I. Introduction
-- turn in
Bibles to John 4:43-54
John 4:43-54 New International
Version (NIV)
43 After the two days he left for
Galilee. 44 (Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in
his own country.) 45 When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him.
They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, for
they also had been there.
46 Once more he visited Cana in
Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal
official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. 47 When this man heard that Jesus had
arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal
his son, who was close to death.
48 “Unless you people see signs and
wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.”
49 The royal official said, “Sir,
come down before my child dies.”
50 “Go,” Jesus replied, “your son
will live.”
The man took Jesus at his word and departed.
51 While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his
boy was living. 52 When he inquired as to the time when his son got better,
they said to him, “Yesterday, at one in the afternoon, the fever left him.”
53 Then the father realized that this
was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he
and his whole household believed.
54 This was the second sign Jesus
performed after coming from Judea to Galilee.
-- in the movie, “Bruce Almighty,” a
Jim Carrey movie that came out several years ago, Jim Carrey’s character is
looking for direction in his life -- he’s having all these issues -- he just
got fired from his job -- his girlfriend has left him -- he’s driving around,
screaming out at God, “Just tell me what you want me to do -- just give me a
sign”
-- and while he is driving, you see
street signs appearing in front of him, saying things like, “Detour -- Turn
around” -- and “Turn left” -- and then,
when he doesn’t pay attention to them, he gets behind a construction
vehicle with flashing lights and a message on the tailgate that flashes, “Turn
here” -- finally, he starts driving through a construction zone and a voice
comes over a loudspeaker and calls out to him, saying, “You in the car, you
need to turn here” -- and while all this is going on, Jim Carrey continues to
cry out to God for a sign so that he would know that God was there and would
show him where to go and what to do
-- isn’t that the way it is with us?
-- a lot of times we cry out to God for a sign -- we ask God for a miracle --
we want proof that He is there with us in the midst of our distress -- and then
we miss seeing Him because we’re looking for something else
-- this morning, we’re continuing in
our series on the miracles of Jesus from the Book of John -- today’s message is
the story of Jesus healing the royal official’s son -- but, one thing we need
to see in this story and remember as we go through this series, is that God’s
desire is for us to believe and trust in Him through faith, not necessarily
through sight
-- as it says in Ephesians 2:8, “for
it is by grace you are saved, through faith” -- and in Hebrews 11:1 we learn
that faith is “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not
see”
-- God wants us to believe and trust
in Him through faith -- because of who He is -- because of His word spoken to
us -- not because we need the miracles to prove He is God -- this will be a
continual theme in this series we are going through
-- John makes it clear that the
miracles in this gospel were given as signs -- signs to prove who Jesus was so
that we might believe in Him -- not so we might believe in the miracles
themselves -- in other words, our faith in not in miracles -- our faith is in a
Person -- the Person of Jesus Christ
-- the theme of this miracle is
faith -- you’ll see that as we look at this story together
-- so, with that in mind, let us
continue on in our series by looking at the story of Jesus healing the royal
official’s son here in John Chapter 4 -- John is the only gospel writer that
records this miraculous sign of Jesus -- there is a similar story recorded in
the gospels of Matthew and Luke where Jesus healed a Centurion’s servant at a
distance, but this is not the same event -- this is a different story -- a
different miracle -- given for a different reason
II. Scripture Lesson (John 4:43-54)
-- verse 43
John 4:43-54 New International
Version (NIV)
43 After the two days he left for
Galilee. 44 (Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in
his own country.) 45 When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him.
They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, for
they also had been there.
46a Once more he visited Cana in
Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine.
-- after the wedding at Cana in
Galilee, Jesus and His disciples had gone up to Judea, to go to Jerusalem to
celebrate the Passover Feast -- while there, Jesus had gone into the temple and
overturned the tables of the money changers, getting Himself into a
confrontation with the Pharisees and the temple officials
-- so Jesus left the region of Judea
and traveled back to Galilee, passing through Samaria, where He had His
encounter with the woman at the well -- and although Jews and Samaritans did
not get along, the Samaritans welcomed Jesus into this midst and wanted Him to
stay with them even longer than He did
-- but Jesus had to go to Galilee,
because His message was for the Jew first -- so after two days in Samaria, Jesus
left and went home -- because of His reception in Jerusalem and the conflict
that arose with the Pharisees, Jesus did not expect this homecoming to be a
welcoming event -- the Jews had a history of rejecting God’s messengers, even
to the point of killing God’s prophets sent to call the people back to true
faith in the Father
-- to top it off, Jesus was going
home -- back to the place where He grew up -- back to the people who knew Him
when He was a child -- to people who might not respect Him or His message
because they knew Him as one of their own -- the hardest people to reach are
your own family -- the hardest people to speak to are those who knew you as a
child
-- that’s why Jesus pointed out to
His disciples the familiar phrase of His day, “a prophet has no honor in his
own country” -- it’s a saying that means the same thing as “familiarity breeds
contempt” -- when someone knows you well, they sometimes can’t see past you to
hear the message you are bringing
-- but, when Jesus arrived in
Galilee, the Galileans welcomed Him -- on the surface, it appeared they were
open and eager to receive Jesus and to receive the message of God to them --
but, as we will see, looks can be deceiving
-- look at the second part of verse
46
46b. And there was a certain royal
official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. 47 When this man heard that Jesus had
arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal
his son, who was close to death.
48 “Unless you people see signs and
wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.”
49 The royal official said, “Sir,
come down before my child dies.”
-- John tells us that a certain
royal official heard Jesus was at Cana, so he traveled the twenty miles from
Capernaum to Cana seeking Jesus’ help -- we’re not sure who this royal official
was -- more than likely, he served in the court of Herod Antipas, the son of
Herod the Great who ruled the region of Galilee
-- this official was probably Jewish
in his heritage, given that he came to see Jesus at Cana -- at this time, Jesus
was not well-known outside of Jewish circles -- His public ministry had just
started, and it was only at the Passover Feast in Jerusalem that people began
to hear of Him
-- certainly, word of Jesus’ actions
in Jerusalem -- His turning over the tables of the money changers and argument
with the Pharisees -- would have been heard about by Herod and his court -- and
word was probably spreading over Jesus’ teaching ministry, although at this
time, there had not been any miracles recorded by John except for changing the
water into wine at the wedding some time earlier -- so this royal official
makes the journey to Cana to see Jesus and ask for Him to come and heal his son
-- if you’ll notice, the official
addressed Jesus as “Sir” in verse 49 -- not “Rabbi” or “teacher” or any other
term indicative of spiritual respect -- whether this man was a practicing Jew
or not, it’s obvious that he was not a true believer -- he recognized Jesus’
authority -- he recognized Jesus’ teachings -- but didn’t know who Jesus really
was at this time -- he only knew that Jesus was a man touched by God, and that
his son was sick, and Jesus was his best hope to see his son healed
-- you know that as a royal official
this father had already exhausted the best medical help to be found in
Capernaum -- you know he would have had the best doctors at his disposal -- but
they could not help -- his son still lay sick -- and so he comes to see Jesus
-- that’s an interesting point --
this official probably would never have come to see Jesus if his son had not
gotten sick -- it took a trial in his life in order for him to seek Jesus in
the first place -- that’s the reason God sometimes allows trials and
tribulations into our lives -- it forces us to look past our own strength and
our own efforts and causes us to seek out the only One who can truly take care
of our problems -- sometimes we have to have an unsolvable problem in order to
find faith
-- that’s why John Maxwell said on
time that miracles only occur when you have a problem -- and he offered to pray
for anyone there who didn’t have a problem to get one, so they would be a
candidate for a miracle
-- faith has to start somewhere --
sometimes it starts with a problem
-- this royal official had lost hope
in the world -- he had tried all that the world had to offer in seeking healing
for his son -- so now he has come with a glimmer of faith, praying for a
miracle through Jesus
-- but, even though the official’s
faith came through desperation, we need to recognize his correct action in
turning to Jesus when he had a problem -- not everyone follows the official’s
example when troubles come -- some look at the sky and curse God -- some turn
away from God and from the church and from God’s people -- some spend their
time in depression and despair, crying out, “Woe is me -- why is this
happening?”
-- so, we must recognize the faith
the official had to come to Jesus in the first place -- it was not a full-blown
flame of faith -- it was just a spark of light -- but it was enough to get him
to Jesus -- sometimes, that’s all we need to make a big difference in our lives
-- in verse 48, Jesus responds to
the official’s request to come and heal his son by saying, “Unless you people
see miraculous signs and wonders, you will never believe” -- this pronouncement
wasn’t necessarily given to the official, but was a general statement
proclaimed to the crowd that had gathered -- Jesus knew the hearts of the
Galileans -- He knew the crowd had gathered that day just to see a show -- just
to see a miracle in their midst -- and He knew that even seeing such a miracle
would not cause them to come to a saving faith in Him
-- the Samaritans had believed in
Him when they saw the transformed life of the woman at the well -- they did not
require signs and wonders to believe -- but the Galileans were kind of like the
people from Missouri -- the “Show Me State” -- they had to see to believe --
their faith was predicated on seeing the miracles first, which is not real
faith
-- as one commentator put it, “A
short-lived, superficial acceptance of our Lord is not the same as an informed,
long-term belief in who He is”
-- so, Jesus makes this
pronouncement as a way of separating the wheat from the chaff -- from getting
rid of those who only came through looking for a miracle and not a Messiah --
who came, not through faith seeking a Savior, but who came seeking
entertainment
-- His statement here reminds me of
the true story of the Chinese underground church -- they were having a service
one day when the door burst open and two Chinese officials came into the church
with guns -- they said they were going to kill the followers of Jesus, but that
any who were not believers could leave first -- several bolted for the door and
left -- when they had gone, the fearful believers looked at the officials in
disbelief as they announced, “We are believers, too -- we just wanted to get rid
of those who were not before we joined you in worship”
-- in contrast to these “unbelievers
[who were only] fascinated by signs,”1 the royal official shows real
faith in Jesus when he speaks up again and begs Jesus again to just come and
heal his child -- his faith withstood the test -- he was persistent in coming
to Jesus in his time of need -- and he was desperate enough to humble himself
before a carpenter and ask Him for help that could only come through Him
-- verse 50
50 “Go,” Jesus replied, “your son
will live.” The man took Jesus at his word and departed.
-- the official came to Cana seeking
Jesus, hoping He would come back to Capernaum and heal his son -- when Jesus
spoke about the lack of faith in people seeking nothing but miraculous signs
and wonders, the official asked again for his son to be healed -- he was, in
essence, saying, “I believe -- I believe in You -- come and heal my son”
-- Jesus responded to the faith of
the official and told him to go -- that his son would live -- and the man had
to make a choice -- he came to Cana believing that Jesus had to be with him for
his son to be healed -- but the point of Jesus’ response here is “you have some
faith, but can you believe without sight?
Can you trust My word and believe your son can be healed based on
hearing the word only?”
-- think about how hard it must have
been for the official to turn away from Jesus and head home having nothing but
the word of a carpenter to trust in -- but, he believed -- he had faith -- and
his actions show the difference between “God’s word may be true” and “God’s
word is true”
-- faith is demonstrated through
what we do, not by what we say
-- verse 51
51 While he was still on the way, his
servants met him with the news that his boy was living. 52 When he inquired as
to the time when his son got better, they said to him, “Yesterday, at one in
the afternoon, the fever left him.”
53 Then the father realized that this
was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he
and his whole household believed.
54 This was the second sign Jesus
performed after coming from Judea to Galilee.
-- as the official began the long
trip home, he had nothing to carry with him but faith and hope in Jesus’
promise -- he left, trusting in a miracle he could not see
-- and somewhere along his journey,
he was met by his servants with the news that his boy was living -- that his
son had been healed at the very moment Jesus had spoken the word and told him
to go
-- distance was no limitation to
Jesus’ healing power -- Christ has mastery over time and space -- as the Life
Application Study Bible points out, “we can never put so much space between
ourselves and Christ that he can no longer help us -- no matter where we are --
no matter how far away the need -- God is already there
-- the healing of the official’s son
was a sign of the power of Jesus to give life -- not only physical -- but
eternal life
-- liberal scholars like to try to
explain away the miracles of God through natural means, but there is no way to
do so in this case -- the healing of the son at a distance meant that Jesus had
not healed the son by any natural means -- and, since the son was healed before
the official arrived home, this means the official did not carry back any
medicine to be applied that would bring healing -- the healing came at a word
-- the healing was an indisputable miracle that caused the spark of faith in
the official’s life to turn into a flame of belief
-- one true sign of a miracle is the
response of the people to the experience of God in their midst -- because of his
experience with Jesus -- because he had believed and trusted in faith in the
word of Jesus -- this man and his whole household became believers in Jesus --
not in the miracles, but in the Savior behind the miracle
III. Closing
-- let’s bring this to a close
-- on July 4th, 2012, over 1,000
scientists gathered in Bern, Switzerland, to hear a dramatic scientific
announcement -- for decades, scientists had believed in a particle called the
Higgs Boson -- the fundamental building block of the universe that had long
been theorized but never proven -- for over fifty years, scientists believed in
this subatomic particle even though it had never been seen, never measured, and
never proven
-- the Large Hadron Collider was
built at the cost of $10 billion dollars, all in hopes of finding this particle
-- but in July 2012, its presence had been documented, and scientists from all
over the world gathered to celebrate the news
-- An article in The New York Times
about the Higgs boson announcement had this to say: “Confirmation of the Higgs
boson or something very much like it would constitute a rendezvous with destiny
for a generation of physicists who have believed in the boson for half a
century without ever seeing it.”
-- Now, isn't that interesting --
These scientists have believed in something they could never see and previously
had been unable to prove! -- They have believed in this unproven particle
because what they could see had convinced them that it had to be there.
-- that is similar to the faith of
Christians who believe in an unseen God that we cannot prove exists -- we know
He exists because what we can see and what we have experienced reveals His
power and divine nature -- it is not irrational to believe in God -- on the
contrary, our faith could not be more rational, for our faith is in a Person --
we don’t need miracles to prove God exists -- we believe because of who He is
-- we believe because of His word2
-- the royal official came to have
the same saving faith in Jesus by the end of this story -- his progression of
faith from initial belief to mature faith is an example to us of the path we
are all to follow
-- when the official first made the
journey from Capernaum to Cana, his faith was just a spark -- he believed in
Jesus just enough to turn to Him for help in the midst of his need
-- his faith grew when he heard the
promise from Jesus that his son would live and he acted on this promise by
stepping out and heading home
-- finally, his faith was made whole
as he rejoiced at the healing of his son and spread the word about the Messiah,
leading his whole household to put their faith and trust in Jesus, too
-- growing in faith -- learning to
trust in Jesus and not the miracles themselves -- that is the message from this
miraculous sign -- the second sign that Jesus performed in the gospel of John
-- as we leave here today, I want you
take a moment to consider where you are in your faith and your belief in Jesus
-- are you living on miracles and signs? -- is your faith based on what you
see?
-- or are you trusting in what you
cannot see -- being certain of what you hope for, although unseen? -- faith is
trust in a person and stepping out in response to Jesus’ word
-- true faith does not require signs
-- true faith does not require sight -- true faith is a mark of the mature
-- where are you today? -- where is
your hope and trust? -- trust in the One who speaks to your heart -- believe in
Him this morning
-- let us pray
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1
[Bob Deffinbaugh, https://bible.org/seriespage/11-jesus-heals-royal-official-s-son-john-443-54]
2 Craig Brian Larson, editor,
PreachingToday.com; sources: Dennis Overbye, "Physicists Find Elusive
Particle Seen as Key to Universe," The New York Times (7-4-12); Steve
Bradt, "3 Questions: Physicist Christoph Paus discusses newly discovered
particle," MIT News Office (7-4-12)
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