Luke 7:9-10 (ESV)
[9] When Jesus heard these
things, he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said,
“I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” [10] And when those
who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well.
What does Jesus mean when he says
this man had great faith? I think there are two aspects to it, although we tend
to focus only on the second aspect. First is humility. Second is a recognition
of Jesus’ authority. We usually see the authority but sometimes miss the
humility.
A Roman centurion’s servant was
dying. The centurion asked Jesus to heal him, but he didn’t ask directly. First,
he sent the elders of the synagogue. They told Jesus that he is worthy of this
miracle. Even though he is not a Jew he had been good to the Jews. He built
their synagogue. Surely, he deserved this miracle. As Jesus was on his way to
the centurion’s home, messengers met him saying that he knows he is not even
worthy to have Jesus enter his home, let alone heal his servant. The reason for
sending the elders and the messengers is that he knew he was unworthy. What a
contrast between what others said about him and what he said about himself. He
recognized that he was not worthy of approaching the king.
That is the humility piece. How often
we plead with God because we feel that we deserve to be treated better. We feel
betrayed if he does not come through for us as we desire. We’re even ready to
walk away from our faith because something bad happens to us or those we love. The
very heart of the gospel is that we do not deserve anything from God. Every
good gift is by his mercy and grace. The centurion understood that.
The second aspect of his faith was
that he recognized Jesus’ authority. He knew that Jesus didn’t need to be
present to heal his servant. He just needed to give the command, and it would
be done. That is exactly what happened. The servant was healed without Jesus
ever entering the centurion’s home or seeing the dying servant.
These two aspects are really two
sides of the same coin. The centurion’s faith was great because he recognized his
own unworthiness while acknowledging Jesus’ great authority. We are nothing. He
is everything. In those two truths we find what we fail to experience when we
think we somehow deserve something from God and begin to view him more as our
servant than as our king. Do you trust him?
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