Lord, do not trouble yourself,
for I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof.
Therefore, I did not consider myself worthy to come to you;
but say the word and let my servant be healed.
We tend to think that the authority of earthly rulers is of one sort and that of Jesus of another. We think the earthly rulers impact our day to day physical lives whereas Jesus impacts our spiritual life. Or we tend to think of the authority of Jesus as limited. We tend to think that in order for Jesus to do something to help that setup is first necessary. For instance, the centurion might easily think that he needs Jesus to come to his house and do certain things once there in order to help his slave. But the centurion sees through all of this. He is able to see through it all because of his humility. He places no requirements on Jesus to meet his expectations. He sees that the power of Jesus is an even more unlimited type of authority than his own. The word of Jesus itself is enough. How our lives can change if we truly know and understand this! How our world can change if we learn it!
First of all, I ask that supplications, prayers,
petitions, and thanksgivings be offered for everyone,
for kings and for all in authority,
that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life
in all devotion and dignity.
The authority of Jesus transcends that of kings and everyone in authority. We seem to mostly complain about those in authority rather than pray for them. But what if we reversed that? The authority of Jesus really is such that our world can change based on his word alone. We don't have to lead up to it by getting the world into a spot where it deserves his response. That isn't going to happen. It doesn't need to.
This is good and pleasing to God our savior,
who wills everyone to be saved
and to come to knowledge of the truth.
Jesus really has the power to solve our problems. When we are able to approach him with humility we are open to receive the blessings he wants to give us. We no longer place limitations on him or what he can do.
Blessed be the Lord, for he has heard my prayer.
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