Matthew 8 : 5 And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto
him a centurion, beseeching him,
6. And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously
tormented.
7. And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness:
there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
13. 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.
I find this story to be very interesting.
1.) He was a Roman Centurion
2.) He approached Jesus and called him LORD
3.) He commented that he wasn't worthy. Roman Soldiers tended to be pagans
4.) Yet he believed that Jesus would speak the word
5.) He expected that just by the word of Jesus, his servant would be healed.
Here is the really interesting part
10. 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.
the United Bible Societies Handbook says this
To say Jesus marveled translators can use expressions such as "was
surprised," "... astonished," or "... amazed." It is possible to tie the
first two clauses of the sentence more closely together, as in "Jesus was
amazed to hear what he said" or "Jesus was really surprised to hear this.
(from the UBS Handbook Series. Copyright (c) 1961-1997, by United Bible
Societies)
So this man's faith really surprised Jesus and commented on it and healed
the servant.
This man came to Jesus expecting a miracle and he got it.
