True Words for Brave Men | Page 2

let
him give his own reasons. We will let him tell his own story. We may
trust it; for our blessed Lord approved of it. Our Lord plainly thought
that what the soldier had spoken, he had spoken well. And yet it is
somewhat difficult to understand what was in his mind. He was plainly
no talker; no orator. Like many a good English soldier, sailor, yeoman,
man of business, he had very sound instincts in him, and drew very
sound conclusions from them: but he could not put them into words. He
knew that he was right, but he could not make a speech about it. Better
that, than be--as too many are--ready to make glib speeches, which they
only half believe themselves; ready to deceive themselves with subtle
arguments and high-flown oratory, till they can give the most
satisfactory reasons for doing the most unsatisfactory and unreasonable
things. No, the good soldier was no orator: but he had sound sense
under his clumsy words. Let us listen to them once more.
"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." Surely the thought which was

in his mind is to be found in the very words which he used--Authority.
Subordination. Discipline. Obedience. He was under authority, and
must obey his superior officer. He had soldiers under him, and they
must obey him. There must be not only no mutiny, but no neglect, no
arguing, no asking why. If he said Go, a man must go; if he said Come,
a man must come; and make no words about it. Otherwise the
Emperor's service would go to ruin, through laziness, distrust, and
mutinous talk. By subordination, by discipline, by mutual trust and
strict obedience, that empire of Rome was conquering the old world;
because every Roman knew his place, and every Roman did what he
was told.
But what had that to do with our Lord's power, and with the healing of
the child?
This. The honest soldier had, I think, in his mind, that subordination
was one of the most necessary things in the world; that without it the
world could not go on. Then he said to himself, "If there must be
subordination on earth, must there not be subordination in heaven?" If
he, a poor officer, could get his commands obeyed, by merely speaking
the word; then how much more could God. If Jesus was--as He said--as
His disciples said--the Lord, the God of the Jews: then He had no need
to come and see a sick man; no need to lay His hands on him; to
perform ceremonies or say prayers over him. The Laws of Nature, by
which health and sickness come, would obey His word of command
without rebellion and without delay. "Speak the word only, Lord, and
my servant shall be healed."
But how did the Centurion know--seemingly at first sight, that Jesus
was the Lord God? Ah, how indeed?
I think it was because he had learnt the soldier's lesson. He had seen
many a valiant officer--Tribunes, Prefects, Consuls, Emperors,
commanding men; and fit to command men. There was no lack of such
men in the Roman empire then, as the poor, foolish, unruly Jews found
out to their cost within the next forty years. And the good Centurion
had been accustomed to look at such men; and to look up to them
beside, and say not merely--It is a duty to obey these men, but--It is a

delight to obey them. He had been accustomed--as it is good for every
man to be accustomed--to meet men superior to himself; men able to
guide and rule him. And he had learned--as every good soldier ought to
learn--when he met such a man, not to envy him, not to backbite him,
not to intrigue against him, not to try to pull him down: but to accept
him for what he was--a man who was to be followed, if need be, to the
death.
There was in that good Centurion none of the base spirit of envy, which
dreads and therefore hates excellence, hates ability, hates authority; the
mutinous spirit which ends, not--as it dreams--in freedom and equality,
but in slavery and tyranny; because it transforms a whole army--a
whole nation--from what it should be, a pack of staunch and faithful
hounds, into a mob of quarrelsome and greedy curs. Not of that spirit
was the good Centurion: but of the spirit of reverence and loyalty; the
spirit which delights in, and looks up to, all that is brave and able, great
and good; the spirit of true independence, true freedom, and the true
self-respect which respects