Revealing Account

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Take, for example, the account of the Roman centurion whose servant was deathly ill. This Gentile military commander had a good reputation among the Jewish leaders, who petitioned Christ on his behalf. The centurion met Jesus on His way to the man’s home, and said, “Lord, trouble not Yourself: for I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof: Wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto You: but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed. For I also am a man set under AUTHORITY, having under me soldiers, and I say unto one, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes; and to my servant, Do this, and he does it” (Luke 7:6-8).

The reaction?

“When Jesus heard it, He marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel” (Matt. 8:10).

“And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go your way; and as you have believed, so be it done unto you. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour” (Mt 8:13).

The centurion understood authority and power. As a commander, he gave orders and expected soldiers under him to obey. Likewise, he responded to the orders of those in authority above him. He believed that Jesus carried authority from God the Father, who empowered His Son to perform miracles. Therefore, the centurion did not need to see Christ actually lay hands on the sickly servant. In the centurion’s mind, all he needed to know is whether Christ would exercise His authority to heal—“but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed.” Real faith understands the connection from authority over miracles to recognition—simple belief—faith—that they will occur.

What Peter Forgot

Let’s look at another example: Peter walking on water. As Jesus’ disciples were aboard a ship being tossed about in a raging storm at sea, they saw their Master coming toward them, walking on water. They were so amazed they assumed He was a ghost, and cried out in fear.

Jesus tried to calm them down, saying, “Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid” (Matt. 14:27).

But Peter was not quite sure. He answered, “Lord, if it be You, bid me come unto You on the water” (Mt 14:28). He knew that if this was Christ, then He would have the authority to empower Peter to do the humanly impossible.

When Christ said, “Come,” Peter stepped out of the ship and locked his eyes on the One who represented the SUPREME AUTHORITY of the God who created the universe and the physical laws that sustain it. Because he had the right focus, Peter’s belief in Christ’s authority—his faith that Jesus would keep His word to allow him to defy the physical laws of nature—gave him the power to walk on the sea!

But something went wrong. Peter’s focus shifted. He allowed the sounds of the howling wind and the splash of ocean spray to distract him. He gradually lost his full attention on the One who represented the government of God…and started to sink into the water.

Peter cried out to Christ to rescue him. “And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O you of little faith, wherefore did you doubt?”

“From Faith to Faith”

Jesus Christ’s miracles were designed to boost people’s faith. But Peter, who was unconverted at the time, proved that temporary human faith is not enough. Those who follow and obey Christ—Christian soldiers who (II Tim. 2:3-4) wage spiritual warfare against the wiles of the devil, the pulls of the flesh and the cares of Satan’s seductive world—must have the faith of Jesus in them.

Paul wrote, “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith” (Rom. 1:17). There is a kind of human faith that all people have at certain times in their lives—but this must eventually be replaced by the permanent faith that comes only by the Spirit of God in converted minds (Gal. 5:22-23; 2:16).

Christ healed many people, and praised their faith—yet none had the Holy Spirit. However, they did have human faith! It takes human faith to believe you will be forgiven by Christ’s sacrifice—that God has called you to live His way of life—that you will receive His Spirit—belief that is necessary prior to baptism.

Yet after conversion, a Christian must live by the faith of Jesus Christ in him. He must go “from faith to faith” (Rom. 1:16). And God’s servants must grow in Christ’s faith, a lifelong process.

What Christ Gave the Poor

A common assumption exists today that Jesus both gave money to the poor and taught His followers that they should do the same—that this was the very essence of Christianity. This is simply not true, because the Bible nowhere says either of these things. However, Christ did give something to the poor, and it had infinitely greater worth than money.

Do you know what it was? Are you aware of what almost no one else knows?

Why do so few understand what the Father commissioned—directed—Christ to do? “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised” (Luke 4:18).

On another occasion, and this was briefly referenced earlier, when John the Baptist was questioning His works, Jesus cited the fulfilment of this commission—preaching [giving] the gospel to the poor—as proof He was the Messiah: “The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them” (Matt. 11:5).

On yet another occasion, when the disciples thought that precious spices could have been sold for monies that could have gone to the poor, Jesus actually discouraged this action, and corrected their thinking—saying “the poor you have with you always.” Again, why are so few aware of this central feature in the thinking of the true Jesus Christ of the Bible?

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