S. Taking Jesus at His Word - Joh_4:43-54

Sermon by Dr. Jeffrey Jeremiah
April 25, 2004 "Taking Jesus at His Word"
John 4:43-54

I received an email from a good friend this week that asked, "So, you think you’re having a bad day?" "A woman came home to find her husband in the kitchen shaking frantically, with some kind of wire running from his waist towards the electric coffee pot. Intending to jolt him away from the deadly current, she whacked him with their son’s baseball bat, breaking his arm in two places. Only then did she learn her husband had been happily listening to his Sony Walkman." "The average cost of rehabilitating a seal after the Exxon Valdez oil spill was $80,000. At a special ceremony, two of the most expensively saved animals were released back into the wild amid cheers and applause from onlookers. A minute later, in full view, a killer whale ate them both." Bad days. We all have them. Regardless of our place in life, trouble, sorrow, tragedy and death come to us all. Job 5:6-7 was written by a man well acquainted with these realities: "For hardship does not spring from the soil, nor does trouble sprout from the ground. Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward." Everyone experiences sorrows. There are no exceptions! The question is how will you respond to those difficult times? Will they define your life, defeat you, or suck the vitality and energy out of you? Or will you overcome them? The verses we’ve just read show how you can be an overcomer, even in the midst of difficult times, through faith in Jesus Christ. We see this overcoming faith in the example of a man described as "a certain royal official." He was an official in Herod’s court, and therefore was a man of great influence and power. He also was a man of wealth, as John 4:51 tells us he had servants. Here was a man who by anyone’s standards had everything he could possibly want, except for one thing - his young son was seriously ill. In fact, he was dying. As a result, this father’s life was full of misery. Nothing can shatter us more quickly or more completely than suffering falling on our children. Nothing! I think all of us who are parents can identify with this man, this dad. The good news is that this father did more than acknowledge his great need, he also acknowledged and sought the solution. He had obviously heard about the miracle Jesus had performed at the wedding feast at Cana. John 4:47 says, "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." That verse is full of meaning. This royal official lived in Capernaum, on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. He left his home and made a four-hour trip (about 25 miles) to Cana, which is in the hill country. For the crowd that was there, it must have been a memorable scene when this royal official came face to face with Jesus. Imagine the rich appearance and the air of dignity that marked this official as he approaches Jesus, a poor man, a carpenter from Nazareth to ask a favor. But he didn’t ask a favor. He begged Jesus for one. The Greek word translated "begged" speaks to a continuous action. It means that before a crowd of people, this nobleman was at the feet of Jesus begging repeatedly for him to heal his son. In his encounter with Jesus we see three stages in the faith of this suffering father.

First, there is a sense in which this father’s faith is remarkable. He has traveled 25 miles to request a healing miracle from Jesus. But Jesus sees something different. He saw a weak faith that needed to be challenged and corrected. You see, the official believed Jesus was able to heal his son. But he placed a limit on how Jesus could heal. He begged Jesus to come to Capernaum to do this miracle. He thought it was necessary for Jesus to be physically present, to touch his son in order to heal him. That weakness is behind Jesus’ reply: "Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders, you will never believe" (verse 48). On the surface His words seem detached, cold, and unsympathetic. This grieving father had poured out his heart to the Lord, and now Jesus basically rebukes him (and the crowd as well). In reality, Jesus’ words were mercifully surgical, because with unerring accuracy He identified the weakness. This faith was focused on what Jesus could do; specifically, what Jesus could do that he could see with his own eyes. His was focused on the healing; on the "signs and wonders" to the extent that he was missing the point: who is Jesus? He’s God! Even today, those who are constantly seeking signs and wonders and miracles to confirm their faith may be missing the point - to know Jesus as Savior, Lord and God. Jesus’ words were a test of the man’s sincerity. How did he react? He simply stood his ground, reiterated his need and humbled himself to receive the answer in whatever way Jesus chose to give it to him. Here is the first answer to the way in which you can find triumph in the midst of sorrow and tragedy: trust Jesus enough to allow Him to operate in whatever way He chooses.

Second, we see growing faith strengthened (John 4:50-51). In response to this desperate father’s request, Jesus says, "You may go. Your son will live." Notice what Jesus does, and does not do. He says the son is healed, but, He refuses to go to Capernaum, and He gives this man no sign, nothing he can see that will confirm this healing. What did that man think when he heard those words? How would he respond? John 4:50 says, "The man took Jesus at his word and departed." Something radical happened inside that man at that moment, and I use the word radical in the sense of something happening deep inside, at the very core of this man’s being. What happened is the opposite of a very common phrase in our world today: "Seeing is believing." In other words, don’t believe it until you see it. That may be what the world thinks, but the teaching of Jesus is that in the spiritual realm the order is reversed, and that believing is seeing, for it is only as one believes in Jesus that he sees spiritual things happening. In that father’s life at that moment, believing was seeing. Even though there were 25 miles between them, in his mind’s eye he "saw" his little boy well and healthy again. The second answer to the way you can find triumph in sorrow and difficulty: believe first, then you will see the results. As Hebrews 11:1 declares, "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see" (NIV). Believing is seeing. Third, we see a strong faith acted out. The official departs the scene. If he had immediately returned to Capernaum after meeting with Jesus, he would have arrived at home Acts 5:00 that evening. But that’s not what he does. Reading from John 4:51 : "While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, ‘The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour.’" The father leaves Jesus but doesn’t return home until the next day! The day after meeting Jesus, he learns that at the time he had spoken to Jesus, his son had been healed. What a difference between that anxious, desperate dash up to Cana for help, and the leisurely trip back home. The difference was faith in Jesus, faith that took Him at his word. The third answer to overcoming sorrow and difficulty is to act on what you believe. Besides these answers to overcoming sorrow and difficulty when it strikes our lives, I have three applications for you today. First, the nobleman came, talked to Jesus, and then went on his way without any tangible evidence that his request had been granted. Why? Because in meeting Jesus and in talking to Him, his fear and anxiety evaporated. He took Jesus at His word. It can be the same for you. You may be weighed down under great burdens. You may be crying inside. We all have problems and pressures, but we can all come to Jesus. You can tell Him about it. He cares for you. He’s delighted to ease your burden and pain, to take the crushing weight you’re carrying and take it on Himself. But will you take Him at His word? Will you believe Him when He promises, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28)? Will you take Him at His word when He says, "Lo, I am with you always" (Matthew 28:20), or when He promises, "Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid" (John 14:27)? I can tell you that I’ve been inspired by those of you who are taking Jesus at His word, especially in the midst of difficult, trying circumstances. Men and women in vocational, medical and financial crises who have decided in live in faith in Jesus, taking Him at His word. I’ve been inspired by the people (especially the young people) who are tithing; who are taking God at His word when He says, "Test me in this and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it." It’s a blessing and an encouragement to know that you are taking Jesus at His word, and He’s making a difference in your life! Second, you can take Jesus at His word, you can have this faith in Him, even if the results are postponed. They may even be postponed until after this life. We suffer the death of a parent, a friend, a child. We experience sorrow and loss and sickness ourselves. We come to Jesus asking why, crying out for help, and we find Him saying, "I know what I am doing. I am working it all out." The Bible says, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28). There will be circumstances in which we do not "see" with our eyes that this is true. But we can believe it because it’s the promise of God Himself. We may have to pass through this dark night of this world into the bright day of the next world before we see how His good purpose has been worked out. Faith in Jesus is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see. We can have faith knowing that Jesus knows, and cares and is working His plan for our good. Third, faith in Jesus is a gift of God, but it grows by exercise. Each one of us has opportunities to grow in faith as we find ourselves in difficult circumstances. In those trials, you can choose fear (that is, live in response to your difficult circumstance), or you can choose faith. If you turn to the claims and promises of your Savior and Lord, if you take Him at His word and act on that belief, you will grow in faith. It has been rightly said, "The best way to increase faith is to exercise faith. Trust Jesus as you can, and He will give you so much more than you expected that you will trust him more." It is this growing faith in Jesus that enables and empowers you to trust Him, to believe, and to act on that belief so that you can overcome the troubles, sorrows and tragedies you face in this life!