His Word - His Bond
The Endless Journey - John • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Transcript
Reading:
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.
7 Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
8 It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.
Introduction:
Society requires interaction between us and others, and part of that interaction is communication.
Communication is necessary for everyday use!
Communication works best if what is said is true—and can be trusted.
Which brings a bigger question: Who can we actually trust?
In John 4, we meet a man who had to decide whether he would trust the word of Jesus…
When communicating we don’t often reveal the truth of what we are thinking or want to say.
Which breaks down our communicating clearly and breeds a lack of trust.
Communicating clearly for others to trust and believe what you say requires:
Truth!
What makes truth so important?
Society hinges on truth.
What I mean is that without truth, no agreements can be trusted and nothing is finalized.
We need truth to trust what is being said.
When someone says they will do something they should do what they said.
We have a phrase for this: “My word is my bond”.
We need this to be true between all people, if it is not then there is no faith in what someone says.
Illustration:
Let’s say I agree to build a person a home at $50/square.
In the process of finishing the house the person doesn’t pay for the house; but says that after I build them the next house they will pay me double.
Should I trust their word and build the next one too?
No!
They are untrustworthy. What made them untrustworthy?
They didn’t do what they agreed to do! What is to stop them from doing it again?
Nothing.
Connection:
We trust because of what people say; we believe because their actions support what they say!
Sinful humans are not good at building a strong foundation of trust between one another.
As a result we become more skeptical of everything and everyone.
It is a safety measure to protect ourselves from the constant loss of trust between us and others.
We hear what people say and are a little bit of suspicious.
How and in what ways does this impact our relationship with God?
If someone grows up consistently being hurt and let down by their dad, how could they ever trust a Heavenly Father?
If people have been lied to over and over how can they trust that what is being said is true and trustworthy to believe?
This is what Jesus addresses at the close of chapter 4.
Faith is trusting Jesus at His word!
Transition:
if we struggle to trust people’s word, what happens when we’re asked to trust God’s word?
That’s exactly what we see in John 4…
We get first the:
Source For Help (46-47)
Source For Help (46-47)
46 So He came again to Cana in Galilee, where He had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill.
47 When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to Him and asked Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.
The official is probably an royal official to Herod Antipas, so...He worked for Herod!
There is nothing that we can find to indicate that the official had met, interacted, or knew Jesus before this moment.
We only know he served Herod and his son was ill.
We must recognize that people will do almost anything they can for those they love.
They will go to extreme lengths because of they’re desperate situation.
They will choose to exhaust all possible resources.
How do we make choices?
We make them based on what we know.
Look at it this way:
Illustration:
Katie’s grandpa was talking to me about his garden one day.
He had one when he first moved to Tennessee and it didn’t grow very well.
He couldn’t figure it out, and after trying different crops in different spots a neighbor gave him the secret to gardening in that area.
Unless he put lime in the soil his garden wouldn’t grow.
Frustrated he thought what do I have to loose, I'll try it.
His garden did very well that year.
He was making decisions from what he knew of gardening.
Putting lime in the soil was outside of his knowledge.
In Chapter 4 this official would’ve probably exhausted all possibilities to heal his son from what he knew to do in his culture.
He probably went to the local “medical” people, followed and attempted the common superstitions, maybe even consulted a “seer” or “psychic”.
These are all the things that he had knowledge of, until he heard of what Jesus did at the wedding in Galilee.
The official left his sick and dying son in Capernaum (which was about a 2-3 hour walk from Galilee) to plead with Jesus to come and help his son.
This official must have been desperate to consider asking help from the “rabbi” or “prophet” of God.
“The religious help.”
The plea of a father on behalf of his son is what Jesus recieved.
I imagine that this official may have come expectant that Jesus would help one of Herod’s officials.
A position of authority in the land and maybe trying to somewhat use his position as a means of leverage to get help.
God does not give preference to any person.
34 So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality,
What Jesus does and why; has nothing to do with what status a person has.
This is also passed onto us as James 2:1-10 states.
Not giving preference to any person because of status, wealth, or positional power.
Every person needs salvation that Jesus extends, and there is none unworthy of this message.
Transition:
Jesus’ response to him is similar to how he addressed a ruler of the Jews:
3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Jesus went right to the heart of what this ruler needed and gave an answer for his true need.
The official came to Jesus believing He could help—but Jesus challenges whether he truly believes in Him…
Jesus gives him a:
Verbal Promise (48-50)
Verbal Promise (48-50)
48 So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.”
(?) What was the official supposed to believe in?
A truthful reason to seeking Jesus.
If the official wasn’t in this dire position for help and having exhausted all his knowledge of what to do, he may have never sought out Jesus.
Connection:
A lot of people seek Jesus for what He can do, instead of seeking Him because of who He is.
When we seek Jesus through prayer, coming to church, or reading His word; are we coming to Him because we need His help, and because He is God?
A good way to illustrate this is singing songs as we gather together here on a Sunday.
Let’s evaluate the message of our singing:
Is the song more about us or more about Him?
Examples:
To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of David.
1 O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.
2 Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
4 what is man that you are mindful of Him, and the son of man that you care for him?
5 Yet you have made Him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned Him with glory and honor.
6 You have given Him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under His feet,
7 all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
9 O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
This psalm is a song of God’s deity and Jesus’.
Let’s compare it to an “modern worship” song:
Verse 1:
Whether now or then, Death is not my end, I know heaven waits for me, Though the road seems long, I'll never walk alone, I’ve got all I need to sing
Chorus:
So I will sing like I will there, In the fearless light of glory, Where the darkness cannot find me, And Your face is all I see, I will sing like a man, With no sickness in my body, Like no prison walls can hold me, I will sing like I am free
The difference is the subject of the song.
One person on reddit said: “It's the sort of stuff I can do through Jesus, not stuff Jesus can do in me.”
Evaluate the why behind your words and seeking Jesus.
Just like in worship, where the focus can shift from God to ourselves, our faith can shift from trusting who Jesus is to only wanting what He can do.
I think the official came seeking Jesus because of His abilities; not for what He would do in the official.
Jesus addressed the real issue:
People want a sign of God to believe instead of believing because He is God!
It takes faith not knowledge for salvation.
Now the official addresses Him as a man, instead of an “subject” under his authority by Herod.
49 The official said to Him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.”
The official reveals in this sentence that Jesus could heal his son and pleads with Him.
This shows that He believed!
But what did he believe?
That Jesus could heal, perform a miracle, and has the power over sickness?
This line of questioning brings out a fact that many believe but aren’t saved.
Jesus even illustrates this in Matthew 13 with the parable of the sower.
Real life scenario: Judas compared to Peter.
Peter denied Jesus, later repented and followed His will.
Judas betrayed Jesus, was sorry, and didn’t repent!
The official here doesn’t believe in Jesus as God, it seems to show that he believes Jesus’ abilities over sickness.
To which Jesus gives a promise!
50 Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way.
This shows his belief in what Jesus said; but it wasn’t a belief to saving faith in Jesus!
But he did choose to act on what Jesus promised!
We find that in the last few verses a truth the official came to believe and one that we can too:
Faith In Jesus Saves (51-53)
Faith In Jesus Saves (51-53)
51 As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering.
The official reveals from his journey that he believed Jesus.
It doesn’t say that same day when he returned to his house...why?
It seems as though he stayed somewhere and went the next day home.
Why doesn’t it seem like he was in a hurry?
Maybe he was tired or maybe he believed that when he went home his son would be fine and healthy; because Jesus made a promise to him.
Almost like the moment Abraham trusted God’s request to sacrifice his son.
Believing in God and maybe believing that God would raise him from the dead, to uphold and keep His promise to Abraham.
Either way the lack of “rush” and “hurry” continues to support the notion that he believed Jesus.
His faith was confirmed and emboldened by the revealing of the moment the boy was made whole
52 So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.”
53 The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” And he himself believed, and all his household.
He made an inquiry into the truth that Jesus promised.
The hour was confirmed when Jesus’ promise was given and it was instantaneous
This was a confirmation of his belief in Jesus’ words!
The product of this belief was faith in Jesus, for him and his whole household.
The trust the official now had was that Jesus is God and he had a saving faith in Him.
His belief in Jesus’ words brought him and his family to faith in Jesus.
Faith is a result of trusting Jesus’ words.
Charge:
You’ve seen it in these passages:
The official came to Jesus in desperation…
He believed Jesus could do something…
But then Jesus gave him something greater than a miracle—He gave him a word.
And the question became:
Will you trust what Jesus says—even before you see anything change?
That is what faith is.
Faith is not just believing Jesus can…
Faith is trusting that Jesus has spoken—and that His word is enough.
So here is the charge:
When Jesus says He forgives—believe Him.
When Jesus says He saves—trust Him.
When Jesus says He is enough—rest in Him.
Don’t wait for a sign.
Don’t wait for perfect understanding.
Don’t wait for life to make sense.
Trust Him at His word.
Conclusion:
The message started with something simple:
Communication only works if it is true…And if it can be trusted.
And we saw that:
People often fail us
Words are often empty
Trust is often broken
But Jesus is different.
When Jesus speaks—
His words are always true.
His promises are always kept.
And His word can always be trusted.
The official trusted Jesus’ word…
And it led not just to healing—But to faith that saved his whole household.
And the same is true for us:
👉 Faith in Jesus is trusting His word before we see the result.
So the question is not:
“Has Jesus proven enough to you?”
The question is:
“Will you take Him at His word?”
-Pray!
