The Authority of Christ

Epiphany 3| Matthew 8:1-13| Pastor James Preus| Trinity Lutheran Church| January 25, 2026

Twenty chapters after our Gospel lesson, in Matthew 28, after Jesus has risen from the dead and before He ascends into heaven, He said these words to His disciples, known as The Great Commission:

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. (vss. 18-20)

Jesus says that all authority has been given to Him in heaven and on earth. What is authority? The centurion in our Gospel lesson teaches us what authority is. “I too am a man under authority,” he says, “with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” And so, authority is the right to wield power with a word. The word for authority is also translated as power, because there is a fine line between power and the authority to use power. The word for authority can also be translated as right, as in, the right to do something. If you have the right to do something you have the authority to do something. In Romans chapter 13, St. Paul says that all authority comes from God. And in the Great Commission, Christ Jesus claims all authority in heaven and on earth, because He is true God in human flesh.

And so, this episode with the centurion and Jesus foreshadows the Great Commission, when Jesus exercises His great authority. The centurion acknowledges that Jesus has authority. At the Great Commission, Jesus confesses to have all authority. The centurion teaches us that authority means that you can say a word and have your servant go and do something, that is, your word has effective power. At the Great Commission, Jesus tells His disciples to go and make disciples of all nations. The centurion is a gentile, that is, he is a non-Jew, who belongs to the nations. And Jesus uses His great authority to help this centurion, namely, by healing his servant. And so, in the Great Commission, Jesus uses His great authority to heal the nations of their sin.

Our Gospel lesson records two healings. First, Jesus heals a leper of his leprosy. He then tells him to go and show himself to the priest to offer the gift commanded by Moses (Leviticus 14). This shows that Jesus has not come to abolish the Law and the prophets, but to fulfill them (Matthew 5:17). It also shows that this leper whom He healed was a Jew. The second person Jesus heals is the centurion’s servant, perhaps even his own son. The centurion is a gentile. So, as St. Paul says, the Gospel is the power of God to salvation to all who believe, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek, that is, to the gentiles (Romans 1:16). And so, in the Great Commission, after Jesus preached the Gospel to the whole land of Israel, He commanded His disciples to preach the Gospel to all the Gentiles.

Authority is a dangerous thing, because it is often abused. God gives authority to parents so that they raise their children in the fear and instruction of the Lord and care for their bodies (Deut. 6:7-7; Ephesians 6:4). Yet, many parents use their authority for their own pleasure and even neglect the most basic needs of their children, even leading their children into sin by keeping them from worshiping God. God gives authority to pastors to preach His Word, calling sinners to repentance and proclaiming the Gospel of the forgiveness of sins to the lowly. Yet, many pastors only serve their own bellies. They tell people what they want to hear, neglecting to warn them against sin, so that their hearers fall into a snare of the devil and lose the Gospel. Or, they abuse their office by insisting on their own way, holding the Gospel ransom, or covering it up. Scripture warns that such pastors will be held to account (Ezekiel 33; Hebrews 13:17; James 3:1). God gives authority to the government to carry out justice, punish the wicked, reward the good, and protect the innocent. Yet, many, drunk with power, abuse their authority in government, serve themselves, and neglect their God given responsibilities.

Jesus warns of such abuse of authority in Matthew chapter 20, when He says, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,and whoever would be first among you must be your slave,even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” Men get a little authority on earth, and they are wont to abuse it for their own pleasure. Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth, and He uses this authority to help others, even at great cost to Himself. As Jesus says in John 10, when He explains what it means that He is the Good Shepherd, “For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.” (vss. 17-18)

With His authority, Jesus lays down His life as a ransom for the sins of the whole world, because He has authority to take His life up again, victorious over sin, death, and hell. And with His authority, Jesus commands the Gospel to be proclaimed in all nations, so that the heathen may be converted and saved. He commands that they be baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, demonstrating that Baptism carries the almighty authority of Christ, because it is not just plain water, but water joined to His Word, which has power to forgive and saveisHis. He attaches so much power and authority to His Word, that He promises to be with us always, even to the end of the age. Jesus uses His authority to convert sinners, to forgive their sins, and to bring them into the Kingdom of Heaven.

In our Gospel lesson, Jesus tells us the end goal of the Great Commission when He exercised His great authority to make disciples of all nations. He says, “Many shall come from the east and the west and recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.” From east and west the gentiles shall come from all nations to the feast of salvation to eat with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the patriarchs of the people of Israel. It is as St. John reveals in his vision from Revelation 7, “I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (vss. 9-10)

Jesus declares that gentiles will come from the east and the west to sit at the feast of salvation while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. How is it that non-Jewish, non-Israelite gentiles will sit at the feast of salvation with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the patriarchs of Israel, while many of their blood descendants will be cast out? Because one does not enter the kingdom of heaven because of his lineage, no matter how prestigious. Nor does a person enter the kingdom of heaven by works of the law. Rather, a person enters the kingdom of heaven through faith in the promise, as St. Paul declares, “For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but ‘Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.’ This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of promise are accounted as offspring.” (Romans 9:7-8) And in Galatians 3, Paul writes, “Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘In you shall all the nations be blessed.’ So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith” (Galatians 3:7-9)

And so, this gentile centurion demonstrates the only way anyone can benefit from Jesus’ almighty authority: through faith alone. Now, let us learn briefly about this man’s faith. First, his faith is humble. He says, “I am not worthy to have you come under my roof.” And so, we all can say that. We are not worthy of any of the good things that God does for us. We certainly are not worthy of Him dying for our sins and paying all our debt! But Jesus does not send out His authority because we are worthy, but because He loves us. Faith does not claim any worthiness on our part, but trusts solely in God’s grace and mercy.

Second, his faith clung to Jesus’ Word alone. “Only say the word,” the man says, “and my servant will be healed.” Only say the Word. That is what faith clings to. And so, faith receives all the authority and power of God. Authority is the right to wield power with a word. Jesus claims to have all authority in heaven and on earth. That means that He has the right to exercise all power. And so, with this might, He sends His Word, His Gospel to all nations declaring forgiveness and salvation to all who believe in Him. St. Paul calls this Word the power of God to salvation to all who believe. “Only say the Word,” faith says, because faith knows the power in that word.

Jesus marveled at the man’s faith. He hadn’t seen such faith in all of Israel. Imagine that! Jesus, God’s own Son, to whom is given all authority in heaven and on earth, marveled. Why did He marvel? Because faith that trusts in Christ’s Word is a marvelous thing! As Jesus said, “Let it be done for you as you have believed.” Faith receives the authority, the power of the Word in which it believes. And so, since Christ claims all authority when He sends forth the Gospel, those who have faith in Jesus’ Gospel have marvelous power. They lay hold of marvelous authority, that not only has power to heal lepers and paralytics, but to forgive sins, to raise the dead, to close the gates of heaven and to open wide the gates of God’s kingdom. Those who have faith in Christ’s Word of forgiveness have the right to sit at God’s own table in heaven, to eat with the patriarchs and saints, yes, with Christ Jesus Himself! And so, your faith too, if it is in Christ Jesus, has authority to make even the angels marvel at its power.

Faith receives the authority of the word spoken. Faith has the right to exercise a word’s power. But most people put their faith in weak or false authority. They trust in the puny authority exercised by men of this world, which promises riches, power, and glory on earth. But it is all a charade. Jesus indeed has all authority in heaven and on earth. He proved this by His glorious resurrection after dying for the sins of the world. And so, when you put your faith in Jesus’ Word, your faith holds the very power of God to salvation.

Amen.