Matthew 8:10

Jesus expressed astonishment at this Gentile’s great faith in Him. The Greek verb thaumazo, "to be amazed," usually describes the reaction of people to Jesus in Matthew (cf. Matthew 8:27; Matthew 9:33; Matthew 15:31; Matthew 21:20; Matthew 22:22; Matthew 27:14). This is the only time it describes Jesus’ reaction to someone.

"’Wonder’ cannot apply to God, for it arises out of what is new and unexpected: but it might exist in Christ, for he had clothed himself with our flesh, and with human affections." [Note: Calvin, 1:382.]

The introductory clause "I say to you" or "I tell you" alerted Jesus’ disciples that He was about to say something very important on His personal authority (cf. Matthew 5:22). The greatness of the centurion’s faith was due to his perception of Jesus’ relationship to God. It was not that he believed Jesus could heal from a remote distance. Moreover the centurion was a Gentile who evidently lacked the knowledge of Old Testament revelation about Messiah. No Jew that Jesus had met had shown such insight into His person and authority.

One of the reasons Matthew evidently stressed the uniqueness of the centurion’s faith so strongly was he wanted to show the movement in Jesus’ ministry from Jews to all people (cf. Matthew 1:1; Matthew 1:3-5; Matthew 2:1-12; Matthew 3:9-10; Matthew 4:15-16; Matthew 28:18-20).

"This incident is a preview of the great insight which came later through another centurion’s faith, ’Then to the Gentiles God has granted repentance unto life’ (Acts 11:18)." [Note: R. T. France, "Exegesis in Practice: Two Samples," in New Testament Interpretation, p. 260.]