Wednesday, 11 September 2019

Under authority

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The question of the day: What does it mean to be a person under authority?

Answer: The Roman Centurion spoke these words to Yeshua. Matthew 8:9 "For I also am a man under authority." Yeshua marveled at the man's faith and honored his request by healing his soldier. (Read the context if you're not familiar with this story.)

We all have a calling to be under authority. Even Yeshua (who is our example so often and in so many ways), to whom all authority was given (see Matthew 28:18) in the resurrection, was under authority while on earth before the crucifixion.

But being under authority is another one of those strange and elusive commodities that you never know if you have it (or how much you have) until you need it. Faith is the classic example (but there are many others). You never know if you have faith until you need faith.

In fact, we can't have authority (remember, all authority is Yeshua's) unless Yeshua lends it to us, and He's not lending it to us unless we are, in fact, under His authority. Don't doubt me on this. Most people are pretending to have authority, but because they are not submitted to Yeshua, they're faking it. Satan is the classic example of one who is faking it.

And, no one is under direct authority to Yeshua. God works through flesh and blood humans. We are to be submitted one to another. And don't get the idea that I want to be the authority or even an authority in your life. In the best relationships there is mutual submission one to the other.

Did someone say "verse me?" That means do I have biblical proof for what I'm teaching? These two thoughts are in the same chapter and connected, but I've never seen them connected in this way. Ephesians 5:1, 21 "Therefore be imitators of God, as dearly loved children; Also submit yourselves to one another out of reverence for Messiah."