Faith and Authority: The Centurion's Humble Request

The centurion, a man of some status in the nation of Rome, being a commander of a hundred or more troops, was loved by the Jews because he had been very generous. He was obviously a man of wealth and had spent his money to build a synagogue for the Jewish people there in Capernaum. [03:08]

The first thing is the remarkable concern and care that this powerful and wealthy man had for a slave, for a servant who had no social standing in the community. Yet this man was so exercised about the well-being of his slave that he sent the message to Jesus, pleading and begging for Jesus to come and to heal his servant. [03:55]

In every organization, inevitably there will be managers who are kind and considerate, an upright to their bosses, but are cruel and uncaring to their subordinates. I'm sure that all of you have been in situations where that goes on, and I've tried to urge people in management in various organizations to make sure that if you have managers in those positions that are tyrannizing their subordinates, they must be removed. [06:21]

Everybody else was telling Jesus, "You've got to go and help this man. You've got to heal his servant because here's a man who deserves your help. Here's a man who is eminently worthy. He's been kind to us as Jews. In fact, he's even built for us a synagogue, and we don't expect that from Roman centurion." [08:22]

As much as he wants Jesus' help, he says to him through the messengers, "You don't have to come to my house. I'm not worthy that you would come under my roof. Maybe these excited Jewish friends of mine have exaggerated my worth to you, but I'm not asking you to come to me because I deserve it." [09:00]

This man understood grace. He understood it in a way that very few people in Israel understood it. He understood grace in a manner that very few people understand it even in the church today. And listen to what he says: "You don't have to come, just say the word." That's remarkable. [09:36]

How is it possible for Jesus to heal somebody simply by word? Well, we're talking here about the one who is God incarnate, the one who had the authority over heaven and earth, and the centurion recognized that. He says, "I understand authority. I'm a man who's under authority. I'm a man who has authority over others." [10:32]

Now, do you see the difference between that attitude and the attitude of Mary and Martha when their brother died, Lazarus? And when Jesus came four days too late to keep him from dying, they were distressed and said, "Lord, had you been here, our brother would not have died." They didn't understand Jesus didn't have to be there to save Lazarus. [11:26]

When we look at Christ and the mystery of the incarnation, we see the perfect union of the divine and the human. In the mystery of the incarnation, we understand that when God took upon himself a human nature and united himself with the human Jesus, the divine nature didn't stop being divine, nor did the human nature stop being human. [15:57]

Touching his human nature, Jesus is no longer with us as he told his disciples he was going away, and he would come again. Touching his human nature, he's in heaven at the right hand of God, and yet touching his divine nature, he's never absent from us. And wherever the divine nature is, he is. [19:57]

The human nature is in heaven, the human nature is still united to the divine nature, and when Christ is present here with us, he is really and truly present in his personhood. And when I commune with him, I don't just commune with the divine nature; I commune with the whole Christ. [20:56]

This one who healed the centurion's servant by his word heals us through the power of his word, to the power of his word and through his sacraments. And today, the sacrament of the Lord's Supper is ours to commune with him, who is here to meet us and to heal us. [21:28]