To surprise someone is to cause them to feel “mild astonishment or shock.” To astonish someone is to “surprise or impress” them “greatly.” To impress someone is to generate feelings of “admiration or interest.” (Thank you, Oxford Languages!)
More than a grammar lesson, I am drawn to these definitions to help me understand one of my favorite stories from the Bible. It goes like this:
After teaching, Jesus entered a village where He was approached by some elders of the Jews on behalf of a Roman military officer. These envoys “pleaded with Him earnestly” (Luke 7:4) at their masters’ request: “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly” (Matthew 8:6). Jesus responded with compassion: “I will come and heal him” (Matthew 8:7). But He didn’t get very far before the Roman sent word via his friends: “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof … Therefore I did not presume to come to you … But only say the word, and my servant will be healed” (Matthew 8:8, Luke 7:7). He explained that he too was “a man set under authority” (Luke 7:8), with soldiers at his disposal to carry out his bidding (Matthew 8:9). “When Jesus heard these things, He marveled at him,” Luke reports; and declared Matthew adds, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.”
What surprises me is Jesus’ surprise! By no means was He caught off guard, rather delighted and awed by this man’s faith.
To marvel is to “be filled with wonder or astonishment.” Jesus Christ the Triune Son of God, Maker of all things and King over all the earth, was astonished at a single act of faith expressed by someone outside the chosen nation of God.
Faith pleases God, as we know from Hebrews 11:6, and Ephesians tells us it is a gift from God.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.” – 2:8
“Not a result of works,” the author adds, so we have no grounds for boasting. Faith is produced and given by the Holy Spirit, all for “the praise of His glorious grace” (Ephesians 1).
That’s why I am all the more amazed at Jesus’ reaction to the centurion. Not only did He commend his faith but also grant his entreaty. Matthew says “the servant was healed at that very moment,” such that “when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well” (Luke 7:10).
God’s Provision: God does not always answer our prayers exactly as we petition Him to. Yet,
“This is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of Him.”
– 1 John 5:14
Word of the Week: Marvel
Abby
