Once when Jesus came to Capernaum the Roman military leader in the district sent some of the Jewish elders to ask Jesus to come to his home and heal a beloved servant who was sick. The Jewish leaders requested Jesus to go because the military leader was sympathetic toward the Jews. The Roman military leader apparently had second thoughts about Jesus coming to his home, so he sent other friends to tell Jesus not to come to his house to prevent Jesus from breaking Jewish law by associating with Gentiles. He still wanted Jesus to heal his servant, however, and asked his friends to convey the message that Jesus could merely speak the word and the servant would be healed:
For I too am a man set under authority, 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."(Luke 7:8). The Roman military leader recognized that the source of his own authority and that of Jesus’ authority was a higher power. To exercise authority, one must be under an authority--submitted to the will of the higher power. Just as the Roman military leader was submitted to the authority of the Roman emperor and received his authority from the emperor, he recognized that God's Son was submitted to the authority of God the Father and received His authority from God to perform this miracle. The Roman military leader recognized that Jesus was endowed with the power of God and so he didn't place any restrictions on how or where Jesus should heal his servant. Jesus provides us with an example of divine submission to God. If Jesus Christ, the Son of God, completely submitted Himself to the authority of God the Father, how much more should we?
