John 4:43-54 Growing Faith: Healing the Nobleman’s Son

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Growing Faith: Healing the Nobleman’s Son

John 4:43-54

Introduction: Anyone and everyone who calls themselves a Christian would admit to having faith. However, John has already introduced to the principle that “faith” is not always what it ought to be or what Jesus accepts.

In this text, John offers us the second of seven signs in his gospel. Please remember, in John’s gospel a sign isn’t simply a miracle, it is a picture of power that has a critical message about Jesus as the Son of God. Jesus is urging us to see his message, not just the sign given. In fact, seeing the sign and not just the miracle is one way John is differentiating between believers. Partial believers simply see a miracle. True believers see the sign.

1. Connecting the Texts
   1. Please be aware that as John writes his treatise he is very careful to note movements and time frames so that we are aware that his messages and signs have connections. In other words, these are not just independent events.
   2. Verse 43, “After two days he departed for Galilee.” Remember 4:3-4, Jesus was traveling to Galilee, but “needed to pass through Samaria.” Jesus had a mental appointment with this woman before he came to Galilee.
   3. Verse 44 gives us a connection. The Samaritans had eagerly believed in Jesus. But now he will go to his hometown area, and he will not be honored as in Samaria.
   4. Verse 46 makes another connection. He had done his first sign in this same area. Now he will do another. He did not perform a sign in Samaria, but in his hometown he will now do another sign.
   5. Verse 54 emphasizes this point. “This was the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee.” 
2. Contrasting Faith
   1. First, notice the contrast between verses 44 and 45. 
      1. John gives us a clear “heads up” concerning the people of Jesus’ home town: “a prophet is without honor.” In other words, John is clearly making us aware that we need to read the following very carefully. These people are not going to honor Jesus. 
      2. But then, how odd is verse 45! Jesus arrives in his hometown and they “welcomed him!” If John had not alerted us in verse 44, we would have thought that the people of Galilee were going to be just like the Samaritans. But that is not so, and John wants us to clearly understand that there is a critical difference in the “believers” in Galilee and the believers in Samaria.
      3. At the end of verse 45, John gives us a hint. They welcomed him because they too had gone to the feast and had seen the miracles. They are in the category of 2:23-24, believers in whom Jesus does not believe.
   2. To confirm this even more, in verse 48 Jesus gives them a rebuke: “Unless you [plural] see signs and wonders you will not believe.” Jesus isn’t frustrated of the need to do a sign, he is frustrated that there is no end of their desire to see signs. Their faith does not progress beyond, “Wow, let’s see another sign!” 
   3. There is a huge lesson here for all believers. The lesson can be seen and learned by asking a critical question: do you believe because of what Jesus can do or because of who he is? 
      1. Maybe you believe because that is what your family and peer group do. It would not be accepted by them if you did not believe.
      2. Maybe you believe because Jesus is popular, and believing in him gives you advantages with others.
      3. Or maybe you believe because you want someone to fall back on when you need help, when you are suffering or alone and need someone greater than you to talk to and trust.
      4. And unfortunately, some believe simply because they want to be assured they won’t go to hell. “Just forgive my sins and let me go on with my life.”
   4. Notice how the psalmists speak of their desire for God:
      1. “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4) 
      2. “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirst for God, for the living God.” (Psalm 4:1-2) 
      3. “They drink their fill of the abundance of your house; and you give them to drink of the river of your delights.” (Psalm 36:8, NASB) 
      4. “O taste and see that the Lord is good; how blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!” (Psalm 34:8) 
3. The Official’s Son
   1. Cana was 15 miles from Capernaum where this official lived. That is a significant journey and indicates the man’s desperation to find a cure for his son. The man asks Jesus to travel with him back to his home. But Jesus tests the man’s faith and does not immediately answer. Instead he rebukes the whole crowd.
   2. But the man is not dissuaded. “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Now here is the next test. Jesus does not go with him but instead simply says, “Go, your son will live.” Now will the man beg and plead more for Jesus to physically come, or will he believe his word? Jesus is building faith. Indeed, the man believes Jesus’ word and went on his way. After he learns from his servants that the boy was responded to life at the very hour Jesus spoke, “he believed, and all his household.” 
   3. Now we see a contrast between Jesus’ rebuke in verse 48 and the man’s faith. The people of Jesus’ hometown did not honor Jesus. They just wanted to see signs and wonders, but their faith would not progress beyond the wonder of what he did. However, this man grows in his faith. He believes on the basis of Jesus’ word. 
   4. This is the way faith should operate. It is not mature all at once. The danger is when faith does not progress beyond what I want from Jesus, and I’ll believe when I see it. Faith must come to the point where we “believe because of his word” (4:41).
      1. If you think that is simple to do, it is not. When a marriage is not going well and we are completely exasperated, that is when faith trusts the word of Jesus. When we are panicked about our job or what we will eat or our future, that’s when faith trusts the word of Jesus.
      2. Faith is not just believing he is. Faith is not just obeying some commands. Faith is taking Jesus at his word when everything in your head says, “This won’t work!” 
4. Seeing the Sign
   1. Just as with the first sign of turning water to wine to indicate the greater blessings of the Kingdom, so this sign has a greater message than just a healing.
   2. The son is near death. The official is certain of his death: “Come down before my child dies.” What is about to happen to this child is the same as what happens at some point to every person, whether child or adult. This is the result of the curse of the Garden. “In the day you eat of it, dying you shall die.” Physical death would now be the lot of every descendant of Adam. But physical death is only an outward picture of the spiritual death. Paul said, “So death spread to all men, because all have sinned.” 
   3. Notice that the word “live” is used three times in the text:
      1. First Jesus says, “Your son will live.”
      2. Then the servants say, “Your son lives!” (NKJV)
      3. Finally, the nobleman remembers that it was the same hour that Jesus said, “Your son lives.”
   4. Therefore, by saving the son from death, Jesus has announced that he is the fulfillment of the blessing of Abraham that “through your offspring all nations will be blessed.” Life is only in the Son. He is the only one who has the power to speak a word and give life. Hear this well. Hear it loud and clear: only in Jesus is there life. Without him, the curse of the Garden is still on us.
   5. But also, look clearly at the faith required. Real disciples trust no matter the cost. God told Abraham to offer his only son. Abraham rose early in the morning and did it. Only then did he experience the power of life by seeing his son rise from the dead in a figure.

Berry Kercheville