2023.01.29 Have Mercy!

Have Mercy!

Passage • John 4:46–53

John 4:46–53 NASB 2020

46 Therefore He came again to Cana of Galilee, where He had made the water into wine. And there was a royal official whose son was sick at Capernaum. 47 When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and began asking Him to come down and heal his son; for he was at the point of death. 48 Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe.” 49 The royal official said to Him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” 50 Jesus said to him, “Go; your son is alive.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went home. 51 And as he was now going down, his slaves met him, saying that his son was alive. 52 So he inquired of them the hour when he began to get better. Then they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” 53 So the father knew that it was at that hour in which Jesus said to him, “Your son is alive” ; and he himself believed, and his entire household.

Last week’s story with Nicodemus approaching Jesus at night doesn’t include a location, but it’s very likely that it would have happened in Jerusalem. Just before that story, John records the Passover where Jesus clears the Temple. So, Chapter 3 appears to likely occur in Jerusalem.

Chapter 4 begins with Jesus turning toward his home region - Galilee. Along the way, Jesus encounters the Woman at the Well in Sychar. He stays there 2 days, and then leaves for Galilee.

Last we said one of the things we could learn about God is that signs and wonders would be the ID card for the one God sent.

The Woman at the Well encounters a “man who told me all the things that I have done” and recognized him as the Christ. Before we get to today’s story, look at verse 44:

[not on screen] Read vs 44, then ask why the Galileans received Jesus...

John 4:44–45 NASB 2020

44 For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country. 45 So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, only because they had seen all the things that He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they themselves also went to the feast.

Then, into today’s reading, John begins with a reference to another miracle in vs. 46:

John 4:46 NASB 2020

46 Therefore He came again to Cana of Galilee, where He had made the water into wine. And there was a royal official whose son was sick at Capernaum.

And then we have this miraculous event. Before I provide any answers… let me ask you the question:

What do you learn about GOD from this story?

[Give a chance for them to share what they may learn about God from this story.]

God can heal without physically being in the room!

Notice what the official asks in vs. 47 [not on screen]:

John 4:47 NASB 2020

47 When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and began asking Him to come down and heal his son; for he was at the point of death.

The request was for Jesus to COME DOWN AND HEAL HIS DYING SON. Did Jesus go down? No. He did not. Why not? Because it wasn’t necessary.

God can heal without physically being in the room!

Healing and helping people believe is not an interruption.

Jesus is just passing through Cana. I’m sure there was likely a crowd gathering in every town he visited. He’s on his way home. He’s nearly there when he gets to Cana, and this official interrupts his day - his plan.

Just like with the woman at the well, Jesus is willing to stop what he’s doing and set his own plans aside to deal with this official. “Unless you see miraculous signs and wonders, you won’t believe.” In a minute, we’ll get to what Jesus means when he says “believe”, but recognize that he is willing to stop what’s going on to heal someone, not to show how great he is … but to help people believe.

And then he provides a truly miraculous sign by healing the boy without even seeing him. He didn’t smear mud on him; didn’t tell him to go wash in the pool of Bethsaida; didn’t tell him to go have the Jewish leaders pray for him; didn’t lay hands on his head; he didn’t even lay EYES on him. He just said, “Go home. You son will live.” Notice the official’s reaction in vs. 50: "...the man believed what Jesus said and started home.” And his son was healed.

God can heal without physically being in the room! AND Healing and helping people believe is NOT an interruption.

What do you think … What do you learn about humans from this story?

What do you learn about HUMANS?

[Give a chance for them to share what they may learn about humans from this story.]

Even high status people need Jesus

“Royal official” is a translation of a single Greek word. The word...

A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed. (βασιλικός)

βασιλικός (basilikos) - adjective royal; kingly; without an accompanying noun, usually translated “king’s official”

I would suggest that we often misread Jesus’ interactions with government rulers and people of status.

What do you learn about HUMANS?

Many preachers today talk about Jesus ‘favoring’ the poor and lowly. I don’t see that in the gospels. What I see is a God who treats all people the same! The people of his day, distinctly favored the well-connected and well-stationed, and Jesus certainly bucked that practice. When the Pharisees chastised Jesus for eating with “sinners”, they didn’t kick him out of their circle. They tried to impose their society’s structure onto his ministry … and he rejected it. He applied God’s high expectations to the rich and poor alike. He offered His service and teaching to the well-connected and the disregarded alike. The radical thing about Jesus isn’t that he favored the lowly. It was that he paid attention to the lowly at all. Likewise, he reminded rulers they aren’t God.

Turn over to John 19 for a minute… Pilate is the governor the Jews send Jesus to because they can’t legally execute him. Pilate asks Jesus a series of questions, and just like with the High Priest, Jesus doesn’t answer. Look at vs 10 ... I’m reading from the New Living Translation:

John 19:10–11 NLT

10 “Why don’t you talk to me?” Pilate demanded. “Don’t you realize that I have the power to release you or crucify you?” 11 Then Jesus said, “You would have no power over me at all unless it were given to you from above. So the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.”

Pilate outranks everyone in the crowd. But Jesus recognizes, Pilate does not outrank him. Pilate’s authority comes from Rome … other humans. Jesus’ authority comes from God above.

Returning to John 4 — and our “royal official” … how does he address Jesus?

I won’t put this one on the screen, but the Greek title he uses is “Kyrios”. Kyrios is the Greek word for “Lord”. In the formal use, Kyrios would be a public acknowledgement that Jesus is THE LORD … but I’m not proposing this is a profession of faith. That comes at the end of the story. In the informal sense, Kyrios was the typical title used when asking a favor of someone. When asking a favor, the other person is in a position of power over you, so it was not uncommon to address the person as “Lord” when making your request.

After the healing, John writes in verse 53 that the official and his entire household - wife; kids; servants; cousins; everyone living in his household — they all “believed”.

The Greek word here - ἐπίστευσεν - episteusen - means more than just believing. The Louw-Nida Lexicon says this word means “to believe to the extent of complete trust and reliance—‘to believe in, to have confidence in, to have faith in, to trust’”

Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 375.

He asked for a favor, and then he placed his trust in Jesus! The really good news is that Jesus is available to all people, because:

Even high status people need Jesus - let me change that one:

EVERYONE NEEDS JESUS!

In 20th Century America, we invented the notion that self-sufficiency was a defining characteristic of a "real” American.

History would beg to differ, though. If you recall, the first European settlers needed the native peoples to help them survive the Winter and learn how to grow food. In the early days of our country, the community was more important than the individual because we knew the survival of the individual was dependent upon the community.

That’s not a communist or socialist statement, it’s just a statement of truth. The frontier was unforgiving and without other people, many didn’t survive.

So people helped each other. Even in more modern times, most of us have heard stories of a neighbor coming over to borrow a cup of sugar, right? Although with prices today, you may have to sign a promissory note to borrow eggs from the neighbor.

We’ve somehow been fooled into believing everyone should be able to fend for himself and leave everyone else alone to fend for themselves. The Scriptures tell a different story, as does our own history. And that has harmed our ability to ‘episteusen’ to believe in; to trust in; to rely on; to have faith in Jesus.

But even the most self-sufficient person on the planet … NEEDS JESUS!

What do you learn about YOURSELF?

So, with today’s discussion, what do you learn about you?

Maybe you’ve learned a little bit of misrepresented history.

Perhaps you’ve learned that Jesus is equally available to the greatest and the least.

I hope you’ve learned that dealing with you is not an interruption to our God.

But this is all just a story in a book … just thoughts in our heads - if it doesn’t get applied to our lives.

What do you learn about yourself in this story?

How are you reacting to this story today, and more importantly...

What needs to change as a result of what you’ve learned?

Whatever it is … are you ready to commit to that change?

Let’s pray