“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.”
My Notes
What Does Matthew 8:10 Mean?
"When Jesus heard it, he marvelled." The Son of God is amazed. The only thing in the Gospels that makes Jesus marvel is faith — specifically, faith from unexpected sources. The centurion — a Roman military officer, a Gentile, a representative of the occupying empire — expresses trust in Jesus' authority that exceeds anything Jesus has encountered among His own people.
The centurion's faith is rooted in his understanding of authority: "I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me" (verse 9). He understands chains of command. He knows that a person with genuine authority doesn't need to be physically present to make things happen. A word is sufficient. And he applies this military understanding to Jesus: You don't need to come to my house. Just speak the word.
Jesus' statement — "I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel" — is both a compliment to the centurion and an indictment of Israel. The people who should have recognized Jesus' authority didn't. The outsider who shouldn't have recognized it did.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Has someone's faith ever surprised you because of who they were?
- 2.Why does the outsider sometimes understand Jesus better than the insider?
- 3.What does the centurion's military understanding of authority teach about how faith works?
- 4.Where might your religious familiarity actually be hindering rather than helping your faith?
Devotional
Jesus marvels. The God-man, who created the universe, is genuinely amazed. Not by a miracle. Not by a theological argument. By faith. From a Roman soldier. An outsider. Someone nobody expected to understand.
The centurion's faith is structurally brilliant: he understands authority from the inside. He gives orders and they're obeyed. He understands that authority operates at a distance — the commanding officer doesn't need to be in the room for the command to be executed. And he applies that framework to Jesus: if You have real authority, You don't need to come to my house. Just give the order.
Jesus hasn't found this kind of faith in Israel. The people with Scripture, with prophets, with centuries of God's direct revelation — they don't get it. The Roman soldier with no covenant, no Torah, no religious training — he gets it immediately. The outsider sees what the insiders miss.
This should humble every religious insider. Your access to God's word doesn't automatically produce faith. Your theological education doesn't guarantee understanding. Sometimes the person who understands Jesus best is the one with the least religious background — because they bring fresh eyes, genuine need, and no preconceptions about how God is supposed to work.
Who in your world has faith that surprises you — that comes from an unexpected place? And are you humble enough to marvel at it the way Jesus did?
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
And I say unto you, that many shall come from the east and west,.... On occasion of the faith of the centurion, who was…
When Jesus heard it, he marveled - He wondered at it, or he deemed it remarkable. I have not found so great faith - The…
We have here an account of Christ's curing the centurion's servant of a palsy. This was done at Capernaum, where Christ…
Cure of a Centurion's Servant
St Luk 7:1-10, where the incident is placed immediately after the Sermon on the Mount.…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture