Digging Deeper – Authority Over All Things, Even from a Distance
…just before they arrived at the house, the officer sent some friends to say, “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. 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. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’ they do it.”
Luke 7:6b-8 (NLT)
AUTHORITY OVER ALL THINGS – EVEN FROM A DISTANCE
Jesus had already agreed to come to the home of the Roman officer to heal his slave. Remember, the Jewish people had begged Jesus to do so because the Roman had treated them so well. But what we see here is even more remarkable: the officer – knowing Jesus is coming – sends others to him with a message that surprises even Jesus!
In essence, the officer has such utter confidence in who Jesus is and what power he has that he requests that Jesus heal the slave from where he is. The officer understands that proximity does not matter when it comes to Jesus’ healing abilities.
There are 37 distinct miracles of Jesus that we can read about in Scripture. Of those, only two of them involve Jesus not being physically present: this encounter captured in Luke 7 and another captured in John 4:46-54. A royal official’s son was extremely sick and near death. When he heard that Jesus was in Galilee, he found him and begged him to come with him to heal his son. But Jesus simply told the man, “Go back home. Your son will live!” On his way home, some of his servants met him and told him that his son was alive and well.
We know that word about Jesus’ miracles spread far and wide. Chronologically, the miracle we read about in John 4 happened well before the one in Luke 7, when Jesus heals the slave. While we cannot be certain, there is a chance that word of Jesus’ healing powers – even from a distance – had reached this Roman officer. Either way, the officer understood that when it comes to true authority, distance isn’t an inhibiting factor.
What’s the lesson in this for us today? Do you believe who Jesus says he is? Do you believe he has the power and authority to do what only God can? Does distance limit his ability to move mountains even today?
It all comes down to faith. When we push all our chips to the center of the table on Jesus’ ability – and not the circumstances we face – that’s when he does his most profound work in our lives.
While I give the Roman officer mad props for his faith and humility, there’s one thing I’d change if it was me in the story: even knowing full well that Jesus can heal from anywhere, I’d still want him to come to my house!
C.A. Phillips serves as Communications Pastor and Director of Men’s Groups at NorthStar Church. He is a graduate of the Henry W. Grady School of Journalism at the University of Georgia, and he loves the Dawgs and the Atlanta Braves. He has two (grown) boys and lives in Kennesaw with his wife, Amy.
