Kingdom Authority And Rule

This morning I am reading from Matthew 8:5-13 NIV:

[5] "When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. [6] “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.”

[7] Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”

[8] The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. [9] 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.”

[10] When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. [11] I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. [12] But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

[13] Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment."

This is a great story about the authority of Jesus, and faith in Him. The Centurion grasped clearly the idea of Jesus' demonstrations of the Kingdom of God, as examples of His authority over sickness and disease and the demonic powers and even nature itself. He also understood that Jesus' authority flowed from the Father, for his own authority flowed down from the throne of the Caesar. It is interesting how little the idea of authority and the Kingdom seems to be preached and instead the focus of this story often becomes the faith of the Centurion. Since Jesus commented on his great faith that does make sense, however much of that faith was founded on his understanding of how authority worked, and we would be well served to understand the same.

The Centurion was from Capernaum where Jesus had moved after returning from the wilderness, so he had likely seen Jesus active in ministry, and likely even heard Him speaking of the Kingdom. As one under authority, and having authority, he understood what Jesus was talking about when He was preaching the good news of the Kingdom of God being in their midst and then demonstrating that reality by operating in authority and healing people, casting out demons, and such. All were demonstrations of the rule and will of the King.

In a kingdom, the rule and will of the king determines what happens when and to whom. The King sets in place a set of laws that generally guides all those living under his rule, but then also has the authority to intervene personally where he sees fit. It wasn't always a good thing to have a king visit, because if you fell under his wrath, he could exact whatever punishment he willed, because you were one of his subjects, subject to his will and rule. However, you could also receive the blessing of the king, which could include provision, promotion or even just his presence in your house. In a kingdom, all authority flows down from the king, and those closest to the King have the greatest authority, even though they are not the king.

This is what Jesus was demonstrating, the authority of the King (The Father), as one of His representatives (Heb 1:3). Jesus had willingly laid down His divinity becoming fully man (Philippians 2:5-10), and was now operating as a man under authority. The Centurion had likely seen Jesus operate under this authority and had seen people healed and demons cast out. His faith was in the authority, power and rule of the King, for he had seen it demonstrated over and over again. His request of Jesus was to simply say the word, or give the command for the sickness to leave. He knew Jesus had the authority to issue the command and the sickness had to obey.

Often times we hear people praying these same words, in an effort to mirror the faith of the Centurion. Although that is laudable, the problem is that the words don't indicate faith. Rather, the belief of the Centurion in authority and rule, which was evident in his words, is what Jesus heard. The words without the understanding and knowledge of authority do not constitute great faith.

So let us be encouraged that Jesus now sits on the throne, alongside the Father and it is their rule and authority that we operate under. The same things that Jesus demonstrated are available to us, for we are under the exact same authority and rule, that He operated under while on this earth. Let us pray for opportunities for the Lord to teach us about Kingdom authority and rule. For we are called to advance the Kingdom of God, and demonstrate the reality of that Kingdom to all (Matt 24:14 & Matt 28:18) nations.

Amen!