Well, this afternoon, we're going to look at this passage, and before we do, I just want to put it into some sort of context quickly, because John, up to this point in his gospel has been emphasizing that salvation is a work of God.
When Jesus spoke to Nicodemus back in chapter 3, you may remember, he said, you must be born again.
You must be born of the Spirit, and only God can do that.
It's a divine work.
Salvation is a divine work to which man or a woman are not able to add anything to.
It's solely God.
And while it's right that John emphasizes salvation as the sovereign work of God,
John also emphasizes the necessity of the sinner's faith,
and the fact that the sinner must believe.
At the end of John, chapter 20, verse 31,
John is very explicit as to why he actually wrote this gospel.
He says, he's written these words so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God,
and that by believing you may have life in his name.
In other words, John is writing with the hope that as we read his words,
we will see Jesus for who he really is and believe in him.
And I think it's interesting that John uses the word belief over 90 times in his book.
And belief is not only the theme of John's gospel, but it is also the essence of the Christian faith.
One must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation.
And whenever we look outside of Christian faith,
we find that all the other religions have one thing in common that is not taught in the Bible.
They teach that salvation does not belong solely to God,
that people themselves are actually able to accomplish a righteous relationship with God
and achieve salvation from judgment on their own.
In other words, false religions provide a platform for men and women to rule themselves,
to sit on the young throne of their lives and decide for themselves what is right and what is wrong.
However, here in the Gospel of John,
John is emphatic that there is only one way to have sin forgiven.
There is only one way to get to heaven.
And that is by believing in the work and the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And for those who do not, there is no salvation.
There is only eternal damnation and torment.
Now, in the opening verses of John chapter 1,
John made the statement that when Jesus came from heaven,
he came to his own people, but generally as a rule, they didn't receive him.
And we see throughout the Gospel of John that there are people who refuse to believe Jesus.
Some receive him while others reject him.
And that is what we see here in the healing of the royal official's son.
As the story is meant to show us the contrast between a false faith and a true faith.
In fact, in many ways, the story expands on the statement of John's at the end of chapter 2,
where he said,
Jesus did not need any testimony about men and women,
because he already knew what was in each person.
Jesus knew what men and women were thinking and feeling,
what was really and truly in their hearts.
Now, in our passage here in verse 43,
Jesus returns to Galilee from Samaria.
You'll remember that Jesus had stopped off at the well in Samaria,
and he'd met the woman,
and he'd been received by a large number of people who believed in him,
and many, many people were saved before he left.
However, Jesus knew that when he arrived in Galilee,
his reception would be very different from Samaria.
Verse 44, John uses a proverb to make a very specific statement,
that a prophet has no honor in his own country.
And the fact that that proverb rings so true
is a testimony to the utterly perverse state of mankind,
that men and women hate things that are familiar to them.
In fact, they breathe contempt in us.
Their problem was this, though, his message.
It was offensive to them.
They loved the miracles of Jesus,
but they hated the message that he brought.
And if we look at verse 45,
a simple reading gives us the impression
that Jesus' reputation was spreading like wildfire.
They welcomed him.
They had all seen what he had done at the Passover festival.
You see, Jesus had been performing miracles there,
and we know that he used those miracles
in order to show his credentials
as the one who had actually been sent from heaven.
But you know, as I read this,
I wondered how seriously
the Lord Jesus really accepted
the enthusiasm of the Galileans as he arrived.
We've already been told that Jesus knew
what was in the heart and mind of every man and woman.
And the fact is,
their welcome was superficial.
To say they welcomed him
has a sort of ironic feel to it.
And if we have any doubt
about how Jesus felt about the welcome he received,
we all have to read his response
to the man who approached him there in verse 48.
Unless you, and that's plural,
unless you people see signs and wonders,
you'll never believe.
This man is described to us as a royal official.
He was most likely a member
of the court of Herod Antipas.
And he had walked 25 miles
to find Jesus in Cana
because we're told his son was sick and close to death.
This is a situation that every parent can empathize with.
A sick child.
And not just sick, but dying.
And I think we can assume
that the official would have had
access to all the known remedies of the day.
I mean, he had servants,
so apparently he had money.
He was a royal official in the court,
so he would have had some access
to the physicians in the court.
And I'm quite sure
that all the finest medical advice
had been tried,
and still the child woke up every morning
in a worse state than the day before.
And we see there in verse 47
that the official had heard the news
that Jesus had returned to Cana.
So he left his home in search of Jesus
and with a hope that Jesus would help his son.
And when he finds Jesus in verse 47,
he implores Jesus to return home
and heal his son.
Many translations say
that he begged,
he begged Jesus to come.
Again, in verse 48,
notice how the reply of Jesus
was short and sharp.
It's almost like a rebuke.
Notice, too,
that he expands his audience
from just the official alone
to all the Galileans who were there.
Unless you people,
he's saying in the plural.
You see, Jesus is saying
to the official and to the crowd,
you are nothing but curiosity seekers.
You have no interest
in the message that I bring.
You see, it was like going to the circus
for many of them.
They thought of him
as a sort of super magician.
But Jesus knew
that the miracles on their own
had no lasting, eternal effect.
The people were pleased
to see the miracles.
In fact, they yearned
to see the miracles.
But they had no desire
to recognize Jesus
as Lord and Savior.
And John makes it clear
throughout the gospel
that the human heart
is so blinded by sin
that not even miracles
can produce a true
and living faith.
You remember Judas.
He saw countless miracles.
In fact,
he performed miracles himself
in the name of Jesus.
But he didn't have
a true and living faith.
So Jesus knew
that these miracles alone
would not produce
a sincere saving faith
in the people.
And John is showing us here
that their faith
is simply a manifestation
of their enthusiasm.
A faith produced
by their enthusiasm
over the miracles.
And the problem
is not an issue
of having faith
or not having faith.
I mean, we all have faith
as something
to some degree or another.
There are many people
who call themselves Christians,
but they still do
and have a sincere faith.
And we see this problem
throughout the Bible,
even in the Old Testament.
It was one of the primary themes
in the prophets.
They spoke to a congregation
who had the outward sign
of circumcision,
but they were lacking
the inner reality
that the circumcision
was supposed to represent.
These people looked forward
to the day of the Lord.
They were always talking
about when the day
the Lord would come
and He would draw near to them
and rescue them.
But it was Amos
and the other prophets
who warned them
of their folly.
The prophets told them,
You talk about
the day of the Lord,
but the day of the Lord
is not going to be good for you.
In fact,
it is going to be
a terrible day for you
because your faith
in the Lord
is not real.
You talk about
your faith in the Lord,
but look around.
You are unfaithful
to the Lord.
And that was the problem
in the Old Testament.
And it remained the problem
even during the time of Jesus.
His ministry began
with the same warning
over and over and over again
throughout His teaching.
He warns the people.
You remember Jesus said,
Many of you will say to me
on that day,
Lord,
did we not drive out
demons in your name?
And I will say to you,
depart from me.
I never knew you.
It was always a part
of His public teaching.
He spoke again and again
about the hypocrisy
of the Jews.
And their faith
was all posture
and not a true
and sincere trust
in the grace
and the mercy of God.
And the distinction
between true
and false faith
is a large,
large part
of the teaching
of Jesus.
I just think about
all the parables
and the illustrations
that He used
throughout the Gospels
to illustrate false faith.
the Pharisee,
the tax collector,
the prodigal son,
the rich man
and Lazarus,
the narrow door,
the wise and foolish virgins,
and so on and so on.
And just look at His teaching.
In every case,
without exception,
the one who has
the Lord's approval
and is set before us
as the true believer
is the person
in the lowly,
humble position
who simply acknowledges
his need
and cries out
for mercy.
And of course,
in the end,
we saw the manifestation
of all the warnings.
We actually saw
the reality
of false faith
in action.
It was the religious element,
the upright,
the respectable,
who finally,
in a frenzy
of what they thought
was religious zeal,
murdered Jesus.
Because of false faith,
they murdered
their own Messiah.
And Jesus was always
concerned about false faith
because He did recognize
that it's the easiest
thing in the world
to think of oneself
as a Christian
when one is not.
Or to think of oneself
as being at peace
with God
when one is not.
Examine yourself
to see whether you
are in the faith,
Paul writes.
Again, he writes,
let the one who thinks
he is standing
take heed
lest he fall.
Now, with regard
to the official,
at this point,
he's not really interested
in any of these issues.
He simply wanted
a healing
for his son.
He believed
that Jesus
had the power
to grant his request.
However,
instead of tending
the bedside
or offering
an obvious miracle,
verse 50 says,
Jesus simply said,
Go,
your son will live.
The man took Jesus
at his word
and departed.
The man took Jesus
at his word
and left for hope.
I mean,
imagine that.
A 25-mile walk,
16 words with Jesus,
and he turns around
and starts walking
back home.
But as he left
for home,
we are seeing
a man take steps
of belief.
And we know he believed
because he left.
There's no more pleading.
There's no more desperation.
He did what Jesus
said to do.
He just,
he went home.
It says he believed
the words of Jesus.
I mean,
this man took Jesus
at his word,
which showed that
he was not like
the rest of the crowd
who were only interested
in seeing the signs
of the wonders.
And his trust,
the faith that he put
in the words of Jesus,
led to the healing
of his son
at that exact hour
some 25 miles away.
See,
the official
was asked
to believe
without saying,
to accept the words
of Jesus
without the visual
assistance of a miracle.
It may have been hard,
but the man did it.
And that's what
made the difference.
He believed,
and then he received
a miracle.
You see,
that phrase in verse 50,
the man took Jesus
at his word
and departed,
is an important phrase
because as he accepted
the words of Jesus
and believed him,
the omniscient,
omnipresent power
of the Lord Jesus
was 25 miles away
touching the body
of that boy.
And Jesus never left
the spot
that he was standing on.
And as the official
believed the words
of Jesus,
he moved from
a detached,
philosophical view
of Jesus
to a view
that was focused
on who Jesus
really is.
I mean,
if you think about
the crowd,
the popular view
was,
look,
we're not denying
that Jesus
is a miracle worker.
We've all seen it.
Everybody knows
it's supernatural
and no one denies it.
But what is it
that moves a man
or a woman
from having that
detached view
of an observer,
a person who sees
Jesus as a showman
or a miracle worker
to a view that sees
the reality
of who he is.
And that catalyst
for the transformation
we see here
is need.
It's recognizing
that one has
a desperate need.
In Matthew 9,
Jesus said,
the people who aren't sick
aren't out looking
for a doctor,
are they?
It's that moment
when we recognize
that we are in
a desperate situation
and that under
our own power
we have no remedy.
It's when we recognize
that left to our own devices
and our own schemes,
there is only failure
on the horizon.
We must admit
our need for help.
And you see,
this sort of desperation
will drive people.
And it drove this man
to Jesus.
And when he found him,
he begged Jesus
to give life
to his son.
Now the difference
between the Galileans
and their superficial interest
and this father
who begged
for the life
of his son
was desperation.
Here was a man
who loved his son.
He was terrified
that he would die.
So he came
to the Lord Jesus.
He implored.
He begged Jesus
to come with him.
Imagine that.
A royal official
walking 25 miles
to beg
a Nazarene carpenter
for his help.
What would you think
his friends and colleagues
would have said
about that?
But in his need,
he has found
a true friend.
He's realized
that this man,
Jesus,
could obviously
do much,
much more for him
and his family
than that.
C.S. Lewis once wrote,
You never know
how much you really
believe anything
until its truth
or its falsehood
becomes a matter
of life and death
to you.
And that was
the problem
for the Galileans.
There was never
an admission
of terrible need.
There was never
a cry for help.
I mean,
they were in danger
to be sure,
but they never
recognized it.
They simply
couldn't see it
through their
self-satisfied
hearts and minds.
They were happy
with the status quo.
While on the other
hand,
the royal official
had come to realize
that he needed
Jesus desperately.
And some of the
Galatians were
fascinated,
as the people
will be,
with someone
who can work
miracles.
But otherwise,
the message,
the meaning,
the significance
of Jesus Christ
completely escaped
them.
It just passed
them by.
He was offering
forgiveness and
righteousness with
God, but they
were sure that
they already had
that.
As we have said,
the story throughout
the ministry of
Jesus was the same.
Those who came
to realize
their great needs
suddenly saw in
Jesus the one
who could help
them when no
one else was
able to.
But those who
refused to admit
their need,
well, first they
found Jesus
interesting.
Then they found
him entertaining.
Then he became
irritating and
finally he became
infuriating.
His message
offended them.
He required them
to admit the
darkness in their
hearts, but they
resented even the
very suggestion
that there was
anything to admit.
And what we see
in this father is
a man who learned
as a result of
his son being at
death's door,
that he had needs
that only Jesus
could deal with.
You know, the
Lord often brings
men and women to
faith in this way.
Instead of a
person immediately
seeing themselves
as a sinner
in need of
salvation,
very often men
and women are
shown first to
realize how weak
and needy they
truly are through
some trouble or
failure or through
some extreme
disappointment in
life.
But once that is
acknowledged, the
dam is broken
and their need for
other things,
especially peace with
God, could actually
be acknowledged.
And that seems to
be what happened
with this man.
Verse 51 tells us
that he was going
home when his
servants came out
to meet him with
the news that the
boy was recovering.
The miracle had
happened.
His faith had been
rewarded.
The boy was
alive and well.
And the official
asked at what
time the boy was
revived and he
found it was at
the exact moment
that Jesus spoke.
Verse 53 there
confirms that the
official was a
believer as he
shared his faith
with his whole
house and they
believed too.
He turned into
an evangelist just
like that.
He began by
looking to Christ
for the earthly
life of his son.
And he's ended
up looking to
Christ for his
own eternal
life and that
of his family
as well.
And there is
the distinction
that the Lord
Jesus makes
between true
and false
faith.
False faith
looks to Jesus
for what will
interest and
entertain.
True faith on
the other hand
looks to Jesus
in desperation
and realizes that
he and he
alone is the
only one who
can give you
what you must
have for life
now and
forever.
and with
that recognition
a person finds
in Jesus a
savior and a
friend with
every worth
every ounce of
loyalty and love
that one can
muster.
Now at the
start of the
story the father
had a sort of
faith.
He was a
religious man.
He believed
that Jesus was a
miracle worker and
he sought out
Jesus in the hope
of receiving a
miracle.
But at that
point he had
no living trust
in Jesus Christ
because his
heart had not
yet been engaged
by the Lord.
And it was
not until he
believed the
words of Jesus
that his
blindness cleared
and he could
see Jesus for
who he really
was.
The son of
God and the
savior of the
world.
Now both the
Galileans and the
father had faith.
I mean both
states of mind
are in the
Bible and they
are both called
faith.
But the
difference between
them is the
difference between
light and
darkness, life and
death, heaven and
hell.
I mean you
can call Jesus
the greatest
miracle worker
that ever lived.
You can call him
the greatest
teacher that ever
lived and you
would be right.
But you see
John teaches us
that that is not
enough.
John wants us to
learn from his
words that Jesus
is the Christ,
the son of the
living God, the
savior of the
world and you
must believe that
who he is and
what he came to
do is the only
way to receive
eternal life.
And that is the
gift that God
gives to those of
us who believe
in his son.
Let me pray for
us.
Thank you.