7Jesus said to him, "I will go and heal him."
8The centurion replied, "Lord, I do not deserve to
have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant
will be healed. 9For I myself am a man under authority, with
soldiers under me. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and that
one, 'Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he
does it."
10When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said
to those following him, "I tell you the truth, I have not found
anyone in Israel with such great faith.
21Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region
of Tyre and Sidon. 22A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him,
crying out, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is
suffering terribly from demon-possession."
23Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came
to him and urged him, "Send her away, for she keeps crying out
after us."
24He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of
Israel."
25The woman came and knelt before him. "Lord, help
me!" she said.
26He replied, "It is not right to take the
children's bread and toss it to their dogs."
27"Yes, Lord," she said, "but even the dogs eat the
crumbs that fall from their masters' table."
28Then Jesus answered, "Woman, you have great faith!
Your request is granted." And her daughter was healed from that
very hour.
faith isn't something which you credit to yourself, "oh, i have
great faith.", or "that pastor has great faith.". faith is what God
says you have, when you start seeing God for who He is.
faith is knowing that you have a big God, in good or bad times, and
that's when God turns and says "You have great faith"
in the bible, Jesus only said that to a few ppl, notably to the
centurion and a woman whose daughter was demon possessed.
These ppl were gentiles, non-jews, who didn't know much about God.
But the centurion recognised the authority Jesus holds, that if
Jesus pronounced healing, it will be done.
The woman recognised the goodness Jesus has, that even if it is
true that Jesus came down for the jews, He is so good that even
"crumbs" are enough for her, and put aside the insecurity of her
social status to claim that healing.
now compare this with the jews who knew God, and claimed that they
had faith,notably the people whom Jesus grew up with. They saw
Jesus as the carpenter's son, a normal human of no speciality. and
Jesus didn't work many miracles among them.
so ya.. that's what i think faith is..
if someone ask me, if God appeared to me, what would I ask for, I
said i would ask for faith. but i was enlightened.. faith isn't
credited like someone bank in money in my account. but rather,
faith is how you see God.