God’s Scale of Faith
“When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.” Matthew 8:10
Would Jesus marvel at the quality and quantity of my faith? Probably not. There was a man whose great faith caused Jesus to marvel. He was a Roman centurion, an officer who commanded 100 soldiers, and was also a Gentile which would have made him an enemy of the Jewish people. This was during the time when Israel was under the domination of the Romans. This centurion, recognizing Jesus as being more than just a mortal Man or a Teacher, came to Jesus and earnestly implored Him to heal his servant who was gravely ill. The centurion had compassion on his servant because his servant was suffering tremendously. After Jesus heard the officer’s urgent request, Jesus agreed to come to his home and heal the servant right then and there.
The centurion was not surprised that Jesus agreed to heal his servant, but he was humbled that Jesus would come to his own home to heal the ill man in person. He felt unworthy to have a Man with the divine and moral stature that Christ possessed to enter his home. However, Jesus, as the Son of the living God, never considered Himself above entering the most humble of homes. In Luke 22:27, He asked who was greater–the one being served, or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is being served, the master of the house? Yet, Jesus said that He is among us as One who serves. Jesus didn’t care what sort of a house the officer lived in; He was concerned about the ones who lived there, and particularly for the one who was sick.
Since the centurion felt unworthy for Jesus to enter his home, he asked that He would take care of the matter right there just by speaking a word of healing. This officer, even though a Gentile, knew that the power of God is not limited or affected in any way by time, space, or distance. He began to explain to Jesus about how he understood faith in action. He told Jesus that when he ordered one of his men to go, he would go, and to return, he would return. Whatever he told his servant to do, the servant would do. He never doubted their obedience. He recognized the greatness of Jesus and knew, in his heart, that whatever Jesus said would happen. After he said these things to Jesus, Jesus marveled at him because the depth of his faith was so rare and so complete, even among the followers of Christ. Jesus then turned to the crowd and said,”…I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.” I can almost picture Jesus turning to the crowd and saying, “Now that’s what I’m talking about!” Jesus did heal the servant from where He stood in Capernaum.
That’s the difference in faith and great faith. It’s probably a good time to check our own level of faith. You know how after you order something on line, and then you are sent a survey to rate the product and/or service of the seller? Sometimes they present you a scale of 1 to 10 for you to rank your satisfaction with 1 being really bad and 10 being nearly excellent. Therefore, if God sent us a survey to rank ourselves on our level of faith, where would we be? I would want to be a 10, but I would have to be honest and give myself a lower score. In order to increase and grow stronger, our faith, like our muscles, must be exercised.