Great faith

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

GREAT FAITH

Matt 8:5-13

5 When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. 6 "Lord," he said, "my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering." 7 Jesus said to him, "I will go and heal him."  8 The centurion replied, "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 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." 10 When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, "I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. 11 I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."  13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go! It will be done just as you believed it would." And his servant was healed at that very hour.

NIV

Great faith, this is what Jesus called the faith of this non-Israelite, this Roman centurion. He was part of the occupying force of Rome and yet he needed Jesus to heal a servant of his. First we should speak to the issue of this man of authority, this centurion who had such compassion on a servant in his household. It was understood this was a male servant as Jesus says he will go and heal him. But the point is this centurion who commanded one hundred men was concerned enough for the physical pain of a servant he would go and find Jesus asking him to heal him. He could have just allowed this servant to die, and get another one in a heartbeat. But his concern may well have impressed Jesus regarding his faith. What we also have here is the statement Jesus makes about his faith.  Jesus has not found faith like that anywhere in Israel. This would include Peter, Andrew, James and John and whoever he had already called to follow him. In fact Jesus says that there will be people from the east and the west that will get into heaven, the kingdom of God. That includes us. That is if we have faith. The disciples along with the many others who follow after him saw miracles and healings and believed because they saw, but this centurion did not have to see Jesus do the healing, he knew that all Jesus had to do was command or speak the healing and it would be done. This truly impressed Jesus regarding his great faith. He makes this statement which seems will fulfilled even to our time. Israel is not a nation of people who have faith in Jesus Christ, although they make a certain amount of income from the Christians who come to visit this Holy Land. The question, of course, is although we are from the east and the west, do we possess that kind of faith, great faith. Not the kind of faith needed for salvation, for we know that God gives ever man a measure of faith.

Rom 12:3

3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.

NIV

This statement Paul was inspired to pen was in the context of spiritual gifts as well as being a living sacrifice. Yet the point remains the same regarding faith. God has given each person a measure of faith. Does he give one more than another? That would be inconsistent with the fact he does not show favoritism. It is what we do with the measure we have been given that counts. Just as the parable of the talents. It has nothing to do with money, but with the gifts, with our faith. He gives us a measure of faith, he gives us each gifts and someday we will have to give an account as how we used them, not for our own gain, but for his. How have we used what he has given to us to further the kingdom of God? True the measure of faith he gives to each man certainly has a purpose for each person to come to Christ. Yet some reject or hide that faith deep down, they repress it by their evil deeds for they would rather live in the darkness then come into the light. This is what he was saying about those in Israel. They were rejecting, repressing the faith God had given to them to believe in Jesus. This centurion was also given a measure of faith by God and he was awakened to it, loaded up in his heart, believed not only that Jesus was able to heal his servant, but that Jesus only needed to speak the words and it would be so. Great faith, is that which is exercised. We all have the same amount of muscle cells within our bodies, however some exercise them into great proportions, while other just wither away physically. The measure of faith we are given in order to become great faith must be exercised. We need to believe Jesus can just speak the words and it will be done. All too often we live by sight or feel rather than by faith. We feel a pain in our body and we believe we hurt. We have a material need and we believe we need to go get it. We believe we have to store up enough for retirement and so we act on our belief. But what about faith in Jesus? What about believing he only needs to speak the words and it will be done? Can we exercise our faith enough to believe for a healing, for a miracle, for provisions for our lives? We have already visited his teachings about not to worry about those things, but to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and he will add all those things to us as well. That requires faith, great faith, to believe, to not worry, and to not be anxious about tomorrow. This is not about God granting everything we say, but our believing what Jesus says. God is not a genie in a bottle to grant us three wishes, as some might think, using the words in Mark about saying to the mountain, get up and cast into the sea.

Mark 11:22-25

22 "Have faith in God," Jesus answered. 23 "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins." 

NIV

It is about having faith, great faith in God. Yes we can have that kind of faith that what we ask for we can believe we will receive it. Not from our own hands, but from the hand of God. That requires faith which has been exercised into great proportions. Yet it is the faith like that of a child, who simply believes without any reservations. We remember a time in our youth we had absolutely no doubts whatsoever that Santa Claus brought all our presents. That is childlike faith, which is very much like, if not the best example of great faith. Believing without any doubts, without any reservations. This is the kind of faith the centurion showed in his conversation with Jesus. He had no doubts that all Jesus had to do was to speak the words. Doubt is just another form of disbelief. Faith requires belief, great faith requires absolutely no doubt. Is it possible to believe and have doubt? Maybe we can believe just a little and then we will receive just a little. We should be believing with great faith. We believe!