Proof of Authority

Text: Luke 7:1-10

Central Idea of the Text: Christ’s remote miracle proves his ultimate authority.

Proposition: Jesus is the ultimate authority … King and Commander!

Purpose: All who know true authority should submit their lives to King Jesus.

It was an unassuming day at the ACC office on Friday. The home-school coop was stirring in the building, getting ready for their Saturday program. I still had a sermon to finish up. And Tessi, our new secretary was coming in to work on a few loose ends from her first week in the office. But I walked into the office as I usually do. I was greeted by a few items that I needed to handle or take care of sitting on the table. And then I grabbed a manila envelope.

“What’s this?” I asked. Tessi responded: “Oh, it’s just a packet of some old stuff that the old secretary, Kathy Ebler, brought by. She thought we’d like to have it.” And then I opened it and was greeted by a special artifact from ACC’s past. It’s an original photo that dated back to the 1940’s and was taken just outside the southeast doorway of this old building. In the picture on the left is pictured the pastor of ACC at the time, a man named Lawrence W Bash. On the right is a man named Joe Humphrey, who built the item in the middle. And in the middle of the photo? A large photo board with the words “Service Roll” nailed to the top. I don’t know for certain the year of the photo, but I’m guessing it dated back to either 1941 or 1942. And picture here are 100 service people that went to serve the United States military forces in World War 2.

It’s hard to picture what life would be like to live in a community where we’ve sent 100 of our finest young people to fight in a war at the ends of the earth. Now, I’m sure that not all of the people pictured here were directly from our church. But they went to churches across our community and were connected to friends and relatives in our church. This board hung in our church and served as a visual reminder each week. Please pray for our service men and women. Many of them volunteered. Many of them were also drafted. They served with honor and nobility. Their names are recorded locally at our veterans memorial, and we commemorate their lives and sacrifices each Memorial Day in May.

They defended freedom. But they defended it by submitting themselves to authority. They followed the commands of commanders and admirals. They were not free to fight however they wanted, but under the orders of authority.

Our military and our first responders of our nations serve not simply as free people, but those who serve under the authority of the Constitution and under the orders of the executives who direct them. They know what it means to be under authority. And they remind us as some of the finest human beings among us that we are not free in the sense that there is NO authority above us, but that there is a authority from God that has been given to human governments. Governments are God’s agents entrusted to teach us about authority in this world, charged to bring laws that are right and just. If they do not, they will be held to account.

It is perhaps appropriate then that one of the great soldiers of the Roman Empire shows up in Luke’s account to acknowledge Jesus as the greater authority than the mighty Roman Empire, than those who serve her, and as one who has all authority because he is not only under God’s authority, but has God’s authority.

Let’s look at today’s text and the evidence of the Authority of Jesus, found in Luke 7:1-10. [Read Text]

This is the word of the Lord for us this morning.

Would you pray with me? Father, we thank you for this true testimony of the one who is the truth, Jesus Christ. He has all authority, and he has shown us how to live under your authority. God, please show us Jesus and the authority that he has, so that we might yield ourselves to his authority and Lordship over us. We pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.

In these few short weeks leading up to Easter, I want to pull back from the book of Acts, and look at the first book by Luke. He wrote the third Gospel from your Bible, but it is very clear that he recorded that account first, likely while the events of Acts were unfolding. We can be glad that Luke wrote it, because Acts is telling the continuing story of what Jesus Christ started. And Jesus is no mere myth. The people preaching Jesus in Acts weren’t making this up. Luke says at the beginning of his gospel in Luke 1:1-4:

Luke 1:1–4 ESV

Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.

Luke tells Theophilus that he is recording this to spit truth. Luke goes and talks to the eyewitnesses. He does the work of an investigating journalist of the ancient Middle-East. And he does so, using these eyewitness accounts to prove a case. Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus is the Christ. He is the one sent by God to do the saving work of God. AND HE IS GOD. There is no one like Jesus.

I want to look in these next three weeks at four brief accounts that show the venn diagram of the Messiah coming together on Jesus. He has the power & authority of God. He has the grace and mercy of God. He would die to complete the saving/sacrificial work of God. And he would rise to display the victory of God over death & grave.

There are many ways that we could look at Luke proving the Authority of Jesus Christ, but this week I want to look at this simple story and the straightforward action of Jesus, who proves in these 10 verses that he has all authority. We notice 4 kinds of authority that Christ has in the text today.

First ...

Christ has Kingdom Authority (The Who)

The man that Christ helps. Roman Centurion.

Calls for Christ’s help toward a key servant. A slave. The Centurion cared for the man and treated him well.

Man sends those who can contend for him: Jewish Elders and Friends.

Man notes the observation of Christ as a commander.

Game recognizes Game // Man of Authority recognizes man of higher of authority. He has authority from above & he gives authority.

Jesus is the king & he had to do his Father’s will.

Daniel 7:14 “And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.”

All those who love peace, justice and truth should yield to the Commander of Commanders and the King of Kings!

Christ has Creator Authority (The What)

What does Christ do for the man? Heals his body.

God has made the body, and God is the one that knows the body.

Christ the great physician.

Psalm 139:14 “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.”

When we pray, we can pray knowing that Jesus knows everything that the doctors don’t. He is our maker.

Christ has God’s Authority (The How)

How does this miracle differ from others? Christ doesn’t actually show up to heal the man.

God crosses time and space to meet people where they are.

Colossians 1:15–20 “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.”

Christ is proving he has the power of God.

We can pray with confidence that Jesus is God. He can meet us where we are, answer prayer where we are, and save us where we are.

Christ has Compassionate Authority (The Why)

Christ does it: in spite of him being from Capernaum, a Gentile, a Roman.

Christ is impressed by the faith of the man. Note what Jesus says in verse 9.

Jesus is not one who Lords his Authority forcefully and proudly, but humbly, like a servant, with great care for the one who serves.

Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Phil 2:5-7: Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant.

We can call upon the name of Jesus and be saved

Christ calls apart a people who would live by faith in Him. And Jesus will receive even you.

Faith is the key that unlocks all the blessings of the riches of Christ.

Take him at his word. Yield in Baptism. Grow in faith. Trust in spite of challenges.

Jesus Christ said it best when he reminded the disciples in Matthew 28:18 “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” This morning’s message has built the case for the Authority that Jesus Christ has. Jesus has Kingdom Authority, and all who know and desire order, truth and justice ought to recognize him for the power of his words and commands. Jesus has creator authority, and all who seek healing and joy in the midst of suffering ought to seek it in His name. Jesus has God’s Authority, and he ought to be worshipped and prayed to with the knowledge that he hears and responds to us here and now. And Jesus has Compassionate Authority. He receives you where you are because he loved you first, and he calls you to be his disciple and follow in His love.

One of my favorite books in the formation and solidification of my faith is a book by Lee Strobel. It’s called “The Case for Christ”. Lee tells the story of how Jesus found Him, and he found Jesus.

It didn’t start because Lee wanted Jesus. He didn’t. He was an investigative reporter for the Chicago Tribune, and was very experienced and skeptical toward all religion. There came a point that he wanted to do a longer investigation and report into Christianity, and the book describes the rabbit hole that he went down in his quest for information. He went many of the most reputable Bible scholars, not just those who agreed with his presuppositions. He wanted to ask tough questions, push back on their answers, and generally get to the bottom of the Jesus matter. Was he actually a real person? Did he actually do those miracles? Do we know anything that he actually said? Did Jesus actually die? Is the resurrection a real thing?

As he dug and dug, his mind was blown by the fact that every hard question had a challenging answer. And one of the things that changed his mind about Jesus was this: That we have reliable eyewitness testimony in the Gospels. Not just the account of 4 men, heavily fabricated, but the account of hundreds of eyewitesses, fact-checked and colloborated by the church. We have the testimony of a centurion, who, even though he never saw Jesus in today’s passage, we believe that he confidently stands and sees the Living Jesus now, by faith.

The Mind of Lee Strobel was awakened to the affriming truth of the Authority of Jesus by eyewitness testimony. And in being convinced, he went down a road that other skeptics such as C.S. Lewis & Josh McDowell went down as well. When they took in the fact of the case, they had to process that Jesus is not a mere man.

C.S. Lewis famously stated the case for Jesus this way, that when we look at him, we are faced with a Trilemma. Jesus is either Liar, Lunatic, or Lord. There is no other category to put him in. Either the things that he said were just all lies, no truth in them. Or the things that Jesus said and did prove that he was delusional, he had some kind of God complex but should have been locked up as crazy. OR the things that he said and did were true. They happened and they eternally matter. Can you guess which one the church believes today and why the church is here? We are here because JESUS IS LORD, BECAUSE CHRIST IS KING AND HE HAS ALL AUTHORITY.

He was there when the world was created. He was born of a virgin. He grew and taught and performed many miraculous signs to prove his power. He died a sacrificial death on the cross for you. And He is risen. And that same risen Jesus will one day return to judge the living and the dead, rewarding those found in HIM with eternal life, and delivering eternal justice to all who oppose God. We believe that. Do you?

If you do, have your responded? Confess Jesus as Savior. Be baptized as Christ commanded. Grow and live in obedience to our Lord and King Jesus with us.

C. S. Lewis’s famous ‘trilemma’: the person who did and said the types of things the Gospels portray Jesus as doing and saying could be no merely human teacher or prophet, however enlightened or exalted. He must be a liar, a lunatic or the Lord.

Craig Blomberg