Just say the word

In yesterday’s article, we looked at the story of Jesus healing the centurion’s servant, and focused on the fact that Jesus marveled at the centurion‘s great faith. Today I want to look at this same story again, but focus specifically on the following comment, spoken by the centurion to Jesus: “Just say the word and my servant will be healed.” It seems like a simple enough statement, but it reveals something quite powerful indeed.

Perhaps the best way to illustrate the powerful principle in this simple statement is by pointing out several things that the centurion didn’t say. For example, he didn’t say, “Just touch my servant and he will be healed” and he didn’t say, “Just desire for my servant to be healed and he will be healed.” Sometimes as Christians we get the idea that God only has to want something to be done and it is automatically done. But Genesis 1 makes it clear that when God made the universe, he didn’t just I want it into existence, he spoke it into existence.

This same principle is confirmed in many places throughout the Bible – whenever God wanted something accomplished in the earth, he would speak it beforehand. Even though God has authority to do what he wants, the way he exercises that authority is by speaking his word, thereby conveying his will in a situation. This really isn’t hard to see, since all of us are made the same way – for example, when a parent wants his child to clean his room, he tells them to do it. This is what the centurion understood so well in this story – he knew that because Jesus had authority over all diseases, he only had to speak his will and it would be carried out.

What is interesting about this principle is that it is true even when we are speaking to people or things that do not understand us. For example, if we want some stray dog to get out of our yard, we yell at them and tell them to go home – even though we know the dog probably doesn’t understand what that means. Or if a stubborn drawer wont open we might say “Open up you…” – not because we think it understands what we’re saying, but because it is instinctive for us to speak our will when we want something accomplished.

The reason this principle is so powerful is because it is not only true of Jesus, who has been given “all authority in heaven and on earth,” (Matthew 28:18) but it is true of all of his followers as well – those to whom he has “given authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy.” (Luke 10:19) If we want to exercise the authority Jesus has given us over the power of the enemy in our lives, then at some point we too must “Say the word!”

What is also amazing about this story is that Jesus never even prayed for the centurion’s servant – he simply said, “Go, it shall be done for you as you have believed.” Jesus was telling the man that his own faith had already resulted in the miraculous healing of his servant. The fact is, as sons of God, we have been authorized to act in the name of Jesus, even as Jesus acted in the name of his father. And the way that we exercise this authority that we have been given is by saying the word! Psalm 149:9 says that all of God’s sons have the honor of executing the written word of God, using the “two-edged sword” – referring to the “sword of the spirit,” – the word of God. (Ephesians 6:17)

Keep this in mind today, as you encounter various attacks of the enemy in your own life or the lives of those you love. Our Lord Jesus has been given all authority in heaven and on earth, and has authorized us to act in his name – all that remains is for us to act in faith on this authority that we have been given, and “Just say the word!”