Just say the word - by Bec Bonython

The Faith of the Centurion found in Matthew 8:5-13 is an interesting passage.

It is about a soldier who has a servant who is suffering and Jesus offers to go and heal the servant. The soldier’s response is to “just say the word and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority…”

As I was reading this, the power of submission really grabbed my attention. Just say the word….
It got me thinking - when I have been in a difficult situation or worried about something or desperately asking/seeking God for a miracle, have the first words out of my mouth been….”just say the word??”

Reflecting on it.... nope those words haven’t always been there! In those moments I have failed to understand and grasp the power of submission. This lack of understanding has resulted in a lack of faith. Instead of submitting to Christ and accepting His authority, I have worried or tried to do it by myself.
This Centurion was a veteran soldier. He would have around 80-100 people under his command.

Being a veteran, he knew how to obey commands and he expected his soldiers to obey. In his line of work, he knew that all authority was from the emperor and this was delegated down, so that when he spoke, people obeyed. Failure to obey resulted in punishment. This Centurion knew the power of submission. So he didn’t hesitate or question Jesus when he made his request. He knew that Jesus had the authority and the ability which, on his very word, would be able to heal. From that fundamental understanding of submission, faith was therefore easy to apply. We cannot understand authority until we understand how to submit.

I pray that we have faith like the Centurion- where Jesus is astonished by such faith! I pray that our response to Jesus is to "just say the word" as we exercise our faith and trust. And as we do, we are reminded that God is the one who is the authority and it is He to whom we must submit. The promise is, as we do this we will find freedom, delight and understanding (Ps 119).