John 4:46-54 - Faith in the Word, Not the Wonder (Rev. Erik Veerman)

John 4:46-54 - Faith in the Word, Not the Wonder

Please turn to John 4:46-54.

What we'll find in these verses is that Jesus and his disciples have arrived back in Galilee. They had left Jerusalem a few days earlier. On the way, they stopped in Samaria for a brief rest. However, that rest turned into two-days. As we saw last week, many Samaritans believed. It started with the testimony of the woman at the well, but then spread to many in her town. Some believed her testimony, but many more believed in Jesus' word. And do you remember how they came to meet Jesus? She invited them. She's a great example for us.

They finished their journey to Galilee and were welcomed.

That brings us to verse 46.

Reading of John 4:46-54

Prayer

There are moments in life when you would do absolutely anything to save someone you loved. Especially if it was your child. You would break down walls. You would run into burning buildings. You would stand in the way of someone attacking them. You would do whatever it took. In fact, there are some documented cases of mothers displaying a supernatural like strength to save their children…

One such case happened in 1982 up in Lawrenceville. A teenage boy named Tony Cavallo, was working under his car. Unfortunately, the jack slipped and the car fell on him. It didn't crush him, but he passed out because of it. Well, his mom, Angela, saw it happen. She ran over and literally lifted up the side of the car. She yelled for help. A neighbor heard and ran and was able to replace the jacks and pull her son to safety.

There's a name for it. They call it "hysterical strength." You know, in the hysteria of the moment, someone will have unnatural strength. And that's just one example of dozens.

Well, our passage this morning is not about adrenaline-induced strength, but it is about a father willing to do anything to save his dying son.

If you look at verse 47, you'll read that when this man heard that Jesus was in Cana, it says, "he went to him." That sounds simple enough, except, it was anything but simple. You see, Capernaum, where he and his family lived was about 15-20 miles from Cana. And not only was it a day's journey on foot, but when you travelled from Capernaum to Cana, you were travelling up. Capernaum was right on the Sea of Galilee and Cana was up in the hill country. You would be walking uphill about 1500 feet as you travelled those 15-20 miles. It was arduous and I suspect that this man would have travelled much further. After all, his son was gravely ill.

Now, before we get into the specifics… let me remind you of two background things.

First, at the very end of chapter 2, the apostle John wrote that Jesus knew all people. It says there that Jesus himself knew the heart of man. That statement introduces a series of conversations that Jesus had with different people. So far, we've met Nicodemus, a Jewish teacher and judge. Then, we met someone very different - the Samaritan woman, who had been living in sin. Today is the third person, a royal official - very different than the other two. And then next week, we'll meet a poor, paralyzed man in Jerusalem. Do you see how the apostle John is conveying the full extent of Jesus' ministry? He knows the heart of all men - all mankind, and he knows our needs, including and especially our need for him.

So that is one reminder.

The second reminder relates to verse 54. It says that this was now the second sign that Jesus did in Galilee. The first was back in chapter 2. Jesus turned water into wine. But remember, no one knew about that miracle except Jesus' mother and the servants. I bring that up because in verse 48, people were looking for signs and wonders. Word had gotten out that Jesus could perform miracles and could heal.

The question is when and where would people have heard about or seen these signs? Well, the answer goes back to chapter 2 verse 23. After Jesus cleansed the temple area, it says that he stayed in Jerusalem for the Passover and then it says, "many believed in his name after seeing the signs that he was doing." In other words, Jesus had been performing other signs, not just the ones mentioned so far. We're also told that many Galileans had actually been in Jerusalem for the Passover. Look at chapter 4 verse 45. It says, "So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast." So, there were many in Galilee who had heard about or seen Jesus perform signs in Jerusalem. And because of that, there was a buzz. Word had gotten around that Jesus was back in Galilee. He was in Cana, and they wanted to see more.

Well, that word also reached this official. And so he made his way to Cana.

 But who was this man? Well, we're not exactly sure, but the Greek word for official indicates that he was more than just an officer in the Roman guard. The same word could be translated "royal" as a noun. He had some official royal capacity in the Roman hierarchy. We don't know exactly what and we're also not given his nationality, but he served the government in some kind of authoritative position. Perhaps he was over the region or over the city of Capernaum or over some aspect of civil life. Furthermore, he was either wealthy enough or had a high enough status to have multiple servants.

Well, this man's son lay dying in bed at home. He had heard about Jesus, who performed signs and wonders. Could it be that this Jesus could heal my son? Would he be willing to come down to Capernaum before he dies?

I mean, what parent in that situation would not make the same journey?

He didn’t send his servants. He went himself.

And he pleaded with Jesus to come down and heal his son. That phrase "come down," by the way, simply refers to coming down from the hills of Cana down to Capernaum.

Jesus, would you make the day's journey and come down and heal my son?

As you and I know, this official misunderstood Jesus divine nature in two ways. First, he thought that Jesus had to be there in person - that's why he asked him to come to Capernaum. And second, he thought that Jesus had to heal his son before he died - the official didn’t know that Jesus could raise the dead. All he knew was that Jesus had these powers and so he went to him hoping to save his son from death.

In response, what did Jesus say? Verse 48: "Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe."

Jesus, what did you say? All I asked is that you come to Capernaum …

I think you would agree… Jesus' response is interesting. He didn't really answer the request. No, instead, he addressed a different problem. This is yet another example of Jesus disrupting the natural flow of the conversation to make a point.

Back in college, I worked as a camp counsellor for a couple of summers. In our training, the camp director talked about "teachable moments." He said that when something out of the ordinary happens, that was the exact moment when you could speak into the hearts and minds of your campers. Like when a fight broke out or when the camp store ran out of candy or when a kid got hurt at an activity. In those moments, the kids would be more likely to hear spiritual truths… more so than regular cabin devotions. Teachable moments are very effective. By the way, parents, take note of that concept.

Well, imagine the scene in Cana. A crowd of some size was there when this royal official approached Jesus. We know this is because the word "you" in verse 48 is plural. Jesus said, "unless you (meaning you all) see signs and wonders, you all will not believe." So, multiple people were there. Why were they there? Remember, word had gotten out. Jesus was no longer just the son of Mary and Joseph. No, this was the man who had been in Jerusalem performing signs and wonders, and people wanted to witness it. So, a crowd had gathered. Then, this nobleman approached Jesus. Perhaps the people knew him. They were, after all, from the region. But even if they didn't know him personally, they would have known his royal capacity. And then he asked Jesus to do exactly what they wanted to see. He asked Jesus to heal his son.

It was a teachable moment. And so, Jesus took the opportunity to address their misunderstanding about his signs and wonders. Again, "Unless you see signs and wonders, you will not believe." Jesus was saying, "You've got it backwards! You are focused on the wrong thing. You care not about the one who is performing the signs and wonders. No, all you care to see are signs and wonders themselves."

Jesus was not performing the signs as if it was a magic show, yet that is how the Galileans saw it. They didn’t care that these signs signified who Jesus was. No, they only cared about the wonders.

Ok, let's take a little tangent, here.

As some of you noticed, Amy is not here this weekend. When I'm preparing my sermon, sometimes I'll ask her for input. Specifically, I ask her about something controversial that I want to say. And usually she'll say, "you may not want to include that." Well, she wasn't around for me to ask. I'm going to say something controversial.

Today in the church, we do a similar thing as the Galileans. We look for signs and wonders instead of looking to Jesus. I think we do. Sometimes we search for experiences and emotional highs to somehow legitimate our faith… or we want to hear feel-good stories. Some in the church take the latest innovations and seek to merge them with ministries or merge them with worship practices. Worship in the church can easily become man centered and not God glorifying. It often becomes a show and not worship. Our ministries can be filled with strategies that manipulate rather than calling people to faith and repentance. Much of it, to be honest, directs our attention away from faith in Christ and away his word.

Others are taken in by so-called healing ministries. Now, we believe that God can heal - we often pray for healing, but these ministries claim themselves to have the ability. It's a sham.

Others are drawn in by so-called pastors who promise material blessing if you just have enough faith or you give to their program. But friends, all of it is distracting us from the truth and distracting us from Christ himself and faith in him.

But what if it went away? What if those innovations and emotion-inducing experiences and prosperity-promising messages went away? What if our country was overthrown by a communist regime and the church had to go underground? What if church buildings were taken over and our bank accounts were seized. What if gatherings of more than 10 people were banned. If that happened and all the consumerism and emotionalism in the church went away, would people still believe? What if you lived in North Korea where it's illegal to own a Bible and if you are found with one, you'll receive the death penalty? Would you still believe?

I'm just asking. I know it's a little off topic, but it's a legitimate question. The Galileans were drawn in by the mystery and wonder of what they heard. But, as Jesus pointed out, they missed the point.

It was about belief in him. It wasn't about the signs that he was performing. Those merely testified to him as the Son of God, the Savior of the World, and all those other titles that we've seen in John's gospel so far. We are called to believe him and believe his Word.

Going back to this official... he was part of the crowd and Jesus was talking to him. He was targeted in Jesus' critique just as much as the other. This man had been looking for a sign - a specific sign. It wasn't at first about Jesus. But then something changed in him.

You know, one of the beautiful things in this passage is how this man's faith matured. He went from a simple faith, perhaps no faith, to a deep trust in Christ which led to his entire household believing. At first, it seemed that all he cared about was his son being healed. Jesus may have only been a means to that end at first. But what we see over the course of these two days is a deep belief in Jesus and a maturing of his faith.

Let me take a moment to clarify something. The Bible uses the word "faith" in two different senses.

·      The first is saving faith. Faith in the Christ for salvation, like Ephesians 2:8 - By Grace you are saved through faith. It's saving faith in Jesus and what he has done that saves us, not our works, which cannot save. That's one use of the word faith.

·      But second, faith is also something that we can mature in. Some saints in the Bible are referred to as having a strong faith. Others are said to have weak faith, and all of us are called to increase our faith. This second sense of faith is about the level of trust that we have in God and his word.

Well, in this short period of time, this official's faith was born and it grew.

Look at what he said in response to Jesus' exhortation. He said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus had just said to believe and not look to signs. The man's statement affirmed that he believed the Lord could heal his son. By the way, that word "sir" in the Greek can also be translated "Lord." It's the word "kurios." In fact, in other places in John, it is translated "Lord" like in chapter 11 when Martha said to Jesus "Lord, if you had been here, my brother [Lazarus] would not have died." The word "sir" doesn't fully capture the sense of reverence in this man's response.

And notice what happened next. Jesus said that his son would live. As it turns out, Jesus didn’t even need to go down to Capernaum. Jesus said the word and the man believed.

Look at verse 50. That phrase in the middle really captures the heart of the passage. "The man believed the word that Jesus spoke." He believed Jesus' word before he could even confirm that his son was healed. That's flipped around from Jesus' critique of the people.

Do you see how the official's faith was increasing?

It increased even more when he met his servants. He learned that his son was healed at the exact hour when Jesus gave the word. And what was his response? Verse 53, it says, "he himself believed, and all his household."

Let me note two things:

·      First, the emphasis is on Jesus. Verses 50 and 53 repeat the same exact phrase: "Jesus said 'your son will live.'" That's repeated. Any time you see a repeated phrase, it indicates the author's focus. So here, the focus is on Jesus and his word. This father believed in Jesus and his word. He no longer just believed that Jesus could heal his son. He believed in him.

·      And second, he took the responsibility to let his entire household know this. Did you notice that verse 53 is the first time that he is referred to as father? He was acting as the father, as head of his household. His whole household believed. His son who had been sick, believed. His servants believed. We don't know anything else about his household, but we know, as it says, that "all his household" believed in Jesus.

It's quite the testimony. He had moved from… (#1) An earnest pursuit to find this man who may be able to heal his son, to (#2) believing Jesus' word without even seeing his son healed, to (#3) a maturing faith in Christ believing in Jesus and testifying to his whole household.

May we each strive to set aside any temptations to search for wonders or signs… but instead believe in the very word of God, which testifies to Christ.

In closing, I want to go back to the repeated phrase there in verse 50 and 53. Jesus said, "your son will live." It's actually present tense. Your son lives. It makes sense to translate it, "your son will live" because he'd been deathly sick and Jesus was saying he would not die from his sickness - no, he will live.

These few verses not only direct us to believe in Christ and believe in his word and mature in our faith… they clearly do that, but they also reinforce that Jesus is the life giver. Life is found in him. As we've heard over and over in the Gospel of John, he has come to bring eternal life.

So yes, may we believe in Jesus and in his word, but may we also believe that in him we will live.