Meet Jesus - Day 22 of 40 - Authority

Read Luke 7:1-10.

“So Jesus went with them. But just before they arrived at the house, the officer [of the sick slave whom Jesus was asked to heal) 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 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 7:6-8 NLT)

This Roman officer knew of Jesus’ authority. The rumors were true.

In this 40-day devotional, every other day, we’ve been reading through the Book of Luke. We are only in Luke 7 and already have seen these examples of Jesus’ authority distinguished:

• Resisted the devil’s temptations. Luke 4:1-13.
• Filled with the Holy Spirit’s power. Luke 4:14a.
• Reports of His power flooding the region. Luke 4:14b. 
• Praised for His teaching in the synagogues. Luke 4:15.
• Everyone spoke well of Him and were amazed by Him. Luke 4:22.
• Casting a demon from a young man. Including the people’s exclamation “What authority and power this man’s words possess!” Luke 4:35-36. 
• Healing many. Luke 4:39, 5:13, 5:24, 6:10, 6:19.
• Immediate response from His disciples to follow Him. Luke 5:10-11, 5:27-28, 6:12-16.
• Authority over the Sabbath. Luke 6:5.

Jesus has the same authority today. And the above list only scratches the surface. These accounts of Jesus’ authority come from less than 1/3 of the entire Book of Luke. 

What authority of Jesus do you point to in your life, in the world around us? How is Jesus’ authority good news to all? Along with the Word (like what we are reading in Luke), how may we introduce Jesus: Authority to those around us? 



The rest of the above story from Luke 7...

"When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to the crowd that was following him, he said, 'I tell you, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel!' And when the officer’s friends returned to his house, they found the slave completely healed." (Luke 7:9-10 NLT)