The Kind of Faith that Jesus Marvelled

Scripture passage

When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering.” Jesus said to him, “I will go and heal him.” The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For, I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, “Go,” and he goes; and that one, “Come,” and he comes. I say to my servant, “Do this,” and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, “I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 8:5-10 NIV)

The main theme

The centurion's words presuppose an understanding of the Roman military system. All “authority” belonged to the emperor and was delegated. Therefore, because he was under the emperor's authority, when the centurion spoke, he spoke with the emperor's authority, and so his command was obeyed. A foot soldier who disobeyed would not be defying a mere centurion but the emperor and Rome itself, with all its imperial majesty and might. This self-understanding the centurion applied to Jesus. Precisely because Jesus was under God's authority, he was vested with God's authority, so that when Jesus spoke, God spoke. To defy Jesus was to defy God, and Jesus' word must therefore be vested with God's authority that can heal sickness. This analogy reveals an astonishing faith on the part of the centurion.

The mistaken idea of faith

Many declare that a person is saved through faith; or as they say, if he or she merely has faith. But the majority does not know what faith is. Some imagine it is a mere thought; some that it is the acknowledgment of something which ought to be believed and others that it is the entire doctrine of faith which ought to be believed.

Faith, however, is not a mere thought; nor is it the acknowledgement of something that ought to be believed; nor is it a knowledge of all that constitutes the doctrine of faith. Nobody can be saved by such thought, acknowledgement, or knowledge that cannot send down roots any deeper than thought.

What is meant by faith?

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1).Faith is the substance or the demonstration of things not seen. We understand the material fabric of the universe. We comprehend the earth and visible heavens, and the whole planetary system because we have the means to see material things. But it is by faith that we believe God made all things out of nothing. We comprehend animals, birds, fishes, and plants. But it is by faith that we understand that God made all these out of nothing. His word tells us so, and we credit that word.

Faith is synonymous with trust. It is a divine gift (Romans 12:3) and comes by hearing the Word of God (Romans 10:17). It is the means by which the grace of God is accounted to the believer who trusts in the work of Jesus (Ephesians 2:8). Without faith it is impossible to have a right relationship with God (Hebrews 11:6).

Faith is to feel in good earnest that we are creatures of God; it is a practical perception of the unseen world; it is to understand that this world is not enough for our happiness, to look beyond it on towards God, to realize his presence, to wait upon him, to endeavour to learn and to do his will, and to seek our good from him. To have faith in God is to surrender yourself to God. It is to humbly put one's interests into his hands who is the Sovereign Giver of all good.

The faith of the Roman centurion

When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, “I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.”

That's Matthew 8:10 and Jesus was talking to the crowd that had gathered around him. There's no doubt there was a crowd around him: it begins the chapter by saying that He had come down from the mountain, that is immediately after giving the Sermon on the Mount, and great multitudes followed him. When Jesus heard what the centurion had said, he marvelled. He said to those who followed: “I tell you the truth; I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.”

Jesus challenges an assumption

Jesus would have been aware of the impact that his words had on the people who were around him, many of whom would have been Jews. And many of them would have entertained the assumption that was ingrained with them: that by birth and as a birthright, they had access to the Kingdom of Heaven in a way that no gentile would ever have. When they heard this, they would have been unhappy. But Jesus went on to say, “I say to you that many will come from east and west and sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, but the sons of the kingdom will be cast into outer darkness.” That's a tight slap in the face for them!

What are your assumptions?

What are your assumptions about Romans? That they were worldly? That they were materialists; loved pleasure, and a good glass of wine? The soldiers were idiots who simply followed orders? Perhaps it’s true of some of them. But be careful, because we are into assumptions and even those assumptions have to be challenged.

Certainly, the centurion was an exception. He cared for those under his authority and had compassion for those who served him. Let's not think of the Romans exclusively in terms of the brutality of the age, or in terms of the brutality which history is evidence of that they could commit. He was a man of tenderness who cared and had compassion. He took a risk because he stepped outside convention, and he was prepared to seek healing and help where it might be found. But more than that he possessed a faith at which the Lord marvelled; and went on to say that He had not found such faith, not even in Israel, not even amongst his closest followers and disciples. We need to start looking at what it was that made his faith so outstanding, which attracted this tremendous compliment from the Lord.

The Roman centurion understood

The centurion wasn’t a rabbi. He hadn’t been brought up in some school of the rabbis. He had no Jewish background in the scriptures. He came to Jesus innocently to seek healing for his servant who was paralysed at home.

Some words in English are not helpful. The centurion said to Jesus: “I see that you are a man on another level.” The centurion was tuned into the fact that life is not just about one physical, outer, natural level, but that life is multi-layered, multi-levelled, and that indeed there is a level, as epitomised in what he had seen of Jesus. He talks about being a man under authority, what he is saying is this: "I know all about unerring obedience to authority.” He was talking about levels of our existence and also about authority and the need to recognise when authority should be obeyed.

The higher must always be, and take precedence over the lower. The higher rules the lower. Faith is a commitment and a resolve to live our lives from the higher authority. Faith needs to be in the way we practice the things we subscribe to and say we believe in.

Faith makes all things possible

Jesus is inviting us to re-examine what the essence of faith is. If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, nothing will be impossible to you, not on the spiritual plane! Not when it comes to the challenges of life. Have faith, and all will be restored, healed, improved, and set free.

Let your faith be not only in your present life. Have a faith in its extended sense such as the resurrection of the body, the new heavens and the new earth, the introduction of believers into the heavenly country, and the possession of eternal glory.

Selie Visa