Sermon 3: John 4:43-54
Jesus heals the son of a servant of Herod – not the most popular person around.
On miracles, and what they are for.
Who is Jesus speaking to as 'needing signs and miracles'? “you people”
Do we take Jesus at his word? (Faith in terms of belief, faith in terms of trust, faith in terms of chance)
Sermon 3 words
A lot of people would say that we live in a country without faith, that Australia is a place where people do not have a desire to talk about issues like faith, because they feel faith is not relevant to their lives. But what if we split that idea, faith, up into a few different words that people use more commonly today? One part of faith is taking a risk. We take risks because we can't control everything. This is something people do every day, all the time. Whether it's sitting on a chair you've never seen before that might be broken or rickety without checking it (probably a low risk), to jumping off a cliff into water (which people do all the time at the blowhole in Warriewood), or driving a car while drunk, assuming you won't get caught by police - each one is taking a risk, because it is doing something without having total control over the outcome.
Another part of faith is trust. Trust means taking people at their word, relying on them to do something. There's a lot of talk about Australians being distrustful, especially of politicians. The truth is, every day we take people at their word. Sometimes it is for simple things – someone offers to buy us a coffee when they go to get one, and we give them five dollars assuming they will bring us back a coffee and hopefully some change. Sometimes, we trust people on really important things – someone offers to invest our life savings for us, and we take them at their word. There are many Australians who fall into trust scams, and lose everything. And no matter how many of these scams get found out, more continue to arise, because people are prepared to trust people who sound trustworthy. We trust other people because we can't do everything ourselves.
The other big part of faith is belief. This is the part that many Australians most often turn their nose up at, as if they don't believe anything, as if everyone fully researches and understands everything before they accept it as true. But when people read in the newspaper that 17 people were killed by a bomb blast, do they travel to Libya and count the bodies? When scientists say they need 4.4 billion dollars to build a particle accelerator, most people just nod and believe them, rather than asking for the complete costings, and studying what it actually costs to research, build and fund such a thing, and questioning its pertinence and relevance. They also have to believe the results the scientists tell them. The simple fact is that we need to accept things that other people tell us, because there is too much information in the world for us to absorb it all on our own. We believe things because there are just some things we can't fully know and understand for ourselves.
Today, as we look at this last, small section of John chapter 4, we are looking at a very small part of Jesus' life as recorded by John the Evangelist, and it is all about faith. In fact, it is a very relevant part of his story for us, because it gives us a glimpse at how faith works when it comes to Jesus. It also helps us to come to a deeper understanding of miracles, which can sometimes be confusing to us today. So let's dive into this last part of chapter four and see what we can learn together.
Jesus has left Samaria after spending two days in a town where he was welcomed, his teaching respected, and his authority acknowledged. He now heads back to his own people, to his home town of Galilee. Straightaway, we are caught by something of a paradox in this account. Jesus has commented that a prophet has no honour in their own country. However, we read that when he arrives, the people welcome him, because they remember all the things he had done during passover in the capital, Jerusalem. You might remember that he had cleared the temple courts of marketeers, and he spoke about rebuilding the temple in three days, and he performed many signs. In fact, if we turn quickly to chapter 2, we will gain some insight into why Jesus made the comment that he did. In chapter 2 starting at verse 23, we read, “Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name. 24 But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. 25 He did not need human testimony about them, for he knew what was in them.”
Jesus knows these people. He knows all people. He knows what people are like. One minute, they will see the miracles, hear the words of teaching, and believe what he says. But belief alone is not faith. It is only one part of faith. People can change what they believe. Sure, the crowd likes Jesus now, but they will very soon leave him. And we should be wary of that ourselves. How easy is it for you to simply believe in Jesus? When it's what you've always been taught, when it's what you've been securely brought up in and encouraged in at church every week by good bible teachers and strong leadership, how easy is it to just believe in Jesus' name? To accept that Jesus is really the son of God only as fact and not let that truth impact your life? We should be warned by the stunning words of James in his epistle, at chapter 2 verse 19, where he says, “You believe that there is one God? Good! Even the demons believe that – and shudder.” Belief is not enough. Believing there is one God is not enough. Knowing Jesus is the son of God, and that he died for your sin, is not enough! These people had believed in Jesus' name, in his authority, but they weren't going to stick around. There is more to faith than just belief.
So Jesus travels to Cana, and John reminds us that this is the place where he turned the water to wine at a wedding. That really sets the scene for what follows. Jesus is returning to a place where he did a miracle, and it is here that he is going to be asked to do another. You see, a royal official had a sick son in Capernaum. Now, Capernaum was well over ten miles away, and when you can't jump in a car, that's a fair hike, more than a day's walk. But this official has made the trip, because his son is dying, and he has nowhere else to turn. So when he hears that Jesus has arrived in the area again, he starts walking. Remember, this man's son is dying. Does he go out on what could be a wild goose chase to try and hunt down this possible miracle worker? Or does he stay with his son for what could be his last hours alive?
This official takes a risk, and heads out to find this supposed prophet. He takes another risk, too – you see, he is a royal official for Herod, the so-called king of the Jews. Herod was seen basically as a puppet of the Roman regime, and so someone who worked for him was seen as something of a sell-out, a traitor. It was like being a tax collector back in those days, or perhaps going and working for a cigarette company now. Sure, it's a job, but people are not going to think well of you for doing it. This man could not be sure that Jesus would help him, even if he had the power to heal. He might get sent home empty-handed. No wonder when he gets to Jesus, he begs. Thankfully, we know that Jesus does not discriminate against people. Last week, he didn't discriminate against a woman who had been married several times, and then was living with a man outside of marriage. He didn't discriminate against a whole town of Samaritans, who weren't even from the same nation as him, and were considered outsiders, or enemies. He doesn't discriminate against this royal official, and he does not discriminate against anyone today, either. No matter who we are, what we have done, or where we come from, Jesus is willing to deal with us.
But following God is a risk. When you pray for something, you then let it out of your control. Something we really like in the west is control. Control brings security and comfort. This royal official probably had a bit of power and control over life. But when his son was dying, his choices were limited. He chose to take a risk and go to Jesus, rather than to take control, and get the last few hours of his son's life before losing him. Are you prepared to risk your comfort and security, and take the risk of taking God at his word and living the way he expects you to, relying on him instead of yourself? Jesus will accept you, but will you accept him?
Now, Jesus' response to the official is very interesting. The official comes with a need – his son is dying, and he wants help. But Jesus makes a comment – not to the official alone, but to all the people of Galilee, to those people who had believed in Jesus' name in Jerusalem, but who he knew he couldn't trust. He says to them, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will never believe.” Now, how would you feel if someone told you that you didn't really believe something you said you did? But that is exactly what Jesus is saying about these people. They had already seen signs. They had already 'believed' in his name back in chapter 2, or so they said. Jesus here is showing the limitations of miracles and wonders in actually convincing people to truly believe, to truly have faith.
You have heard the saying, “I'll believe it when I see it”? These days, the saying is, “Pics or it didn't happen.” Now that so many young people have a camera built into their mobile phone, they demand pictures of everything, displayed on Facebook or emailed around, or else they won't believe that it happened! Many people think they need to see in order to believe. Quite a few people will say, “If Jesus came down and did a miracle in front of me now, I would believe in him.” Does that sound familiar? In Matthew 27:42, the religious leaders said, “Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him.” They had already seen him perform miracles, but that wasn't good enough. Their unbelief was a mockery against Jesus as he died on the cross. More fool them.
The truth is that many, many people saw Jesus perform miracles, or even were healed themselves, and yet did not come to faith in Jesus as Christ, as Son of God. In Luke 17, ten lepers approach Jesus, all call him Master, and all ask to be healed. Jesus tells them to present themselves to the priest, and when they do all ten are healed. But only one returns to Jesus, to thank him and praise God. I wonder how such people reconciled their healing, or the miracles and signs they'd seen, with not having faith in Christ? The fact of the matter is that Jesus had made claims about his godhood, about his mission from the Father, about coming from heaven, about the kingdom of God. And even though these people had heard what Jesus had to say, even though they had seen it backed up with miracles, backed up with heavenly signs, backed up by the testimony of those healed and of John the Baptist, they did not take Jesus at his word. They did not trust Jesus.
Imagine for a moment you were to take a gospel – any gospel, your favourite, perhaps. Mine happens to be John. So, let's take the book of John, and let's cut out everything Jesus has to say. Let's cut out everything that talks about Jesus. Let's only keep in those bits that are miracles, signs and wonders. For one thing, the book would be a lot shorter. But think – even though you read about Jesus turning water into wine, healings, exorcism of demons from people, feeding of thousands, walking on water – and even the resurrection – without having any of what Jesus says included in the gospel, what use would it be? How would we know anything about why Jesus came, what the signs and wonders signified, what his death and resurrection meant, without his words to tell us? Jesus could come to earth, do all those miracles, die, be raised, and ascend to heaven, with none of us being any the wiser about what it meant. All of Jesus' miraculous actions are meaningless, except as signs pointing to the truth of his message. That's how these people were treating Jesus – ignoring his words, only accepting his miracles. And that is meaningless.
When you think about it like that, Jesus' words take on an even more forceful meaning. “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will never believe.” For them, Jesus' words, the words of God, were not important. No, they needed signs. Even with those signs, though, they were not convinced. They were not prepared to take a risk, they were just happy to accept whatever signs they saw, but nothing else. If your position is that you can't believe what Jesus says until you see a miraculous sign, I would advise you to think deeply about whether it would make any difference. Are you really just using that as an excuse not to take his words seriously?
Now the official, he had come to Jesus, had taken the risk of failure, the risk of rejection, and so he simply says in verse 49, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” And Jesus' reply to this request is simple. “Go, Jesus replied, “your son will live.” No fancy hand-waving, no miraculous sign, no wondrous portent, not even a taking a single step towards the official's house in Caperneum. Just those simple words, “Go, your son will live.” And we are told that this royal official took Jesus at his word and departed. He didn't walk away sad like the rich young ruler. He didn't walk away confused like Nicodemus. He walks away, having taken Jesus at his word, trusting that Jesus is telling the truth, believing that Jesus has the power to back up his words, without having to see a sign, or witness a miracle. It's out of his hands, so he takes the risk that Jesus is right.
Do you recall Jesus' words to Thomas, who had to see Jesus' crucifixion wounds to believe that he was resurrected from the dead? Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” These words are about those people who believe without being able to see the miracles that took place. People like us. We simply do not get the option of seeing Jesus risen the way the disciples did. We have to believe their testimony, believe John's testimony here in his Gospel. We have to trust God that his message in the Bible is both true and sufficient, that he sent Christ to us to save us from our sin, and we can trust him without seeing it for ourselves. We have to trust Jesus' words that his death is enough to take away our sin. We don't get to see the miraculous sign of the resurrection to prove it to us. When we believe, there is no measurable way we can tell if our sin has been forgiven. We have to take Jesus at his word. Do you trust Christ that his death and resurrection has saved you from sin? Do you take Jesus at his word?
The official trusts Jesus enough to turn around and walk back home. By the next day, he is still travelling, when he meets one of his servants, who had probably come to give him the news, and good news it was! The boy was living, healed of his affliction. A miracle! But when the servant tells him of the hour at which the boy's sickness was gone, the official realises that this was the exact time that Jesus had told him that his son would live. As a consequence, we are told, he and his whole household believed. And so we find, at the end of this small window into one of Jesus' miracles, a complete picture of faith. A man takes a risk by giving up the paltry control he has of his circumstances, and coming to Jesus. Jesus informs him that his son is well, and he takes Jesus at his word. He trusts that what Jesus says is true, that he will deliver on his promise. Finally, he sees his son alive and well, and he believes. And his whole family also believes – having seen the healing of the boy, and heard the testimony of the father. They didn't meet Jesus, didn't hear his words, and he never saw the healing. All they see is the boy healed, and all they hear are the words told them about Jesus by the father.
We've looked at some elements of faith separately, but no doubt you can see how they are interlinked. Trusting someone, believing something – both are taking a risk. Trusting someone can also involve believing something they tell you – accepting both the person's truthfulness and the veracity of the facts they base their words on. Similarly, believing some piece of information usually also involves trusting the source from which it comes. For people today, both believers and non-believers, they face several big questions as they consider what role Jesus might play in their lives. Can they believe that God exists, that there is a spiritual reality to the universe, that there might be life after death, a heaven and a hell? Can they trust the words of those who have written the Bible, what Jesus has to say about God, about sin, about how to live? Can they take the risk of losing control over their own life, and putting that control into the hands of God?
They are difficult questions, because they are questions of faith. They can't be explained, nor their answers discovered, merely with science, or even simply with logic. Such spiritual questions must be answered both with the mind and with the heart. It is not simply a matter of believing something – like the people of Galilee, who believed, or perhaps even knew in their heads that Jesus was sent by God. Faith is both a matter of knowing, or believing, and also trusting, and also doing. To have faith in Jesus is to accept what he says, not just as a fact, but as a truth which changes how you live your life. Coming to faith in Jesus is often a process for people, but it doesn't always follow the pattern in this narrative. Many people will never witness the healing of a loved one, for example. The most compelling miracle most people will see is the impact faith has on someone's everyday life, on your life. If we are to be ambassadors of Christ, we must show people that living the life of faith – of belief, trust, and taking risks – is not just a possibility, it is a real and practical way of life. How can we expect others to take these steps, if we can't show them how we do so in our lives?
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