Two Things Jesus Marveled At

And There Ain’t No Neutral Ground!

by Pastor John Hamel

“And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him,  And saying, Lord, my servant lies at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. …Jesus said unto him, I will come and heal him.  The centurion answered…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 goes; and to another, Come, and he comes; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.  When Jesus heard it, he MARVELED, and said … I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.” (Matthew 8:5-10)

One day a Roman soldier approached Jesus.  He had a servant whom he loved who was terribly sick.  The soldier besought Jesus’ miracle touch on his behalf.  Now, Romans weren’t known for having faith in Jesus or any of the Hebrew Prophets.  However, this man was quite different than most of his peers. 

When Jesus offered to walk to his home and heal his servant, the man replied, in essence, “Oh, no, Lord.  Save yourself a trip.  I think I know how faith works.  Tell me if I’m correct.  I have men under me who obey me because Caesar has given me authority over them.  If they disobey me, retribution will come from Caesar, not me.  I figure faith works the same way.  

"You get Your authority from God.  The demons that made my servant sick are under You.  They must obey You or retribution will come from Your Father, to Whom You submit.  So save yourself a trip.  Give the faith command right here.  There’s apparently no distance in the spirit realm.  The demons will obey You or ‘heads will roll,’ so to speak!  Am I right or what?”

Jesus was amazed and “marveled” at this “outsider’s” understanding of how faith works and said so!  He actually said that it was one of the most accurate interpretations of faith principles that He had ever heard.  

You can believe like this man believed.  You can see the miraculous as well.  That man’s servant was miles away from Jesus, yet he was healed within the hour.  All because his Boss simply released his faith in Jesus’ miracle working ability.

There is another place in the Bible where Jesus “marveled” as well.  One day He returned to His hometown and held a meeting in the local Synagogue.  The “locals” were offended by both His wisdom and His miracles and said so.  “Who does He think He is?  We knew Him as a boy when he and his friends were having olive fights in the vineyards!”  They rejected His Deity because of His humanity.  Their unbelief limited what this Miracle Worker could do for them.  The Bible says so in Mark, chapter six.

Vss.5,6 “And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them. And He MARVELED because of their unbelief …” 

I would like to ask you a question.  Is Jesus marveling at your faith or your unbelief today?  You either believe His claims to Deity and the miracles that back Him up or you don’t!  

Bob Dylan, in his wonderful Bible song, “Slow Train Coming”, said so succinctly, “You either got faith or you got unbelief and there ain’t no neutral ground!” 

Whenever someone says, “Jesus, You’re my choice as Savior, Liberator, Deliverer and Healer” He MARVELS at their faith. (Romans 10:13) 

Whenever someone says, “Sorry, I don’t buy it” He MARVELS at their unbelief.  Unbelief severely limits His ability to help folks. 

Faith, on the other hand, unleashes ALL of Heaven’s resources! (Hebrews 11:6)

Be Blessed ...  John and Barbara Hamel 

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