Luke 7:9

And when Jesus heard these things, he marvelled at him, and turned and said to the multitude that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. And they that were sent, returning to the house, found the servant whole.

It does not appear that the centurion ever came into the presence of the Lord, physically; but, disclaiming for himself any worthiness that Jesus might come under his roof, he nevertheless received him in his heart, which was a far more glorious reception.

No, not in Israel ... That Jesus placed this centurion's faith above ALL that he had seen in Israel is significant. As Taylor said:

This centurion placed Jesus on the throne of the universe, regarding him as the ruler of the world, and as having all things under his command. He saw him, not merely as Messiah, but as God Incarnate, and therein lay the superiority of his faith to that of any of the Israelites. Not even any of the apostles, at that time, had reached the lofty altitude on which this Gentile soldier stood.[11]

He marvelled ... For an article on the "Marvel of Unbelief," see my Commentary on John, index. It is not recorded very often that Jesus marveled; but his marveling here contrasts with his marveling at unbelief (Mark 6:6). It was an inherent condition of the incarnation that Jesus should have experienced amazement and wonder. How would the Lord, to whom all things were known, have wondered, or marveled? Trench called this question "One of the hardest in the whole domain of theology."[12] Every student of the Holy Scriptures must confess the awareness of the mystery in this which is beyond all human comprehension; but by faith we receive the answer supplied by the apostle who wrote that "He emptied himself, and took upon him the form of a servant" (Philippians 2:6-8).

Accepting this account as a second miracle wrought for the benefit of a centurion would also fit the evident purpose in Luke of giving TWO instances of Jesus' mightiest deeds, rather than merely one. Thus he recorded TWO instances of Jesus' raising the dead (no other Gospel did this), the OTHER genealogy (that of Mary), a SECOND anointing, ANOTHER sermon similar to the one on the mount, a SECOND version of the prayer Jesus taught his disciples to pray, the cure of a second woman who had long been afflicted (Luke 13:10); a SECOND lament over Jerusalem, a SECOND parable of the slighted invitation, and even recorded very significant utterances of Jesus from the cross which were not even hinted in the other Gospels. This is clearly a characteristic of this Gospel.

[11] William M. Taylor, The Miracles of Our Saviour (New York: Richard R. Smith, 1930), p. 167.

[12] Richard Trench, op. cit., p. 246.