July 9, Greater Faith
When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.”
Luke 7:9
A recent scheduled dictated that I drive through various parts of our city for several appointments and meetings away from my office. As I navigated through the busyness of Virginia Beach, my eyes were for some reason captured by a small store front church with the name, Greater Faith. As I drove past, my mind wondered at how this name may have been derived. And, quickly my mind settled on a possibility: the very familiar story of Jesus with the Roman Centurion.
Revisit this story (Luke 7:1-10):
2 There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. 3 The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. 4 When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this,5 because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” 6 So Jesus went with them. He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof.7 That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. 8 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.” 9 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.”10 Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.
“Greater faith.” A pagan centurion (a non- commissioned officer in the forces of Herod Antipas) was grieved over the sickness of one of his servants and having heard of Jesus’ healing miracles, sent for Him. This officer’s report with the Jews was of the utmost respect, and so the Jewish leaders acceded his request. Do not miss the faith being practiced by this unsuspected player within the story.
Seeing Jesus approaching his home, the Centurion was filled with a sense of his own unworthiness and attempted to stop Jesus from entering the house. (He had sent friends to stop Jesus - as Luke recorded, but then went himself - as recorded by Matthew.) This man of great influence had humbled himself in the presence of Jesus, and thus the Son of God gave His affirmation: “I tell you that I have not found such great faith even in Israel.”
The faith and humility one might expect from those who were seemingly the most religious (the Jews) became evident in one who would be the least likely to express such faith. But nonetheless, this Roman officer ascribed to Jesus the glory deserved and placed His trust in God’s Son for the benefit of another – his servant.
Great faith was demonstrated by a humble approach to Jesus from one who was not counted among the religious. And this story defines the very heart Jesus affirms:
Like the centurion, are we willing to forget ourselves? This involves letting go of any idea of our own importance. This requires that we lay aside what we think we deserve. This reminds us to humbly approach Jesus, not because of what we think of our own identity, but because of His identity – because of who He is.
Like the centurion, are we willing to prioritize the need others have for Jesus over our own personal needs? How much of your Christian life revolves around your own journey of faith, and how much involves encouraging the faith journey of others?
Like the centurion, are we willing to place our whole trust in the words of Jesus? This one said to Jesus, “just say the word and my servant will be healed” (verse 7). In John 6:68, Peter said to Jesus, “you alone have the words of life.” How firmly do we take Jesus at His words? How much to we study His teachings? How genuinely do we live by what He has said?
Today, realize that Jesus called “great faith” this humble approach of actively trusting Him. Can your life genuinely be characterized as great faith? If not, why not?
Blessings.
