“… I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.” Mt 8:10
Only 2 people in the gospels are said by Jesus to have great faith. Neither were Jews. One was a soldier from an occupying army…a centurion who was in charge of 100 soldiers. His servant was “paralyzed and in terrible suffering.” He approached Jesus on his servant’s behalf and Jesus healed the servant from a distance.
How did this Gentile acquire such faith? Peter, Andrew, James and John had tagged along with Jesus for months by this time. I doubt the centurion had such intimate exposure to Jesus, yet his faith was greater than theirs. He must have learned about Jesus from stories passed on to him or from somewhat distant observations. I simply can’t answer this question without speculating.
I can tell you with certainty what his faith looked like. It was thoroughly characterized by an understanding of the concept of authority and the chain-of-command. It recognized Jesus place in the chain-of-command. It recognized the scope of Jesus authority, that it extended beyond people to include even their diseases. It recognized that His authority was not bound by proximity or restrained by distance. His faith was characterized by authentic, reverential respect…”Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof.” It was characterized by selflessness, operating in love. It was publically demonstrable to the point that if he was wrong about Jesus, his reputation would suffer.
Measure your faith by these things. Don’t condemn yourself for your shortcoming…there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. Let this motivate you to the quest for great faith.
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