Authentic Faith

Welcome

Intro to the Text

Well, if we remember where we left off last week

We concluded our mini series on sharing our faith

We also concluded the great story of the woman at the well and the people of Sychar in Samaria coming to Christ

as we learned that the Gospel is indeed meant for everyone

It is intended for the Jews, as see in Nicodemus

It is intended for the Samaritans, as seen in Sychar

And it is intened for the Gentiles, as we will see today with the Royal offical

Today we will enter into a tale of two cities if you will

As we will see how Jesus was greeted by the people of Galilee in Capernaem and Cana

as compared to how he was received by those in Sychar from last week

We will also see how their faith is fleshed out as superficial and emotional

verses the faith of the royal official

who progressed into an authentic faith

a faith that cannot be wavered by trials

illnesses,

time, or distance

this morning we will witness

the second sign at Cana

Points

Superficial Faith (43-45)

Emotional Faith (46-49)

Authentic Faith (50-54)

So stand with me please, as read Gods word

Again, we are in John, chapter 4, verses 43-54

Scripture

John 4:43–54 “After two days he left there for Galilee. (Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.) When they entered Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him because they had seen everything he did in Jerusalem during the festival. For they also had gone to the festival. He went again to Cana of Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. There was a certain 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. Jesus told him, “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 what Jesus said to him and departed. 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 fev…”

Illustration

Diamond analogy

This is a picture of a diamond

of a pure diamond

now how do you know that its a pure real diamond

and not a knock off

well, you must take my word for it

because I could put 2 other pictures on here of knock and you would never know the difference

until you study it

until you test it

see a real diamond

It refracts light that passes through it in such a way that the brilliance of that light sparkles so sharply that you know without a doubt it is real

Its reflections (color of light that is refracted) show up in various shades of gray, not in rainbow colors such as low-quality diamonds or fake crystals

It sinks when dropped in a glass of water signifying its density, it’s realness

It withstands high heat and does not shatter easily

see on the outside these may all look like diamonds

but it when you look on the inside

when you examine it’s traits

when you see how it holds up over time

and over trials

then, you will know the true authenticty of it

and we can say the same about our faith

So lets get started with our first point

Superficial Faith

John 4:43 “After two days he left there for Galilee.”

Here is our good ole fashioned John timestamp

We see it virtually every week

it is what John uses to transition us to the next story or narrative

So, after 2 days

after 2 very glorious fruitful days

where he ministered and shared the good news of

living water, eternal life, and discipleship

with the Samaritans of sychar

where John tells us they believed in Him

and called him the Savior of the world

Well, Jesus will now get back on track and continue his trek north

Back to his home region per se

The region of galilee

unfortunately, we see in v 44 that

John 4:44 “(Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.)”

lets move to the left a little bit and refer to Mark chapter 6

Mark 6:1–4 “He left there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished. “Where did this man get these things?” they said. “What is this wisdom that has been given to him, and how are these miracles performed by his hands? Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And aren’t his sisters here with us?” So they were offended by him. Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown, among his relatives, and in his household.””

See the folks in this region knew Jesus as the carpenter

as the guy who just built their deck

or added a nice shiplap accent wall to their family room

something like that

this is how they saw Jesus,

and the fact that he had learned some pretty cool tricks that they never saw while they were growing up

However, what is interesting is the contrast we see between this statement

(he isn’t welcome in his home town verses the way verse 45 reads

John 4:45 “When they entered Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him because they had seen everything he did in Jerusalem during the festival. For they also had gone to the festival.”

Now John here is working on a couple of levels

But this seems to be a rather interesting contrast

The first thing I would like to point out is that fact that maybe John isn’t considering Galilee

as Jesus’ home,

see Jesus is a Jew, born in (Bethlehem)

Which is in Judea while Galilee is in the northern area

But also the fact that he was just pushed out of his “home area”

we saw that at the beginning of chapter 4

See the eternal factor here is that Jesus was pushed out of Jerusalem

Out of the temple area

out of the very area that his father is being worshiped

we saw this fore shadowed in chapter 1 where it says

John 1:11 “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.”

See He would not be welcomed as the messiah in Judea

and from the looks of things he is not welcomed as the messiah

in Galilee either

See the Galillians had a superficial faith

They saw the things Jesus did down at the festival

They saw him cleanse the temple

and they saw or possibly heard of Jesus turning the

water into wine

Yet they did not believe on accounts to those things

they only believed in the signs themselves

See Jesus was their “flavor” of the month

They were wanting and expecting

cool things to happen

maybe a equivalent to a rock concert

or some large entertaining circus show

see their interest was not religious

it was not centered on life change

or a decision to follow Christ as the messiah

it was based on earthly things

it was based on Jesus being a genie in a bottle

not God in flesh

And isn't it interesting

how last we week we saw the Samaritans

reaction to Jesus

John 4:41 “Many more believed because of what he said.”

Because of what Jesus said, they believed

yet, here, they see signs and miracles,

yet they do not believe

at least in him as the Savior of the World

see, when we have a faith that is based only on the things that

Jesus can do for us,

and by do for us I mean,

make us rich

make us happy

based on wanting Jesus only when we need something

then we will ride a tidal wave of faltering faith

but faith that is based on who Jesus is

is faith that is based on solid rock

that will not waver

that will not be pushed around when things get hard

because as we all know

things will undoubtedly get hard

which is as good a segway as any into our the heart of our story this morning

as now we are about to be introduced to the official

in our second point of the morning

Emotional Faith

John 4:46 “He went again to Cana of Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine.

So as Jesus travelled back up to Galilee

He bypassed Nazareth, which is where he grew up

and went again to Cana, as it mentioned

where he turned the water into wine

Essentially completing his initial circuit of ministry

John 4:46–47 ……There was a certain 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.”

Now this royal official was most likely a higher ranking official within the kings service

So, lets just say he had pull and power

Lets also not get this confused with the faith of the centurion we see in Matthew 8 or Luke 7

This is a separate event

But, this man was most likely a gentile

and a relatively wealthy one at that

no doubt as we have seen time and time again

he had the financial and political resources to have his son cared for

by the best doctors in the region

yet none of this worked

despite his best attempts

this man of power, was left powerless

and we can see that desperation within this text

this man just walked around 15 miles through hilly terrain

probably a 2 day journey

see you have to walk around the shores of Galilee

up some hills

then make a hard turn

through a pass

then your finally on track

so it wasn’t an easy journey

but he did this

to see this Jesus

this man he has obviously heard about

Can you imagine the emotional toll that can take on a person

I am sure many of you have been there

long journeys to Houston for treatment

or sitting, waiting on results that are compeltely out of your reach

the emotional toll this takes on a person is substantial

and now we see why this royal official

this man of power

seeked out Jesus

empty

and as our text says he pleaded with him

to come down and heal his son

who was about to die

PAUSE

Now, at this current time

The faith of this official was based on the things he had heard and seen

It was somewhat superficial,

as in the only thing he knew about Jesus was what others had said and witnessed

and those others being the first group of jews we spoke about this morning

See currently this official had the same superficial faith as them

And now, that superficial faith is turning emotional

See a lot of people say they have trusted Jesus because they had an experience

or they had some sort of emotional epiphany

Thats one of the reasons this word of faith movement

and this prosperity gospel is so dangerous

see they play on peoples emotions

and their pain

to create a false sense of belief

but that belief is not in Jesus as the son of God

that belief is in signs and wonders

healings and unfortunately heresy

And this is exactly why Jesus responds they way he does

I do not believe Jesus is for one second criticizing the gentile official

instead

lets imagine a group has formed around this man that’s pleading with Jesus

And Jesus looking at him

then looking around at the crowd

says

John 4:48 “Jesus told him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.””

See Jesus used this opportunity to teach the crowd

he used this gentile official as an illustration to the crowd

if you will

and doing so he linked them with the superficial followers

at the end of John chapter 2:23-25

Remember,

There the people only believed in the sign miracles,

and Jesus refused to entrust himself to them

and right now the official is wrapped up in this as well

as he replies with

John 4:49 ““Sir,” the official said to him, “come down before my boy dies.””

almost on his last leg

the official changes the tune a little

He calls Jesus “sir”

and instead of son,

he says “my boy”

it getting personal right

come down

and come down here has a couple of meanings right

come down is literal in the fact that Jesus would have to go down the hills

down to the lake side to heal his son

and… that this man believed at least at this point that Jesus was a miricle worker

That Jesus was bound to time and space and had to be present in order to heal

But we are about to make a substantial turn in our story this morning

as we embark on our final point

Authentic Faith

John 4:50 ““Go,” Jesus told him, “your son will live.” The man believed what Jesus said to him and departed.”

huh, he believed

But what did he believe in…

as we have been discussing this entire time this morning

Up to this point this man believed that Jesus had the power

That Jesus could do it

But up to this point he only believed in the power of Jesus

Not in the Person of Jesus

does that make sense?

But something changed here

See the official didn’t ask again

he didn’t continue to beg

instead this time

he listened to Jesus’ words

and departed

now lets notice a key point here

as this officials faith is growing

it doesn’t say he believed after Jesus did something

it doesn’t say he believed after his son was healed

it says he believed based on what Jesus said

There is the striking difference here

see the gallieans and Jews believed on what they saw

but now, the gentile official believed based on what he said

just as the samaritans we learned about last week

believed based on what they heard

PAUSE

And that brothers and sisters is what seperated the groups

and their faith

See when we believe in Jesus and his word as the word of God

and as the Son of God

we believe on a level that exceeds signs and wonders

we believe on a level that reveals our authentic faith

our faith

as descriced in Hebrews is

Hebrews 11:1 “…… the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen.”

Lets think of the account later in John chapter 20

when they are morning the loss of Jesus after his crucifixion

and Mary Magdelene just returned saying he has risen

and others have seen him as well

what does Thomas say?

John 20:25 “If I don’t see the mark of the nails in his hands, put my finger into the mark of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will never believe.””

then Jesus, one week later shows up and has Thomas put his fingers in the holes where the nails pierced his flesh

and says John 20:27–29 Don’t be faithless, but believe.” Thomas responded to him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said, “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.””

The official here flipped the script

He no longer believed as the jews did

he moved from a superficial, emotional, signs and worldly based belief system

to one of eternal life based on the promises of Jesus and of God the father

based on promises that there is more to life than this

promises that will grow us

promises that will rescue us

promises that are based and rooted in concrete

promises that will get us through the hard times

and not allow us to forget him during the good times

See authentic faith is not rooted in an emotional experiance

but in the truth about Jesus Christ

So lets finish our text and pick back up in verse 51

John 4:51–54 “While he was still going down,

Now I am sure he was making good time right

rushing to get home with this new found faith in Christ

and to see the fruit of this promise of Jesus that his son would live

……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 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.”

So Jesus followed through

Becasue Jesus is more than a miricle worker

Because Jesus is more than a faith healer

But becuase Jesus is God

he was able to defy the laws of distance

the laws of time

the laws of space

and heal this boy

from 15 miles away

over and around mountains

and to get an even more substantial glimpse

into the heart and soul of this passage

John no longer referred to the gentile official as

the official

but now he referred to his as the “father”

see being an official, or fireman, or a plant worker, or a boat captian

is one thing that we are for only a moment of time

but being a father, or a mother that is something we will always be

and there is nothing more precious to us than our kids

and see Jesus had just healed this fathers son,

just as he had healed the father from his sin

and granted him access into the family of God

see it says here again that the “father” believed

well why would John say that twice

it wasn’t as if the man believed twice

see it is reiterating the fact that this mans authentic faith continued

he trusted, and he kept trusting

See believing in Jesus is not something we do one time

we must keep believing,

we must keep depending on him

we must keep trusting in him

because true diciples continue in the faith,

growing more and more on their dependance on Jesus Christ

John concludes this chapter with saying

John 4:54 “Now this was also the second sign Jesus performed after he came from Judea to Galilee.”

If we remember our mission statement of Johns Gospel

found in

John 20:30–31 “Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written 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.”

see Johns point with recording these miracles and signs aren’t so that we may have faith in them

but they are to show us and prove to us that we are to have faith

in the one that is able to perform them

and by having faith in Jesus

who is able to save us from our sin

we are able to be forgiven and placed within good standing with God

and that is something we cannot do on our own

see

we don’t have to have a perfect faith to come to Jesus

nowhere in our discussion this morning did we speak of a perfect faith

as our gentile official this morning progressed from superficial faith, to emotional faith, and finally to authentic faith did we ever discuss the fact that we must have our stuff together

nowhere in that growth do we need to be perfect

we only need to be authentic

Exalting Jesus in John (Authentic Faith Is Not a Single Decision but a Growing Dependence)

Authentic faith is more than superficial curiosity about Jesus.

Authentic faith is more than emotional feelings about him.

Authentic faith is not a single decision for him.

Authentic faith is an actual commitment, an informed belief, and a growing dependence on Jesus Christ.

Exalting Jesus in John (Authentic Faith Is Not a Single Decision but a Growing Dependence)

Allow me to close out this morning with more final analogy

We can think of faith in Jesus Christ the way we think about marriage.

If an acquaintance were to ask me if I was married, I would say yes.

If he asked me how I knew I was married, I might mention my wedding ceremony years ago.

He could respond, “I know a lot of people who had a wedding ceremony but who aren’t married.”

So how do I know I’m married? Is it because of the piece of paper I received years ago from a county clerk?

Is it because of some photos in an album?

Is it because I’m wearing a ring?

Those all testify to a past event and remind me I had a wedding. But the real way I know I’m married is because I go home each night to my wife.

She gives me a kiss, we spend the evening wrangling kids together, collapse into bed, and wake up to start again the next day.

I know I’m married because every day I live out my marriage.

So how do you show me you have authentic faith

by showing me how you live out your faith every day

see faith starts again every morning when your feet his the floor

it goes with you to work

to the grocery store

and back home

and faith falls asleep with you

As christians we are called believers.

not believed

so let me ask you this morning

where are you

is your faith based on emotions and feelings

or is it based on the solid foundation of Christ and him crucified

and if thats the case, does your life reflect that?

Because troubles and trials will come

and when we are able to stand firm in the promises of Christ

and the fact that He is the son of God

nothing can damage that

Let us Pray