When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum. There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” So Jesus went with them. He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.
How it was applied: The pastor used the centurion's faith as the primary model for what it looks like to go under God's authority — someone who understood chain-of-command so completely that he trusted Jesus's word alone without requiring his physical presence. The centurion's description of his servant as 'valued highly' was also used to demonstrate that God's authority is rooted in love, not anger.
All the people were amazed and said to each other, “What words these are! With authority and power he gives orders to impure spirits and they come out!”
How it was applied: The pastor cited the crowd's amazement — 'with authority and power he gives orders to impure spirits and they come out' — as part of a cumulative case that Jesus's authority is total and undeniable, setting up the pointed contrast: if even demons obey without argument, why do his own followers struggle to submit?
Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: “See that you don’t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.
How it was applied: The healed leper who immediately disobeyed Jesus's explicit instruction not to tell anyone was used as a relatable and even humorous illustration of a pattern that runs through all of Scripture: people who have received grace from Jesus and then fail to submit to his specific commands.
“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”
How it was applied: The pastor revealed this passage as the immediate literary context for the centurion story — Jesus had just finished asking 'Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say?' before walking into his encounter with someone who actually did it. The well-built vs. collapsing house parable was applied both personally (building a life, marriage, ministry on obedience) and corporately (Elevation Church's fruitfulness attributed to obedience rather than talent).
Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide, via the YouVersion Platform.
