Lord, 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.” (Luke 7:7-9).

We kick off this new year by looking at Spiritual Power in Everyday Places.  

People immediately noticed that Jesus had both extraordinary power and the right, the authority, to use that power.  He spoke and taught with authority.  He had authority over demonic spirits, ordering them to depart, and over diseases, commanding wholeness and health to return to sick bodies and souls.

And he shared his power and authority with his disciples, authorizing them to do the same kinds of things he did!

And does he entrust some measure of his power and authority to us today?  Everyday us in our everyday lives?  

There are different kinds of authority.  In this week’s passage (Luke 7:1-10), we are introduced to a centurion, who bears a measure of the authority of the Roman Empire.  Yet Rome’s power and authority can do nothing for the centurion’s sick servant.  The centurion recognizes that Jesus has the power his sick servant urgently needs, and that he can’t simply march to Jesus and order him, “in the name of Caesar!” to heal his servant.

He turns to some of the local Jewish elders, recognizing the social and cultural authority they carry within their village of Capernaum.  Their authority likewise does not extend to healing a desperately ill man – but perhaps the centurion’s request will gain a better hearing from Jesus if it is carried by “locals.”  They are ready to serve as emissaries, as this centurion enjoys great respect from their Jewish community (verses 4-5).

So they go, and ask -- and Jesus agrees to come!  But before Jesus arrives, the centurion sends word: “I understand how authority works:  I give orders and my soldiers obey them.  I know that if you say the word, my servant will be healed.  You have the authority to do this.”

And then, the only time in the New Testament when Jesus is said to be amazed!  Note the connection: “I have not found such faith in all of Israel!” (verse 9).

The centurion recognized, he had faith in, Jesus’s power and authority to give a command (“Be healed!”) and to have that command carried out.  And, as the rest of the New Testament unfolds, it becomes clear that Jesus delegates measures of his power and authority to his people.

Of course: whenever power and authority are in view, there is plenty of potential for misuse and abuse.

But also the potential for great good to come, as his spiritual power works in and through us into our everyday places. That’s what this new series will explore and unpack!

Lord Jesus, all authority belongs to you and comes from you. We thank you for this good news – you are good, and all that you do is good!  Help us to learn how to live under your authority, that we might bring that authority into the everyday places of our lives, that you might be worshiped and glorified.  Amen.