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Will He Find Faith

If Jesus returns today will he find faith? Will he find people waiting in eager expectation of his second coming or will he find people who no longer believe? A September 2022 Pew Research study suggests that if current trends hold, by 2070 Christians will be a minority in America: only forty-six percent of the population. For comparison, in 1972 that number was over ninety percent. In less than 100 years, 3 or 4 generations, this change will have occurred. But it does not have to be this way. We can stop and even reverse this decline. As we continue during this first week of Advent let us pray for the courage to boldly proclaim the Gospel.

Jesus Heals a Centurion’s Servant

As he entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, beseeching him and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, in terrible distress.” And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” But the centurion answered him, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I am a man 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 slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard him, he marveled, and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you, many will come from east and west and sit at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 8 : 5-11

Scriptural Analysis

Jesus returned to his home base of Capernaum where he encounters a centurion, extending to him the blessing of the kingdom. centurions were important men during the time of Jesus. They commanded a garrison of troops and had to be great leaders: steady and reliable. They were men who were well respected. This particular centurion encountered in this story was likely not a Roman centurion, instead serving under Herod Antipas, the tetrarch of Galilee who ruled that region as a client of Rome.

Regardless if he was Roman or not, it would have been an amazing site for the people to behold. Here is this leader of a pagan army, an army oppressing the people and doing great harm. He, approaches this Jewish man, Jesus, and asks him to heal his servant who is lying in bed deathly ill. A Jewish leader going to the home of a Gentile, even worse a military leader, would have been scandalous. The phrase, “I will come and heal him”, is better translated into a question, “Shall I come and cure him?” You can see how Jesus is begging to challenge the divide between Jews and Gentiles by asking him if he should break the custom.

The centurion indicates he understands Jewish law and appeals to Jesus to simply cure him from afar, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof.” This show of faith is even greater faith than the leper who approaches Jesus. The centering believes that all Jesus has to do is say the word, and his servant will be healed from a distance. In doing this, the centurion acknowledges that Jesus has authority from God.

Jesus is marveled, amazed. This is the only time this word is used in all of Matthew’s Gospel. The only thing Jesus marveled at in the entire Gospel was the faith of this centurion, the faith of a Gentile. The image of people coming from the East and West to recline at table with the Patriarchs would have been very familiar. It was used in the Old Testament to describe the gathering of the matter Jews, “I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west, I will gather you.” ( Isaiah 43:5)

Jesus’s use of the image here, however, was revolutionary for two reasons. First, Jesus applies this image to a centurion, an oppressor, a gentile, who is now being gathered by the Lord. Second, many of the Jews will be excluded from that gathering. Being part of the covenant people is not sufficient to be gathered, One must repent and turn to God, “Bear fruit that befits repentance, and do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Matthew 3:8-10)

Daily Application

If Jesus returned today, would he find faith? Faith like the centurion had. Faith that made him marvel. We marvel at this centurion for a variety of reasons. First, he was a gentile yet he recognized the authority of Christ. He was a man of great power yet he humbled himself before the Lord. The centurion had such strong faith that he believed that Jesus’s word alone, could bridge the distance and save his servant. Again I ask if Jesus returned today, would he find faith?

At a macro level, it would be hard to argue that Jesus would find faith. Certainly, as evidenced in the Pew Research study previously mentioned, he would find far less faith than he would have even 50 years ago. While we should be concerned about this, we must first focus on our faith. We can’t share with others what we first do not possess ourselves. So, if Jesus returned today, would he find faith in us?

It is easy to answer that question in the affirmative. However, before we do that, we need to spend time in prayer really asking the Lord to show us just how strong (or weak) our faith truly is. A little bit of faith is not what we need. We want the faith of the centurion: a faith that made this man go against all convention because he knows Jesus can heal his servant even from a distance. We want to have faith that allows us to, “say to this mountain, ‘Move from hence to yonder place,’ and it will move.” (Matthew 17:20) Our faith needs to be so strong that our eyes see and recognize the very miracle taking place on that altar at each and every Mass when Jesus himself comes to us.

This kind of faith is a gift, a gift from God. However, it is a gift he promises to give to all of us if we remain dedicated to him. That is the challenge in the spiritual life, to remain when it gets dry and gets difficult. There will be days when it feels like the Lord is nowhere to be found. There will be days when it feels like our prayers, prayers we have been saying for weeks, months, or even years will never be answered. It is in those moments that we need to press in even more: clinging to the Sacraments and remaining devoted to prayer.

This Advent season provides us with a great opportunity to take stock of our faith. As we anticipate the coming of Christ, both as a historical event as well the expectation of his second coming, let us ask the Lord to strengthen our faith. For if we have the faith of the centurion the world will take note. Then perhaps when the Lord does finally return, he will find the world overflowing with faith.

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