Matthew reports such self-humbling on the part of both Gentiles who entreat Jesus for help (here and 15:27). The centurion's initial announcement of the need (8:6) is an oblique form of request; one rarely simply presumed on others' favor (compare Lk 24:28-29; Jn 1:38-39), and one of higher social status rarely would utter a direct request unless desperate (compare Jn 2:3). But Jesus forces the centurion to admit his status as a suppliant.

The emphatic Greek I in 8:7 suggests that Jesus' words there are probably better translated as a question: "Shall I come and heal him?" (France 1977:257). Most Palestinian Jews, after all, considered entering Gentile homes questionable (compare Acts 10:28; m. Pesahim 8:8; Oholot 18:7). Here Jesus erects a barrier the Gentile must surmount, as in 15:24, 26: an outsider who would entreat his favor must first acknowledge the privilege of Israel, whom other peoples had oppressed or disregarded (compare Jn 4:22). Such initial rejection was a not uncommon ploy for demanding greater commitment (see comment on Mt 19:16-22). Rather than protesting, the centurion acknowledges his questionable merit before Jesus (compare Lk 7:4, 6), adopting the appropriate role of a suppliant totally dependent on a patron's benefaction-a role centurions themselves often filled for local populations (Malina 1981:78; Malina and Rohrbaugh 1992:70).