What would cause Jesus to marvel?

This week we are looking at an event from history that is recorded in a section of an account of Jesus life that is recorded for us in the Bible called the gospel of Matthew. As Jesus finished traveling from the place where He had preached His famous sermon to arrive at the city of Capernaum, that Matthew gives us a front row seat to this event from history by explaining that a Roman Centurion came to Jesus. This Roman Centurion was a military leader of a conquering army, of a different ethnicity, who had the responsibility for leading the 100 men in his unit.

As the Centurion watched his servant, his closest assistant suffering at the hands of a terrifying and debilitating disease, the centurion recognized that, for all his authority; for all the might and resources that he had at his disposal, there was nothing that he was able to do to help his servant. Helpless to help his servant, this commanding officer of the conquering enemy who was very different from Jesus ethnically, came to Jesus and strongly pleaded with Jesus to do something for him that no one else was able to do.

In Luke 7, we see Luke gives us some additional details about this event from history. And in those details, we discover that this Roman Centurion was not the stereotypical Roman Centurion. Unlike most military leaders of the conquering Roman Army, this centurion cared for those under his leadership and he cared deeply for his servant who was suffering terribly. In addition, this centurion also cared for the people who he was occupying as a conquering military leader.

This centurion was viewed by the Jewish people of Capernaum as a God-fearing Gentile. In other words, even though the centurion was not ethnically Jewish, Jewish people viewed him as a person who worshipped the One True God of the Jews. The centurion’s faith and worship of God was demonstrated by the reality that he gave of his own money to help build the synagogue that was located in the city of Capernaum.

However, under the Jewish Law and customs of the day, for Jewish person to enter the home of a Gentile would have been a cultural taboo. Jewish people believed that they would defile, or corrupt themselves, if they had such contact with a person who was not Jewish. Up to this point in the life of Jesus, Jesus had never entered into the home of a Gentile.

But now a military leader who was in a position of authority was strongly requesting Jesus to violate a cultural taboo of the day and come to heal his servant. Or so it seemed. Because as Matthew continues to give us a front row seat to this event from history, as Jesus demonstrated His willingness to meet the request by the centurion and violate a cultural taboo of the day, we see the centurion’s response in verse 8:

But the centurion said, "Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed.

Matthew explained that instead of having Jesus come to his house, which would violate the cultural morays of the Jewish culture of the day, this commanding officer of the conquering enemy stated “Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof”. Now a natural question that could arise at this point is “Why would the Centurion make such a statement? Why would the Centurion state that he was not worthy to have Jesus come into his house?”

You see, the centurion did not view himself as not being worthy because of his social status. After all, he was the conquering commander of 100 well trained military men that represented the most powerful empire in the world. The centurion had the social status. The issue for the centurion was not about the social status of Jew vs. Gentile.

The centurion recognized that under Jewish Law and customs, a Jew was not allowed to enter the house of a Gentile. So, instead of arguing and leveraging his social status, the centurion demonstrated a deep personal humility. The centurion recognized Jesus authority and that he was not worthy as a man, not just as a Gentile, to have Jesus enter into his home. And because of that reality, the centurion engaged Jesus and stated, “but just say the word, and my servant will be healed.”

In other words, the centurion basically said to Jesus “Jesus just give the order, as being the one who is large and in charge, and my servant will be healed.” The centurion believed and trusted that Jesus had the authority to teach, heal, cast out evil spirits, and therefore reasoned that Jesus could heal from a distance. And because of that reality, the centurion trusted that Jesus needed only to say the word, and his servant would be healed. We see the centurion provide the evidence of this reality in verse 9:

 "For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, 'Go!' and he goes, and to another, 'Come!' and he comes, and to my slave, 'Do this!' and he does it."

The centurion compared the authority that he possessed as the commanding officer of a conquering army with the authority that He believed and trusted that Jesus possessed. Just as those under his authority had to obey his orders, the centurion believed and trusted that the disease that left his servant paralyzed and in terrible suffering would have to obey Jesus orders. Matthew then recorded for us how Jesus responded to the statement by the centurion in verse 10:

Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who were following, "Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel.

Matthew explained that Jesus responded to the statement of the Centurion by marveling at the Centurion. Now this word marvel literally means to be extraordinarily impressed by someone or something. You see, Jesus was amazed and impressed by the centurion’s recognition of Jesus authority that resulted in his faith and trust in Him. Jesus was amazed and impressed in this conquering officer’s confident trust in the authority of Jesus to do what only God could do.

And as a result of being so amazed and impressed, Jesus proclaimed to the crowds that were following Him, which were almost entirely Jewish ethnically and culturally, "Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel.” Jesus proclaimed that this gentile, this commanding officer of the conquering enemy, had more faith than any of the Jewish people that He had encountered. Jesus proclaimed that this gentile, this commanding officer of the conquering enemy, understood who Jesus was and what Jesus was offering far better than any of the Jewish people that He had encountered.

And because of humility and trust that Jesus witnessed in this commanding officer of the conquering enemy who was not Jewish ethnically, Jesus responded by challenging the Jewish crowds that were following Him. Friday we will look at that challenge together...