Believe the Word

Intro Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade - the search for the Holy Grail

So there’s this really old movie. Well, I guess it’s not really old. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Came out in 1989. I imagine some of you got to see it in theaters. Maybe you haven’t seen it, but I would think that after 35 years of the movie’s existence that most of us have seen it or at least heard of it. So in this movie, the final Indiana Jones movie (because we don’t count the one that came out several years ago), they are on a hunt for the holy grail. While not as hilarious as Monty Python’s search for the holy grail, it’s a pretty good movie.

I’ll note briefly that any hunt for such a thing as the “holy grail” is a silly myth that has been held onto for a long time. When Jesus offered his disciples a drink at the last supper, it was just an ordinary cup that he used to illustrate how his disciples are to remember. And with the fall of Jerusalem a few short decades after Jesus’ ascension, even if that cup were of any significance that he was kept somewhere special, it almost certainly would’ve been destroyed. It’s a similar story for the Ark of the Covenant (though that did once have great significance), but that’s a story for another day.

Anyway, so in this movie, they come to the final stretch. Indiana has to go through a serious of trials to prove himself worthy of the chance to choose, from a selection of different cups, which one was the grail. And he has to hurry, because without a drink of water from the grail his father is going to die. At one point, he comes to a particular trial that I want us to think about. The leap of faith. He comes to an opening in the mountain where a great chasm exists between where he is and where he needs to go. He realizes that he can’t make the leap, and there’s nowhere for him to tie his whip so that he can swing across. It is going to require a leap of faith. But he doesn’t just take a step forward, no. He lifts his leg high into the air and drops his entire body forward. Either he would fall confidently, or there would be something there to catch him. And of course, there’s an invisible bridge that is suddenly made visible to everyone watching. He goes across, he gets the grail and he saves his dad.

He sold his entire existence to this leap, having faith that something or someone would catch him.

In Matthew 17, Jesus is talking to his disciples about a demon that they failed to cast out of a man. In the midst of this conversation in verse 20, this is what Jesus says to his disciples:

Matthew 17:20 And He said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.”

Here in the gospel of John, we have come across what I believe firmly to be one of these mountain moving moments. If there were historical evidence for Mount Everest having moved from one country to the next because of this moment in time, I would firmly believe it and actively argue for it.

There are many times in life where we need to have a moment of mountain moving faith as we trust God with the days ahead, but often our doubt gets in the way. Like Indiana Jones, we shouldn’t just be extending our toes to make sure there is ground beneath us, but completely committing ourselves to God in that moment as though He is the only difference between our success and failure. We don’t just step, but we leap, and the mountain leaps with us. Let’s dive into the text. Let’s read verses 46-48.

John 4:46–48 Therefore He came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine. And there was a royal official whose son was sick at Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and was imploring Him to come down and heal his son; for he was at the point of death. So Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe.”

So let’s set the seen. Jesus had just finished his brief ministry in Samaria, skipped going back to his hometown, and now finds Himself in Galilee where a large percentage of His ministry takes place. He’s back in Cana, the scene of His first miracle that we saw in chapter 2. One thing to note - while Jesus’ miracle had a public impact, it was not a public display in the sense of a lot of people knowing that he did it. His disciples, his mother, and the servants there knew what happened, but it wasn’t something that was a huge public display, though I imagine word may have worked it’s way around. Whatever the case, He was well known enough in Galilee to bring about this moment where a royal official for the Roman people would come to Him because his son was sick. When this man had heard that Jesus had come to Galilee, he left his home, and his son, in Capernaum and went to Cana.

Now, let’s gather some context clues. He travelled from Capernaum to Cana. If you look at a map today, you can find a walking route. It’s about an 18-22 mile trip, depending on the route, has some significant elevation changes along the way, and with today’s very comfortable shoes is somewhere around an 8-10 hour walk. We see later in the text the time of day that the miracle took place and when his servants reached him, each supporting this time frame, but more on that in a few minutes. This Roman dad left his home, travelled about 10 hours to find healing for his son, and then would need to travel back another 10 hours, hopefully with Jesus, for his son to be healed. If his son was truly on the brink of death, it is almost as if this father was spending the final 24 hours of his son’s life on a last ditch effort mission to save his life, and he went knowing he wouldn’t know what had happened until he got back.

So he comes to Jesus and he pleads with him. Look at Jesus’s response - “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe.” Jesus echoed this statement to the Pharisees later in his ministry. The Pharisees had seen so many signs, yet did not believe - what would another sign have actually done? Even here early on in His ministry, Jesus knows that going to perform this miracle wouldn’t have made anyone there believe. So as we see, He chooses not to go, but that doesn’t mean He also chose not to heal. Seeing the sign wouldn’t produce belief, but having faith in what Jesus said would. Let’s keep reading.

John 4:49–50 The royal official said to Him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus said to him, “Go; your son lives.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started off.

Notice the language here that matches that of the Samaritan woman at first. “Sir”, not teacher or rabbi like many others had been calling Him. Please, sir, come down before my child dies. This was all this man had left. He had heard of one that had done signs and wonders, but it seems here like it was more of “this is all I’ve got left” than “this is the only one that can help”. Regardless, he ended up in the right place.

So Jesus turns to this man and says simply, “Go; your son lives.” Now, thinking back to what Jesus said before, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe.” Jesus knew that going down to this man’s house to perform this miracle would not cause the people to believe. But how much more powerful of a miracle would it be if He didn’t have to see this child at all, or even come within a mile of him?

Now, there’s a problem for this man - he didn’t come all this way and travel all these hours to not have Jesus come with Him. How would you respond if you were this father? Jesus, please, come to my son, he needs you because he is about today! But Jesus, rather than come with you, tells you to go. You’d protest wouldn’t you? You’d plead with Him to reconsider? Maybe you’d be overwhelmed by doubt because you don’t think Jesus could do it without being there. Perfectly normal responses, I’d argue. This is your child after all! But look back at how this man responds. “The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started off.” He came for one thing, Jesus offered another, and instead of argue and plead, he left and went back home! Like I said earlier - mountain moving faith. Would you have gone? Would you have trusted? Let’s see how his faith continues to play out; verses 51 and 52.

John 4:51–52 As he was now going down, his slaves met him, saying that his son was living. 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.”

Now, let’s recap this trip of his. It’s about 10 hours or so each way, depending on how quickly he is moving. Add the time that he was in the city, perhaps trying to look for Jesus. Maybe he had to stop to rest for a little bit, or maybe grab a bite. This is probably right around a 24 hour, or maybe a bit longer, trip. So he left his son, who was on his death bed, to go find Jesus. 10 hours or more later, he finds Jesus. He then asks Jesus to go with him back to his son so that He could heal him, and Jesus tells him to go home and that his son would be healed. So he immediately turns back to go home because of Jesus’ word - prepared to not know anything of what was happening back home. So he gets probably roughly halfway home, so 5 hours or more, and his servants meet him halfway. Imagine what might be going through your mind when on your journey home, the day after you just left your son for possibly the last time, and you see people from your household approaching you. Your first thought is probably bad news. But, praise the Lord, it was good news! They said that his son was still alive! So he asked them, “when did this happen?”, and they answered with the very time that Jesus said the word. Now, this also helps us confirm the time that it took for his journey. Their answer, the seventh hour, meant right around 1 in the afternoon. The Jewish day began and ended at sundown, or right around 6pm. So after 6pm the “next day” started, which would fit with the slaves saying to him “yesterday”, and the 5 hours between 1pm and 6pm would confirm the length of his trip. So here, a minimum of 15 hours after he left his son for what could have been the last time, he receives the news that the word of Jesus was true, and here is what happens as a result.

John 4:53–54 So the father knew that it was at that hour in which Jesus said to him, “Your son lives”; and he himself believed and his whole household. This is again a second sign that Jesus performed when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.

The man knew that it was all because of Jesus, and he knew that it was the power of Jesus alone that could do this healing. As a result, not only did the truth of who Jesus was spread, but it spread into a Roman household, and the whole household believed. I would argue that this man had a faith that could move mountains, and like I said earlier, I wouldn’t be surprised if a mountain moved on this day. He came seeking one thing, received something else, and didn’t think twice about it, but stepped toward it. Jesus didn’t have to explain anything to him, He didn’t have to make an excuse for His schedule that was keeping Him away - He simply said, go.

Conclusion

So here’s a question for you to dwell on this week. Where in your life do you need to have this mountain moving faith? Courtney will be quick to tell you that one of the more frustrating things about being married to me is my willingness to step out in faith much like Indiana Jones sold his entire existence to that bridge that he couldn’t see. But from where I stand, I find it simple. If God calls, we answer. If God says, we do and we go. Sometimes it is hard, there’s no denying that. But how much sweeter is what God has in store for us than what we might be afraid of losing?

Maybe you need to be like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who went into the fiery furnace with their heads held high. They wouldn’t bow down to a false god, even when the heat was turned up. Bow or die. Here’s how they responded to this moment that tested their faith and trust:

Daniel 3:16–18 Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter. “If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. “But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

We won’t bow. We will go to the furnace knowing that our God can save us, but even if He does not, we will not serve any other God.

Maybe you need to be like Peter, who didn’t hesitate once to leap out of the boat to walk to Jesus in the middle of the sea. While his doubt crept up on him along the way, he was still bold to step out, knowing that he was going straight toward Jesus. You may doubt along the way, but if you’re headed toward Jesus then He will be there to pick you up when you need Him.

Maybe you need faith like Moses - we could go through a bunch of different examples with him. Talking to a bush, going before Pharoah, putting his staff into the sea to watch it split. Or my favorite, trusting that smacking a rock with a staff would result in water for hundreds of thousands of people. Now, the next time he approached a rock he was told to speak to it and he didn’t trust, so we can learn from him in that example too. If your faith showed you that you can trust God the first time, then you can trust Him the second time.

Where is God calling you to step out in faith? I am confident that most of us are not facing a moment in life like this royal official. But we are still facing moments where we might need to just put ourselves on the line, place our faith and trust in God no matter the cost, and just go. What is the word the Lord is giving to you today? Where is he telling you, “go”, and you’re struggling to trust. May you lean into Him today, trusting that not only does he have you, but also that he has what’s best for you.