Taking Jesus at His Word

You’ve heard the saying, “Seeing is believing”, right?

Meaning that my sense of sight is more important than any other sense when it comes to proving or disproving something.

Calvin and Hobbes Cartoon

Today we are going to look at the first of two stories about Jesus healing people

Both of them unique

Different towns

Different types of people

Both of them, of course the focus is on Jesus and how He works

The story today deals with some people whose motto seemed to be “Seeing is believing”. And we are going to see what Jesus thought about that.

(ESV)

43 After the two days he departed for Galilee. 44 (For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.) 45 So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast.

I just want to pause here for a bit.

Remember that Jesus is on his way from Judea to Galilee. And on the way, he stops over in Samaria to have a divine appointment with first, a woman who comes to the well, and then with the people of that village.

We have already discussed this story for a number of weeks.

After spending two days with the people of this town and seeing them come to faith in him, it is time for Him to continue on to Galilee.

And that is where John gives us this interesting little “side note”.

But I don’t think it is really a side note. I think that John means to set us up for what happens next.

And at first glance it seems a little confusing:

John says on one hand that Jesus had said that a prophet has no honor in His own hometown.

And on the other hand he says that the Galileans, Jesus’ own countrymen, welcomed Him.

How are we meant to interpret this?

Well, there is one incident in which might shed some light on it.

Jesus had been teaching by the Sea of Galilee and from there he heads back to his home town and begins teaching in the Synagogue.

And the people there are astonished at his wisdom and authority.

And they say, “Wait a minute! Isn’t this Jesus? Aren’t his parents Mary and Joseph? Dont’ we know his brothers? Haven’t we known Him since he was a little tyke?”

And they welcome him back. That is, until Jesus gets pointed with them. And then they took offense at him.

In fact, in we read that they are ready to throw him off a cliff.

That’s because, as we see on a number of occasions, everybody was impressed by what Jesus could do. They weren’t so impressed with what He said.

They were impressed with how He could change water into wine. They weren’t so impressed with how He addressed their hypocrisy.

They weren’t so impressed with how He addressed their hypocrisy.

They were impressed when he healed a sick person. They weren’t so impressed with His claims of being equal with God

And so here in this passage, John sets up this next story by letting us know that There were Jews who had seen what He could do because they were with him in Jerusalem at the feast.

And they were impressed.

And because Jesus had spent two days in Samaria, His fellow Galilleans had beat Him back home and had spread the news about these cool things that Jesus could do.

Jesus had been teaching by the sea of Galilee and had told a number of parables: The Parable of the Sower, the Parable of the Weeds sown among the wheat, the Parable of the Hidden Treasure, the Parable of the Pearl of Great Value, etc.

Jesus knew that word had already reached Galilee about what had happened in Jerusalem and were going to be excited to see Him.

and were going to be excited to see Him.

Then it says that he went away from there and back to his own town, and began to teach in the synagogue there.

But He also knew that they were not really prepared to honor Him and declare Him to be the Savior of the World as the Samaritans had done.

And it says that the people there were astonished at his wisdom. They said, “Where did this guy get such wisdom? Isn’t this Jesus, the son of Joseph the carpenter? Isn’t his mom’s name Mary? Doesn’t he have some brothers named James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?”

They wanted to see what He could do, but not listen to what He said. Because as we saw with the Samaritans

“We know this guy. We’ve known him ever since he was a little tyke.”

I believe that Jesus realized that the Jews in Galilee were not ready to listen to him and believe in what He said. All they wanted was to see what He could do.

He knew that they were not ready to honor Him.

They welcomed him back. However, it goes on to say that they took offense at Him. What He did and what He taught they found offensive. He made them mad!

In fact, on one occasion, recorded in , Jesus made the folks in Nazareth, his home town, so mad that they tried to throw him off a cliff. The people in his own home town were ready to kill him!

Well, it says that the Jews had seen all that Jesus had done in Jerusalem when he was there for the feast.

And because Jesus had delayed his return to Galilee and had spent some time in Samaria, these Jews had beat him back to Galilee and had spread the news that Jesus was doing some pretty incredible things. And it got people excited and amazed.

And so when Jesus comes back to Galilee, you can bet that they were excited to see him

They knew him. He was a home town guy

He was doing some incredible things and they wanted to see him work some of his magic, so to speak.

But Jesus knew what was in their hearts. He knew that all they wanted was to see him work signs and wonders. They weren’t interested in hearing him teach about the Kingdom of Heaven. They weren’t interested in hearing Him talk about being right with God and repentance. He knew that they weren’t ready to accept Him as Savior of the World as the Samaritans had done.

And so really, they were not ready to truly honor him. They welcomed him, yes, but they weren’t really ready to honor him for who He is.

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(ESV)

Jesus Heals an Official’s Son

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. 48 So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” 49 The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” 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. 51 As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering. 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. 54 This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee.

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So here’s the scene:

Jesus arrives in Cana, and you can bet that the villagers are just hanging around waiting for him to do something miraculous.

And then they get their opportunity. Because here comes a guy from Capernaum, down by the Sea of Galilee. And not just any guy. He’s a man of status from the village. We don’t know what kind of official he was. maybe in the government, I don’t know.

But this man is desperate. It is about 20 miles from Capernaum to Cana where Jesus is staying. And probably uphill most of the way

This man’s son is sick and at the point of death.

I’m guessing that this man has already tried everything he can think of. Because he leaves the side of his son and rushes the 20 miles to find Jesus.

And he arrives, exhausted, hot, sweaty, ready to faint with thirst, and says, “Jesus, come to Capernaum and heal my son!” He’s desperate!

And you can imagine the villagers gathering around and pressing in, eyes full of expectation, waiting to see what Jesus is going to do. Some of them are probably mentally packing a bag so that they can make the 20 mile trek down to Capernaum and watch JEsus in action.

And you think that Jesus would look at him with pity in his eyes and say, “you poor guy! Your son must be really sick. Yes, I’ll come at once!” And He would gather his things and rush off with this ruler to heal his son.

But instead, he responds in a way that seems rather rude and heartless:

“Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe”.

Seems rather cold, doesn’t it? I mean, can’t Jesus see how desperate this man is?

But it’s Jesus. He’s never rude. He’s never heartless. He’s always loving

But He never wastes words. He always speaks to the heart. He’s always direct. And to us, that can be uncomfortable because I want to help people feel good about themselves.

Here is what I imagine is happening.

Jesus is looking at the man, but he is speaking to the man AND to the crowd which has gathered around.

Maybe we could read it like this: Unless you all see signs and wonders, you all will not believe.

Jesus knew exactly what was in the hearts of the people around him. He knew their (and our) desire to see and experience great things. And he knew how hard it is for us to take Him at His word.

We think that if we can just see Him do something spectacular, then we will believe. We think that it will be easier for us to honor him as Savior of the World.

But Jesus knows that our belief in Him can’t be based completely on signs and wonders. Because if our belief is bases on signs and wonders, if there comes a time when He doesn’t seem to be doing anything, or if He is not doing what we want, then our belief will be shaken to the core. Or it will be destroyed altogether.

And so Jesus says to the people and to the official, as a gentle rebuke, “Unless you see me doing incredible things, you all won’t believe in me!”

But the ruler doesn’t seem to hear him. He’s desperate.

the ruler persists, “Sir, come down now before my child dies!”

He knows there is not a moment to spare. His child may already be dead.

And Jesus turns to Him, I imagine His eyes are intent and stern, yet loving. And tells him “GO! Your son will live.”

Jesus makes it clear to him that He is not coming down there. He is not going to satisfy the crowd’s thirst for a public display of signs and wonders.

Yet, He is going to have mercy on this man and his child.

The ball is in the ruler’s court. He can either believe and go home, or he can persist that Jesus come with him.

I wonder what would have happened if the man would have stayed and begged Jesus. We can only speculate.

But I believe that we are at a crucial point here. Maybe a showdown. Because, just like with the woman at the well, and just like all the encounters that Jesus had with people, this was no accident. This was an eternally planned and appointed moment. There was something deeper at stake here than whether or not a child was healed.

At stake was the faith and belief that could transform this man’s heart and at stake was the increasing of the glory of Jesus.

And so when Jesus turns and gives the command to this man, I can imagine a breathless silence falling on the crowd, on the disciples, on the spiritual forces waging war for this man’s soul. What is he going to do? Is he going to continue trying to quench his thirst for signs and wonders or is he going to take Jesus at His word?

The official pauses. His face tormented and skeptical, but then slowly changing and relaxing into belief and trust.

He says within himself, “I need to take this man at his word. Whether or not he does what I think he should, I need to take him at His word”.

He wheels around and starts back down the road toward Capernaum.

And he is met by his servants who give him the news that His son was recovering and would live. And he puts two and two together and realizes that at the exact time when Jesus told Him, “your son will live”

And he himself believed. Not only did he accept what Jesus had told him to do, I think that He really believed that Jesus was who He claimed to be.

And in true middle-eastern fashion, not only did he as the head of the household believe, his whole family believed with him.

And Jesus is glorified because this man believed His word!

What are the takeaways here?

Jesus again shows Himself to be Lord

But the response of the Jews and Jesus’ words to them brings to focus to something that tends to be in our hearts

He takes charge of the situation and works the way that HE wants to work.

He works in ways that are often a mystery to us.

The official was wrong in supposing that Jesus could only heal his son if He came down to Capernaum

But if we are honest, we might find ourselves thinking and praying in the same way. We have a need on our hearts and we tell Jesus what the need is and how we would like to have that need met.

This is humorous, but often our reality isn’t so humorous. When we have something on our hearts, and God doesn’t fix it, it results in a crisis of faith for us.

But God delights in answering prayers in ways that highlight His glory and power and grace.

Some of you here have dealt with some serious things (deaths of loved ones, etc) and you have cried out for Him to take care of it.

(ESV) Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord,

or who has been his counselor?”

“Or who has given a gift to him

that he might be repaid?”

36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

Jesus wants us to have “Word Faith” instead of “Sign Faith”

This is something that we saw in Jesus’ first miracle and that John will continue to hit home

In changing water to wine, Jesus did it in a way that very few people noticed.

In this story, He rebukes them for wanting to see a sign.

Here’s the thing: Jesus knows that anybody can believe in what they see. And this is often where faith in Jesus starts.

But it should never stay there or end there.

Because the signs are always for the purpose of drawing us into a deeper and more powerful faith

A deeper and more powerful faith is word faith. It is the faith that believes what Jesus says and does it. This is the kind of faith that Jesus compares to having a house built on a rock.

We see this exemplified by the Samaritans: 4:42, we see that it was after the Samaritans HEARD for themselves, that they were ready to declare him to be Savior of the World

This is the kind of faith that Jesus is looking for.

In this story, we see a man coming to faith along with his entire household.

The interesting thing to think about is that all those people standing around waiting for a sign had no way of knowing if the man’s son was healed or not

but this official knew. and he BELIEVED