What is great faith? In Luke 7:1-10, Jesus encounters a man who had great faith. It comes from a shocking person, and produces some shocking truths. Even Jesus is a bit shocked at first. As I studied the passage, I came to a new understanding of what great faith is.
Do you want great faith?
Luke tells us that in Capernaum was a centurion. Centurions were Roman Army officers who generally commanded 100 soldiers. Most of them were Gentiles, though sometimes they were half-Jews – Samaritans, so the Jewish people tended to despise centurions.
This centurion cared for his servant. And this dear servant became sick. The centurion, who loved this servant, hated to see him in such distress and agony. So when he hears that Jesus is in town, and sends some people to Jesus. He tells them to go to and plead with Him to come and heal his servant. The situation is so dire, so important, they come pleading and begging earnestly for Jesus to heal the servant.
So Jesus went with them. And when He was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to Him, saying to Him, “Lord, do not trouble Yourself, for I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof. Therefore I did not even think myself worthy to come to You. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man placed under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
He had a comprehension of power. He understood power and how it worked. He understood something about Christ which no one else understood.
When Jesus heard these things, He marveled at him, and turned around and said to the crowd that followed Him, “I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!” When Jesus hears the words spoken by the centurion’s friends, He marveled and turned around. Jesus is so shocked at what He hears, He was stopped in his tracks. He is walking along toward the centurion’s house. The friends say, “You don’t have to go. The centurion says to just say the word and his servant will be healed.” Jesus is so shocked at the man’s faith, he says to the crowd, “I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!” It’s like He is saying, “Wow! Now that is faith!”
Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Faith is confidence and persuasion in something God has said. When you are persuaded that something is true, either because God has said it, or by the supporting evidence, then you have faith in that truth.
The centurion showed great faith because he believed in the power and authority of Jesus to do exactly what He said He would do. The centurion believed that Christ’s word was sufficient.
This is the truth Jesus wants to pass on to his disciples. If you are His disciple, this is what He wants you to learn. Great faith in great promises lead to great results. If you want results, you first have to know the promises. You first have to understand God, and how He works. You first have to know what He has said in His Word. Without a knowledge and understanding of those things, you will never have great faith.
Do you want to please God? Do you want to do great things for God? Do you want God to do great things through you? It’s not enough to just have faith. Faith must be based on the promises of God.
Make your prayer this week the prayer of the man in Mark 9:24, “Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.” We all have areas of unbelief. Though we believe and are convinced of some things, we doubt and do not believe others. Praise God for the things you do believe, but pray that God would help you believe the things you do not. Then when we come to Jesus in prayer, He will marvel at our faith as well.
Chaplain Tom Love