Do you believe?

Introduction

Do you know who Shaquille O’Neal is? He is a hall of fame basketball player, he has millions of dollars and he is hard to miss because he is 7’2” and 350 pounds. He told a story about how when he goes to a restaurant he will always ask the waiter or waitress how much he should tip them. He says that most people will ask for $50 or $100, something simple. But one waitress asked for $4000 dollars because she was having trouble paying for rent and it payed for 2 months of rent. And he did it! Because for Shaq $4000 is nothing, that is like ten bucks to one of us.

We often do the same with God, we ask small things because we aren’t confident he can do the big things, but as we will see today. God can do big things! He can meet our needs in abundance! But it starts with faith!

How much do we need Jesus?

-The official comes in desperation to Jesus. He just knows that Jesus can perform miracles and so He is hoping that one may be performed in his life now.

-Jesus points out that many are so intent on seeing miracles.

-In Matthew 8 there is a similar story about a centurion. When Jesus said that He can come and heal his son the centurion says that he believes Jesus can heal his son without touching him.

-Here this many believes the circumstances must be perfect in order for his son to be healed.

-But Jesus tells Him that his son will live and he believes. He is interested in more than just signs and wonders, He believe’s Jesus can heal.

-Jesus shows without a shadow of a doubt that He is able to do this incredible work. Healing the son at the exact moment that He told the official he would.

-This official comes to Jesus hoping to get what he wants. He wants for Jesus to perform a miracle. But he ends up getting what he needs, which is faith in Jesus.

How badly do we want to get well?

This pool was a place that may have had medicinal properties, but either way. It was a place that many came to so that they could be healed.

-This man had been unable to walk since birth, for 38 years. So this was no magic trick.

There was another superstition with the pool. That the first person into the pool was the one that would be healed.

Just like Jesus turns water to wine in order to show that there will be a better feast in the kingdom of heaven, that is greater than we can imagine. Just like the water from Jacob’s well can’t satisfy us fully, in the same way no superstitious religious ideas can transform us in the way we truly need.

-There are many who look at horoscopes to provide benefit to their lives.

-There are others who “knock on wood” or do things for good luck and do other things to prevent bad luck.

-Others believe in karma, that if you do good then good will come to you and if you do bad then you will receive something bad in return.

-Yet we can often have a hard time believing that Jesus can save us from our sins, that Jesus can take care of our needs. We like to have control of our own destiny, we like to believe that we can do something to make ourselves better. The reality is that only Jesus can heal us. Both our physical bodies and our spiritual bodies.

But notice this man has come here for many years and yet could never get into the water. He could have become comfortable in his circumstances, he may have made excuses about why he couldn’t take that step into the pool, or he could have never desired strong enough to ask anyone to help him.

-But notice that as much as he wanted to be healed he looked to the wrong source for healing.

-We can also be trapped in our own sin and our own troubles but we have a hard time getting out of them. Because we can’t free ourselves from them on our own.

This man is very concerned with himself but not giving thanks.

-He doesn’t even ask for Jesus’ name, and when the pharisees ask him about it he blames Jesus for his healing.

-He doesn’t even give Jesus a very formal title like even Nicodemus did.

Jesus states emphatically to get up and walk, He is telling him to have faith!

We often are skeptical that Jesus can act in our lives. And even if He does we can often think that Jesus causes us more harm than He goes good. But the same thing happens in our lives that happens in this man’s life and in the life of the official. Jesus is changing the heart, making them men of faith who live and who Jesus tells to sin no longer.

-Do you have faith that Jesus can do incredible things?

-Do you believe that Jesus can help us where we don’t believe we need help?