The Greatest Faith in Israel

The Christian thinks he is all that; the Jew thinks he is all that. In fact, every religion and faithful follower think the same way. Rather than their God or their prophets, they actually extol their own faith as an accomplishment. It is a boastful spirit that says to all others, 'this is how it is done.'

So what if you clasp your hands and kneel and contort your face while you pray! So what if you kiss a wall and wear curly locks! So what if you parade thousands around a giant cube! In this study, I turn to Luke 7:1-9 to discover what Christ thought about the faith of his people.

Jesus rubbed shoulders with many people in the course of a day. Most of them claimed to be faithful. The Pharisees, the Sadducees, the elders of the Synagogues – they all thought of themselves as pious, as devout. They claimed Abraham; they claimed Moses. They wore all the right clothing and said all the right words and adamantly adhered to each custom, law, and precept. They had every right to pat themselves on their collective back. They had every right to crow – they were the faithful, after all; they were devout. They were all that.

But Jesus had a different standard to judge by. He claimed meekness and lowliness. He knew the turmoil of professed faith and offered rest from its rigors. Now, there were many people who did not really know what they believed in, but they knew the misery of their daily lives. They knew the desire for all things that life deprived them of. When Jesus viewed the world around him, he knew that the will of men stood in opposition to the will of the spirit.

The story of the centurion provides a rare example of a faith that was greater than boastful profession or desperation. The story describes the nature of a Roman centurion. He is described as a man who loved Israel. The elders who had been sent to Jesus praised the man for the benefits they had enjoyed; he had built them a synagogue. It seems obvious from this testimony, as well as the fact that the dying servant was dear to him, that the centurion had a connection to the people around him. Perhaps the man was known to care, or to display compassion.

He had only just heard of Jesus – that Jesus had the power to heal. Being the type of man he was known to be, the centurion doubtless knew a great deal about Jewish culture and news. He would have known what the Jews believed about God. And here was a healer who claimed to heal by the authority of that God.

It is a moving story and many recognize humility in the Roman when he sends friends to Jesus. Jesus was almost there when the friends of the centurion conveyed a message to Jesus. The Roman said to Jesus, 'don't bother. You really don't need to come all the way here. Besides, I am not worthy that someone as godly as you should come under my roof. The authority of your word is enough. If you say it, it will happen, for just as you command spirits I command people, so I know authority and yours is of God.'

The friends returned to find the centurion's servant healed. Jesus was moved by the centurion's genuine faith and healed the servant from a distance simply by the authority of his word. Jesus was so impressed with that Roman's faith  he turned to those who followed him and told them the faith of an outsider was the greatest faith in all of Israel.

I have no doubt that among the company Jesus traveled in one could not help but find the obligatory Pharisee or church elder. Why was Jesus impressed with the faith of the Roman? Why did he need to make a point of it to the crowd? What did he recognize in the Roman that he could not recognize in his own countrymen?

The Roman, indeed, was humble but that is not what impressed Jesus. It is my opinion that what Jesus recognized in the Roman was a sincere recognition of the authority that he exercised – that it was of God. While some claimed the keeping of custom as their faith and others claimed hopes for the expulsion of Rome from Israel as their faith and while yet others claimed their desire for what Jesus offered as their faith, the outsider claimed a recognition of Christ's authority as a certain knowledge.

Let's face it – how can you claim to believe in Jesus if you don't recognize his authority?