Not Even In Israel

When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel. 

Matthew 8:10 

Christ appreciates great faith in Him. In the text before us, He speaks in glowing terms of the great faith of the centurion who had said that only a word from Christ would be all that was necessary to heal his paralyzed servant. Christ responded to this statement with the words before us. When He passed this remark, He was elevating the status of the faith of a Roman soldier of the occupying Imperial army above anything He and had found in Israel, God’s chosen people. This would have jolted His audience. They would never have expected Christ to be so complimentary toward a gentile. Thus, we see that Christ gives faith to unlikely people and then appreciates their exercise of it. We may be members of a despised demographic. We may not be part of the prevailing ‘in’ crowd. This does not stop us from having faith in Christ and exercising that faith in tangible ways. The centurion rested upon the bare word of Christ. He required nothing more than a word from the Word. It would satisfy him and meet his need. If he could rely on the word of Christ, we can as well. Christ is as good as His word.  

Our Gracious Master and our God, 
we rejoice that You are utterly worthy of our faith. 
We praise You, that as we trust in You, 
You bring everything to pass that rewards our faith. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning