As kids my siblings and I watched sing-along videos starring Christian songwriter Rob Evans as “The Donut Man.” The stage name refers to one of his first songs, which includes the touching line, “Life without Jesus is like a donut; there's a hole in the middle of your heart.” The Donut Man, along with his sidekick, Duncan the Donut, and the kids in his Donut Repair club, sang about Bible stories. (Imagine a ’90s version of Veggie Tales.) To this day, I remember their song about the centurion soldier, which you can listen to here. This verse still puzzles me: “The soldier knew the secret of Jesus’ ways, and his servant was healed when that centurion said...”

In the Gospel, Jesus praises the centurion for his extraordinary faith, not because he possesses secret knowledge. But the solider does claim to understand how Jesus’ healing ministry works, because of his own experience as “a man subject to authority.” As a professional officer, the centurion must obey his superiors and give orders to the soldiers and slaves under him. The Roman army’s hierarchical organization demanded unquestioning obedience to the chain of command that connected occupied territories like Judea back to the center of imperial power. Respect for authority guaranteed Rome’s military rule.

In what way is Jesus, like the centurion, “a man subject to authority”? Throughout his ministry, his opponents often ask Jesus by what authority he commands unclean spirits and teaches in the synagogues. In the synoptic gospels, Jesus refuses to tell “by what authority I do these things” (Luke 20:8), but the Gospel of John emphasizes repeatedly that Jesus speaks only what he has learned from the Father, whose will he has come into the world to do. Jesus obeys the authority of God alone.

This structure of divine authority at once resembles and radically undermines the workings of imperial, human authority. Where the Roman army oppresses, Jesus liberates. To those in slavery, Jesus brings freedom; to the poor, Good News. Jesus comes to announce the Reign of God described in the First Reading from Isaiah: “They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; One nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again.” To walk in the light of the Lord, nations must dismantle weapons of destruction and commit their resources to tending the earth, planting and reaping a bountiful harvest to feed the hungry peoples of the world.

These readings challenge us to resist any authority that boasts of its power to inflict deadly atrocities. Through today’s prophets of nonviolence, God calls all nations to work for a just peace that sustains life. In this Advent season, may we keep faith in Christ’s power to bring healing in the midst of suffering, and in the face of violence, peace.