Discover His heart: He is blessed by our acts of faith
Military personnel understand authority. I saw this fact played out time and time again while living in Colorado Springs, surrounded by Army and Air Force personnel who attended our church. They understood the chain of command and accepted it with unwavering loyalty, every pastor’s dream. The only problem with the military personnel in our church was that just when we knew we couldn’t live without them, Uncle Sam moved them on to another base somewhere in the world. Their understanding of authority could not be denied as was true with the officer in Luke 7.
@ Luke 7
The Gentile officer’s valued servant was ill. He had heard about the authority over sickness that a Jewish man named Jesus possessed, and military people understand authority. “Lord, don’t trouble yourself by coming to my home, for I am not worthy of such an honor. I am not even worthy to come and meet you. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed…When Jesus heard this, He was amazed. Turning to the crowd that was following Him, He said, ‘I tell you, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel.”(6-9) Amazing Jesus! Well, it’s true, He certainly is amazing. But I mean amazing, in the sense to amaze Jesus. Every time I read the story of the Roman officer I question, “Has my faith ever amazed Jesus?”
“Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed. I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers, I only need to say ‘Go,’ and they go or ‘Come,’ and they come.”(7-8) From the accounts he had heard, he understood the authority that Jesus possessed over sickness and death, and he actually believed it! Chapters 7 and 8 tell of many miracles of Jesus that were off the chart in magnitude, like raising the dead and delivering a demoniac of many demons to name a couple. Having read all the miracles of Jesus throughout the Gospels, do I have the faith of the Roman officer?
Of course, being Italian and all, it thrills me that the one with the most faith in all of Israel was a Roman. I wonder, however, if the thing that thrilled Jesus the most was that the man understood that healing from Him did not require a special potion, a particular location or standing on his left foot and counting to 100. “Just say the word,” was all it took. Just say the word.
In these chapters, we learn that Jesus ministered to the undesirables of His day when He responded to a gentile officer, forgave an immoral woman, delivered a demoniac and healed an unclean woman. Apparently, His miracles did not fall under the scrutiny of racial or moral profiling – everyone and everything are under His authority! We have heard of His miraculous works, but do we amaze Him with our faith and believe that He will heal our bodies and set people free and provide the jobs, food and shelter that we need. The method Jesus uses to respond to our requests is in His hands, but the miracle often begins when our faith catches His attention. Oh, how I want to amaze Him!
Moving Forward: I surrender my needs to His authority today. With a believing heart, I cry, “Just say the word, Jesus, just say the word!” I pray He is amazed.
Tomorrow @ Galatians 4-6
Phyllis Benigas 