Healing of the Nobleman's Son

If you have a Bible, I would like you to turn to the gospel according to John and chapter four. I want to think about life and healing that comes through the word of the Lord. And that's illustrated to us in this miracle that the Lord Jesus performs for the nobleman, the official and his son at the end of John four.

So we're reading from verse 46 to the end of the chapter. He, the Lord Jesus, went again to Cana of Galilee where he had turned water into wine. There was a certain nobleman, a royal official whose son was ill at Capernaum.

When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea into Galilee, he went to him and pleaded with him to come down and heal his son since he was about to die. I know that's the same attitude of heart that people have here tonight, mom and dad. Concern for a son or a daughter who needs to be healed from their sin.

Jesus told him, verse 48, unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe. Sir, the official said to him, come down before my boy dies. Go, Jesus told him, your son will live.

The man believed the word that Jesus said to him and departed. Verse 51, while he was still going down, his servants met him saying that his boy was alive. He asked them at what time he got better.

Yesterday at one in the afternoon, the seventh hour, the fever left him, they answered. The father realized this was the very hour at which Jesus had told him, your son will live. So he himself believed along with his whole household.

Now this also was the second sign Jesus performed after he came from Judea to Galilee. Sometimes people think that if we were present when the Lord Jesus did these miracles, that that would help us to have faith. Wouldn't it be a wonderful thing to have actually been there? Then it would prove to me that it was real and then I could believe if I had actually seen the miracle done.

Well, I get that, but there's a couple of things to keep in mind. Many people and perhaps most of the people that saw the Lord Jesus do miracles, that saw them with their own natural eyes, didn't actually believe in him. So just seeing the miracle take place, that in itself didn't mean that someone was going to accept the Lord Jesus.

The other thing is that you and I have an advantage over the people that were there in the first century observing those miracles. You and I have an advantage that they didn't have. They saw one or two miracles perhaps, but we have a record through the gospels of many miracles that took place in different areas.

They didn't have the liberty to travel like we do. I know some of you here are probably heading down to North Carolina next weekend. And we think very little of that.

I mean, it's just an easy thing to do. We can travel across the country, but they didn't travel in these days. So we get this record of many miracles from many places.

We get to see different perspectives. They just saw one little angle of it, but we get an inspired account from God in the scripture. So we get more details than a simple eyewitness account could have achieved.

We have the advantage of the written word of God. It's a big advantage. It's wonderful to hold the word of God in our hands.

Don't underestimate the power of the living and the written word of God. What you hold in your hands, if you have a Bible, you hold God's word. And God speaks to us through this word.

This is a living word. It's a life-giving word. It's a word that pierces right into our hearts at times.

Not only does it wound us, but it can bind us up and heal us. That's the great thing about the word of the Lord. The Lord's word is very important in this story.

Back at verse number 50, it said, the man believed the word that Jesus spoke. He keys in on that. He wants the Lord Jesus to come down.

The Lord Jesus doesn't come down, but the Lord speaks the word. And the man believes the word that Jesus spoke. He finds out, when was it that the boy began to feel better? It was at the very hour that Jesus had spoken the word.

So the man believed the word. And you have that same opportunity tonight. You can believe God's word.

The Lord Jesus says, he that hears my word and believes him that sent me has everlasting life. They will not come into judgment. They have passed from death into life by hearing and believing my word.

And you can believe in the Lord Jesus tonight through the word. It's a great privilege for you to have a Bible and to hear the gospel preached. Cherish it and take advantage of it.

You have something else in common with this noble man, this royal official. He knew about the good reputation of Jesus. He hears that the Lord Jesus is coming.

This is the same area where he has turned water into wine. And when the man heard that Jesus was coming, the man who had turned water into wine, he says, this is my opportunity. This is a good man.

This is a man with power. This is a real man who can change things. And you've probably seen some of that as well.

You know, some of the works of the Lord in people's lives, even in this very room, just after the last meeting, I had a couple come up to me and share with me how God spoke to them through their word and how he worked in their experience. And I'm sure you have heard similar stories. God's a real God.

Salvation is a real thing. The Holy Spirit is a real person. God's gospel and salvation is a real thing.

You likely know people maybe even in recent weeks or months or years, probably from your very own peer group that have been saved. And you've seen the change in their life. You know the reality of it.

You've seen it in family members. You know that this is real, what the Lord Jesus provides. He has saved others and he can do the same for you.

Jesus has a wonderful reputation. There's lots of criticism that people throw against the church at times. And sometimes people criticize the Christians and I understand that.

We're not perfect people. I'm very thankful, at least I don't. You tell me if it's different in your experience.

I don't hear people say bad things about the Lord Jesus very much. It's a wonderful thing. They know that this is a good man.

And while we fail at times, the gospel isn't a call for you to become a follower of the church. It's not a call for you to put your faith in the gospel hall or in the Christians, but it's a call for you to believe the word of the Lord Jesus, to put your faith in him. And people come looking for the Lord Jesus because they know this is a trustworthy man.

He's displayed his power in the past. He can do it again. And the God who has saved your brother or sister and the God who has saved your friend or your neighbor or your family is the God who can save you tonight if you would believe his word.

The man comes to the Lord Jesus because he has a child that he is concerned about. I know that feeling and many of you know that feeling. We've had a couple instances where we've had to rush a child to the hospital because of a severe allergic reaction.

And I remember my wife running into the hospital holding an EpiPen and how quickly the nurses came to him and rush him in. And there's a team of doctors around him and the emotions that that brings and your concern for your child. Well, this man's concerned for his child.

He says, my son is about to die. The Lord Jesus encountered a lot of sick people as recorded in the gospels. Why does the scriptures give us so many accounts of people who are sick, who the Lord Jesus met? Well, one of the reasons is, is that there is a lot of sickness in our broken world.

No sickness in the world that God made in Genesis chapter one, when it was very good. No sickness then because there was no sin. And we are Christians, we're looking forward to a world with no death and no grief and no sin and no pain and no sickness.

But when sin entered our world, sickness followed. And every sickness and disease that exists in the world traces its root back to sin. That doesn't mean that if you get sick, that it's because you've committed a bad sin.

That's not what I'm saying, but I'll tell you what it does mean. It means that you live with a sinful nature. That your body has been corrupted by sin.

We are broken, sin-cursed people and we need healing. And the Lord Jesus' healing of sick people is a great lesson to us for how he can heal our hearts from our sin. This man, he's got a fever, this boy does in verse 52.

A fever's only a symptom. It doesn't, it's fighting infection. We don't know what the exact infection was, but it must have been serious.

He's got a fever and he's about to die. Well, the most serious infection of the ancient world is still the most serious infection of the modern world. Do you know about half the world's population today is at risk of contracting malaria? About half the world's population.

And in the year, I think it was 2022, there were maybe 259 million cases of malaria, they estimate worldwide. It probably starts, it usually starts with a bite from an infected mosquito. One of the first symptoms is a very high fever and over half a million people died every year from malaria.

However, I think the number of malaria cases in the United States is 0.00001% of the world's malaria cases. It's not, that's not something for you to be too concerned about. It's not a big threat to your health.

The most serious infection in the ancient world wasn't malaria, it was sin. And that's still the most serious infection. The gospel is the message of the one doctor who can heal you of your disease.

Remember what he said in Luke five, healthy people don't need a doctor, it's sick people that do. He said, I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, people who are sick with sin, that's who I came to call to repentance. It's wonderful to be able to preach the message about the ultimate doctor who can heal us of all of our sins.

We get partial healing the moment we trust him. There will be fullness of healing when he takes us to glory. He's a perfect doctor, but you need to be healed.

And the circumstances of your infection are more serious and urgent than you might have realized. Other people tend to realize the urgency more than you do, perhaps. That's like the father in this story.

He's urgent about it. He says, come down, my son is about to die. Come down now.

That's exactly how the Bible says we should view salvation. Behold, now is the accepted time. Today is a day of salvation.

Seek the Lord while he may be found, Isaiah chapter 55. Call upon him while he is near. And I'll tell you, there's two big things.

When I'm preaching the gospel, there's two huge things that I wish we could better convey to people. Number one, how much God loves you and wants to bless you. I wish I could do a better job of making people realize that.

The second thing that I wish I could do a better job of conveying to people is the urgency of your need for spiritual healing, the urgency of your need. The father knows it. This is life or death, there's no time left.

Come down before my child dies. That's the attitude that others have towards you and they pray for you. Lord, you know the need of my child.

Save them, have mercy upon them. And I think if you just knew a little bit more about how sick you were with sin, you would want to be healed tonight. Let me tell you about a most important flight.

United Airlines' last flight of the day from Houston to Cincinnati was about to depart. Steve was working the desk for United Airlines. He announced the last call for boarding, looked at his screen.

He saw that there were six passengers that had very tight connections and didn't look like they were going to make that flight. So he went and closed the door. And when the gate, when the door to the gate is closed, the door doesn't open again.

There had been delays throughout the day because of weather. He didn't want there to be any more delays, so he closes the door. When the gate agent closes the door, it does not open again.

Shortly after Steve closes the door, Shane and Jennifer come running up to that gate, clearly out of breath, clearly desperate. And in Shane's arms is their little baby daughter, Peyton. Quite a few hours earlier, they'd been due to leave from McAllen, Texas to Houston, but they'd been delayed because of sleet and hail.

So they only had 10 minutes to rush across the Houston airport. And they did their best to make that connection for the final flight to Cincinnati because they had to get to Cincinnati because baby Peyton was very ill. And she had a severe kidney infection.

The surgery was available in Cincinnati. It was scheduled for the first thing the next morning. And so they had to make that last flight from Houston to Cincinnati.

And as they're trying to explain this to Steve, who's by that closed door, there's two things that are happening. The other few passengers who were also late, they're now making their way up to the gate. And the other thing that's happening is the plane is taxiing away from the gate and heading out to the runway.

They had a very sick child, but the gate had been closed. Do you ever ask yourself the question, how much time do I have left to accept God's Son? I don't know the answer to that. I'll tell you two things.

God says now is the time. And it's likely later than you think already in your life. And one day that door will close.

Now, as I stand here, you're like the boy in this story because it's not too late right now. It's not too late right now. And the Lord Jesus is ready and willing to heal you.

He's ready. He's willing. He's able to save you.

Only believe His word. There's great power in Jesus' word. That comes in verse 50, right? The Lord Jesus speaks.

And the man believes the word that Jesus spoke. Verse 53 tells us that it was the moment that the Lord Jesus spoke the word that that boy was healed. Because this is a man, the Lord Jesus, who has authority over sickness and death.

There is life-giving power in His word. That's why we plead with people to read the Bible and to listen to the preaching of the word and to hear what God says in the word and to rest on the word. Because the word grants life.

He that hears my word and believes Him that sent me has everlasting life. Now, I left you hanging on that United Airlines story. There's more to it.

The door was closed. And when the gate agent closes the door, it does not open again. Except in extenuating circumstances.

And when Shane and Jennifer explain the situation about baby Peyton's health to Steve, he made a call. They've got to get to Cincinnati for this life-saving kidney surgery. So he gets that story from them.

He radios flight operations. They send the message out to the pilot. It's the pilot's decision.

And the pilot said, I'm gonna come back and pick them up. Steve gave the word. And they responded to the word.

And baby Peyton got on that flight. She had the surgery the next day. It was successful.

She was healed. Now, there's many, many stories today that cause people to lose trust in the airlines. There was a good story.

I'll tell you one man that we never need to lose trust in is the Lord Jesus. His word always counts. His word always is true.

I hate it when I make a commitment to my children and I'm unable to keep it for some reason. Something unexpected comes up or maybe I just got overtired or something. I don't know.

I hate that. But the Lord Jesus always keeps his word. He says, the person that comes to me, I'll never cast them out.

He says, if you hear my word and believe you'll have everlasting life, his word grants life. That's what the story is teaching us. Your son will live.

The boy is alive. It was the hour that Jesus spoke that the boy was alive. You see, John's emphasizing this.

There's life through his word. That's how you can find eternal life tonight. It's through the truth of this word.

Maybe it's 1 Timothy 1 that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief. Maybe it's Luke 15 and one. This man receives sinners.

That's me. Maybe it's Luke 18. God be merciful to me, a sinner.

Maybe it's Romans 6, 23 that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Maybe it's John 3 and 36. Whoever believes on the son has everlasting life.

Maybe it's thinking of the words of the Lord Jesus in John 19, 30, when he said, it is finished. He's given his word and he's not going to give us more than his word. His word is enough.

You can rest on his word. You don't need more than his word. You see, this man wants Jesus to come down, he says.

And the Lord Jesus doesn't need to come down. 17 mile distance. I don't need to travel 17 miles.

I can just speak the word. I don't know how many miles to where the Lord Jesus is tonight. But it's of no concern because he speaks the word.

We don't need more than his word. When he said, it is finished, everything was fully done. And now it's our responsibility to accept his word.

And the word that tells you you are sick with sin is the word that tells you you can do nothing to heal yourself. It's the same word that tells you that the Lord Jesus has done it all and waits for you to trust him. Nothing in the world is more reliable than God's word.

You've got lots of hopes for the future and plans and intentions. That's good. That's fine.

Make the plans. But remember, nothing in the world is as certain as the word of God. Listen to what he says.

Whoever hears my word and believes him that sent me has everlasting life.