Authority is controversial. We get upset when others have authority over us. For who wants to be under the authority of another? I don’t. You don’t. But no matter how hard we try, we can’t get away from the law. No matter where you go, the authority of the law confronts you: at work, home, and even when you drive around town, especially when the trooper’s lights are flashing in your rearview mirror.
In this life, we exercise authority, but we are also under the authority of others. The centurion who approached Jesus understood that. You give orders, and you follow orders. If you don’t do that, an army can’t win a war. If you don’t do that, the job doesn’t get done.
But this centurion had a problem: He had a servant afflicted with an incurable, painful paralysis. And as far as the centurion knew, nobody but Jesus could help. Yet, even knowing that, the centurion was still in a bind. He wasn’t a Jew. He was an outsider. He was uncircumcised, unlearned, and unclean. By what right could he appeal to Jesus for help?
But the centurion went to Jesus anyway. He was desperate, for, as far as he could tell, Jesus was the only one who had authority over such sickness, life, and death. And the centurion was right, for only Jesus had all authority in heaven and on earth. He had the authority of His word.
So, the centurion made his way to Jesus. But how could he appeal to Jesus, so He would favorably consider his need? He had no inside track to Jesus. He didn’t have the holiness, virtue, or goodness that one would think a Rabbi would expect of him. What could he say to make his case to that Jewish rabbi?
With no other real alternative, the centurion simply spoke the truth in his humbled state of need. He said, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof.” He appealed to Jesus as Lord and he appealed to his servant’s need.
And what did Jesus do? He healed the servant’s painful paralysis. But the question is, “How?” How did Jesus heal the man? He healed him through His words.
What is remarkable about this event is the faith of this Roman centurion. Not only does he confess Jesus as Lord, but he confesses that Jesus exercises His authority through His words. We know this because the centurion told Jesus, “Just say the word and my servant will be healed.”
We would do well to learn from this faith-filled centurion. For the authority that Jesus exercised through His words, that’s also the authority that Jesus has given to His Church. To this day, the only authority we have in the Church is the words of Jesus.
But many in Jesus’ day didn’t see it that way. Oh, they officially belonged to the Church, but they refused to recognize the authority of Jesus’ words. Yet, whether we recognize it or not, Jesus’ words still have authority. His words have authority because the Source of those words, Jesus Himself, has authority!
Even more, only those under the authority of God’s Word receive eternal life. But what does that mean, what does it mean to be under the authority of God’s Word? That’s critical–especially since it affects our eternal life!
Think about the Roman centurion. He said to Jesus, “Just say the word and my servant will be healed.” The centurion appealed to the authority of Jesus’ words, the words of the One who is the Word of God. And what do we learn about the authority of Jesus words? Jesus spoke, and the centurion’s servant was healed. Jesus spoke, and it became a reality. It became a reality because Jesus said it. From the moment Jesus said it, it was so.
Consider what Jesus said to the paralyzed man He met in the chapter that follows our Gospel reading for today. Jesus went up to him and said, “Take heart, son! Your sins are forgiven” (Matthew 9:2). Jesus saying those words made it so.
And why was it that way? It was so because Jesus had the authority to say such words, and because of that, His speaking made it so. Jesus even proved that He had forgiven that man’s sins by saying, “Get up, pick up your mat, and go home!” (Matthew 9:6) The man then got up, took up his mat, and went home. Indeed, Jesus has the authority to forgive sins!
That’s at the heart of divine authority: the forgiveness of sins. That’s why only those under God’s authority have eternal life, for only they benefit from the forgiveness that Jesus speaks.
When you read through the New Testament, you find three realities intertwining: Divine authority, the divine Word, and the forgiveness of sins. Where you have one, you have the other. Where God’s divine authority is at work, so is His Word, and so is His forgiveness.
Think about what Jesus told His Apostles before sending them out to teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He laid claim to all authority in heaven and on earth. And so the divine authority that we place ourselves under is the authority of Jesus who went to the cross for our sins.
For us, it all starts and ends with Jesus. That’s how it is when you’re His disciple. For Jesus placed Himself under the authority of God’s Law. And because Jesus is also God, after taking into His body the killing effects of our sins, Jesus gave to His Church the authority to forgive sins in His name.
The Word of God’s Law has authority. But as much authority as God’s Law has, it has no power to grant life or forgiveness. Oh, God’s Law teaches us right from wrong. And when God says what we’re supposed to do, we’re supposed to do it. But we don’t, not fully, not without flaw. We are like the centurion’s servant: We can’t free ourselves from the paralysis of our sins. For we fail to do what we should do, even, at times, doing the opposite.
So, we find ourselves under the authority of God’s Law. Yet, we also find ourselves powerless to do anything about all the sin in our lives that God’s Law exposes. And if God stopped there, that would be it. We would be like the paralyzed man before Jesus came along: trapped and unable to escape our predicament.
But with God, there’s also another authority in our life. It is the authority of the Gospel. That authority tells us that we are as fully forgiven as the sins we have committed. That’s because the One who bore our sins on the cross is doing the talking. Don’t forget that. Jesus says to you, “As you have believed, it will be done for you.” And it is so.
To be under the authority of Jesus’ words mean that we live every day of our lives knowing that no power in heaven or on earth can condemn us. For there’s only one authority over our doctrine and faith: Christ’s authority and His alone. When it comes to what we believe, teach, and confess, we place ourselves under the authority of God, made known to us in Christ Jesus. For in Christ Jesus, we receive the Gospel that sets us free, even into eternity.
But the tricky question is, “Where do I get the Gospel that sets me free?” And to that question you will find many answers, even in the Church. And the many answers that you will hear will contradict one another. But Jesus does not leave you guessing or unsure. He tells you where He comes to speak to you. Doesn’t Jesus say, “Where two or three have gathered in my name, there I am among them”? (Matthew 18:20) Didn’t Jesus tell those whom He had sent out to preach His Word, “Whoever hears you, hears me”? (Luke 10:16) Doesn’t Jesus say, “Take and eat; this is my body”? (Matthew 26:26)
As much as we may not want to be reminded, Jesus and His words come to us in the Divine Service. Even as much as we value Scripture as Lutherans, Jesus doesn’t tell us to worship Him by reading the Bible at home. What does Jesus say? He says, “Where two or three have gathered in my name, there I am among them.”
And we gather in His name because Jesus words do what they say. And what words did Jesus give us to hear? We hear Jesus’ words telling us to repent, but we also hear His words of forgiveness. After all, that’s what Jesus told His Apostles to preach: repentance and the forgiveness of sins (Luke 24:47).
We know that another’s authority can be annoying. The authority of the trooper or the tax man can be expensive, and we may bristle under their authority. Real life can be that way. And so we might only accept their authority begrudgingly.
But Christ’s authority is sweet and soothing. For it is the authority won by His blood–the authority to have your sins forgiven. And when and where you get God’s forgiveness, then and there you get eternal life and salvation. Amen.
