Sermon 62A
SERMON 62/A
About the Centurion's Boy
The centurion says he is unworthy, into whose heart the Lord had entered.
The faith of this centurion signifies the faith of the Gentiles, like a mustard seed, a humble and fervent faith. His servant, as you heard, was ill and lying paralyzed at home; however, this centurion asked the Savior for the health of his servant. The Lord promised that He Himself would come to save his servant. Yet he, as I said, humbly fervent and fervently humble: "I am not worthy, Lord, that you should enter under my roof," he said. The Lord entering under his roof, he declared himself unworthy; and yet he would not have said these words unless the Lord had already entered into his heart. Then he added: "Only say the word, and my servant will be healed." I know to whom I am speaking: speak, and what I wish will be done. He also added a most sweet and truthful comparison. "For I too," he said, "am a man; you are God: I am under authority, you above all powers: having soldiers under me, you also have angels; 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." The whole of creation is your handmaid: what is needed is for you to command, what you command is done.
The humility of the centurion was the door for the Lord entering.
And the Lord: Amen I say to you, I have not found such faith in Israel. You know that the Lord took flesh from Israel, from the seed of David, from which the Virgin Mary came, who bore Christ; and He came to them, showed His fleshly face to them, the mouth of His flesh sounded in their ears, the appearance of His body was before their eyes. His presence was given to the Jews: it was promised to the fathers, and given to the sons. And yet this centurion was a foreigner, he was of the Romans, he served as a soldier there; and He preferred his faith to the faith of the Israelites, so much so that He said: Amen I say to you, I have not found such faith in Israel. What do we think He praised in this man’s faith? Humility. I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof. This He praised: and because He praised this, by this He entered. The humility of the centurion was the door for the Lord entering, that He might fully possess the one whom He already possessed.
"To come" is to believe.
The Lord therefore gave great hope to the nations on this occasion: we were not yet, and already we were foreseen, already we were known beforehand, already we were promised. For what does He say? Therefore I say to you, many will come from the East and the West. Where will they come? Where they may believe. They come there: to come is itself to believe. He believed, he came; he apostatized, he departed. Therefore, they will come from the East and the West; not to the temple of Jerusalem, not to any central part of the earth, not to any certain mountain; and yet they come to the temple of Jerusalem, and to a certain central part, and to a certain mountain. The temple of Jerusalem is now the body of Christ: hence He said: "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." The central place where they come is Christ Himself: He is in the middle because He is equal to all; whatever is placed in the middle is common to all. They come to a mountain of which Isaiah says: "In the last days, the mountain of the Lord will be made manifest, prepared on the summit of mountains; and it shall be exalted above all hills, and all nations shall flow to it." This mountain was a small stone which grew and filled the world: thus Daniel saw it. Approach the mountain, ascend the mountain; and when you ascend, do not descend. There you will be safe, there you will be fortified: the mountain of your refuge is Christ. And where is Christ? At the right hand of the Father: for He ascended into heaven. He is very far away: who ascends? who touches? If He is far from you, how do we speak the truth: "The Lord be with you?" And He sits at the right hand of the Father, and He does not withdraw from your hearts.
The Lord commands worms just as he commands angels.
Turned to the centurion: Go, as you have believed, so let it be done for you; and the boy was healed in that hour. As he believed, so it was done. Say the word, and he will be healed; he said the word, and he was healed. As you have believed, let it be done for you; the worst sickness left the boy's limbs. How the Lord commands all creation with marvelous ease! For he does not labor to command. Or indeed is the Lord of creation who commands angels, and does not deign to command humans? Would that humans would willingly serve! But blessed is he whom he commands inwardly, not in the ear of the flesh, but in the ear of the heart, where he corrects, directs. For understand from this that the Lord commands all things, because he did not overlook even worms in his command. He commanded the worm, and it gnawed the root of the gourd, and the Prophet’s shade perished. The Scripture says, He commanded the worm in the morning, and it gnawed the root of the gourd, and the shadow perished. The morning worm is Christ; Psalm twenty-one of his passion speaks thus: For the morning reception. He rose in the morning time, gnawed the Jewish shadow. Therefore, flattering his bride in the Song of Songs: Until the day breathes and the shadows flee. Do you observe the Sabbath carnally? Do you abstain from the flesh of animals that do not chew the cud or do not have split hooves? Do you offer sacrifices of victims from the livestock to God? You do none of these things. Why? Because the gourd withered, because the shadow ceased, the sun is open. Call for refreshment, lest you labor in the heat of the commandments. It is finished.