Paraphrase of the Hard Texts of Scripture, Scripture 36 · Chapter 8
CAP. VIII.
4 And Iesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man, but go thy way, shew thy selfe to the Priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded for a testimony unto them.IT is not yet seasonable for thee to divulge this cure, that I have wrought upon thee; & therefore I do, for the time, enjoyne thee silence; but in the meane time, neglect no duty that the Law requireth of thee, though thy healing have beene thus extraordinary, yet doe not thinke that it exempteth thee from that charge, which God by Moses imposeth upon thee; goe therefore, and shew thy selfe to the Priest, that he may passe his allowance of thy full recovery; and offer thou the gift prescribed in the Law that by this act of thine, my very enemies may be convinced of the truth, and certaintly of this miracle.
9 For I am a man under authority, having souldiers under me; and I say to this man, Goe, and hee goeth: & to another, come and he commeth: and to my servant, doe this, and hee doeth it.If I that am a man under the authoritie of another, (viz. the Tribune of my band) have yet this power, that my word can bee obeyed by those that are under my command; so as if I say to my servant, Goe; hee goeth: if I bid him come, he commeth: how much more shall thy word alone, who art so powerfull, and absolute, be prevalent to effect that which thou commandest. Doe thou therefore but speake the word onelyonly, and my servant shall be healed.
10 Verely, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith; no, not in Israel.This Centurion, yee see, is a Gentile; yet hath hee shewed in this suit of his, such a marvelous strength of faith, that I have not found the like, even in Israel, which should have more reason to beleeve.
11 And I say unto you, that many shal come from the East and West, and shall sit downe with Abraham, and Isaac, and Iacob, in the kingdome of heaven.But thus it shall bee, as in him, so in others also, that are yet strangers, and aliens from the Church of God; for I say unto you, that beyond, and out of the bounds of Iudea, from all the remote regions of the world, there shall many be called into my Church; who from the East and West, shall bee admitted into the participation of the same glory, with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, (the holy Patriarchs of my ancient Church) in the kingdome of heaven.
12 But the children of the kingdome shall bee cast out into utter darkenesse: there shall be weeping & gnashing of teeth.But many of those, who by their priviledge and profession are my selected people, even the Jewes (to whom the Church of God seemes now to be confined) shall be utterly disclaimed, and rejected; and in the end shall be cast downe into hell, where there is nothing but horror, and extremity of sorrow, and paine, and torment.
That even in this sense also might bee fulfilled that word of Isaias the prophet; viz.17 That it might bee fulfilled which was spoken by Isaias the Prophet, saying: himselfe tooke our infirmities, and bare our sickenesses. That as he did in his owne person undertake to beare our sorrowes; and infirmities: so also, by his divine power hee removed and tooke away the bodily complaints and sicknesses of men, as he did away their sinnes, which are the causes of their sufferings, so also their diseases and infirmities, which are the effects of their sinne.
And Jesus saith unto him,20 And Iesus saith unto him; the foxes have holes, and the birds of the aire have nests: but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. If in the purpose of following me, thou hast any aime at thine owne ease, or honour in the world, thou shalt bee much mistaken; for though I be the true Son of God, yet now I have taken upon me the forme and estate of a servant; and, in this humbled condition of mine, I do not so much as provide a set house-roome for my selfe and my family; wherein I have willingly abased my selfe below the very fowles of the aire, and the meanest beasts upon earth. The Foxes have holes, &c.
But Jesus said unto him;22 But Iesus said unto him: follow me, and let the dead burie their dead. Those that are truely called by me, must not delay their answerable obedience; no not for a day; but must presently addresse themselves to my service: as for that excuse which thou makest of burying the dead, it is a worke needfull indeed to be done; but there are enow besides fit for this businesse; even those which lye still dead in their sinnes, and have not entertained any good purposes of betaking themselves to the seeking and following the meanes of salvation.
O thou Jesus the sonne of the everliving God,29 And behold, they cried out, saying: what have we to do with thee Iesus, thou Sonne of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time? it is our great misery that wee are fallen into thine hands; what wilt thou now doe with vsus? doest thou meane now to accomplish our full torment before the day of finall judgement?