YOU ARE UNDER AUTHORITY

YOU ARE UNDER AUTHORITY

When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.”  And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.”  But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed.  For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one,‘Go,’and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’and he does it.”  When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. —Matthew 8:6-10

            This centurion, this soldier that oversaw one hundred other men, came to Jesus in humility.  He did not feel worthy to have Jesus come into his house and he knew Jesus only had to”say the word” and his servant would be healed.  Jesus said of this soldier “to those who followed Him, ‘Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.’”  He was saying this to a group of Jewish followers about a Gentile soldier whose military was occupying their land.  A soldier who Jesus’ followers probably were not too fond of!

            Why did Jesus say this about the centurion’s faith?  This soldier understood from his own life that he had authority to give an order and it was to be obeyed.  He knew that Jesus had the authority to just give the command and his servant would be healed.  This centurion had no doubt about that and Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment.” 

            How about you and me?  Do we have that type of faith?  Do we understand the authority Jesus has?  What He says do we believe He will do?  When He speaks will we trust Him to fulfill what He says?  Well, He has said much to us through His Word.  Do we have the faith of the centurion to believe what He says and then to be and do what He says?  Are we truly living under the authority of Jesus?

Dear Father may I be like the centurion and trust fully what You say.  May this be so in the power of Your Holy Spirit and in the authority of Jesus!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *