Belonging - Day 30
Matthew 8:7 Jesus said, “I will come and heal him.” 8 But the officer said, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed. 9 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.”
So this centurion knew that when someone with authority made a decision, there are those that would make it happen. He is using the analogy of an army officer, because that is what he is. The use of the idea of authority makes sense to us as well, as we understand that Jesus had authority over heaven and earth. He used it only for the glory of God and he was able to heal and even raise people from the dead with this power.
Authority is an interesting thing. It is real, when those under your authority make it real by agreeing to the power structure. This is true in the army, true in the corporate world, and true when there is a structure of hierarchy. However, Jesus existed beyond those structures and had authority that was given to him by the Father. Therefore, many of those who chose to follow him did not do so out of any duty, but out of the love that developed over the time of listening to him and experiencing the grace that Jesus gave through his words and his healing actions.
The centurion was not necessarily a believer in the Hebrew God. Rather, he was a foreigner who was serving in an occupied land. However, he was not immune to the signs of the times. He was seeing what was happening all around him and all around Jesus. He was probably curious, but even more than that, he was probably deeply moved by the healing that he had seen Jesus doing.
This centurion understood power structures, and he was not above using them. As a leader he understood that you can speak to another leader in a different way that perhaps subordinates might not understand. So he spoke to Jesus as if he were a leader of men, and a man who had authority over more than just men. He had authority over that which can heal and that which can create a peace in people’s life that goes beyond their understanding. I would be that this centurion had never seen something like this before, and so he went to ask for help from the one who seemed to have more authority than he had ever experienced before.
So this centurion knew that when someone with authority made a decision, there are those that would make it happen. He is using the analogy of an army officer, because that is what he is. The use of the idea of authority makes sense to us as well, as we understand that Jesus had authority over heaven and earth. He used it only for the glory of God and he was able to heal and even raise people from the dead with this power.
Authority is an interesting thing. It is real, when those under your authority make it real by agreeing to the power structure. This is true in the army, true in the corporate world, and true when there is a structure of hierarchy. However, Jesus existed beyond those structures and had authority that was given to him by the Father. Therefore, many of those who chose to follow him did not do so out of any duty, but out of the love that developed over the time of listening to him and experiencing the grace that Jesus gave through his words and his healing actions.
The centurion was not necessarily a believer in the Hebrew God. Rather, he was a foreigner who was serving in an occupied land. However, he was not immune to the signs of the times. He was seeing what was happening all around him and all around Jesus. He was probably curious, but even more than that, he was probably deeply moved by the healing that he had seen Jesus doing.
This centurion understood power structures, and he was not above using them. As a leader he understood that you can speak to another leader in a different way that perhaps subordinates might not understand. So he spoke to Jesus as if he were a leader of men, and a man who had authority over more than just men. He had authority over that which can heal and that which can create a peace in people’s life that goes beyond their understanding. I would be that this centurion had never seen something like this before, and so he went to ask for help from the one who seemed to have more authority than he had ever experienced before.
- Who has authority over you and your life?
- Do you think of Jesus as carrying authority over people?
- How do you think Jesus exercised his authority?
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