Did the centurion come to Jesus himself, or send elders?

Difficult Passages · Accounts of the Same Event

Did the centurion come to Jesus himself, or send elders?

He came by his messengers; what a man does by those he sends, he does himself.

The Passages

Matthew 8:5-13

5 And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, 6 And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. 7 And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. 8 The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. 9 For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. 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.

Luke 7:1-10

1 Now when he had ended all his sayings in the audience of the people, he entered into Capernaum. 2 And a certain centurion's servant, who was dear unto him, was sick, and ready to die. 3 And when he heard of Jesus, he sent unto him the elders of the Jews, beseeching him that he would come and heal his servant. 4 And when they came to Jesus, they besought him instantly, saying, That he was worthy for whom he should do this: 5 For he loveth our nation, and he hath built us a synagogue. 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 shouldest enter under my roof: 7 Wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee: but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed. 8 For I also am a man set under authority, having under me soldiers, and I say unto one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. 9 When Jesus heard these things, he marvelled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. 10 And they that were sent, returning to the house, found the servant whole that had been sick.

The Difficulty

Matthew says that “there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him,” and gives the conversation as between Jesus and the centurion: “The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy” (Matthew 8:5, 8). Luke says the centurion “sent unto him the elders of the Jews,” and then “sent friends to him,” who spoke his words: “Wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee” (Luke 7:3, 6–7).

The Answer

Matthew, telling it briefly, speaks of the centurion as doing what he did by his messengers; Luke gives the particulars. Both speak in his own words, “I am not worthy,” because his messengers were saying what he told them to say. Scripture speaks this way constantly. Pilate “scourged” Jesus (John 19:1) by his soldiers; David killed Uriah (2 Samuel 12:9) by the sword of the Ammonites (2 Samuel 11:17); Solomon “built the house” (1 Kings 6:14) by his workmen. The Jews had the rule that “a man’s messenger is as himself” (Gill), and the law’s maxim is the same: he who acts by another acts himself.

Luke’s detail is itself the point of the story: a man who thought himself unworthy to come to Jesus, or to have Him under his roof, is the man of whom Jesus said, “I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel” (Matthew 8:10; Luke 7:9).

Sources

John W. Haley, An Examination of the Alleged Discrepancies of the Bible (1874), pp. 346–347

Matthew, writing in a condensed style, speaks of the centurion as himself doing that which he really accomplished by proxy. So Robinson, who quotes the old law-maxim, “Qui facit per alium, facit per se,” He who does a thing by another, does it himself.

Checked against: Internet Archive scan of the 1874 edition, 2026-10-19
John Gill, An Exposition of the New Testament, vol. 1 (1746–48), p. 69, on Matthew 8:5

Beseeching him, not in person, but by his messengers; see (Luke 7:3) and the Jews say, … “that a man’s messenger is as himself”.

Checked against: Internet Archive scan of the first edition, 2026-10-23