Great Faith

On two occasions in the Gospels, Jesus uses the words "great faith" in reference to two different individuals who came to Him with their need, believed and received. The first one was the Roman centurion (Matthew 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-10) who asked Jesus to heal his servant that was sick. He understood Jesus' authority and believed that Jesus did not even have to come to his house but merely send His word of healing forth and it would be done. Jesus commended him for his great faith. The second was a Canaanite woman (Matthew 15:21-28) whose daughter was tormented. She pleaded with Jesus for her healing and believed for it in spite of the fact the she was not from the house of Israel but was persistent in expecting Jesus to do it anyway. Jesus said she had great faith. These two persons who were not even part of God's covenant people astonished Jesus with their great faith. It is inspiring to see these two examples of people who in their moment of need place total trust in God's mercy and who will not relent until they receive their answer. We too, can have great faith!