When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, appealing to him and saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, in terrible distress."  And he said to him, "I will come and cure him."  The centurion answered, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only speak the word, and my servant will be healed.  For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes, and to another, 'Come,' and he comes, and to my slave, 'Do this,' and the slave does it."  When Jesus heard him, he was amazed and said to those who followed him, "Truly I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith.  I tell you, many will come from east and west and will eat with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the heirs of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."  And to the centurion Jesus said, "Go; let it be done for you according to your faith." And the servant was healed in that hour.

What will I find in my faith to amaze Jesus?  Wouldn't it be nice to be able to do so.

We can imagine that those traveling with Jesus were more than a little annoyed to see him interacting with a Roman soldier.  The centurion was not daunted since he was driven by his love for his servant.  The centurion was humble twice over.  First by going to Jesus confidently with his request, second be declaring his unworthiness to have Jesus enter his home.

The centurions faith  arose out of the substance of his own life.  He was accustomed to authority.  He was under authority and he had authority over others.  He saw authority in Jesus so he applied the characteristics of authority to him.  What substance in our lives can we find to inform or bolster our faith?

Some who were intended to inherit the kingdom will in fact be kept out of it.  This is a very serious warning for us all.  Jesus spoke often of hell and here we see it again as a place of torment, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  All due to refusal to believe in Jesus.  How can he save us if we refuse him?  We damn ourselves by doing so; Christ doesn't.

Jesus heals the servant from afar.  Obviously he could have healed everyone in this manner but his miracles were signs for us and no doubt best accomplished by people witnessing him interacting directly with others.  Besides, ours is an intensely personal God.

What will we find in our faith to amaze the one we love?