Martha say, "Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died;" [[Joh 11:21]] as though distrusting that God’s power could be in all places at the same time.

[¶30] Pseudo-Chrysostom: Or, if we would suppose [Source note: ed. note: The text of Pseudo-Chrys has ’si non sumus ausi putare.’] that his faith was greater than even that of the Apostles, Christ’s testimony to it must be understood as though every good in a man should be commended relatively to his character; as it were a great thing in a countryman to speak with wisdom, but in 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.

[¶31] Chrysostom: For it is a different thing for a Jew to believe and for a Gentile.

[¶32] Jerome: Or perhaps in the person of the centurion the faith of the Gentiles is preferred to that of Israel; whence He proceeds, "But I say unto you, Many shall come from the east and from the west."

[¶33] Aug., Serm., 62, 4: He says, not ’all,’ but many; yet these from the east and west; for by these two quarters the whole world is intended.

[¶34] Haymo: Or; From the east shall come they, who pass into the kingdom as soon as they are enlightened; from the west they who have suffered persecution for the faith even unto death.

[¶35] Or, he comes from the east who has served God from a child; he from the west who in decrepit age has turned to God.

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

[¶37] Jerome: Because the God of Abraham, the Maker of heaven, is the Father of Christ, therefore also is Abraham in the kingdom of heaven, and with him will sit down the nations who have believed in Christ the Son of the Creator.

[¶38] Augustine: As we see Christians called to the heavenly feast, where is the bread of righteousness, the drink of wisdom; so we see the Jews in reprobation. "The children of the kingdom shall be cast into outer darkness," that is, the Jews, who have received the Law, who observe the types of all things that were to be, yet did not acknowledge the realities when present.

[¶39] Jerome: Or the Jews may be called "the children of the kingdom," because God reigned among them heretofore.

[¶40] Chrysostom: Or, He calls them "the children of the kingdom," because the kingdom was prepared for them, which was the greater grief to them.

[¶41] Aug., cont. Faust., xvi. 24: 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. So that so far was He from seeking to turn that people away from their own God, that He therefore threatened them with the outer darkness, because He saw them turned away from their own God. And in this kingdom He tells them the Gentiles shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, for no other reason than that they held the faith of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. To these Fathers Christ gives His testimony, not as though they had been converted after death, or had received justification after His passion.

[¶42] Jerome: It is called, "outer darkness," because he whom the Lord casts out leaves the light.

[¶43] Haymo: What they should suffer there, He shews when He adds, "There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Thus in metaphor He describes the sufferings of the tormented limbs; the eyes shed tears when filled with smoke, and the teeth chatter together from cold. This shews that the wicked in hell shall endure both extreme cold and extreme heat: according to that in Job, "They shall pass from rivers of snow to the scorching heat." [[Job 24:19]]

[¶44] Jerome: Weeping and gnashing of teeth are a proof of bones and body; truly then is there a resurrection of the same limbs, that sank into the grave.