The One Whose Authority Amazes (Luke 7:1–10) | Derik Fuller

Good morning church here in Cambridge joining us online

those who are joining us at our Kitchener location.

So glad to be starting this new year with you're going to ask

you to open your Bibles to Luke Chapter 7 verse one through 10

Luke 7 · chapter mention

is where we're going to be today.

You know if I if I do my math right and I'm not always a great

at math. My wife is a math teacher.

I am a math failure. The average Canadian gets 81 to

82 opportunities to welcome a new year during the course of

their lifetime. I don't know about you.

I don't remember the first eight.

I can very distinctly remember the 8th 1:00 because I was at my

grandma's house as the first time I ever stayed up past

midnight. It was super exciting.

We had Olie Bola and Appa Flappa and dipped it in the icing and

it was so good. And then I passed out.

It was wonderful. So maybe, maybe, maybe you get

73 or 74, maybe 75 New Year's that you ring in that you

remember. And I think that's a reminder

that every year that we get, as we come to a day like this,

every year that we get, it's a gift.

We don't know how many lay in front of us.

We should never take them for granted.

And so I want to start by getting us to consider this

question, How are you going to spend that gift of a new year?

How are you going to spend 2026? And as you think about this

question, I want to give you an encouragement.

Would you make a commitment wherever you are in your

spiritual journey, would you make a commitment to join us and

make it a priority to be with us for at least the 1st 10 weeks?

I think if you make it for the 1st 10 weeks, you'll be into a

habit anyhow. I feel strongly about that.

But for the 1st 10 weeks, you would set aside every Sunday to

be present and to worship and to come together.

Because, because I think as we enter into this new series,

there's no better investment that you could make then to

grapple with the question that we're going to grapple with as

we walk through Luke 7 and Luke 8 of who is Jesus, Who is Jesus?

I think that's the most important question that anybody

could ever answer in their life. Because if you're going to take

the next 10 weeks to answer that question with us and to hear

what Luke has to tell us about this and, and to firm up for

yourself who Jesus is, here's what I'll tell you.

The answer to that question will change all the other weeks in

your life. How you answer the question, who

is Jesus? It changes everything if you

come to a point where you decide Jesus is just a man, maybe even

a great man, maybe a wonderful teacher.

But at the end of the day, just a man that can and I would argue

should change and settle your life in a certain direction.

If that's all, who, if Jesus is just some guy who was a great

teacher, you should live that out.

But if you decide, as I've decided, as I know so many of us

in this room have decided, as billions of Christians

throughout history and across the world have decided, that

Jesus is no mere man, then that should shape everything, not

just in this life, but it changes everything for eternity.

There's no more important question than we can ask then

who is Jesus? Because changes everything.

And so this morning we're going to start by looking at this

first encounter in Luke 7 chapters or verses 1 to 10 of

Jesus and a Roman centurion. And I want to start by reading

through the whole encounter, walking through it, and then

we'll jump into it in detail and explore what it teaches us about

who Jesus is. So let's let's read these first

10 verses together. When he had concluded saying all

this to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum.

And I just do want to pause here and give you a reminder of where

we were. Remember, Jesus had just given

his teaching on the plane. That's where we ended off.

And Luke, Jesus has given a whole bunch of teaching on what

it means to be a follower of his and to live in his Kingdom.

So that's the setting. We're coming straight out of

that. So he's now entered into a

capernaum and a centurion servant who was highly valued by

him was sick and about to die. When the centurion heard about

Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, requesting him to

come and save the life of his servant.

When they reached Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly,

saying He is worthy for you to grant this because he loves our

nation. He's built for us a synagogue.

So Jesus went with them, and when he was not far from the

house, the century and sent friends to tell him, Lord,

don't, don't trouble yourself, since I'm not worthy to have you

come under my roof. That's why I didn't even

consider myself worthy to come to you.

But say the word and my servant will be healed.

For I too am a man placed under authority, having soldiers under

my command. I say to this one, go, and he

goes to another one come, and he comes and to my servant do this

and he does it. Jesus heard this, he was amazed

at him, and he turned to the crowd and followed him.

He said, I'd tell you I've not found so great a faith even in

Israel. When those who had been sent

returned to the house, they found the servant in good

health. May God bless the reading of his

Word. So this encounter, I think,

teaches us two things. The first that I want us to see

is this. Jesus is the one whose authority

amazes, that Jesus is one of incredible authority.

We have to stop by first considering the person that

Jesus is speaking to. Who is this guy that Jesus is

interacting with through intermediaries, through his

friends? Who is this centurion?

Well, little background for you. Centurions were the background

or the backbone of the Roman army.

So in a fully staffed legion or section of the Roman army,

there'd be 6000 soldiers. That means that there would be

60 centurions in each legion. Because if I do my math, there's

a lot of math this morning, this is 10 cohorts of 600 and you

would need 60 centurions because each centurion looked after 100

or had authority over 100 men. So I, I believe my math is right

on this, 60 centurions in a legion, just to give you a sense

of, of, of the space and place that centurions took up in the

Roman army. Polybius, the, the Roman

historian described centurions this way.

He said centurions are not so much venturesome daredevils as

natural leaders of a steady and sedate spirit, not so much men

who will initiate attacks and open the battle as many who will

hold their ground when worsted and hard pressed and be ready to

die at their post. These are the guys who make up

the fighting force of Rome and keep it knitted together.

They're not the big picture guys.

They're not the grunt on the ground, but they're holding the

whole thing together. They're the glue.

This man in particular we learned a few things about.

First of all, we learned that he's a Gentile.

So he's not a Jew, right? You see that in verses 4:00 and

5:00. And then in verse 9, Jesus says,

here's this Gentile and I haven't met anybody in all of

Israel with faith like this. He's likely given the reality of

whose centurions were likely. He was a career soldier,

probably from a, a, a, a region around the area of Judea, maybe

a Syrian. He, he would have probably just

risen through the ranks as one who had been a faithful, loyal

soldier who who men responded to as a natural leader, a guy who

had proven himself to be brave in battle.

And so his role in this place in Capernaum as a centurion, was to

make sure that peace was kept. And where peace wasn't kept,

that order was restored. They were there to enforce the

Pax Romana, the peace of the Roman Empire.

Most important for us, I think in this story, though, and as

he's going to point out to us, he's a man who understood

authority. He's a man who knew what it was

like to live life in a command structure.

Most of us don't know anything about what that's like.

Like we, yes, we know what it's like to have a boss, but we

don't know what it's like to live in a space where

disobedience means death. That's the reality of life as a

Roman soldier. That's the reality in life

throughout history. In the military world, up until

very recently, the punishment for any soldier who disobeyed

directors, especially in a battle, was immediate execution.

That's how that world that that world of chain of command, of

authority, how it functions. I mean, even up until World War

One. Do you recognize that in World

War One, thousands of British and French soldiers were

summarily executed in the battlefield for deserting their

posts, that that is how armies and soldiers have fun?

That's definitely how he functioned.

And that means this man, he knows what real authority looks

like. What say the word do the word

looks like right? And that's what he says.

He says, Lord, hey, don't trouble yourself.

I'm not worthy to have you come under my roof.

I didn't even consider myself worthy to come to you.

But here's what I know about you.

Jesus, you say the word, My servant will be healed.

And how do I know this? Because I am a man placed under

authority. I know what authority looks

like. I know what it's like to have

soldiers under command. I say to this one, go.

He goes. I say to another one, come, He

comes. I say to my servant, do this.

He does it. That's what authority looks like

in Jesus. You're a man of authority.

In fact, you're a man of authority such that if you just

say the word that my servant would be healed, he'll be

healed. That's the type of authority

that you have. See, he understands this.

He understands Jesus is 1 whose authority must be obeyed.

And I think that leads to a question for us.

Do we believe that to be true about Jesus?

Do you believe that Jesus is 1 whose authority must be obeyed?

Do you? Do you see Jesus not merely as a

guy who's worthy of respect, not just someone who typically in

most situations, his advice would be good advice to listen

to? Do you see someone?

Do you see Jesus as the one who has ultimate and all authority

in all things? How do you respond to the

authority of Jesus? Do you respond like this man?

You know we sang a song to start, right?

I'll take you at your word. If you said it, I'll believe it.

There are way too many times in my life, at least, where I

should probably be singing. I value you, I value your word,

and if you said it, I'll consider it.

That's how I think at least. I so often respond to Jesus.

Maybe that's true for you too. Do we actually take Him at His

word? Believe that His word is

authority? It must be obeyed when He

commands to forgive and to forgive and to forgive again, as

Matthew 1822 says, to forgive 70 * 7, which is basically

infinite, infinitely, to just continue forgiving in your life.

Do you take that as a commander? Take it under advisement when he

says that you need to love your enemies and pray for those who

persecute you. Do you take Him at His word?

Do you treat sin in your life with such severity that you will

do whatever it takes to stop it? Because that's what Jesus said

we ought to do in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 527 to 30.

He says, man, if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off.

If your eye causes you sin, pluck it out.

He's just saying sin so severe, do whatever you need to take

care of it. Do you follow Jesus so fully in

everything that you can honestly say?

When Jesus says deny yourself, take up your cross, die to

yourself and follow Him, that that's the pattern of your life

and my life. When he says go make disciples

of all nations and we see our neighbors who need Jesus, do we

consider or do we obey? Do you believe Him when He

promises that if you are weary and you come to Him, He will

give you rest? In Matthew 1128, do you believe

the truth that He spoke in John 1427 in that upper room as He

was given final instructions to His disciples before His death,

that He gives peace to His followers?

Do do you trust Him when He says in Luke 748 that He offers a

clean slate and a new beginning to everybody who comes to Him?

Would you keep on listening to the voices in your head that

call you back to the shameful things that you did in your past

and live in shame instead of in freedom?

Do you believe Him when He says that He'll use you if you follow

Him and you put down roots in Him to have a lasting impact,

even if you don't necessarily see that impact right now, but

He promises that you will bear fruit, fruit that will last.

We looked at that back in the beginning, in September, the

beginning of this church year, John 1516.

Most importantly, do you believe that if you place your faith in

Him, death is not the end resurrection is that it's true

in John 14/19 He says because I live you too will live because

here's the thing. Jesus authority is so amazing

that whatever he says comes to be.

He says the century and understood this right.

He said just say the word Jesus, my servant will be healed.

The amazing, astonishing truth of Jesus's power and authority

is that he speaks and reality comes into existence that that's

that's what we just celebrated at Christmas in John one.

We celebrate the incarnation. John one starts out this way.

He says in the beginning was the word.

The word was with God. The word was God.

He was with God in the beginning and all things were created

through him. Apart from Him, not one thing

was created that has been created.

The word John says is Jesus right in verse 14 he says that

this word, that word that created all things, became flesh

and dwelt among us, and we observe His glory, the glory as

the one and only Son from the Father.

The word is Jesus. The Word was there at creation

and Jesus speaks and the stars are made.

This is the wonder of the incarnation.

St. Augustine said it this way.

Think about this man's maker was made man, that he, ruler of the

stars, might nurse at his mother's breast.

That's incredible. Here's the one who by a word

puts the stars, and yet he enters into his creation as a

humble baby. Jesus just has to speak the

word. Genesis 1 is the account of God

speaking. And there was.

That's the whole thing. Let there be and there is.

When Jesus speaks, it's not something that might happen.

It's not a strong probability or possibility.

It's what will happen. Because the words that Jesus

speaks speak reality into being, believing this reality to be

true about Jesus, His amazing incredible authority is

ultimately foundationally what it looks like to have faith.

And so it leads to the second thing we learned from this

encounter. We learned that amazing faith

recognizes as Jesus authority and trusts it.

Look at the response of Jesus in verse 9 to the message the

centurion's friends delivered to him.

Says Jesus heard this and he was amazed at him.

Turning to the crowd following, he said, I tell you, I haven't

found so great a faith even in Israel.

Now, in the Gospels, there are all sorts of times where people

are amazed at or by Jesus. We're going to see so many

accounts in Luke of people being amazed at who Jesus is and what

he does and what he says. Do you know there's only two

times recorded in all of Scripture where Jesus is amazed?

The first time is found in Mark 66 and in that instance Jesus is

amazed in the unbelief of the people of Nazareth that they

wouldn't be able. They couldn't see him for who he

was despite everything he had done amongst them.

They just couldn't wrap their head around Jesus being the

promised Messiah. But here is the second time that

Jesus is amazed by people and he's amazed.

He's stunned at the faith of this non Jewish Roman soldier.

Because this guy sees him so much more clearly than anybody

else around saw Jesus because he saw his authority.

Now what does this amazing faith look like for us?

What are what are the markers? If one is to have amazing faith?

What would be showing up in our lives if we had amazing faith in

the authority of Jesus? I think we see 4 markers here in

the life of the centurion. The first is this amazing faith

is marked by an incredible love for people, for others.

You see the Centurions uncommon love twice in this story, and we

probably don't see it because it's pretty veiled to us.

We don't understand the culture of the time.

But the first way we see it is in His compassion towards His

servant. You and I might think of course,

well anybody, if they had somebody who they knew they

would go and they would try and get the help for them that they

need. But that is not the way that

Romans viewed slaves. Luke actually uses 2 Greek words

that show us how great the centurion's esteem was for this

servant. And, and servant is a mild word.

It really should be slave. This word servant is found in

verse 7. It's the word the the Greek word

pace which also can be translated as son that he had a

deep affection towards and which is why he doesn't call him a

slave even though he functioned as a slave to this man.

Verse 2 entemos it's it's the word highly valued that you'll

see in your in your in your Scripture, in your Bible.

But what it really connotes is a distinguished guest at a

banquet. In fact, Peter uses this exact

word to describe Jesus in first Peter 2 four and six.

This this is this is the the esteem which he's giving.

He he's an esteemed guest. He's not just deeply valued for

his use, but but but the centurion has great affection

and esteem for him, which is completely countercultural to a

Roman view of slaves. The Roman writer Vero said the

only difference between a slave, an animal and a cart was that

the slave talked. That is how Roman citizens saw

slaves. They were there for their use,

at their disposal, for their pleasure, and that's how it

functioned. So he's marked by this deep

concern and care that is totally uncommon for his servant and

then in his love for the people of God.

Do you know anti-Semitism is not a new thing.

It's it's been around a long time.

The Romans viewed Jews as a filthy race.

They viewed Judaism as a barbarous superstition, and to

be fair, Jews for their part refused for the most part to

engage with Gentiles in any way, shape or form for fear of

becoming unclean. But the centurion here overcomes

those prejudices, and he acts with love towards the people of

God. Would the people around you be

amazed by the way that you love others?

Do you have a love that is countercultural towards people

who really, maybe you wouldn't be expected or or have no reason

to love? Amazing faith is marked by

incredible love, uncommon love. Second, amazing faith is marked

by generosity. How do we know that he loved the

people of Israel and the Jewish people?

Well, he built the synagogue. He these, these, these Jewish

men come and say, hey, listen, Jesus, he's worthy for you to

come and heal his servant because he loves our nation.

He's built us a synagogue. As proof, he, he believed in

what the Jewish scriptures taught.

He believed the truth of God so deeply that he actually put his

money where his mouth was. There was a time where I I came

to a pretty sobering realization that if I spent my money on what

I loved, it meant that I loved Big Macs more than I loved

Jesus. I looked at my my finances.

I realized I spend more money on fast food than I give to the

cause of Christ that that was deeply humbling to me.

If if we believe Jesus is the way, the truth and the life and

no one comes to the Father except through him, would that

be borne out by giving to make sure that as many people as

could possibly hear about this Jesus got to hear about him.

His Jewish friends here they point to his amazing generosity

is the reason reason for why Jesus should come and heal his

servant. But what's truly amazing is

that's not how the man saw himself.

In fact, he specifically says Lord, don't trouble yourself.

I'm not worthy Jesus. She says, I'm not worthy for you

to come under my roof. So the third thing I want us to

see is that it's not just marked by amazing love and amazing

humility or amazing generosity, also by amazing humility.

True faith, real faith, the type of faith that can really bring

the healing that we need is marked by a realization of just

how unworthy we are. He sees who Jesus is as clearly

as anybody has been able to see Jesus before the Christ.

He sees who Jesus is, and he sees who he is in light of the

Jesus that he sees, and he's brought to ultimate humility.

No, I'm not worthy. I'm not worthy to have you come

into my house. The guy built an entire

synagogue. What have you done for Jesus?

What have you done for God? If he's not worthy, how am I

worthy? One of the marks of true faith.

We saw it in the last chapter. Jesus starts with it, is that we

realize that we are spiritually poor.

We're spiritually bankrupt. We got nothing to offer God on

our own. We don't get ourselves worthy

before Him in order to have Him except us.

Do you understand that the only way that you can be made whole,

that you can be saved, that you can be healed, that you can

receive salvation as this man's servant was saved and healed, is

by acknowledging that you have nothing in and of yourself to

make you worthy of receiving it? The fourth thing we see is this,

that Jesus faith is marked by trust in Jesus amazing

authority. It just brings us back to where

we started. The centurion believed in the

authority of Jesus. Do you believe in Jesus

authority? Do you really believe that Jesus

is not just merely an authority, but that he is the one who holds

all authority? See, if you see Jesus for who he

is, one who has amazing authority, the one who can heal,

the one who can bring life, the one who speaks and creation

comes into existence. If you come to him in humility,

recognizing that you have nothing to offer him, but

believing that He can give you life and healing, then John 316

is true for us. Everyone who believes in him

will not perish but have eternal life.

That's what it looks like to have saving faith in Jesus, to

recognize that he is Lord, he is God, he is Savior, and he is

worthy of my full surrender, my full abandonment to Him.

That Jesus offers life and life to the full, and that he calls

for me to offer my life in surrender to him as the

authority. Because if he's the one who

saves, he's also the one who commands.

Are you living with Jesus as the commanding officer in your life?

Or are you treating Jesus like the occasional advisor, inviting

him in for some advice when you need it, when you're in a

pickle? But go in your own way, doing

your own thing until you hit those points?

Do you believe that He's the one whose promises will prevail in

the midst of your struggles to see hope in where you're at

right now? In the midst maybe of your

weariness today, your discouragement?

Will you take Him at His word? Will you believe that when He

speaks, his speech is reality, so his promises are unbreakable?

Will you believe that Jesus word is enough?

As we begin this year, as we begin this season, as we begin

this series, the question before us is the most important

question any of us are ever going to answer.

Who is Jesus to you? Not in the abstract.

This is not an academic question process.

It's foundational. Because who we actually believe

Jesus to be will shape every moment of our life.

Here. Today we see that Jesus is the

one whose authority amazes. May we be people who have such

an amazing faith that we can believe that and allow that

faith to change us in all the areas of our life that we've

talked about. Let's pray.

Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for the opportunity

today to get a glimpse into this encounter between Jesus and the

century and Father as we walk through your word over these

next now nine weeks. God, don't let this be an

academic exercise to us. Don't let it be a matter of

trying to get the right questions on a quiz.

But allow these truths to be truths that shape our heart,

that shape our lives, that shape what we do, that shape how we

live, that shape every aspect of what our days look like.

God, we don't want to just go through 2026, going through

another year, plotting through another gift that you have

granted us and not living in the fullness of the reality of what

is truly true. Father, for anyone who's here

who does not yet know and understand who Jesus is, who

hasn't seen his amazing authority, who hasn't come to a

point of recognizing and surrendering to that and

claiming him as Lord and Savior. Lord, I just pray today would be

the day would they were call out and they say I believe you

Jesus, I take you at your word. If you said that you and you

alone can save me that you are the way the truth of the life

that no one comes to the Father except for you.

I believe that I receive that I put my faith in that I don't put

my faith in my works. I don't put my faith in the

things that I've done the things that I think make me worthy of

you receiving me in put all my faith in the fact that Jesus is

worthy. He died on the cross for me and

he is raised to new life. And Father, I thank you that

when we believe that you are true to your promises because

your word is true and we've received eternal life forever

starting now. And God for all of us who know

you, who love you, who've cried out and and said that we trust

that, help us to see your authority.

Don't allow us to live like you're our advisor this year,

but that we would live as if your word is true, your promises

are true, your commands are true, and they are the only way

to life and through life and God where we fall short.

Help us to fall into the truth that as Pastor Kevin started us

off with this morning, if we confess our sins, you're

faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from

all out and righteousness and to lean back into your goodness and

your grace and receive your forgiveness.

God, we love you, we trust you. Jesus, you are commanding

authority. Help us to obey you.

Amen.