Luke 7:1-10 NLT‬
[1] When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people, he returned to Capernaum. [2] At that time the highly valued slave of a Roman officer was sick and near death. [3] When the officer heard about Jesus, he sent some respected Jewish elders to ask him to come and heal his slave. [4] So they earnestly begged Jesus to help the man. “If anyone deserves your help, he does,” they said, [5] “for he loves the Jewish people and even built a synagogue for us.” [6] So Jesus went with them. But just before they arrived at the house, the officer sent some friends to say, “Lord, don’t trouble yourself by coming to my home, for I am not worthy of such an honor. [7] I am not even worthy to come and meet you. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed. [8] I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’ they do it.” [9] When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to the crowd that was following him, he said, “I tell you, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel!” [10] And when the officer’s friends returned to his house, they found the slave completely healed.

Two things amazed Jesus, faith and unbelief!

Strange, isn’t it, that the man whose faith amazed Jesus was a Gentile, a Roman, and the unbelief that also amazed Him was from His own people, the Jews. One would have expected it to be the other way around.

What made this Roman official’s faith in Jesus so remarkable? He recognised that Jesus’ authority was authentic, that He was submitted to an Authority greater than Himself and that that Authority authorised Him to speak the word that would be obeyed because higher Authority backed up that authority by His own superior power and position. (We must remember that, during His time on earth, Jesus voluntarily subjected Himself to the Father’s authority).

This Roman officer was obviously a military-trained man. He held a position of authority lower than the Emperor but higher than the soldiers under him. Therefore, he expected obedience from his inferiors in keeping with his obedience to his superior authority.

What a picture of real faith… and Jesus was amazed that he, a Gentile, got it! This man didn’t consider Jesus’ human origin as a reason not to believe in Him. He recognised Jesus’ power over natural situations as a reason to trust Him. He was convinced by the evidence rather than put off by faulty reasoning or prejudice.

This is exactly John’s purpose for his use of signs to confirm Jesus’ claim to be the Son of God. “Examine the evidence,” he said.

‭John 20:30-31 NLT‬
[30] “The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. [31] But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.”

On the other hand, Jesus’ people rejected the evidence in favour of their own reasoning and prejudice. They had a long history of unbelief in the God of their ancestors, and paid a high price for their disobedience. Despite God’s miraculous intervention in their times of distress, they still refused to believe the evidence.

‭Mark 6:1-3 NLT‬
[1] “Jesus left that part of the country and returned with his disciples to Nazareth, his hometown. [2] The next Sabbath he began teaching in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. They asked, “Where did he get all this wisdom and the power to perform such miracles?” [3] Then they scoffed, “He’s just a carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon. And his sisters live right here among us.” They were deeply offended and refused to believe in him…
[5] And because of their unbelief, he couldn’t do any miracles among them except to place his hands on a few sick people and heal them. [6] And he was amazed at their unbelief… “

Instead of viewing the signs that should have convinced them that He was their Messiah, they looked at His human origin as proof that He was no more than an ordinary man.

It is natural to allow circumstances to colour our reasoning. Even John the Baptist’s faith wobbled when he was in prison and in danger of execution.

Matthew 11:2-6 NLT‬
[2]” John the Baptist, who was in prison, heard about all the things the Messiah was doing. So he sent his disciples to ask Jesus, [3] “Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?” [4] Jesus told them, “Go back to John and tell him what you have heard and seen— [5] the blind see, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor…. “

Jesus sent John’s disciples back to him with this caution,

” [6] And he added, “God blesses those who do not fall away because of me.”

In times like these, we need to rein in our emotions and allow sane thinking to lead us to the truth. Like the three Hebrew men in danger of being thrown into Nebuchadnezzar’s fire for not bowing to his image, we need the kind of faith that will not be shaken by circumstances.

Our faith must grow to the point where we can say, ” But if not… we will not bow to your image.”

What demonstration of Jesus authority can be greater than this incident?

‭Mark 2:1-12 NLT‬
[1] When Jesus returned to Capernaum several days later, the news spread quickly that he was back home. [2] Soon the house where he was staying was so packed with visitors that there was no more room, even outside the door. While he was preaching God’s word to them, [3] four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. [4] They couldn’t bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof above his head. Then they lowered the man on his mat, right down in front of Jesus. [5] Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “My child, your sins are forgiven.” [6] But some of the teachers of religious law who were sitting there thought to themselves, [7] “What is he saying? This is blasphemy! Only God can forgive sins!” [8] Jesus knew immediately what they were thinking, so he asked them, “Why do you question this in your hearts? [9] Is it easier to say to the paralyzed man ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk’? [10] So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, [11] “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!” [12] And the man jumped up, grabbed his mat, and walked out through the stunned onlookers. They were all amazed and praised God, exclaiming, “We’ve never seen anything like this before!”

This remarkable miracle should have convinced His opponents that He is who He said He is, but it did not!

QED!