A Measure of a Good Man
CONCLUSION

Of course the most splendid surprise of Jesus about Marcellus was his faith.

Remember he was not a disciple of Jesus. He was a Gentile; he was immersed in Roman religious beliefs. He was brought up in the conviction that there was no God but Caesar.

But in the land—a colony of Rome—Marcellus, who had sharp instincts and an unusual power of observation, I assume, had come to know of a kind of morality of the Jewish people superior to his Roman background. Rumors of the activities of a Jewish Rabbi named Jesus being talked about. From his spontaneous desire to have his servant healed by Jesus, we can tell that like Nicodemus, he had become a secret admirer of the Lord. He might have said to himself:

Now among all these Jewish people I have been seeing, there stands out a man who embodies in himself the perfect man—in his morality, his spirituality, his compassion, his charisma for the healing of wounded souls and bodies.

In addition to these, Marcellus was obedient to the urgings of his mind and will. And the event of his slave’s illness bridged the chasm between him and Jesus. The urgings of his mind and will and a leap of faith led him to exclaim: “You only say the word and my servant will be healed.” Marcellus had a faith larger than a mustard seed in the healing power of the Master. For this was the biggest surprise of all to Jesus—that this man had faith nowhere known in all Israel.

What then did Jesus think of Marcellus? I am sure Jesus admired his magnanimous spirit. And his humility. But all of these were secondary virtues, for the very root of all these in every man’s life is his faith. And so our Lord paid one of the richest compliments in his entire ministry, “Truly, I say to you, not even in all Israel have I found such faith.”

May it be that each one of us strives to grow to the measure of this good man—in magnanimity, humility, and faith in Christ, remembering that:

When god measures a man, He puts the tape around the heart instead of the head.*

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