The One Thing That Made Jesus Say "wow!"

“After [Jesus] had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. Now a centurion had a servant who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant. And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, ‘He is worthy to have you do this for him, for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us our synagogue.’ And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to him, ‘Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. Therefore I did not presume to come to you. But say the word, and let my servant be healed. For I too am a man set 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 servant, “Do this,” and he does it.’ When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, ‘I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.’ And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well.” [1]

“Wow!” We hear that exclamation and intuitively we recognise that it is most likely an expression demonstrating surprise. Perhaps some of us have uttered the exclamation even in this week past. Perhaps we witnessed something that surprised us, and almost involuntarily we exclaimed, “Wow!” Perhaps in an otherwise mundane conversation someone made a rather stunning statement and we were unable to refrain from saying “Wow!” When we hear anyone say “Wow,” we know it is a statement of astonishment, a statement that communicates the thought, “I can’t believe what I just saw or heard!”

While you won’t find the word “wow” in any biblical concordance, we do witness a few instances in the Gospel accounts when Jesus said something equivalent to “Wow!” On few occasions was Jesus astonished. However, on one major occasion we witness the Lord express His astonishment because of what a man said.

What caused the Saviour to marvel? What made the Son of God open His eyes wide in surprise? I don’t mean to imply that Jesus could be caught unawares, for as Peter confessed when the Lord restored him to ministry as an Apostle, Jesus knows all things [see JOHN 21:17]. What I do mean is that some acts by those who come to the Master to plead for His mercy are so outrageous by the standards of this world that Jesus is astonished at what He witnessed. There are some actions that are so unexpected, so wonderfully honouring to the Son of God, that He exclaims, “Wow!” We might be well advised to ask what action makes the Saviour say, “Wow?” The answer to that query is revealed in our text for this day.

In our text today we will meet a man whom we would never expect to be a worshipper of the Christ. This man was likely considered to be a pagan because he was part of an occupying power. We have no reason to believe that he had been indoctrinated into the worship of the Most High God as required under the Law. When we meet this man, we conclude that Jesus had no particular reason to expect that a centurion, an officer in the service of an occupying armed force, would respect the power that Jesus wielded. This man was not a Jew. He probably hadn’t grown up in Judea. He was likely raised in what most would consider to be a pagan environment.

Yet, this centurion made a surprising admission—surprising because not only was it unexpected by those saturated with the religious view of Jewish faith, but surprising because it exalted Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One of God. Jesus had not insisted that people recognise Him as the Messiah, and yet, this supposedly pagan centurion recognised His authority as the Son of God. Jesus was taken aback, not because He didn’t recognise what was in this man’s heart, but because the man was so open in his confession of who Jesus is.

A DESPERATE MAN PLEADS FOR INTERVENTION — “A centurion had a servant who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant. And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, ‘He is worthy to have you do this for him, for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us our synagogue.’ And Jesus went with them” [LUKE 7:2-6a].