The miracles of Jesus - Classical Christian Literature by Athleo.net

THE HEALING OF THE
CENTURION'S SERVANT
Matthew viii. 5-13 ; Luke vii. 1-10.
Two preliminary points demand our attention.
1. It has been maintained that this miracle is
identical with the healing of the nobleman's son recorded
in St John iv. 46-53.
And it is true that along with a general similarity
in the narratives, both miracles took place at
Capernaum, and in both Jesus exercised His power
at a distance. But when we come to look more
particularly into the details, the differences are too
great to permit of the miracles being identified.
The
subject of the Johannine miracle was a son ;
in the
case before us he was a servant or slave. And while
here the petitioner was a heathen soldier, there he was
probably a Jew. Nor was the faith of the father in
the former miracle, as interpreted by the Lord, so
strong as the faith of the soldier in the latter, and
consequently it was answered in a different way. On
these grounds, then, and others might be adduced, we
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