Authority - Part 2

In the last blog entry we saw that because Judas allowed offense to build in his heart... and he therefore rebelled against the authority in his life... that Satan entered into him. Today I want to look at authority from the other end of the spectrum. Lets start by looking at this great passage:

Mat 8:5-10 ESV
(5) When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him,
(6) "Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly."
(7) And he said to him, "I will come and heal him."
(8) But the centurion replied, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed.
(9) For I too am a man 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."
(10) When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, "Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.

In this passage we see that there is a link between authority and faith.
Because of the centurions grasp of authority Jesus declares that he has seen no one in Israel with such faith! Mmmmm... rather interesting!

A passage that looks at faith and authority from the negative is this one:

Mat 13:54-58 ESV
(54) and coming to his hometown he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, "Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works?
(55) Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?
(56) And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?"
(57) And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household."
(58) And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.

The people in Jesus' hometown took offense and rejected His authority. Jesus comments on how a prophet (an office of authority) is not honored or respected.
Now get this... Jesus, who is God incarnate... could NOT do many miracles BECAUSE of their unbelief or disregard for authority!

I may be sounding a bit repetitive here... but I REALLY think that we don't get authority!

Have a wee think... then let me know your thoughts about this subject.