by Rose Murdock

"Now when He concluded all His sayings in the hearing of the people, He entered Capernaum.  And a certain centurion’s servant, who was dear to him, was sick and ready to die.  So when he heard about Jesus, he sent elders of the Jews to Him, pleading with Him to come and heal his servant.  And when they came to Jesus, they begged Him earnestly, saying that the one for whom He should do this was deserving, ‘for he loves our nation, and has built us a synagogue.’  Then Jesus went with them.  And when He was already not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to Him, saying to Him, ‘Lord, do not trouble Yourself, for I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof.  Therefore I did not even think myself worthy to come to You.  But say the word, and my servant will be healed.  For I also am a man placed under authority, having 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 these things, He marveled at him, and turned around and said to the crowd that followed Him, ‘I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!’  And those who were sent, returning to the house, found the servant well who had been sick."  Luke 7:1-10 NKJ

First notice two things from this passage of scripture.

1. The power of God that Jesus carried with Him was needed to heal this man.

The servant was sick and needed a touch from the Lord.  There was no doubt that if Jesus physically went to the house where the servant was that he would be healed by the power of God He carried with Him.  Jesus didn’t hesitate in His willingness to heal him and He responded to the man’s request for healing by starting towards the house to go heal him.

2. The Centurion’s faith brought the power of God into the situation so Jesus’ actual physical presence was not needed in order for that man to be healed.

What was needed in addition to the man’s faith was for God’s power to be carried into the situation by a spoken word from the Lord.  Because of the Centurion’s faith, Jesus spoke a word and the man was healed.  His physical presence was not required because of the man’s faith and the spoken word from God.

In Matthew’s account of the same event we read what Jesus said.  He said, "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you." (Matthew 8:13 NKJ)

Notice what the Centurion had faith in.  He had faith that Jesus had authority over sickness and disease.  He describes how he understands the principal of authority and that by giving commands his soldiers and servants obey him.  He knew if Jesus just said the word that He had enough authority in the earth that his servant would be healed.  He knew Jesus had the authority to command it to be done and it would.  He recognized that Jesus was also a ‘man under authority.'  He recognized that Jesus was operating under the authority of God.

Jesus said this man had great faith and that his servant would be healed as he believed.

Notice that Jesus calls this recognition of His authority ‘great faith.'  The Centurion wasn’t trusting in anything other than Jesus’ spoken Word of authority.  He didn’t go along with those who said he deserved it.  He didn’t try to base it on any merit of his own.  He simply asked for Jesus to give the word, knowing that if He did his servant would be healed.

We can look at this portion of scripture alone and say, O.K., he asked Jesus to heal his servant, Jesus spoke a word and he was healed.  If we just skim the surface we say, If we have a need, we pray, and if and when Jesus speaks a word our need will be met.  But we’re missing a couple of things if we just skim the surface like that.

1. Jesus spoke a word in response to the Centurion asking in faith.  The Centurion had faith in God’s power and Jesus’ authority to heal.  And the servant was healed according to his faith.  Why is that important?  Couldn’t Jesus have continued to the house and just physically touched the servant and healed Him?  Possibly.  But today Jesus isn’t physically walking around going to people’s homes (normally).  If we are going to receive from Him without Him physically coming to our home then we need to pay attention to what happened here.  We need to see that a word of authority spoken in response to the man’s faith brought healing.  We can’t ignore the fact that the man was healed according to his (the Centurion’s), faith.  It wasn’t according to the good works of the man.  It wasn’t according to some unknown will of God.  It was according to the man’s faith.  Jesus said so.  We can’t leave this part out.

2. Jesus has delegated His authority to the church today.  When Jesus ate with the eleven after He was risen from the dead and before He ascended into Heaven He said, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature...

And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover." (Mark 16:15, 17-18 NKJ).

When Jesus appeared to the eleven in the mountain before He ascended He said, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.  Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…" (Matthew 28:18-19 NKJ).

Jesus said He was given authority in Heaven and on earth and He told us to go in His authority and make disciples.  He told us to go preach to every creature and He said one of the things Believers will do is they will lay hands on the sick and they will recover.

Who are the sick to call on today?

"Is anyone among you sick?  Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.  And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up.  And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven." James 5:14-15 NKJ

The sick are to call on the elders of the church.  What will save the sick?  The prayer of faith.  What do we have faith in?  That Jesus was given the authority to heal and that He has delegated that authority to the church (Just as God delegated it to Him).

Notice it says, ‘Is anyone among you sick?  Let him call…’  The one who is sick (or representing the sick), needs to call.  There needs to be an act of faith from the one who has the need and then the prayer of faith by the elders.  There needs to be a recognition of the authority from God to heal (In the case of the Centurion’s servant, it was the Centurion who called for the servant.  So there are times we can intercede on others behalf).

Does this mean you need to have the elders of the church pray for you in order to be healed?  No.  It doesn’t have to be that way.  That is one way to be healed.  The point is to pray in faith or in recognition of the God-given authority in the earth today over sickness and disease.

Have you ever noticed that Jesus didn’t quote scripture when He healed people?  He quoted scripture to the devil but He didn’t quote scripture when healing people.  He fulfilled scripture by healing people (Matthew 8:17).  What Jesus spoke was a command of authority.  He spoke a word for that particular person in that particular situation.  And most often He said healing would be done according to their faith.

If your boss at work told you to do something would you ignore him unless he started quoting from your policy and procedure’s manual or would you just respond to what he says because he’s in a position of authority?  If a police officer was pulling you over would you expect him to announce over his loudspeaker the law that gives him the right to pull you over or would you just respond to the lights and sirens and pull over?  In the same way, Jesus spoke from a position of authority and the sickness had to respond to the word of authority.  The Centurion recognized the power of authority like that and Jesus called that recognition ‘great faith.'

However, just as your boss needs to act within the scope of the policy and procedures manual and the officer needs to act within the law, so do we need to act according to the Word of God.  In order for it to stand over time and hold up when challenged you must know the basis for your authority.  You must know the Word of God.  The devil will challenge your authority.  This is why Jesus spoke the Word to him.  The Word of God shows us who we are.  The Word of God builds up our faith.  The Bible says that faith comes by hearing the Word of God (Romans 10:17).  Jesus studied the scriptures and discovered who He was.  He came to understand He was the Messiah as He studied the scriptures.  In the same way, as we study the Word of God we come to understand our position in the body of Christ and in the earth today.  We understand who we are in Him and what our place is.  As we understand the authority that has been delegated to us we can speak, by faith, a word that will bring healing or life to a situation.  And we can stand against the devil who would try and challenge us because we know the basis of our authority.

As we understand our position in Him and what authority He has delegated to us then we can speak from that position of authority and bring the power of God into a situation.  We can speak in response to faith and as a result see the good works of God occur.  Remember that Jesus said. "…he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father." John 14:12 NKJ.

He is expecting those of us who believe in Him to do the same things He did when He was here.  As we recognize that He has given us the authority to do that, we will do just that!

Go to the crossword for this teaching