Domine Non Dignus Sum: Lord I am not Worthy
The Story of the Roman Centurion and His Slave Boy
(Matthew 8:5-13 & Luke 7:2-10)

One of the most common suppositions about homosexuality and the Bible is that “Jesus never said anything about homosexuality.” Or, “Homosexuality is unknown to the Gospels and is only acknowledged as existing in the Pauline Epistles,”the inference being that Jesus was ignorant of homosexuality.

If one looks at the story of the healing of the centurion’s servant in Matthew 8:5-13 and Luke 7:2-10 from the viewpoint of a Gay man rather than a straight man, however, a far different understanding emerges. Not only is Jesus knowledgeable about same-sex love, but he accepts it and through his action honors it as much as he does any other love between two people.

Even within the societal context of his time, however, which had no knowledge of homosexual orientation as a fact of human nature, it is wrong to assume that Jesus was not “street wise." In Evangelical circles it is generally believed that because Jesus was "totally God" as well as "totally man," he was omniscient--that is all knowing--and therefore knew things his fellow human beings did not know at the time.

The religious conservatives' assumption of omniscience however gets misplaced quickly when one tries to apply it to his knowledge of human sexuality and human relationship, in which case he suddenly becomes completely without knowledge of sex. Or perhaps they would prefer the idea that Jesus, because of his omniscience "knew" that the bond between the centurion and his slave was completely "innocent." of sexual relationship. "Puh-lease!" one is drawn to say. For a gay man or a Lesbian, no omniscience is required at all to see what the relationship is between the Roman soldier and his "boy." Omniscience is not even required. To suggest that Jesus did not know what was going on impugns his wisdom in a fashion that is on the edge of blasphemy if not completely over the line.

The details of the story are essentially the same in both versions: a Roman centurion in great distress over the illness of his slave boy seeks out Jesus in a desperate attempt to find a cure for the servant. To overarching point of the story is that Jesus praises the Centurion as an example of faith. He says of the Centurion: “Truly, I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you, many will come from east and west and sit at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.” And to the centurion Jesus said,” Go; be it done for you as you have believed.” and the servant was healed at that very moment.

Understanding the thrust of the story is easy. Jesus commends those who have faith in him, even non-Jews. The context of the story is also clear, at least to a Gay man. Jesus knows, understands, and accepts the relationship between the centurion and his slave boy, but a look at the social setting is necessary to appreciate what Jesus understood.

First, who was the centurion? He was a foreigner, a gentile, and a high official of an occupying power. His social position and power were infinitely superior to that of Jesus, an itinerant preacher and faith healer who would have been beneath contempt for the Roman if he had not been in a condition of emotional turmoil. He was so distraught over the illness of a slave that he would humble himself before Jesus in a desperate attempt to get help for his servant. In spite of the social distance between them, in both versions of the story, he shows respect for Jesus by calling him “Lord.” In the Lucan version of the story he sends word to Jesus saying: “. . . I am not worthy to have you come under my roof . . .” in the version in Matthew he goes to Jesus, but says: “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only say the word and my servant will be healed.”

This humbling of himself is remarkable, but the reason he humbles himself is even more remarkable. It shows clearly how emotionally involved he is with his servant. It not simply the case of having a seriously ill chattel at the brink of death. He was not seeking healing for a piece of property. A Roman centurion was hardly likely to humble himself to such a degree unless his relationship with the boy was far closer than to a piece of property–even a piece of property for whom he had a degree of affection. What the centurion felt was far deeper than affection.

The other instances in the Gospels in which Jesus’ help is sought as a healer is from persons with very close relationships to the person who needed healing; the widow of Nain who seeks healing for her son (Luke 7:11-15, Jairus who asks Jesus to raise his daughter from the dead (Mark 5:22-24,35-42 and Luke 8:41-55), and of course Lazarus’ sisters Mary and Martha (John 11:1-44).

If each of these stories of faith in Jesus’ healing power presupposes the closeness of a family relationship, then to deny the same close relationship between the centurion and his slave boy is unsupportable. Their relationship is at least as close as that of a parent and a child, or of siblings. It is clear that the boy is not a son or a brother, although Jesus treats the relationship as comparable. What is the relationship then?

The term in English for the object of the centurion’s concern is variously translated as ‘servant’ or ‘slave.’ In the Greek text from Matthew, the boy is called ‘pais’ (παις,) translated ‘servant’ in Matthew 8:6, 8 and 13 .) In the passage from Luke the boy is referred to both as a ‘doulos’ (δουλος) who was ‘entimos’ (εντιμος)’ to him , translated as a ‘slave who was dear’ to him (Luke 7:2.) Later in verse 7 the centurion refers to the boy as ‘pais’ (translated servant in the English) and in verse 10 he is again ‘doulos’ (translated ‘slave’ in the English.)

Because the choice of words doulos and pais refer to the same person, it is important to try and understand what the words implied in the Greek text and why both were used as if they were synonyms. They were not exact synonyms, but in the context of the Gospel passage, they overlap in meaning.

The literal meaning of doulos (δουλος) is slave and is unambiguous. The word always refers to someone who is the property of another and a subordinate. Paul often uses doulos to refer to the relationship between a Christian and Jesus Christ (e.g., Romans 6:18,22 and 1 Corinthians 9:19.) In these cases there may be a sense in which the relationship connotes love, but it is unambiguously a relationship of obedience as owed by a chattel to his owner.

The literal meaning of pais (παις,) is child or boy, even son, but there is a great deal more ambiguity in its meaning than in the meaning of doulos. The translation of pais in other places provides a great deal more nuance in the meaning of the word than merely a servant.

In Matthew 12:18 where in referring to Jesus, the Gospel quotes Isaiah saying: “Behold my servant (παις) whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom My soul is well pleased. . .

In Luke 1:54 in the Magnificat of Mary: “He has helped his servant (παις) Israel in remembrance of his mercy. .”

Luke1:69 in the song of Zechariah “. . .and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant (παις,) David.”

In Acts 4:25 when the friends of Peter and John exclaimed: “Sovereign Lord. . .who by the mouth of our father David, thy servant (παις,) (sometimes translated ‘child’) didst say by the Holy Spirit. . .”

From these examples it is clear that the meaning of the word παις, ranges from an ordinary servant (Matthew 14: 2, Luke 15:26) to Israel, King David, and the Son of God, Jesus Christ himself.

The word is sometimes considered to refer to a slave who has a special relationship to the master as in ‘son-servant,’ i.e., one who enjoys special favors and privileges not given to a δουλος or ‘slave-servant.’ This would certainly seem to be the case with the παις, in the story of the centurion in Luke. Both terms are used in the Gospel of Luke, but in Luke 7:2 the term δουλος is amplified by the word entimos (ἔντιμος) which is translated ‘dear,’ ‘honored,’ and in some cases ‘precious.’ In 1 Corinthians 3:12, εντιμος is the equivalent of gold, silver, and precious (ἔντιμος) stones. In 1 Peter 1:19 it is equivalent to the precious blood of Christ. When the Gospel of Luke tells us that the centurion’s servant is δουλος ἔντιμος, it definitely raises the boy’s status from that of a mere servant.

Perhaps more revealing about the relationship of the slave to the centurion is illustrated in Luke 14:7-9 where Jesus tells a parable to the guests invited to dine at the house of an important man. He remarks on how the guests chose the places of honor, saying to them, “When you are invited by any one to a marriage feast do not sit down in a place of honor, lest a more esteemed (entimoteros – έντιμότερός) than you be invited and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give place to this man,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. . .” Clearly if the slave was entimos (έντιμος) he enjoyed a place of honor in the centurion’s household and perhaps even at his table, scarcely the relationship of a mere household slave.

It also seems to be within the bounds of speculation to wonder about the close relationship between the Greek word entimos and the English cognate ‘intimate,’ in the sense of an intimate relationship, which comes into English from the Latin intimus, only one step removed from the Greek root from whom Latin borrowed it. clearly the δουλος ἔντιμος suggests more than a piece of valuable property.

When looked at from a Gay view of life, it is not a stretch to assume that a modern translation could refer to the παις as the centurion’s ‘boy,’ in which case the nature of the relationship becomes quite clear. Making that assumption not only answers the question of why this exalted Roman official is moved to humble himself to Jesus – he is pleading for the life of his lover – but it seems clear that Jesus knows the nature of their relationship and he finds their love as worthy of his concern as the other instances where he is moved to act because of the faith of those who come to him hoping he will heal their loved ones.

From the perspective of a Gay man, reading the passage in this light has the power to draw one into a relationship with Jesus Christ far closer than is otherwise possible. A Gay person can appreciate the story first-hand as an example of Jesus’ love and compassion for gay relationships, rather than a second-hand view given by Jesus’ concern for the love of parents toward their children or siblings for each other. It provides a Gay person with the vehicle for faith in Jesus Christ which the Gospels are intended to provide. Denying Gay men or Lesbians this sense of connection to Jesus Christ is nothing short of denying them personal access to the Gospel. The story answers for them the question raised by the eunuch in Acts 8:26-39: “What is to prevent me from being baptized?”