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.
In John’s gospel he writes about seven specific miracles of Jesus…for the sole purpose ‘that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God’ [John 20:31] the whole purpose of John’s gospel is summed up in that one verse.
This morning’s message focuses on the story I just read…an incident that occurred at the place of Jesus’ first public miracle in Galilee where He turned water into wine…there He’s approached by a nobleman…John calls him a ‘royal official’…a government official holding some high position in Herod’s court…a person in dire need of Jesus’ help.
Here’s something we need to know about this story…if we just look at this story on the surface, we come away with a distorted understanding of how God works in the lives of people today.
THREE THINGS…FIRST…what is unique about this story is that although the nobleman is seeking Jesus’ help for his son…it has nothing to do with salvation… SECONDLY…Jesus works differently in the lives of people today than how He worked in this situation…THIRD…it reveals the various stages of growing faith that everyone…who has ever come to Christ experiences; The five stages of faith.
First Stage is a Beginning Faith. Realizing there’s a desperate need and Jesus is the only person who can help (v.46-47).
While in the city of Cana an official of the King’s royal court approached Jesus…a man in good social standing being a person of authority…he has a major crisis in his life…his son is at the point of death and comes to Jesus for help.
We can’t prevent people from hurting…God can’t prevent people from hurting… our living in this world means life is going to be painful…whether you’re an official in government…the King himself…or just a common person—it doesn’t matter—there will eventually come a day when every person needs help…the disasters of life are beyond any one single person’s control. No one is exempt.
Problems are no respecter of persons…position …or authority…the action of this man demonstrates that; what’s involved in beginning faith… Realizing there’s a desperate need and Jesus is the only person who can help (v.46-47).
How do we react when such events come to us? …What will we do…will we be beaten down by them or will we triumph over them in complete victory?
This man is facing a severe disaster in his life…he comes to the only person who could help—Jesus.
He has decided to act…despite what society dictates is best…for the official it was not the socially acceptable thing to seek the help of a Jew…BUT…the man didn’t let his high position keep him from Jesus…he didn’t wrap himself in pride or allow what others might say to keep him away…he swallowed his pride and confessed his need in the face of all who ridiculed him and went to Jesus.
How many times do you see that happen in people’s lives…a crisis must develop in people’s lives before they choose to seek God…human nature…when things are going well who needs Jesus…why go to Church…but…when all other avenues are exhausted, they turn to the only true source of help…Jesus.
Unfortunately, it usually takes “a desperate need” for many to come to the Lord… going back to the coronavirus…for many it does take a crisis to get our attention …to get us focused on Him…how many more people are praying today that weren’t praying a week ago…I’d say quite a few more…this has got someone’s attention.
Often times it takes a tragedy in our life before we come to Christ…note what he had to do if he believed Jesus was the answer to his dilemma…he had to come out of his self-reliant cocoon and make a conscious decision to trust in Jesus.
We don’t know what illness the man’s son may have had but the man’s request of ‘come down and heal his son’ appears that whatever the illness was he clearly expected the boy to die from it.
If we look at this story just on the surface, we come away with a distorted understanding of what the intent was.
During Jesus’s time on earth His emphasis was on performing signs and wonders for the single purpose of revealing His divine nature.
God dealing in the life of people was… ‘that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God’ [John 20:31] …that was accomplished by performing signs and miracles for the purpose of demonstrating His power…so people would recognize Him as the Messiah.
The misunderstanding today is based off Jesus’ immediate response to the request …implying that anyone can simply ask God and it will be done…that is not biblical.
This story is NOT recorded to suggest that just asking God to do something will cause God to do it…OR…that God performs miracles because He has nothing better to do.
If a person believes strongly enough that Jesus can perform miracles…then that belief should cause them to also recognize His claim regarding who He is and why He came.
He wasn’t just hanging out in heaven one day and decided to come down and visit. If you’re seeking Jesus for help then you’ve already come to the understanding that there’s something supernatural about Him…or you wouldn’t be asking Him for help in the first place.
If you believe that Jesus can perform miracles then you must have some assessment of who He is…and an idea of why He came…which is to meet your spiritual need before He meets you physical need…that need is your salvation.
At that point you’re just like the man in this story…you’ve come to the realization that Jesus is the only person who can help because salvation is found in no one else [Acts 4:12].
That’s the difference between then and now…Scripture is clear…it’s true that it is God’s desire to provide everything necessary for the spiritual…material… physical …and eternal good of His people…but that’s conditional…it is based on our fellowship with Him.
Without being in fellowship with Jesus by first accepting Him as Lord and Savior means you have no access to Him…Jesus helping this man was out of the need to reveal who He was…Jesus helping us today requires we understand there are conditions that must be met before your prayers will be heard.
It’s important to understand that you asking and God reacting is conditional…it’s based on you trusting Him as your Savior…is this man asking out of faith? …Yes he is…but it’s not saving faith…it’s a faith that believes Jesus can heal.
Scripture says; ‘he went to him and was imploring Him to come heal his son’
What is the character of a faithful person? …it has nothing to do with gender …or race…or any other human traits…it’s realizing there’s a desperate need and Jesus is the only person who can help…here we see the second stage:
Second Stage was a Persistent Faith. Persistence means not giving up (v.48-49).
One characteristic of a faithful person is persistence
Genuine faith does not give up…often times Jesus puts up barriers…not because He’s being cruel…but because He’s giving us a life lesson…often times He tests our faith by setting up obstacles…WHY…not to keep us away…but to draw us closer.
Ever felt that way…I’m praying but I’m not seeing any results…here and in other instances in the Bible we see a side of Jesus not often found in Scripture…Jesus puts up barriers…not because He’s being cruel…in this instance to give the disciples a life lesson.
He’s using the occasion to show the disciples:
1) The Character of a faithful person.
2) The Character of God
Notice Jesus’ response to the nobleman…the reply of Jesus seems like a heartless rejection… ‘Unless you people see the signs and wonders, you simply will not believe.’
When looking at Jesus’ response He uses the word ‘you’ …in the Greek it’s obvious that Jesus is not talking to just this man…the word ‘you’ (ἴδητε) is second person plural meaning ‘you all’ …all of you… I’m talking to each and every one of you…the better translation is ‘unless you people’
Jesus’ response seems to insinuate that the official…like the rest of the Galileans… was only asking for something so he could see a miracle…so the statement without signs and wonders you simply will not believe seems a little coarse…in the Greek that is exactly what that means οὐ(no) μὴ(not) a double negative… ‘you will never’
The man was in no position to argue…not even to think through what Jesus had just said…he was desperate…a disaster had stricken his life…he believed Jesus was the only One who could help him and he was determined to secure Jesus’ help.
He persevered…he cried out, “Lord come down before my child dies.”
This man did not allow Jesus’ rebuke to deter him…he was relentless…he kept after Jesus…in the Greek the imperfect tense of the verb ‘was asking’ (ἠρώτα erota, to ask or request) impliesrepeated or persistent action…the request was not casual but insistent.
Persistence means not giving up…persistence was absolutely necessary in securing the Lord’s help…when we cease to be persistent it shows that we don’t believe God will answer…despite the Lord’s hesitation the man refused to give up …this man did not allow the Lord’s hesitation to stop him.
Most people would have said… “Well, so much for that message of compassion you’re always preaching about…so much for that fruits of the Spirit…I always knew Christianity was a narrow-minded bigoted religion…I want nothing to do with a God or a religion like that.”
In the case of the nobleman…he must have heard the reports that Jesus had healed people in Jerusalem…learning that Jesus had returned to Galilee the man sought Jesus out and urged him to heal his son who was dangerously ill.
In traveling to Cana the man knew he would be gone for many hours…imagine the anxiety and fear realizing that his son might die while he was away.
Think about this man’s situation for a movement…the man would literally have to tear himself away from his son…such an act shows how strongly he believed that Jesus could help him.
The man had to travel almost a day’s journey to reach Jesus…Capernaum was about twenty miles from Cana…I’m sure there was the obvious concern and apprehension on the part of the father as he wondered if he should leave his son’s side…the fact that he persevered and kept his eyes on the hope of Jesus shows his faith that Jesus was able to help his son.
Third Stage was a Trusting, Obedient Faith (v.50). Jesus’s Wordalone is enough
Jesus had to teach the man that His Wordalone was enough…his faith had nothing to do with saving faith…for him obedient faith was a child like faith…a faith that consisted of having the assurance and trusting that Jesus could do what He said… but for Christians it’s far more intense than that.
We read these parables and too often have a distorted understanding of what obedient faith involves…I want you to see how important obedient faith is in the life of a Christian.
In the book of Romans Paul uses the phrase… ‘the obedience of faith’ in chapter 1:5 …then at the close of the book in the last chapter in the next to the last verse again uses the same phrase ‘the obedience of faith’…that phrase is the book ends for the book of Romans…it’s used in the first chapter…it’s used in the last chapter.
Faith requires obedience from us…there are precepts…there is knowledge…and there are commands which we as Christians must be obedient to…faith and obedience are two sides of the same coin.
If we have true faith we will be obedient to what God’s Word says and will respond with appropriate action…we will be obedient and base our life upon its promises and demands…you can’t claim to have faith if you’re not obedient.
This is important because many today have turned faith into a kind of self-help, self-affirming thing where the role of faith and religion is to ‘comfort me’…togive me meaning that ‘pleases me’ to make me feel good.
People talk about the “god of my understanding” …if that understanding is independent of Scripture then you have no understanding…you’re just inventing your own god and worship…this is how I think of God…it’s called being “spiritual but not religious” …ever heard that.
These people describing themselves as being ‘not religious’ are saying…their views are not the views of any of the standard religions …more specifically what they’re saying is they’re rejecting religion, including the organized church.
In such a view, “god” becomes a kind of divine butler whose role is to fetch…to provide for me and console me…they want a god who doesn’t says ‘no’ to what I want… or who will not ask me to endure difficult things.
The “Jesus I know” or the “god of my understanding” is fine with almost any sin…gone is any demand to repent or to come to conversion…the only thing the ‘god of my understanding’ demands is that I learn to love and accept myself just as I am…and others just as they are…I’m OK you’re OK…no you’re not.
For the Christian…obedient faith continues to grow by searching God’s Word and allowing it to search me…wherever God is speaking to you hear what He’s saying and act on it…when God puts His finger on an area of sin…obedient faith responds …even if it’s difficult or inconvenient….That’s obedient faith.
I want to share this with you…here’s how I would define obedient faith…if a person professes to believe in Jesus as Lord of their life…but there’s only a scant evidence in their life that reflects that belief…that faith is not genuine.
I want to just for a moment to share with you how important that is…here’s what ‘faith that is not genuine’ means…Jesus Himself gives us a clear revelation of that.
We have duped people into believing that just walking the aisle…making a profession of faith…and being baptized is all that’s needed to get my ticket punched to go to heaven…the idea that I can then go out and live a life exactly like I’ve been living it is OK because I’m now a Christian…is a lie from hell.
Here’s what Jesus says about that; Luke 12:47 47“The servant who knows the master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what the master wants will be beaten with many blows”.
Matthew records two parables concerning that very statement…one is the parable of the Ten Virgins and the other the Parable of the Talents…both are dealing with Christians…in one parable Jesus tells them ‘I don’t know you’ [Matt. 25:12] and in the other one Jesus says throw the servant ‘into outer darkness’ [Matt. 25:30].
Not what you want to hear from Jesus…but that is exactly what millions of people are going to hear because they have been fooled into believing they’re saved and they’re not…that’s the whole purpose of these two parables…it all has to do with obedient faith.
Clearly…there are degrees of punishment as well as degrees in glory…both are distinctly spoken of…and both center around obedient faith.
Fourth Stage was a Confirmed Faith. Believing without seeing (v.51-53).
Note the words “as he was now going” …the nobleman was on his way home… ‘The man took Jesus at his word and departed’ [50] …he was in the act of believing and obeying…believing without seeing…belief…persistence…and obedience.
THINK about this…if the father had refused to return home without taking Jesus with him…it would show that he didn’t believe Jesus’ words ‘Go’ your son lives’ BUT…if he trusted Jesus, he would be willing to return home with no outward assurance…only trusting Jesus’ claim that his son would recover.
The man was forced to make the difficult choice between insisting on evidence or exercising faith without any tangible proof to encourage him—he ‘believed the word that Jesus spoke’ …he believed immediately and headed home to his son…he acted on his faith…“seeing is believing” is not theChristian approach. [John 11:40; 20:29].
This man believed without seeing…he heard, and he took Jesus at His word “Go, your son lives” and headed home…that’s faith.
In this man Jesus heard and saw what He wanted to hear and see:
1) He came to Jesus with reverence…he came with no pride, the man implored Jesus to heal his son.
2) He came to Jesus with humility…he called Jesus by His title, Lord.
3) He came to Jesus with faith…with no self-will…with no right…only the absolute conviction that Jesus had the power to heal.
4) He came to Jesus with action…he was persistent…he reached out to God and stayed persistent in his request.
Fifth Stage Was a Witnessing Faith. Telling others what God has done (v.53-54)
The man was a witness in “his whole house.” …he told them about the experience he had with Jesus…the Word of promise Jesus had given him was all that was needed for his son to be healed…and the proof they needed to believe.
Witnessing for Jesus was not easy for this man…he was a high official who would face the possibility of ridicule…possible persecution…perhaps the loss of his position in government…and even loss of life…But note…his faith was a witnessing faith…he testified to others about what Jesus had done for him.
In the story of the woman at the well we’ve previously talked about…you have to marvel at the woman who was willing to make her shameful life the principle evidence that God caused a transformation in her life…evidence that would eventually lead an entire city to the Lord…not a small thing she did.
The account she gave was so plain and honest they concluded He must be the Messiah.
No person will obey Christ unless they truly believe in Christ…if you don’t believe in Christ, you’re probably not going to live a life that reflects Christian principles …in the Bible the person who obeys Christ is the person who believes in Christ.
In the past weeks we have looked at what the Bible defines as necessary for eternal life…the most important component being faith…the five stages of faith are the components collectively that fall under the heading of ‘belief’.
Belief leads to faith…when someone believes something, he has faith…true faith leads to salvation which culminates in true worship…these are the evidence that you are a follower of Jesus.