Luke 7:1-10

Luke 7:1-10 When Jesus had finished saying all this in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” So Jesus went with them. He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.

In today's verses, Jesus is not talking necessarily about healing faith, He is speaking about the centurion knowing that Jesus is a man of authority. The Jewish people in general knew Jesus as a man who performed healings and miracles, but they did not really know him as the Christ, the one who has complete authority, for they never would have sought to kill him if they had. They had faith but not the faith the centurion had, for the centurion recognized Jesus as a man who could do what He wished. The scriptures reveal Jesus' authority by showing his ability to tell the wind to calm down, the storm to cease, the blind to see, demons to depart, sickness to be healed. The centurion's faith supersedes most of our faith because he completely understood Jesus' authority over all things. To him, Jesus was not just a superhero or a mighty prophet, He was divine.

I do not know many Christians who really believe Jesus is in control of all things. Yes, we will believe for things; we will push our belief button really hard to believe, but that isn't necessarily faith. If we really believe Jesus Christ is in control, we don't have to push the faith button, to become super spiritual, so He will do something for us. The centurion did not do that: he asked Jesus to come and heal his servant. He understood Jesus was a man of authority who was in control of all things and could do anything He desired to do. He also recognized his position of unworthiness in respect to Jesus.

Now the centurion's faith escapes me much of the time. Often, I am in the place of trying to drum up enough faith to manipulate God to do something for me. If I need a miracle, a healing, a provider, a counselor, I'll get spiritual, attempting to take this Jesus, this power source, and use him for my benefit. If I say the right words, or read the right scriptures, or believe without wavering, or hold a long fast, or pray earnestly, or perform whatever sacrifice, then perhaps God will do his part. But, we deceive ourselves. We put on our best spiritual robes, so He will come to our house. We don't request that He come to our house, we demand that He come. Sometimes we say, if you don't come, we won't believe. BUT JESUS IS A MAN OF AUTHORITY, worthy of all praise and honor, worthy of our everything. He does what He wants, what He wills, but what He wants is to serve. He came to serve. But, He might not serve as we want, for He is the blessed controller of all things. We must believe that if we are people of faith, the sheep of his pastures. We request, we talk to Jesus, we tell Jesus what He already knows. But people of faith believe God will do what He wants to do and it will be good.

The centurion said, say the word and my servant will be healed. He knew Jesus was a man of authority; He had the right to do anything He desired. Now, this man of authority, Jesus, allowed his beloved disciples to go through some awful circumstances. Many of them were killed; all of them faced persecution. I am quite sure all of them cried out to be delivered, but Jesus is the man in authority. He does what He desires; He allows what He allows. All things work together for our good. He doesn't need our help beyond our asking as a child would ask a good Father. He is the one that says to someone, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. ‘Do this,’ and he does it. Do we recognize him as the man of authority for our lives or do we place ourselves in that position? God knows.