JESUS WAS AMAZED
There are only two instances when Jesus is reported as amazed at the response of others. One was at the faith a centurion expressed when he approached Jesus to heal his paralyzed servant (Mt 8:10) and another was at the reaction of his natives in the synagogue of Nazareth. When he taught there, his listeners were astonished and were doubting on his authority because they knew him and his family. Instead of appreciating him and thanking God for his power, they took offense to him. Mark the Evangelist reports that Jesus “was amazed at their lack of faith” (Mk 6:6).
Another instance where Jesus was amazed at the faith of a person was at the reply of a Greek woman who was Syrophoenician by birth at Tyre. When she pleaded to heal her daughter, who was possessed with unclean spirit, Jesus had tested her saying, “Let the children be fed first. For it is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” Her reply was: “Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s scraps” (Mk 7:27-28). Though Jesus did not use the term “amazed,” he was astonished at the reply of this Gentile woman and healed her daughter (Mk 7:24-30).
REFLECTION
Our faith in God and his Son Jesus is the most valuable gift we have. Jesus expressed the power of faith to his disciples saying, “Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you” (Mt 17:20). That happened in the centurion’s and the Syrophoenician woman’s case The apostles and the leaders of the church worked with faith. Then the church that was in the size of mustard seed has grown to the largest of plants where the “birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches” (Mt 13:32). Let us work with faith in Jesus for our God-given responsibilities.