"And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour."
This lesson is very important on many levels. First, the "centurion" was a Roman soldier and the majority of Roman citizens despised Jesus and all that He stood for. Second, the faith the man expressed was even more absolute than that of the leper in yesterday's lesson. That is true in that the centurion didn't simply believe, he KNEW that all Jesus had to do was to will the healing of his servant and it would be so. Jesus said, "Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel." Even God's chosen people did not have the faith that was demonstrated by the centurion.
After praising the faith of that centurion, Jesus went on to foretell the end of the Law and the "chosen" status of the Jewish people because of their lack of faith. "And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. BUT THE CHILDREN OF THE KINGDOM SHALL BE CAST INTO OUTER DARKNESS: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." It is clear that the Jews of that day had more faith in themselves as Jews than they did in God.
This lesson makes it very clear that faith in God to provide through Jesus Christ, is the answer to all our problems. From determining the destiny or our eternal souls to figuring out how to make the car payment, Faith in Jesus is ALWAYS the correct answer.
We should be as the centurion mentioned in today's lesson, we should never wonder where to find the answer, our first thought should always be, Jesus will provide.
NOTE: As these lessons progress, we will find that everything Jesus did, and promised to do, during His entire ministry, was to be accomplished by grace through faith alone.~
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