{"id":658,"date":"2017-06-14T13:25:05","date_gmt":"2017-06-14T19:25:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/masterofthehouse.org\/?p=658"},"modified":"2017-06-14T13:33:54","modified_gmt":"2017-06-14T19:33:54","slug":"a-man-under-authority","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/masterofthehouse.org\/considerations\/a-man-under-authority\/","title":{"rendered":"A Man Under Authority"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201c’Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.’ And he said to him, ‘I will come and heal him.’ But the centurion replied, ‘Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.’ When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, ‘Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.'”<\/em><\/span>
\n – Matthew 8:6-10<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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\"\"This was amazing praise when Jesus declared He had not found such faith in Israel. \u00a0This centurion Gentile understood the authority of Jesus, and he understood how authority functions.<\/p>\n

When I first looked at this passage I had assumed that Jesus’ word was enough because the centurion understood the process of command and obedience – but recently I realized how much more was indicated in this telling. \u00a0There was something more to the words of the centurion that caused Jesus to marvel. \u00a0I realized it was that the centurion compared his place of authority to our Lord. \u00a0The centurion did not have authority himself, but he was authorized by an authority higher than himself to command soldiers and servants. \u00a0They obeyed because of the authority, and they obeyed him because he wielded that authority.<\/p>\n

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For I too am a man under authority<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Jesus had on many occasions declared that He could do nothing of Himself but that it was the Father who did the works – the miracles, the healing, the casting out of unclean spirits. \u00a0He was sent by the Father, however, and was therefore authorized by God to wield that authority. \u00a0When He commanded sickness to leave, it left, and the centurion recognized and understood that.<\/p>\n

Here is a very important point to realize from this. \u00a0If the centurion tried to command obedience as just a man he would not have been listened to because he did not have that authority. \u00a0He was only authorized to wield that authority. \u00a0So it is with each believer in Jesus.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father\u2019s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”<\/em><\/span>
\n – Jesus (John 15:5-8)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

We are under the authority that Christ has authorized believers to wield. \u00a0Upon rising from the dead Christ declared,\u00a0“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”<\/em><\/span> \u00a0It is under that authority that we are authorized. \u00a0And like the centurion we are subject to the authority that we wield. \u00a0And that means submitting ourselves to the rule and direction of Jesus.<\/p>\n

Jesus was born a man in this world, sent by the Father. \u00a0Jesus’ entire life as a man was dedicated to His Father’s will and doing all that was pleasing to His Father. \u00a0He was a man under authority. \u00a0And that authority was His to wield as evidenced by the obedience of sickness and unclean spirits to His commands. \u00a0Even the wind and the sea obeyed His commands and stilled their violence at His word. \u00a0As believers of Jesus we are to be under His authority in order to wield it.<\/p>\n

“…Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”<\/em><\/span>
\n – Jesus (Matthew 17:20)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Our faith is, He can and He will. \u00a0And so we submit to His authority for His method and timing. \u00a0We trust Him and not our own ways, and we realize and evidence His authority at work. \u00a0That means we wield the authority in His interests – not our own. \u00a0If we heal or cast out unclean spirits it is because that is what Jesus does, and what He told us to do – not because we want to be noticed and admired. \u00a0And if we tell a mountain to move it is because it serves Him, not ourselves.<\/p>\n

Being men and women under authority requires true gentleness and humility. \u00a0It’s not about us – it’s about whomever we are serving and about Jesus’ interest in those persons. \u00a0We can spend out time practicing to wield authority, or we can practice being under authority. \u00a0God will instruct us in every case, but it is only under His authority that we can successfully and consistently wield it.<\/p>\n

As always, we encourage our readers to grow into the type of person who is ready for the return of Jesus. \u00a0Being under authority – living under Jesus’ authority – is a practice that will never be regretted and will<\/strong> benefit many while we await His day.<\/p>\n

\n

it is only under His authority that we can successfully and consistently wield it<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201c’Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.’ And he said to him, ‘I will come and heal him.’ But the centurion replied, ‘Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man under […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":659,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[69,82,83,54,47],"class_list":{"0":"post-658","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-considerations","8":"tag-authority","9":"tag-character","10":"tag-faith","11":"tag-master","12":"tag-spirit","13":"entry","14":"override"},"acf":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/masterofthehouse.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/06\/authority.jpg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/masterofthehouse.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/06\/authority.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Master of the House","author_link":"https:\/\/masterofthehouse.org\/author\/master-of-the-house\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/masterofthehouse.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/masterofthehouse.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/masterofthehouse.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/masterofthehouse.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/masterofthehouse.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=658"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/masterofthehouse.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/masterofthehouse.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/masterofthehouse.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/masterofthehouse.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/masterofthehouse.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}