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The Spirit of Belief | Deep Reads

byDeep Spirituality

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The Spirit of Belief | Deep Reads

December 21, 2024

Deep Spirituality

When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people, he returned to Capernaum. At that time the highly valued slave of a Roman officer was sick and near death. When the officer heard about Jesus, he sent some respected Jewish elders to ask him to come and heal his slave. So they earnestly begged Jesus to help the man. “If anyone deserves your help, he does,” they said, “for he loves the Jewish people and even built a synagogue for us.” 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. I am not even worthy to come and meet you. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed. 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.’ 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!’ And when the officer’s friends returned to his house, they found the slave completely healed.

Luke 7:1-10 NLT

There’s a fascinating paradox in this story of the Roman centurion. Here was a man who commanded great earthly power—an officer in one of history’s most formidable military forces, with authority over a hundred soldiers. Yet when faced with a crisis—his valued servant’s grave illness—this powerful man recognized something profound: all human power, including his own, was limited and mundane compared to what he saw in Jesus.

The centurion reveals a beautiful truth about faith: it often begins when we stop exalting human capability and open our eyes to something greater. Despite commanding significant earthly authority, he sent word to Jesus saying, “Just say the word, and my servant will be healed.” This military commander, who understood power intimately, recognized that Jesus possessed authority of an entirely different order—one that commanded not just people, but also the very fabric of reality itself.

The unbreakable spirit of belief 

This centurion’s perspective on faith and his interaction with Jesus offers insight into something we often overlook: the natural belief children possess. Young children readily embrace both the visible and invisible, from tangible reality to fairy tales and, yes, even Santa Claus. 

Rather than seeing this belief as naive or something to be corrected, we might recognize it as faith in its purest form: an openness to possibilities beyond the merely physical or provable. When we rush to strip away these beliefs in the name of “truth,” we may in fact be expressing our adult insecurity—our need to reduce everything to what we can control and explain.

The Greek word “exousia,” used in Scripture for authority, refers to power over a certain realm. The centurion was acknowledging that Jesus had power from above, not human power. As Colossians 1:16 reminds us, all powers and authorities, whether visible or invisible, were created through and for Christ. Through the physical world and human power structures, God shows us deeper spiritual realities—if we have the humility to look beyond our own abilities and beneath the surface.

In our current age of cynicism and doubt, rediscovering this spirit of belief is more crucial than ever. Like the centurion, we’re invited to look beneath the surface of our human experience and recognize that the most profound realities often lie beyond what our physical eyes can see. True faith grows not from exalting human wisdom, but from the humble recognition that we are part of a story far larger than ourselves.

The spirit of belief in Miracle on 34th Street

The faith of the centurion can be seen through modern eyes in the classic Christmas movie Miracle on 34^th Street. The story is well-known: Kris Kringle steps into the lives of three people, testing their capacity for belief. Like the centurion’s encounter with Jesus, each character faces a choice about faith.

We meet three hearts on this journey to believing:

1. Susan, the young daughter: Susan shows us pure belief in action. Like a child’s natural trust in what adults can’t see, she reminds us of Jesus’s words about childlike faith (Matthew 18:1-3, Matthew 11:25). Her openness to believe mirrors the centurion’s recognition of power beyond the visible world.
2. Doris, the practical mother: Doris is smart and capable, but so focused on control and logic that she misses life’s deeper truths. She’s stuck in adult reasoning, much like those who couldn’t see past Jesus’s humanity to who he really was.
3. Fred, the open-minded friend: Fred Gailey stands in the middle, open but uncertain. His famous words capture the essence of faith: “Faith is believing in things when common sense tells you not to.” Like many of us have the opportunity to, he’s taking those first steps toward trust in something greater.

The film’s ending shows us what happens when faith wins: a family united, dreams realized, and seemingly impossible prayers answered. Just as the centurion’s faith brought healing, their belief opens doors to what appeared impossible.

Where are you on this journey? Whether you’re naturally believing like Susan, cautious like Doris, or searching like Fred, the spirit of belief is waiting to transform your life just as it did theirs.

How do we apply this today? 

Faith begins when we recognize that human power, though real, is finite. Like the centurion who commanded earthly authority yet humbly saw beyond it, true belief emerges when we stop exalting our human capabilities and open our eyes to greater power. Children naturally grasp this truth until adult logic dims their sight. By keeping our childlike faith alive, we open ourselves to miracles beyond human power, just as the centurion experienced and Miracle on 34th Street reminds us.

What can I do now?

1. Strengthen your faith daily. Protect your spirit of belief through daily time spent with God in the Bible and prayer. Like a garden that needs constant tending, faith requires regular nurturing to resist the weeds of cynicism and doubt that can choke out the valuable plants. 
2. Learn to see God’s hand. Train yourself to look beyond surface explanations in daily life. When you experience extraordinary blessings like opportunities you have not earned or unexpected provisions, pause to recognize these as more than mere coincidence. Like the centurion who saw divine authority in action, practice seeing God’s fingerprints in your daily experiences.
3. Stand against pride’s deception. Be aware of how human pride—both personal and societal—can blind people to God’s power. Notice when you’re tempted to credit only human effort or explanation for life’s mysteries and victories. Choose instead to acknowledge, like the centurion, that our finite power is just a small part of a greater story.
4. Live your faith boldly. Follow the example of both the centurion and young Susan by living your faith out loud. Rather than hiding your belief, recognize that your trust in God can inspire others. When you walk through life openly believing despite others’ skepticism, God often responds with miracles that not only strengthen your faith but help others discover their own capacity to believe.