Disciple are amazed when Jesus halts the storm battering their boat, shepherds
are amazed when the heavenly host of angels appear to them on the first
Christmas. Mary and Joseph are amazed by the teenage Jesus, crowds are amazed
when Jesus opens his mouth. People
around Jesus are amazed by his words and miracles- but only once does Luke
attribute amazement to Jesus and we hear about it today.
Luke writes “When
Jesus heard this he was amazed at him [the centurion] and turning to the crowd
that followed him, he said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such
faith.” Jesus is of course speaking about the faith of the centurion.
So what’s so amazing about the centurion’s faith- what makes the centurion
faith stand out among all the people of Israel as an example of amazing faith?
Now there are couple ways to understand the word faith. The first way that we sometimes think about
the word faith is in regards to believing certain tenets or doctrines of a religion. In this regard think the Nicene Creed- we
believe in God the Father almighty- maker of heaven and earth- we believe in
Jesus the son- this way of understanding the word faith has to do with believing
things like God created the universe or that Jesus was physically raised from
the dead or that Mary was a virgin when she had Jesus.
But is this what was so amazing about the faith of the Roman
Centurion?
Probably not, there is no indication that the Roman Centurion
had cast aside the beliefs of his upbringing, the God’s of Rome – he was
probably a card carrying member believing in the pantheon of Roman gods God’s
like Jupiter or Juno or Mars the god of War.
There is another way to understand the word faith also has to
do with putting one’s trust or hope in someone or something. I think this may be the faith that Jesus is
commending to the crowd in the centurion. It’s quite obvious that the centurion saw Jesus as a man with
great authority like himself. The
Centurion was a leader in the Roman army- commanding troops, wielding great
power and great authority. What the
centurion saw in Jesus was not a man who had great power over legions of men,
but what the centurion saw was a Jewish healer, a prophet who had power over
creation itself, a man who speak and waves and wind stand down- he saw a man who could touch a diseased person
and bring health, he saw that Jesus could free people from the snare of death.
Perhaps what was so amazing was the centurion’s faith is that
it is rather simple- he simply believes that Jesus Christ could make a
difference in the life of his ill slave.
The centurion recognized that Jesus had power over something that he was
powerless to change-- he couldn’t change the outcome for his slave, but Jesus
could --so the centurion takes the life of his slave and places in the hands of
God –he hands this situation over to Jesus-
and says you deal with it. And
Jesus is amazed by his faith.
Faith at least in this story has nothing to with doctrines of
resurrection or whether there was a virgin birth, but rather faith is all about
turning over to Jesus those things that we are powerless against.
What in your life needs to be commended to God? Where do you
have fear? Where is it seeping into your life? What are the things that provoke anxiety- perhaps there is something to hand over to Christ? What are you powerless to change in
your life- what needs in your life needs to be handed over to God where do you need to say "Lord it’s yours-- you handle
it?"
That is the faith that amazes Jesus Christ, that is the
faith of the Centurion.
Jesus made a difference in the life of the centurion because the
centurion trusted that Jesus would and that he could- the offer is there for us.
Will we have faith to believe that Jesus has the power to
take upon himself those things that we can’t change, that we are powerless against?
Maybe we should give him a try?
Lord it’s yours—you handle it!
That’s what faith is.
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