When Jesus is amazed, I pay attention.

His amazement is recorded only twice in the Gospels: once for a town’s lack of faith (Mark 6) and once for a man’s abundance of faith (Matthew 8).

In the latter story, a Roman centurion feels unworthy for Jesus to come personally. So he says,

“But only speak the word and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, ​‘Go’, and he goes, and to another, ​‘Come’, and he comes…” When Jesus heard him, he was amazed…

Sometimes while watching a movie or reading a novel, you realize an important plot device has just been introduced, even if you don’t fully understand why. That’s the sense I get about authority in this story. The faith that amazes Jesus is tied to an understanding of authority.

Authority is also what amazed people about Jesus: ​“He taught them as one having authority” (Matt. 7:29).

After the resurrection, Jesus seems to be delegating greater authority to his followers, ​“All authority has been given to me. Go therefore…” (Matt. 28:18).

Exactly what it means to operate in the authority of Jesus on a day-to-day basis — at work, with our family, in the prayer closet and in the public square — is something I’m chewing and praying into.

But I know it when I see it, don’t you?

A person operating in the authority of Jesus prays with humble power and speaks with directness and love. Their words are endowed with weight from above.

You read it in the letters of François Fénelon.

You hear it in the messages of MLK and Billy Graham.

You feel it in the quiet presence of the grandmother who has spent hours on her knees.

Someone deeply abiding in Jesus knows they can do nothing apart from him but has great confidence in what Jesus can do through them.

The world needs more Christians who know their authority in Jesus. This looks nothing like the authority of the world that lords over others with threat and force.

As authorized representatives of Jesus, we do things…

in his name,
in his way,
with his love,
and by his Spirit.

Lord Jesus, we are weary of doing things our own way in our own strength. It’s ineffective and harms us and others. Help us hear and respond to you — day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute — that we may live and speak and act in your authority. For the good of the world, yes, and also so we can share in your joy. Amen.