Got A Tragedy (2 o f_12)
GOT A TRAGEDY? (2 of 12)
Meet Jesus
John 4:45-54
It is altogether possible this morning that one of
you, many of you, or any number of you have come into
this service today and you are dealing with a tragedy.
You have had in recent days a series of events or
occurrences which has brought tragedy to your life. In
the Novel, "Brothers Karamazov," one of the characters
says, "What terrible tragedies real life contrives for
people."
Of course, that is true. Real life brings with it
many, many tragedies. The word, tragedy, is a rather
interesting word. I got interested in it as I was
thinking about trying to help people today deal with
the subject of tragedy. So, I looked up the word,
tragedy and I found that it means a disastrous event.
Then I got interested in the etymology of the word—
where did the word come from. I discovered, much to my
surprise or amazement, that it comes from a Greek word
for goat. It also comes from a word that means to
gnaw. You know goats gnaw on things. So the very root
of the word, tragedy, means to gnaw. A tragedy is a
disastrous even which gnaws at the heart. It gnaws at
the soul.
So, there may be some here this morning and you are
dealing with tragedy and I'm glad you are here this
morning because you have an opportunity in this place
to meet the Lord Jesus Christ, if you have not, and
let Him help you with your tragedy.
When we study the New Testament—the Gospels of the
Lord Jesus. We find that any number of people who had
tragedies brought those tragedies to the Lord Jesus
and they were helped by Him. The verses of Scripture
which I have read this morning give us the account of
the nobleman's son who was at the point of death. We
learn a great deal about how to deal with tragedy in
this account.
One of the things we learn here is -what faith is. The
basic elements of faith and how faith can grow and
progress in a person's life are revealed in this
particular account. Here was a man who had a need. He
brought his need to the Lord Jesus. Jesus Christ made
a promise to him. The man believed the promise and he
discovered that Jesus would do just exactly what He
says He will do. That is a great lesson on faith.
It is also a great lesson to us when people in the New
Testament had tragedies and they brought them to the
Lord Jesus Christ and were helped. Jesus Christ, who
is the same yesterday, today, and forever stands ready
to help you deal with the tragedies that may come in
to your life.
I want us to follow the very simplicity of this story
and do it in a very simple way. From that I want us to
see how to deal with tragedies in life.
The first thing I want you to notice about this story
is that—
I. The Man Has a Great SORROW.
The sorrow is immediately given to us. We find out
what the sorrow is in the condition of his son. We are
told that this boy of the noble man was at the point
of death. We learn down in verse 52 that he had a
fever and evidently it was very serious in nature. It
was a symptom of something even deeper down within the
boy. It has now brought him on the brink of death. He
has come right now at death's door. That is a tragedy.
If a person has a problem, if there is a child that is
at the point of death, that is indeed a tragedy.
"At the point of death." I found that to be an
interesting way of putting it. That means he's just
right at it. He's just a heartbeat away from death. In
one sense of the word that is true of all of us. We
are all at the point of death. All of us are just one
heartbeat away from death. You just let that heart
stop and it's all over. You have died. Just one
accident, just one person running through a red light
into your pathway. One crash. One sound of noise. Then
when it all settles down you are at the point of
death.
I want to point out something for our young people who
are sitting here this morning. I want you to notice
that here is a young person, but this young person was
at the point of death. Sickness and death are not
something that young people are immune to. Sickness
and death come to young people. In fact, if you will
study your Bible you will discover that in the first
death which ever occurred on the globe happened to a
son and not to a father. It happened to a young man
and not to an old man. Death is no respecter of
persons. That's why you need to give your life to
Christ when you are young. That's why if you have not,
this morning you need to give your life to Christ. We
are always at the point of death.
Thank God, when you meet Jesus, He can turn the point
of death to the point of life. But here is a man who
was dealing with a tragedy. It is the tragedy of his
sick boy.
This boy evidently meant a great deal to him because
down in verse 49 he calls him, "my child." The
language of the King James doesn't really grip your
heart the way the original does. He is really saying,
"My dear boy, my special boy." This boy was evidently
the apple of his eye. I don't know if he was an only
child or not, but he was just like all fathers and
mothers are. If there is anything that is close to
your heart and if there is anything that will gnaw
away at your soul, it's to have a tragedy relative to
a child. Don't you agree?
Children problems are probably the most heart-rending
problems anybody will ever experience. I told you just
a few weeks ago when Janet and I got married I had
four sermons on how to bring up children and no
children. Shortly thereafter we had four children and
I had no more sermons on how to bring up children. If
you don't want to have problems, then don't have
children. Of course, the truth of the matter is—if you
don't want to have problems, don't live, don't be
born. The Bible says that man that is born of a woman
is a few days and full of troubles. We are all going
to have our problems and if you live long enough you
are going to experience some tragedies and some
heartaches in life. If you have children you are going
to have some problems with children and there's
nothing that tears the heart or rends the soul anymore
than when things aren't going good for your child. The
strongest man will break when something is happening
to his children.
I want to just say parenthetically that we are living
in a generation where children have a lot of unusual
problems. The culture in which we live, the society in
which we live, seems to be especially turned in the
direction of trying to wreck the lives of boys and
girls and young people before they ever get out into
life. Our culture is trying to pollute their thoughts
and trying to twist their values and trying to wreck
their lives. In school they are told that they came
from animals, that they are accidents. In the movies
they are exposed to profanity and nudity. In life they
are exposed to alcohol and drugs and broken homes. God
have mercy on many of our young people today.
Notice, here is an instance where child problems leads
a man to Jesus. More than one time that has happened.
More than one time a child problem has led a father or
mother to Jesus. Charles Spurgeon put it this way.
"Affliction may be the black horse mercy rides to your
door." Could I modernize that statement? Affliction
may be the email which brings the mercy of God to your
computer. Sometimes God has a way of letting
affliction come into your life. David said, "It was
good for me that I was afflicted; then I turned to
your word."
Here is a man who has a great sorrow. He has a son who
is the condition of being right at the point of death.
Look now at the position of this man. This is no
ordinary, run-of-the mill man. The Bible says in verse
46 that he was a certain nobleman. The word, nobleman
means a kings man. He was evidently an official in the
court of maybe King Herod. This is no ordinary man. He
is a man in the upper echelons of city government in
Capernaum. Isn't it interesting to notice that though
this man is in the upper echelons he has a problem? He
has a tragedy on his hands. Tragedy and heartache and
sorrow and problems come to the high as well as to the
low. Many times those designer clothes and those
tailored suites are covering people who have genuine
heartache and sorrow in their lives. None of us are
immune from problems.
Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount about our
Heavenly Father. "He makes his sun to rise on the evil
and on the good; and sends rain on the just and
unjust." He is saying that it doesn't matter who you
are, you have a problem the Lord Jesus Christ can
handle it. Doesn't matter who you are, problems come.
Something else I want to point out, too. If you are a
Christian, it doesn't mean you are not going to have
any problems either. Christians have some of the same
problems that other people have.
So here is a man with a great sorrow. Move secondly in
your thinking as we work down through this passage.
See that—
II. The Man Comes to a Great Savior.
It says in verse 47, "When he heard that Jesus was
come out of Judea into Galilee, he went unto him." He
heard that Jesus was in Cana and he went to Him. It
was about 20 miles from Capernaum up to Cana.
See the fervor of this man's faith. He hears about
Jesus. The word was out about Jesus. One of the things
that was out about Jesus is how special young people
were to Jesus. When boys and girls came to Jesus He
took them to Himself and blessed them. When young
people have problems Jesus was concerned about it.
Think about the son of the Widow of Naam. He died and
Jesus raised him from the dead. Think about Jairus'
daughter. Jesus raised her from the dead. Think about
the poor demon-possessed, lunatic boy. Jesus healed
the boy. Jesus is very interested in young people.
Young man, young lady, boy or girl, give your life to
Christ when you are young. I gave my life to Jesus
when I was a nine-year-old boy. I've always been glad
I did. If you are an old man today, give your life to
Christ. But isn't it better to give your life to
Christ early in the bloom of your life before all of
the pedals have fallen off and all you have to offer
is just an empty stem to the Lord Jesus Christ. Give
your life to Jesus, young people.
Notice the fervor of his faith. Admittedly his faith
is going to grow because we see him at a beginning
stage of faith. He heard Jesus was there. He went unto
Jesus. That's a good thing to do. When you have
trouble, go to Jesus. Bring your problems to Jesus.
Meet Jesus. That's what you need to do.
When he gets there it says, "He sought him." the tense
of the verb means that he just kept on begging him.
What he is doing is praying. He's talking to the Lord.
Do you talk to the Lord? When you have a problem do
you talk to the Lord? Have a child problem? Do you
talk to the Lord about it? Do you pray about it? Mom
and dad, don't wait until the tragedy comes to start
praying. Start praying now.
Early on when my children were young it became very
apparent to me that there was a battle going on
between me and the devil. The devil was trying to rob
me of my children. The devil was trying to wreck my
children. I made up my mind early on that my morning
time, when I prayed, I would specifically pray for
every one of my children. If the devil wanted to get
my children he had a battle on his hands.
By the way, young people, if you have a mom or dad who
prays for you, you are blessed indeed. You are
wonderfully blessed.
He starts praying. He is beseeching the Lord. When is
the last time you prayed? What did you pray about? You
know how to pray. Can you talk? Praying is talking to
God. Admittedly a crisis causes this man to pray. But
it's better to pray in a crisis than never to pray at
all. He has crisis faith. Look at the fervor. He
beseeches Him that he would come down. He is asking
the Lord to do something about the situation.
Notice that there is a flaw in his faith. This is
crisis faith, but there is a flaw in his faith. He's
asking the Lord to come down and heal his son because
he is at the point of death.
Down in verse 49 he repeats it, "Sir, come down, ere
my child die." I want you to see there is a flaw in
his faith. Jesus says to him, "Except you see signs
and wonders, you will not believe." He's not rebuking
the man as much as He is stating the spiritual
condition of the man and the condition of the times.
Jesus was doing signs and wonders. People were
flocking to see the signs and wonders. People always
want to see the signs and wonders. That's the way
people look at it today. They want something
sensational. The sensation is not an adequate basis
for real faith.
A lot of people say, "Seeing is believing." No. Seeing
is not believing. Seeing is seeing. Believing is
trusting, being sure when you cannot see. There is
more to faith than just seeing signs and wonders.
That's the day we are in. People want to see it all.
They want to know it all. They want to experience it
all. We are in an experience-oriented culture. "If you
don't show me something sensational, then I'm not
interested in that simple Word of God."
If you have a preacher who preaches the simple Word of
God, (I'm talking to our televisions folks right now,
and by the way, if you don't have a church, come on
up. We would be glad to have you) you have adequate
soil for the growth of your faith in the Lord.
He said, "Sir, come down, ere my dear boy die." What's
the flaw? Number one, this flaw in his faith is that
he thinks Jesus is limited by distance. His sick boy
is twenty miles away. Jesus is in Cana. The boy is in
Capernaum. That's twenty miles away. He thinks Jesus
is limited by distance so he says, "Come down. You
have to be here, Jesus. You have to be on the
premises. You have to be on the scene."
A lot of people think Jesus is limited by distance.
When you study the New Testament you will discover
that Jesus Christ annihilates the barriers of
distance. We've annihilated distance, too. We have
these little cell phones. By the way check to be sure
yours is off. I'm checking mine.
This little deal has annihilated distance. You can
just dial right here and call Atlanta, Georgia. You
can call Germany if you want to. This little cell
phone has eliminated distance.
The remote TV control has eliminated distance, too.
Aren't you thankful? I told my children that when they
move me into the rest home, I would like to have a
color TV and I would really appreciate it if I had a
TV remote. That's a grown man's toy. That way you can
sit there and be eating your popcorn and drinking your
Pepsi and not even have to get up. You can go all
around the world, just click, click, click. Drives the
wives insane. "Why don't' you ever settle down to a
program?"
Somebody says, "Where is Jesus now?" Jesus is at the
right hand of the Father, praying for us. "He's way up
there in heaven. My problem is way down here." No. He
is as close as the mention of His Name. Distance is
no problem for Jesus Christ.
There's another part to that flaw. He is now presuming
to tell Jesus what to do. We have it all figured out.
The nobleman says to Jesus, "Come down, now and heal
my boy. I have it all figured out how you are to do
it." That's what we do. We want to tell Jesus how to
solve the problem. As if Jesus doesn't know how to
solve the problem. It's kind of like going to a doctor
and having it all laid out. "Doc, here's how you are
supposed to treat my case. Here's the medicines you
are to give me." When you go to a doctor, you are to
turn your case over into his hands and let him do what
he knows to do.
Jesus Christ is the Great Physician. He knows the
case. He knows all the circumstances. He knows the
cure. He knows exactly what to do. Some of you may be
dealing with a child tragedy. You need to turn your
child over to Jesus and say, "now, Jesus, I don't know
how to work this out. I know how I would like for you
to work it you, but you know better than I do. Jesus,
you work this thing out." So he has a flaw in his
faith. It's crisis faith, but it is not where it needs
to be in his faith.
Number one, he has a great sorrow. Number two, he
comes to a great Savior.
III. He Has a Great SUCCESS.
It says in verse 50, "Go your way, your boy lives.
And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken
unto him." He uses his faith. He believes the word.
That is a beautiful definition of faith. The simplest
definition of faith I know comes right out of this
passage. Faith is taking God at His Word. That's what
faith is. That's the only basis of assurance we
have==the word of Jesus. You take in the matter of
salvation. The way you know you are saved is you lay
hold to the promises of God. You take Jesus at His
Word. "I would like something a little more
spectacular than that."
Didn't you love that video on Tuesday night of Dr.
Criswell. That beautiful illustration I've heard him
give so many times through the years about standing at
the gates of heaven and how did he know that he was
saved. Remember that illustration where he talked
about seeing a ball of fire. He talked about having a
vision and all of those kinds of things. When it all
boiled down the only real assurance he had that he
could get into heaven was what God promises in the
Word.
You say, "I want to have a vision." "I want to see
angels." "I want signs and wonders so I know I'm going
to heaven when I die." The evil can give you every
bit of that. But you can know you are saved when you
lay hold to a promise of the Lord Jesus Christ. Get
you a promise. "Whosoever shall call on the name of
the Lord shall be saved." What a promise! Take Him at
His Word. If you have a tragedy, get a word from Jesus
Christ. "All things work together for good to them
that love God, to them who are the called according to
His purpose." Get hold of a promise from God in your
tragedy.
He uses his faith. It says, "The man believed the word
that Jesus had spoken unto him and he went his way."
At this point in time, he has moved from crisis faith
to confident faith. He talks Jesus at His word. He
believes the word Jesus speaks and he goes on his way.
He not only uses his faith, but he understands his
faith. This is so beautiful. I want you to see what
happens. It says in verse 51, "And as he was now going
down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, Thy
son liveth."
There's a total change of atmosphere. In the opening
part of the passage you can almost see him rushing
breathlessly to Cana to see Jesus. Now, he is
returning calmly and confidently back to Capernaum.
Here come his servants. His servants meet him and as
he sees them the shout to him, "Your boy is living."
Of course, there's a smile of confidence on his face.
He's very, very confident. In verse 52 he asks them a
question. "When did he begin to get well?" They said
to him, "Yesterday at 1:00." When the man heard that
realized that it was at 1:00 that Jesus had said to
him, "Your boy lives." He knew that it was the very
same hour.
That would have been time for the man to have returned
to Capernaum. He would have got in late, but it would
have been that night. But rather than immediately
going back to check the situation out, the evidence
indicates here that the man spent the night in Cana.
That's what you call confident faith. Here is a man
who has a boy at the point of death, 20 miles away and
Jesus says to him, "Just go on home, your boy is
alive." It was 1:00 in the afternoon and the man
spends the night and then the next day he's headed
down home again and the servant comes and tells him
that the boy gets well. When did he get well? He got
well at 1:00. That's confident faith in the Lord.
It says in verse 53, "The father knew that it was at
the same hour, in which Jesus said unto him, Thy son
liveth: and himself believed, and his whole house."
Do you use your imagination when you read the Bible? I
like to use my imagination. It comes alive when you
put your imagination to work on it. I can almost
imagine what happened. This man is walking and the
servants come up to him and say, "Hey, we have some
good news for you. Your boy is well. He's not going to
die." He says, "What time was it?" "It was 1:00."
That's the same time Jesus had said it the day before.
In other words, he took Him at his word and Jesus did
just exactly what he said he would do. The man said,
"That's exactly when Jesus told me he was getting
well." And the Bible says the man believed.
He is saying, "I have met Jesus. I believe in Jesus."
Now the servants, when they heard it they say, "Man,
is that what happened? We believe in Jesus, too." He
gets home and his wife rushes to the door to meet him
and says, "Oh, husband, come in, I have such good news
for you. Our boy is alive." He said, "I know it. Jesus
told me that yesterday." "He did? I believe in Jesus,
too." The little boy comes rushing up to him and
jumps into his arms and says, "Oh, daddy, yesterday I
was so sick and at 1:00, all of a sudden I was well."
The father said to the boy, "That's exactly the time
Jesus said you were well." The little boy said, "I
believe in Jesus, too." Then the old nursemaid who
tended to the boy. She put the wet cloths to his hot,
feverish brow said to him, "Sir, yesterday afternoon I
wasn't sure he was going to make it. Looked like he
was going under, but at 1:00, all of a sudden that
fever left him." The man said, "That is exactly the
time Jesus said the boy was alright." I can hear her
now. "Glory be to God. Hallelujah. Thank you Jesus. I
believe in Jesus, too."
Now, what you have is not only confident faith, but
contagious faith. The Bible says, "Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, and thy house."
The whole house believed verse 53 says.
You got a problem? You got a tragedy? Bring your
tragedy to Jesus. Get a word from Jesus. Take Him at
His Word. Live on the basis of it. I'm here to tell
you, you will discover that Jesus will do just exactly
what He says He will do.
I've been a Christian since I was a nine-year-old boy.
He has never failed to keep His Word.
I want our heads bowed and eyes closed.
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