Only twice in the gospels does Christ commend a person for great faith—the Syrophoenician woman (Matt. 15:28), and this centurion we meet in our text. Both are Gentiles; one is a woman, the other a man. It is as if the Lord is saying, “The way of faith is open to people of all nationalities, male or female.” The faith that pleases God is not an exclusive thing reserved for the religious crowd. Any and all can lay hold of God by faith.

The Lord is looking for servants like this centurion:

*Who have an exalted view of Christ—He is the sovereign Lord of authority, and thus they trust Him for the impossible.

*Who have a lowly view of themselves—they are unworthy and insufficient, but they know Christ as gracious and all-sufficient.

*Who have a caring view of others—they are helpless, and thus need compassion.

Christ’s authority and grace extend to those whom society may despise. Hudson Taylor, the great pioneer missionary to China, used to say, “All God’s giants have been weak people who did great things for God because they reckoned on God being with them.” May that same powerful God do great things through us as we trust Him in our weakness!

Discussion Questions

1. Why does God honor faith? How can we have our faith grow?

2. Does humility mean dumping on ourselves or not acknowledging our abilities? What does it mean?

3. Alexander Maclaren writes, “The more we know ourselves to be sinful, the more we shall cleave to Christ, and the more we cleave to Christ, the more we shall know ourselves to be sinful.” Neil Anderson writes, “If you think of yourself as a sinner, guess what you will do: you’ll live like a sinner; you’ll sin.” Who is right biblically? Why is it important?

4. We are not to reject anyone, and yet we all must make choices about whom we spend time with. How can we do this rightly?