Faith-Driven Perseverance

INTRODUCTION

Today we continue with the second of eight messages on our Signs series.

In this series, we examine the seven signs John describes in his gospel, along with the resurrection, which is the ultimate sign of Christ's victory and divinity.

These signs give us a window into how God is at work in the world through Jesus and what it means for our faith and salvation.

Once again, Jesus is in Galilee.

This time, after seemingly lamenting the lack of faith among his people (John 4:44), we find Jesus confronted with someone who has traveled a great distance because of his faith in Jesus.

An official in Capernaum learns of Jesus and goes to him to ask Jesus to heal his son.

Because of this man's position, we will assume he is a proud, self-sufficient man.

The royal official had power, status, and prestige.

What more can a person want? What more can a person need?

Why come to Jesus?

There are two levels of distance between this man and Jesus.

The first is geographical: Jesus is in Cana, and the official is in Capernaum.

The distance between Capernaum and Cana is a full day's travel on foot, and yet this man has made the journey to request Jesus's presence to heal his son (Craig Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament [Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2014], 261).

The second point of distance is social: the official was most likely of the aristocratic class.

As a member of Herod Antipas's court, he was also most likely highly influenced by the Greco-Roman culture of the time.

So, in every way, he was the opposite of Jesus (Keener, New Testament, 261).

The event we will examine will show us what kind of faith Jesus desires from us.

Sometimes it takes an event that rocks us to our core to realize that we need something more than what we think we have in life.

John 4:46–47 (CSB)

46 He went again to Cana of Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. There was a certain royal official whose son was ill at Capernaum.

47 When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea into Galilee, he went to him and pleaded with him to come down and heal his son, since he was about to die.

John 4:49 (CSB)

49 “Sir,” the official said to him, “come down before my boy dies.”

SERMON

I. Faith-driven perseverance in action.

Jesus is back in Cana of Galilee.

Jesus had been in the Judea area and Jerusalem, where He performed other signs and wonders.

On his first visit, Jesus was at the wedding in Cana and turned water into wine.

In the throes of desperation, as he seeks healing for his son, this desperate father is willing to come on a 20-some mile march to see Jesus and to convince Jesus to come to see his son before it is too late.

The royal official most likely lived his life without a need or worry.

Now, something has rocked his world.

This proud man is now before Jesus, and the crowd gathered around Him, begging Jesus to help his son live.

In verse 47, the word translated PLEADED means to beg over and over again.

Neither riches nor office would lift one above affliction as his son was closing in on death's doorstep.

Neither circumstances, age, nor situations can guarantee joy; we still must seek Jesus.

Here is this man, broken, desperate, and devastated.

He is standing before Jesus, begging for help.

In verse 49, the royal official asks Jesus to come to his home before his son dies?

This royal official displayed faith-driven perseverance.

We see that perseverance in action as he made the trip to see Jesus.

Think about the level of faith that man has in Jesus.

This man's son is close to death, and he decides to leave his son's side to make this twenty-mile-plus journey BELIEVING Jesus can heal his son.

What do you believe Jesu can do in your life?

Think about that for a moment.

It is one thing to acknowledge that Jesus can do something, or to believe He can heal your marriage, your life, or whatever needs healing in your life; it is another thing to take that journey of faith to do something, to act upon those beliefs.

Make no mistake. For this royal official, this is a journey of faith, to leave your son who is at the point of death and go a day's journey away in the hope that you'll be able to find the one person you think can heal him.

Nonetheless, the royal official's understanding of Jesus has a couple of flaws, and we must take note.

First, the man takes it for granted that Jesus would need to be present for healing to take place.

Second, he is convinced that the power of Jesus ended when death occurred.

If Jesus does not come and if the child dies before Jesus can get there, no healing can take place.

Even with his imperfect understanding of what Jesus could do, this man leaves his son (and he does not send a servant) to go beg Jesus to come.

He comes to Jesus with no pride; he fights through the crowd with faith-driven perseverance to beg Jesus to help.

The man does not care if he looks weak in the process; all he cares about is his son.

What is stopping you from allowing faith-driven perseverance to come to Jesus?

Big Idea of the Message: The healing of the official's son shows that God is generous with His love and grace.

Let's look at verses 48-50.

John 4:48–50 (CSB)

48 Jesus told him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.”

49 “Sir,” the official said to him, “come down before my boy dies.”

50 “Go,” Jesus told him, “your son will live.” The man believed what Jesus said to him and departed.

II. Faith-driven perseverance does not waver.

Jesus gives what looks to be a rebuke to the royal official, but He is aiming His rebuke to the Galilean crowd.

Jesus rebukes the crowd who will not believe in His spiritual message and claims unless they see signs and wonders.

The Galileans welcomed Jesus to Galilee because of the miracles they had witnessed and heard about in Jerusalem.

They wanted to see the same in Galilee.

In contrast, the Samaritans Jesus encountered when dealing with the woman at the well were interested in the message Jesus had to bring.

Based on Jesus reading the woman at the well's life, they wanted to hear the message, the people from Galilee wanted to see some signs and wonders, then they might pay attention to the message.

In John 6 the people who saw the signs followed Him because of the signs they witnessed, not the message.

John 6:26 (CSB)

Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled.

John 6:66 (CSB)

From that moment many of his disciples turned back and no longer accompanied him.

Why are you following Jesus? For the benefits or for the love you have for Jesus?

I am sure the crowd is excited over the prospect of Jesus performing a miracle for them.

If you were that royal official, and you had just pleaded with Jesus to come to your home to heal your son, and Jesus comes back with verse 48, how would you feel?

Faith-driven perseverance does not waiver one bit by what is happening around you.

This man could have walked away thinking he wasted his time, but instead, in verse 49, the man asks Jesus once again to come to his son before the son dies.

The heart behind the plea shows that the man had a strong faith in what Jesus could do for his son.

Jesus gives the man an answer!

John 4:50 (CSB)

“Go,” Jesus told him, “your son will live.” The man believed what Jesus said to him and departed.

Now, let's think about this answer for a moment.

This man, who was a person of stature, has thrown himself at the feet of Jesus.

He has a strong faith in Jesus to heal.

He has two misconceptions about the abilities of Jesus.

Jesus needs to be next to the boy to heal him, and if the boy dies, Jesus is powerless to help.

Now Jesus looks at the man and tells him, GO, YOU SON WILL LIVE, or your sons lives.

The word GO is not a mild; ok, you can go, it is san imperative, GO NOW!

Look again at what verse 50 says; THE MAN BELIEVED WHAT JESUS SAID TO HIM AND DEPARTED!

Now hear me on this; we need to understand.

The man could have argued with Jesus because Jesus was not fulfilling the royal officials' preconceived notions concerning the healing.

He could have argued with Jesus and said, NO, YOU HAVE TO COME WITH ME!

How often have you argued with Jesus because He did not do things the way YOU wanted Him to do it?

How many times have you gotten mad at Jesus because He asked you to serve in a way YOU did not want to serve?

Ministers can get this way.

Jesus, I am not happy serving this church of 100 because I am better than this; I should be serving a church of a 1000 people!

This is not what I signed up for; Jesus, I will quit!

"Sir, come down before my child dies," to which Jesus replies, "Go; your son will live" (Vv. 49–50).

Hearing that was all he needed, he turned around to make the one-day journey back home (v. 50).

At this point, he makes his second journey of faith.

Twice he asked for Jesus to come to his son to heal him.

The second time, Jesus merely says, "Go, your child lives."

Turning around and leaving without visible proof of healing and believing is a tremendous act of faith.

The fact that this royal official listened to the words of Jesus and believed Him and then headed home says a lot about the man's" faith.

This act was an extraordinary display of faith!

Faith-driven perseverance does not waiver, even when Jesus does not answer you in the way you THINK He should!

Let's turn to verses 51-54

John 4:51–54 (CSB)

51 While he was still going down, his servants met him saying that his boy was alive.

52 He asked them at what time he got better. “Yesterday at one in the afternoon the fever left him,” they answered.

53 The father realized this was the very hour at which Jesus had told him, “Your son will live.” So he himself believed, along with his whole household.

54 Now this was also the second sign Jesus performed after he came from Judea to Galilee.

III. Faith-driven perseverance was rewarded.

Now the man heads home!

I wonder what he was thinking on the way back to see his son?

I think the man was joyful, he believed, and he trusted Jesus!

Jesus told him that his son was going to live!

The official encounters his servants on his way home, who let him know his son is recovering.

He discovers that the time the son turned the corner was the same time when Jesus told him to return home (vv. 52–53).

This leads to even more people believing, and we read it is another sign of Jesus (v. 54).

As we saw last week, these are signs of God working through Jesus in this world for our salvation.

And so, too, here we see that when God works through Jesus, it is good news. Literally.

This story is a picture of the gospel.

What did this man do to deserve the favor of Jesus?

He believed in Jesus.

He didn't do any good works that are listed.

He believed, trusted, and was obedient to what Jesus called him to do.

Jesus responded with grace toward his son.

The sign again shows us that God is gracious and that he is generous with his grace.

CONCLUSION

Consider your prayer life in light of this official's actions.

How often do we pray, but when we are done, the silence remains, and the problems remain.

Do you believe God has heard you?

Or do you need "signs and wonders" to believe (v. 48)?

The actions of this official, an outsider by the standards of Jesus's disciples, should challenge us to take stock of our faith and how our actions line up with what we claim to believe.

Our challenge from this message is: Do you believe God has heard you? Or do you need "signs and wonders" to believe?

Today, will you start trusting that God has you, even if He has you in a way you did not expect!

Will you trust Him, or will you walk away because you did not see a sign or wonder?