Introduction
We’re in the
second week of a series on seven miracles in the Gospel of John. The
Gospel of John is the fourth book of the New Testament, and John was
a disciple of Jesus, eye-witness of these events, and author of 5 New
Testament books. John organizes the first half of his gospel
(chapters 1-12) around seven miracles performed by Jesus.
These miracles are “shallow enough for babies to wade in, but deep enough for
elephants to drown in.” Their basic account of how Jesus
supernaturally met real people’s physical and social needs is
simple and easy to grasp. But they are also profound
“signs”—symbolic acts pointing beyond themselves to
Jesus' divinity and designed to lead us to faith in Jesus so he meet
our deepest spiritual needs (see Jn. 20:30,31). Let’s see
how this works with the second miracle, in which Jesus heals a royal
official’s son . . .
The Miracle
Read 4:45,46a. Jesus had gone down to Jerusalem for Passover, and has now returned
to Cana of Galilee.
Read 4:46b,47. This man is probably one of Herod Antipas’ administrators,
headquartered in Capernaum about 20 miles away. He asks Jesus
to go home with him and heal his son (laying hands on?).
Read 4:48-50. Jesus seems to say “No,” the official repeats his
request, and Jesus says “Yes” in a way he had expected.
Read 5:51-53. The man realizes that his son got well at the exact time that Jesus said
“Yes.” As a result, he and his servants believe in Jesus
(as the Messiah).
So much for the miracle—what is the “sign?”
Like the first miracle, this is a highly compressed account with no
overt explanation of its deeper meaning. But if we closely at the
text itself and at its context, we get the clues we need. Actually,
I see two distinct lessons.
The “Sign” –
Lesson #1: Who Jesus is
This miracle forms the conclusion of this section
of John, which begins and ends with a miracle in Cana. John
evidently wants us to compare these two miracles and learn something
from this comparison.
There are certain
striking similarities. As we saw, both miracles take place in
Cana. Both occur on “the third day”. In both
miracles, Jesus initially responds negatively to the request for
help. In both miracles, servants are among the few who witness what
Jesus has done.
But there are also
significant differences. While the occasion of the first
miracle is a wedding (joy & festivity), the occasion of the
second miracle is a critical illness (anxiety & desperation).
Notice also the difference in the kinds of people for whom Jesus
performs the miracle. The first is for a Jewish couple who are
presumably poor, (because they ran out of wine). The second is for a
man who is probably a Gentile and who is rich (has servants). In
fact, this conversation with the royal official is the third
conversation recorded between these two miracles—first with a
male Jewish religious leader (Nicodemus), next with a female
half-Jewish prostitute (woman at the well), and now with a fully
Gentile administrator. In each case, Jesus presents himself as their
Savior.
The first lesson, then, is about who Jesus is.
Jesus is the Savior of all people in all of life’s situations.
No matter who you are or what your situation is, Jesus cares about
you and can help.
The “Sign” –
Lesson #2: What belief in Jesus is
But there is another lesson here—a lesson
that helps us understand what it means to believe in Jesus. Note
4:48. This is directed not to the official, but to the people who
had crowded around him (“you people”). They had seen
Jesus perform miracles in Jerusalem and claimed to believe in him
(2:23)—but Jesus objects to and reproves this kind of faith as
no faith at all. In his treatment of the royal official and the
official’s response, we are introduced to a different kind of
faith—the kind Jesus is looking for, the kind of faith that
results in having life through him. We can call these “pseudo-faith”
and “genuine faith.” Let’s take a closer look to
understand the difference.
“Pseudo-faith”
It is important to
realize that both kinds of faith are preceded by evidence. Jesus
wasn’t calling on them to exercise blind faith. They had all
seen or heard about the miracles he had been performing at the
wedding in Cana and at Jerusalem (4:45).
But this wasn’t
enough. When they hear the royal official’s request (4:47b),
they crowd around Jesus to see yet another miracle. They evidently
approved of the man’s request (“Come down and heal my son
in person.”), and are ready to follow Jesus and the official
all the way to Capernaum to see it.
Jesus’
complaint/reproof is that their “faith” is really a
demand/threat: “Unless we keep on seeing miracles, we won’t
entrust ourselves to you.” I’m sure you’re
familiar with this kind of “faith.” Maybe you have had
it yourself (ME: “If you’re there, prove it by doing a
miracle/giving me what I want right now.”). Maybe you know
people who have it right now (STUDENT: “I’m unwilling to
consider Jesus unless you can counter all of my objections to my
complete satisfaction.” SCIENTIST: “I will never believe
in Jesus’ resurrection unless you can give me irrefutable,
laboratory proof that Jesus was raised from the dead.”).
At any rate, because this is their attitude, Jesus refuses to cooperate with their
demand. They’ve seen enough, the show is over—and they
go home disappointed and (probably) disgruntled with Jesus. (We will
see this theme again and again in John’s gospel.)
Why does Jesus reject “pseudo-faith?”
It is insincere. It claims to be willing to believe if only it gets enough evidence
—but in fact it is demanding certainty. Faith by definition is
a decision to trust someone, which presumes a lack of absolute
certainty. This “faith” actually demands the eradication
of all uncertainty before being willing to trust—which is not
trust at all. That’s why no amount of evidence was enough for
these people (Jn. 12:37).
It is inconsistent. We don’t operate this way in other
important areas of life. When we get sufficient evidence, we make a
decision to trust (MEDICAL CARE; FINANCIAL INVESTMENT). Why should
the rules change when we’re dealing with God/Jesus and
spirituality—especially since Jesus is offering to give us a
great gift—not take something from us?
It is irreverent. When taken to an extreme, it is unwilling in principle to bow to
God. If God exists, we should be willing in principle to bow to him
if he reveals himself to us (Jn. 7:17). This reverses the
proper role between us and God, and perverts Jesus into a court
jester to entertain and serve us, rather than bowing to him as the
Messiah who is to be revered and served. Jesus will always refuse to
play this role—not only because it falsifies who he is, but
also because it would reinforce the most serious problem in our
lives.
What is the alternative? What is “genuine faith?” We see an
illustration of its main ingredients in the interaction between Jesus
and the royal official.
Like the crowd, this man already has evidence that Jesus is the Messiah. He
has at least heard from reliable witnesses of the miracles Jesus has been performing.
But when he asks Jesus to come back with him to heal his son in his presence, Jesus
refuses. Instead, Jesus gives this man his word (read 4:50a):
“No, I'm not going to do a miracle in your presence. Instead,
I'm going to give you my word alone, without any miracle: Go
your way; your son lives.” He puts the man in a position where
he has to choose whether or not he will personally trust Jesus’
word.
Note carefully the two ingredients of Jesus’ word: a promise (“your son
lives”) and a command (“go your way”). These are
the same two ingredients found in God’s Word to us (the Bible),
as we will soon see.
Read 4:50b. How do we know the man believed Jesus promise about his son? Because he
acted on Jesus’ command and started home. What would
you think about his faith if he had responded by saying: “I
believe you that my son is well—now will you come home with me
to heal him?”
Read 5:51-53. If the man already believed Jesus (4:50b)—why does it say in 4:53
that he believed? Because his original faith has now been
strengthened and deepened by this experiential confirmation of
Jesus’ word.
So what? So this is the way the Bible says God deals with each of us. This the way we
begin a relationship with Jesus and the way we grow in our
relationship with Jesus.
Beginning a relationship with Jesus follows this same pattern.
First, Jesus will give you some evidence that he is real and true. This
evidence can vary widely according to what is most compelling to you
(EXAMPLES: changed life of friend or family-member; quality of love
relationships among Christians; someone “like you” who
comes to Christ; uniqueness of grace vs. religions; historical
accuracy; scientific plausibility; predictive prophecy in the Bible;
multiple exposures to the gospel). Often the timing is significant,
because this evidence pops us after you call out to God. Usually,
several lines of evidence begin to converge.
When Jesus knows you’ve got sufficient evidence, he will call you to believe
in his Word. Just like this sign, his Word will contain both a
promise and a command. Take Jn. 1:12; 4:10; Rev. 3:20
(what’s the promise/command?). You may feel, “I don’t
know—I’m not totally sure—I’d like to know
more before I take this step.” You will likely have
conflicting thoughts and feelings—fear of what certain people
might say, how your life may change, etc. But after you’ve had
the evidence Jesus knows is sufficient for you, he won’t give
you any more—he’ll call on you to believe. The ball is
in your court at that point . . .
Then, once you entrust yourself to Jesus, he will give you experiential
confirmation that he is real and true. It may be a sense of
cleansing from guilt; it may be a deep-down sense that you have made
the right decision; it may be a re-sensitized conscience; it may be a
dramatic and emotional encounter with God; it may that God’s
Word comes alive to you; etc. It will likely be many of these things
over a short period of time. It will be what Jesus knows you need to
confirm that you made the right decision!
Are you at the point where you need to take this step of faith to receive
Christ? Is God tugging at your heart and calling you of this? If
so, it won’t get any easier than it is right now. Waiting
won’t get you more evidence. And if you wind up receiving
Christ later, the first thing you’ll wish is that you’d
made that decision when you first realized it was time. Go for it!
Growing in your relationship with Jesus follows this exact same pattern.
If you want your faith to grow, you have to get into God’s Word (Rom. 10:17).
The word provides the vocabulary of God’s personal guidance—it
enables you to recognize his voice and shows you how to respond in
faith.
As you begin to learn the Bible, God will personally relate his Word to specific
issues in your life. He will draw your attention to a certain
promise and call on you to express your trust in that by taking an
active step. I call this a “scary step of faith.” It’s
scary precisely because you haven’t yet experienced God’s
faithfulness here yet; you’re acting according to his will by
faith alone.
When you take this step, then you experience the exciting fulfillment of God’s
promise in your life. And this in turn deepens your overall trust in
God—setting the stage for another round just like this in
another area . . .
2 EXAMPLES: confessing sin & healing; witnessing & empowering
How deep do you
want your faith to be 5-10 years from now? What is the step God is
asking you to take today?
Next: Jesus heals a paralyzed man
Copyright 2004 Gary DeLashmutt