Hope in the Mystery

Faith is the constant pursuit and practice of submitting to the reality of our limitations to know and understand. The mystery of how Jesus healed people did not deter the centurion from accepting that Jesus could do it.

Surely, he was just as befuddled by the miraculous things he had heard of Jesus doing as others… “How is this possible? By what means does He do these things? Why does He heal the people He chooses to heal?” All the same, this man was well acquainted with authority. He knew that ignorance does not negate the reality of authority. “If Jesus can do these things,” he might say, “it doesn’t matter if I understand how He does it, only that He has the authority to do such things.”

Jesus declares that in all Israel, there was not a person with faith like this man. This should be an encouragement to us. Though we may not yet be as comfortable with the mysteries of God as this centurion, we are not alone. All Israelites, including the disciples, had not reached this man’s faith and still, Jesus was patient and faithful to them. He will be patient and faithful to us even when our trust in Jesus is weak. In the meantime, we have something to aspire to – this centurion’s assurance of what he hoped for.

Do you equate faith with understanding or with hope? From which one does your doubt most often stem?