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December 2, 2024The centurion immediately recognizes Jesus' authority over disease and disability. Drawing a comparison between his own authority as a military commander and Jesus' authority as the Son of God, the centurion declares his faith in Jesus' ability to command that his servant be healed. Not only is he acknowledging Jesus' authority to heal, he's also confessing that he believes that Jesus can heal his servant without seeing him or touching him: “. . .but say the word and let my servant be healed.” Jesus' response to the man's faith is telling. He is amazed, and says to the gathered crowd, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” While those who should be flocking to Jesus – the priests, the scribes, all the people of the Covenant – are instead questioning, ridiculing, and arguing with him, this Roman solider – a pagan invader, and occupier among God's own people – sees and hears the truth that Christ is sent to reveal. The centurion sees in Christ the truth of his divine mission, the truth of his purpose, and so he accepts the authority that this truth wields in the man Jesus. There is no way to distinguish or separate Christ's truth from his authority. If we accept the truth that Jesus is the Christ, then we also accept his authority as our Lord.
Would he be amazed at our faith, our obedience in 2024?
