Sandcastle Kings By Rich Wilkerson, Jr. Sample

How to Amaze Jesus

Whether or not the centurion understood it at the time, he was making a bold claim. The Jews in Jesus’ day knew that only one person had ultimate authority over nature: God. Creation listens to God’s words. In fact, God created the entire world just by speaking. By claiming that Jesus could control the natural world merely by speaking, the centurion associated Jesus with the all-powerful Creator God. At Jesus’ word—just like at God’s—creation would obey. The centurion recognized this and he trusted Jesus. In other words, the centurion had faith.

Luke tells us that when Jesus heard the centurion’s message, Jesus was amazed. Did you catch that? Jesus—the second person in the holy Trinity, the God-man, the Word of Life, the one by whom and for whom all things were made—was amazed. Amazed! Amazed at what?

Great faith. The centurion was an impressive guy, but it was not his power, status, or authority that amazed Jesus. It was not his morality or the good things he had done for the local Jewish community. It was his great faith that amazed Jesus.

When the centurion’s servant got sick, the centurion did not invite Jesus in for a chat about healing. He did not ask for Jesus’ credentials, or where Jesus had gone to medical school, or how he was able to heal people, or anything of that sort. Instead, he placed his faith in Jesus and confessed that all he needed was for Jesus to speak a word and his servant would be healed. And that is exactly what happened. And in the process, we find out that Jesus was amazed by the centurion’s great faith.

In the Scripture, two things amaze Jesus:

1. Great faith.
2. Lack of faith.

So much is packed into the centurion’s story. This guy had it going on. And yet, in the face of his servant’s illness, all the centurion’s power, wealth, and influence were worthless. And he was in a crisis. Centurions were hardened, self-reliant individuals, but ultimately this one realized that his abilities only reached so far. In order to save his servant, he would have to go beyond himself. And at the end of himself, the centurion found Jesus.

When Jesus looks at your life, what does he see? Great faith? Or no faith at all? Does your life amaze Jesus?