Not even in Israel have I found such faith

Lessons Jesus Christ taught through comparisons

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There is a reason why the miracle of the Lord healing the leper by touching him and the miracle of the centurion's servant without touching him are recorded one after the other in the Gospel of Matthew, because it is so that we can learn many of God's secrets by comparing these two miracles.

The Lord's healing of a leper by touching him was a miracle greater than any human could have performed - 1.When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds followed Him. 2.And a man with leprosy came to Him and bowed down before Him, and said, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” 3.Jesus reached out with His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4.And Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one; but go, show yourself to the priest and present the offering that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” - Matthew 8:1-4

But those who heard this testimony must have had the idea that healing would only happen if the Lord touched them. That is why all those who were going with the Lord to the centurion's house believed that the Lord must come to the centurion's house, and that the paralyzed man would be healed if he touched them - 5.And when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, begging Him, 6.and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, terribly tormented.” 7.Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 8.But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9.For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” 10.Now when Jesus heard this, He was amazed and said to those who were following, “Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel. 11.And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; 12.but the sons of the kingdom will be thrown out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13.And Jesus said to the centurion, “Go; it shall be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment - Matthew 8:5-13

That's how we are too, when we hear a testimony, we become people with excessive faith in God, and we pray that God will perform a miracle in my life like that miracle, but here the centurion teaches us a lesson, which is that he prayed to the Lord that it is true that You healed the leper by touching him, but You, the Almighty God, can heal my servant without touching him. This perspective not only astonished the Lord but also resulted in a miracle being performed in the centurion's own life.

While it is indeed a joyful thing to come to faith by hearing the testimonies of others, we must not confine the Almighty God within a narrow scope by demanding that He perform the exact same miracle for us; instead, we should believe that God is capable of performing even greater miracles. When we do so, God marvels at our faith and works even greater miracles in our lives.

Not even in Israel have I found such faith

When the Lord healed the leper and warned him not to tell anyone, the reason was akin to a mother feeding her child; she does not desire for the child to go about proclaiming it to the whole town, but rather wants the child to remain close to her. Similarly, the Lord—having touched and healed the leper—wanted the man to stay close to Him, the High Priest; thus, He said, "See that you tell no one; but go, show yourself to the priest as a testimony to them, and offer the gift that Moses commanded."

Yet, the miracle had not yet taken place in the centurion's home; nevertheless, his declaration of faith—akin to a child's trust in its mother—affirmed that the Lord is our God and that all things are possible for Him. Just as a mother might not boast to others about nursing her child but is deeply moved and delighted to share the moment her child calls her "mummy" for the first time, the Lord marveled at the centurion's faith and spoke of it to everyone, declaring, "I have not found such faith even among the people of Israel."


I am not worthy for You to enter under my roof

The law dictated that lepers must remain apart; yet, this leper drew close enough for the Lord to touch him and received healing. In contrast, the centurion understood the true meaning of leprosy; he realized that our sins and the curses resulting from them constitute the real leprosy that separates us from God and casts us out. That is why he said, "I did not consider myself worthy to come to You." - 6.Now Jesus started on His way with them; but already, when He was not yet far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to Him, “Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not worthy for You to enter under my roof; 7.for that reason I did not even consider myself worthy to come to You; but just say the word, and my servant shall be healed. 8.For I also am a man placed under authority, with soldiers under myself; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” - Luke 7:6-8

The centurion's declaration served as a sign of his humility; moreover, it was a confession that Jesus is the Holy God—which is why the Lord marveled, saying, "I have not found such faith even in Israel."

drove Him out of the city

At the same time, the people of Nazareth, instead of glorifying Jesus Christ by proclaiming him as the "Son of God," mourned the Lord by saying, "Isn't this Joseph's son?" In the end, the people of Nazareth even tried to throw the Lord headfirst off the top of a steep mountain, as Luke mentions in his Gospel - 16.And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. 17.And the scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to Him. And He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: 18.“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He anointed Me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are oppressed, 19.To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.” 20.And He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and the eyes of all the people in the synagogue were intently directed at Him. 21.Now He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22.And all the people were speaking well of Him, and admiring the gracious words which were coming from His lips; and yet they were saying, “Is this not Joseph’s son?” 23.And He said to them, “No doubt you will quote this proverb to Me: ‘Physician, heal yourself! All the miracles that we heard were done in Capernaum, do here in Your hometown as well.’” 24.But He said, “Truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown. 25.But I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a severe famine came over all the land; 26.and yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27.And there were many with leprosy in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” 28.And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things; 29.and they got up and drove Him out of the city, and brought Him to the crest of the hill on which their city had been built, so that they could throw Him down from the cliff - Luke 4:16-29

Matthew and Mark, who tell the story of the Lord's upbringing in Nazareth, say nothing about the townspeople of Nazareth trying to kill the Lord by throwing him headfirst off a steep hill - 53.When Jesus had finished these parables, He departed from there. 54.And He came to His hometown and began teaching them in their synagogue, with the result that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man acquire this wisdom and these miraculous powers? 55. Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is His mother not called Mary, and His brothers, James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? 56.And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this Man acquire all these things?” 57.And they took offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not dishonored except in his hometown and in his own household.” 58.And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief - Matthew 13:53-58

Instead of telling us that the people of Nazareth tried to kill the Lord, Matthew and Mark ended with the single word "unbelief," because not believing in Jesus Christ, the Son of God who came to this earth to save us, is like pushing the Lord headfirst off the top of a steep mountain - 1.Jesus went out from there and came into His hometown; and His disciples followed Him. 2.And when the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue; and the many listeners were astonished, saying, “Where did this Man learn these things, and what is this wisdom that has been given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands? 3.Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are His sisters not here with us?” And they took offense at Him. 4.Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not dishonored except in his hometown and among his own relatives, and in his own household.” 5.And He could not do any miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6.And He was amazed at their unbelief. And He was going around the villages, teaching - Mark 6:1-6

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