A man who amazed Jesus and why.

Only once in God's Word was Jesus amazed by someone's faith, and that man wasn't even a Jew. He was a Roman officer. But he believed Jesus could heal his servant from a distance. He sent word to Jesus that He didn't need to come all the way to his house, that he didn't deserve it. All Jesus had to do was say the word, and his servant would be healed.

He understood that Jesus had authority over the spiritual world, that He had authority over disease. The centurion himself had authority over his soldiers, who obeyed his every order to the letter. For him, Jesus too could only be obeyed by human and spiritual circumstances. He said, likewise, I know that You have authority and that as soon as You say something, it will be done.

Jesus not only healed his servant, but He marveled at his great faith. But what's interesting is not just the fact that this man who was a stranger to the covenant, who wasn't part of God's people, had faith. Where did this faith come from? God's Word also tells us that he heard about Jesus. So his faith came from what he heard. 

And the Word of God is clear that faith comes by hearing. So the question that we should ask ourselves every day, and I ask you, is this: 'What are you hearing? What are you listening to? What we believe is the result of what we have heard, and what we believe will determine what we will become.

We can trust God. We can have extraordinary faith if we decide to continually meditate on His Word, listen to Him, and hear Him. But if we listen to people who don't believe God, we too will end up losing faith. So it's important to be careful what you hear. But it's not just what you hear; it's what you do.

This man also gained favor with the Jewish leaders, who went to Jesus to ask for help. It was something completely unprecedented for Jewish leaders to plead the cause of a Roman centurion. Remember, he was part of an occupying army hated by THE Jews who could not stand this occupation of their territory. Yet they went to ask for help for this centurion, not even for him directly, but for his servant, something even more astonishing. Why? Because of what he did. Beloved, it is important to trust God. It is important to have faith, but you must also have character.

The centurion showed kindness and generosity. First, toward the one who had the status of a slave; slavery was a way of life in the Roman Empire; he was very attached to this man and was troubled by his imminent death. He sought by all means to see him healed. Now, in the context, every Roman, and every officer, had the right; when a slave became infirm and was no longer useful, to kill him.

The Jewish leaders pleaded his case. Why? Because he was the one who built their synagogue. The good you do today will earn you favor tomorrow. And that favor can mean the difference between life and death, success and failure, prosperity and decay, healing and sickness. Let's be careful how we treat people. Let's be generous, let's be humble, let's be people who bring good into the lives of others. And believe me, Jesus said it clearly: we reap what we sow.

There is one element that is very important in the story of this centurion. It is his humility. This man was an officer, a man of a certain stature, of a certain stature, he was certainly also a very wealthy man. But this man was so humble that he felt he did not deserve Jesus' attention. The Jewish leaders who went to see Jesus said to him, "This man deserves this. He deserves that you do this for him because he loves our nation." But this man himself felt that he did not even deserve Jesus to come into his house, he was not worthy to receive Jesus in his house. Despite all that he had in the natural, he recognized the spiritual authority of Jesus. He had the humility to know that the spiritual took precedence over the natural.

Whatever you are in life, be humble, recognize that there are people God has raised up. Recognize that everyone has a certain value, everyone must be treated with respect. Be humble, do not be proud. I often see people who arrive in the church, they are very small, they have nothing at all. But as soon as God begins to bless them and raise them up, they begin to believe in others, including the servant of God who had prayed for them when they were at their lowest.

In our humility lies our glory. This is what will bring about the favor we need to progress in life and for people to advocate for us. Yes, sometimes we need someone to advocate for us. No one is self-sufficient in this world. Every human being needs someone.

From the centurion we learn the importance of what we hear, of developing great faith; we learn the importance of kindness, generosity, and humility. The fruits of the Spirit are a necessary factor for the effectiveness of our faith.