A Soldier’s Faith
The man was a Roman centurion. Though he was a Gentile, he was a believer in Jehovah. His faith in God was so strong that he had built the Jews of his town a synagogue. He was respected by the Jews, but they didn’t yet understand the true greatness of his faith. This Gentile’s faith was about to be compared to the faith of these Israelites by Jesus Christ Himself.
It seems that our Gentile centurion had a dear servant who had fallen ill. He was sick to the point of death. The centurion heard that Jesus was in town and, likely being familiar with some of the miracles of Christ, led a delegation of Jewish elders to ask Jesus to heal his servant. Feeling unworthy to approach, as a Gentile, the actual presence of Jesus, he sent his friends the last few steps of the way. Jesus consented to his request and began the journey to the centurion’s house where the servant lay dying.
As Jesus approached the residence, the centurion made a statement that amazed even Jesus. He said he was not worthy for Jesus to enter his house. If the Lord would just say the word from a distance, he knew that his servant would be healed.
The Bible says that Jesus “marveled” at this statement. He called special attention to the centurion’s great faith by saying that He had not found faith like this, not even in Israel.
The servant lived. Jesus healed him from afar.
What contributed to this Gentile’s extraordinary faith? If I can learn what made his faith so strong, I can use that knowledge to make my faith stronger.
Certainly, he had some prior knowledge of Jesus’ works. These events are post-sermon on the mount. Jesus had performed various miracles and taught for over a year when this event occurred. The works and words of Jesus had produced faith in the centurion.
As a part of that faith, the works and words of Jesus had taught this centurion how great Jesus was and how small he was in comparison. He had learned the quality of being poor in spirit. As his thoughts of himself diminished, his thoughts of Jesus grew. So it must be with you and me. J. W. McGarvey stated it this way:
The less faith we have, the less we esteem Jesus, and the more faith we have, the less we esteem ourselves.
Sounds like “Blessed are the poor in spirit” to me. When I finally understand how much I need Jesus, I am prepared to grow my faith. Maybe even I can approach the faith of the centurion.
These thoughts have come from Matthew 8 and Luke 7.
The man was a Roman centurion. Though he was a Gentile, he was a believer in Jehovah. His faith in God was so strong that he had built the Jews of his town a synagogue. He was respected by the Jews, but they didn’t yet understand the true greatness of his faith. This Gentile’s faith was about to be compared to the faith of these Israelites by Jesus Christ Himself.
It seems that our Gentile centurion had a dear servant who had fallen ill. He was sick to the point of death. The centurion heard that Jesus was in town and, likely being familiar with some of the miracles of Christ, led a delegation of Jewish elders to ask Jesus to heal his servant. Feeling unworthy to approach, as a Gentile, the actual presence of Jesus, he sent his friends the last few steps of the way. Jesus consented to his request and began the journey to the centurion’s house where the servant lay dying.
As Jesus approached the residence, the centurion made a statement that amazed even Jesus. He said he was not worthy for Jesus to enter his house. If the Lord would just say the word from a distance, he knew that his servant would be healed.
The Bible says that Jesus “marveled” at this statement. He called special attention to the centurion’s great faith by saying that He had not found faith like this, not even in Israel.
The servant lived. Jesus healed him from afar.
What contributed to this Gentile’s extraordinary faith? If I can learn what made his faith so strong, I can use that knowledge to make my faith stronger.
Certainly, he had some prior knowledge of Jesus’ works. These events are post-sermon on the mount. Jesus had performed various miracles and taught for over a year when this event occurred. The works and words of Jesus had produced faith in the centurion.
As a part of that faith, the works and words of Jesus had taught this centurion how great Jesus was and how small he was in comparison. He had learned the quality of being poor in spirit. As his thoughts of himself diminished, his thoughts of Jesus grew. So it must be with you and me. J. W. McGarvey stated it this way:
The less faith we have, the less we esteem Jesus, and the more faith we have, the less we esteem ourselves.
Sounds like “Blessed are the poor in spirit” to me. When I finally understand how much I need Jesus, I am prepared to grow my faith. Maybe even I can approach the faith of the centurion.
These thoughts have come from Matthew 8 and Luke 7.
No comments:
Post a Comment