John 4:43-54 “What Kind of Faith Do You Have?”

0:57So that hasn't proven to be super helpful. It's kind of awkward when you're beginning to bow to the sensei, and then a nine-year-old kid walks up next to you and says to the instructor, Hey, coach, and gives him a high five. You're probably aware that martial arts is kind of an umbrella term for dozens of disciplines like kung fu, judo, jiu-jitsu, taekwondo, and they all have some sort of a belt system. And usually that system begins with a white belt and then progresses through a series of colors all the way to black. And so, by mastering a certain set of skills, students move from one belt to the next. So, when someone says something like, I practice judo, that could mean that they are a white belt that started last week, or that they are a black belt who's been training for 20 years.

1:48And although they both practice the same martial art, there's a world of difference between a brand new white belt and an experienced black belt. And, friends, I think the same thing is true with respect to faith. We tend to think of faith as binary. You either have it or you don't. But that's not true. Just like martial arts, there is a range of faith that we all practice. I think John really highlights the non-binary nature of faith in this passage that we're going to be looking at today. And it's going to help us reflect on and evaluate the kind of faith that we have.

2:29Now, in the previous section, the Samaritans asked Jesus not to leave, and so he remained in their area for a couple more days. And after that, John states in verse 43 that Jesus left Samaria and headed north into Galilee. But then John makes this parenthetical comment in verse 44. Take a look there. For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown, in his own hometown. Now, that placement is really puzzling because Jesus John then writes that the Galileans in general welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast, for they too had gone to the feast.

3:10Now, Nazareth is further south than Cana. And so it is likely that when Jesus and the disciples left Samaria and traveled north to Cana, they first stopped in Nazareth, which, of course, is Jesus' hometown. And the disciples would have been able to see that Jesus' family, his neighbors, maybe some of his friends from growing up, that they rejected him. They did not receive him or his message. And what a stark contrast that is to what they just saw in this town in Samaria, where the entire village, seemingly, put their faith in Jesus.

3:44And so, church, I just want to remind you that the gospels often mention that Jesus was not initially received by the people who knew him best. His family, his friends. And sometimes I think we get really discouraged when our family members, our friends, don't respond to us when we present the gospel to them. When we urge them to exercise faith in Jesus, they just don't respond and we lose heart. But I don't want you to lose heart because, like we talked about last week, what we need to do is pray for laborers to go out into the harvest. Because it might be the case that somebody else reaps a harvest among your family and friends that you've been sowing for 10, 15, 20 years.

4:30So, don't lose heart. Even Jesus was rejected initially by his family and friends, but his brothers eventually came to believe in him, and his brother James became one of the pillars at the church in Jerusalem. Now, John's note in verse 45 is really significant. The Galileans welcomed Jesus because they had seen the miracles that he performed in Jerusalem at the feast. And John mentions that as a commentary, I think, on the type of faith that most of these people had at this point. They had faith in Jesus as a miracle worker, as a performer of signs, as it were, but they didn't necessarily believe that he was the Christ, the Son of God. And that's going to become evident as we go further into the passage. So, let's pick up the storyline in verse 46.

5:19So, 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. Now, Capernaum is going to kind of become a home base for Jesus and his disciples. It's about 20 miles east of Cana, where they are right now. And John notes that at Capernaum, there is a basilicos. That is, a royal official who was directly responsible to the king. We don't know exactly who this official is, but that's what that word means. It's an official who's directly responsible to the king, he works for him specifically. And in this case, that king is King Herod Antipas, who ruled over Galilee at this time.

5:58And this official Son is sick, like really sick. In fact, in verse 47, we learn that he is at the point of death. And in verse 52, we learn that whatever illness that he had was accompanied by a fever. Now, you have to remember that in those days, medical doctors understood very little about fevers. In fact, they thought of them as diseases in and of themselves, a belief that actually persisted well into the 20th century. So think about how many diseases that the world dealt with at the beginning of last century that have fever in the name: scarlet fever, yellow fever, typhoid fever.

6:40Well, of course, we know today that fever is a symptom. It's not a disease. But because fevers often accompany diseases that are serious and sometimes fatal, presenting a fever that did not resolve itself in a few days in the ancient world, that was often a death sentence. And it remained that way for about 2,000 years afterward. So while we don't know which specific disease was afflicting this official son, it was accompanied by fever, which meant that there was little to nothing that doctors could do to help him in the ancient world.

7:11Let's look at verse 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. So Jesus said to him, Unless you see signs and wonders, you will not. Believe. The official said to him, Sir, come down before my child dies. Jesus' reputation is spreading from Judea, where Jerusalem is, into Samaria and up into Galilee. Everyone around is hearing about him and what he can do. So when the official realized that Jesus was in Cana in Galilee, he made the 20-mile trek from Capernaum. And the journey would have ordinarily taken a couple of days, but I wouldn't be surprised if this man got there and won. You would do anything for your sick child. And so he leaves Capernaum, he goes to Cana.

8:09And when he arrives, he went to Jesus and asked, the verb could also be translated begged or pleaded or implored. He goes to Jesus and earnestly asks him to come down to Capernaum and heal his son. Now, perhaps this father had been in Jerusalem for the Passover feast and he saw a lot of the miracles that Jesus was performing there. Or maybe somebody connected to him or to Herod's court was there or in that region and they heard about Jesus or they saw the miracles that he performed and they encouraged this official to go and see Jesus.

8:45But whatever the situation was, this dad believes that there's a chance that Jesus could heal his son. At the very least, he had nothing to lose. If it worked, praise God. If not, well, there was nothing to lose. Doctors could do for his son, anyway. And so, friends, what the official has at this point is what I would call level one faith. Level one faith. It's the kind of faith that we see elsewhere in Scripture, like in Mark chapter 9.

9:16And in Mark chapter 9, there's this another very sad situation with a father and his son. And in this case, the boy is possessed by a demon who makes him mute and throws him down. He foams at the mouth and becomes rigid. It's a really sad situation. The father hopes that Jesus will heal his son, but when this father arrives at the scene, Jesus isn't there. He's up on the mountain with Peter, James, and John being transfigured. And so when Peter, James, John, and Jesus come down the mountain, there's this huge crowd. There's a big argument going on because the disciples tried to cast the demon out of this man's son, but they were unable to do it. So they bring the boy to Jesus, and immediately the demon throws him down, and this whole horrifying process unfolds right in front of him. So Jesus asks the dad, how long has this been happening to him? And I want you to look at the father's reply. This is Mark 9:21.

10:14And he said, from childhood. And it has often cast him into fire and into water to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us. But if you can do anything, The father is desperate, but he's also faithless. He went to Jesus because he was out of options, just like the dad in John chapter 4. If Jesus could do something, anything, great. But if not, nobody else could either. So look how Jesus responds to him.

10:53If you can, all things are possible for one who believes. Jesus is calling the man to faith. See, this dad loved his son and he wanted to help him, but he was out of options. And he went to Jesus as kind of a last-ditch effort because it couldn't hurt to try. Not because he really believed Jesus could heal his son. So Jesus calls out his unbelief and calls him to exercise faith. If you can, all things are possible for one who believes. And look at the dad's response, Mark 9:24. This is something I've prayed many times. Maybe you have as well. Immediately, the father of the child cried out, I believe, help my unbelief.

11:40I believe. Help my unbelief. And in response to that faith, Jesus drives the demon out of this man's son. And see, friends, I want you to see how similar this is to what happens in John chapter 4. The father of the sick child goes and asks Jesus to come to Capernaum. him and heal his son. But Jesus calls out his lack of faith. Look again at verse 48 in John chapter 4. Unless you see signs and wonders, you will not believe. Now, what's significant about this is that the word you is plural in both of these senses. So in the Texas edition, we have, unless y'all see signs and wonders, y'all will not believe.

12:27So he's not just talking to this man, he's talking to everybody in this region, everybody that's within earshot of him. He's saying, unless y'all see signs and wonders, y'all will not believe. All of you guys have this level one faith. This faith that believes that God exists and that in certain situations, he might be helpful. Maybe he can help, maybe not, but you've got nothing to lose. Have you ever heard of Pascal's wager? This is what level one faith is. Pascal's wager says essentially in this sense, by believing in God, you've got nothing to lose. You have potentially lots to gain. If you believe in God and he doesn't exist, well, no worries. If you don't believe in God and it turns out that he does exist, well, you're in big trouble eternally. That's what Pascal's wager says. That's level one faith. It's a faith that says, in certain situations when I have nothing to lose and potentially a lot to gain, I turn to God for help. And that is what the official does. He goes to Jesus because he's desperate.

13:33And in verse 49, that desperation comes out again. He asks Jesus respectfully, but emphatically, look at verse 49, Sir, come down before my child dies. Come down before my child dies. I want you to look at Jesus' response. Take a look at the first part of verse 50. Jesus said to him, Go. Your son will live. I want you to put yourself for a moment in this man's place. Your child is dying, and in fact, could die at any moment.

14:17So you walk, run, sprint 20 miles from Capernaum to Cana to ask Jesus to come back with you and heal your sick child. You entreat him, you practically beg him respectfully multiple times to come back with you. And after your final request, the first word out of Jesus' mouth is go. I want you to think for a minute what is going through this dad's head. Go? Sir, I came all this way. I practically sprinted for 20 miles to come get you.

15:12I came to get you, to bring you back with me, so that you can heal my son. I have to think that at least for one moment, Jesus' response was a great disappointment to this dad. Because John records multiple times that his request is for Jesus to come with him back to Capernaum and heal his son, because he believes that Jesus has to be physically present in order to make this happen. I have to think that Jesus' response did not meet his expectations, and that this was a pivotal moment in this man's life.

15:54It reminds me of another situation that is very similar in the Old Testament. In 2 Kings chapter 5, we meet this powerful man named Naaman. He is the commander of the Syrian army. He's a really mighty man of war, but he's also a leper. And that means that he had an incurable skin disease of some kind. Well, Naaman has this servant girl from Israel living and working in his house, and she suggests to Naaman that he go into Israel and see Elisha the prophet.

16:26So Naaman goes to his king, the king of Syria, and the king of Syria lets him. He writes a letter to the king of Israel asking him to heal his servant Naaman. So Naaman travels to Israel. He delivers the letter from his king to the king of Israel. And obviously, the king of Israel is horrified. He's not God, and this letter is asking him to heal Naaman. But while this is going on, Elisha the prophet sends a messenger to the king's palace, and he says, King, don't worry, send him to me, and God will heal him.

16:59So Naaman and his entire huge entourage turn around and they start heading towards Elisha's house. I mean, it's getting a little ridiculous at this point. I'm sure he's having second thoughts about taking advice from his servant girl. They start heading there, and on the way there, Elisha sends a messenger to intercept them. And the messenger tells Naaman, Go down to the Jordan River, wash seven times, and you will be clean. Your flesh will be restored. Everything will be new.

17:31And I want you to look at how Naaman reacts to this situation. Take a look on the screen. But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the Lord his God and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the rivers of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage. I want you to look at that for a minute. I want you to look at how he responds.

18:08What did he want and expect? Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the Lord his God and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. Naaman's expectations were not met in this response from Elisha. He expected Elisha himself to come to him, be physically present, and perform this ritual that was part spiritual, stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and part magic, wave his hand over the place, and that's what would do the trick. And friends, that made Naaman really, really upset.

18:54Why did I come all this way? I'm such a fool. What am I doing listening to a servant girl? I can take a bath in any river in Syria. I'm going home. But his wise servants point out that Elisha has given him a great word. If all he has to do is go wash in this river seven times and be clean of this terrible disease, why wouldn't he do it? And so, to Naaman's credit, he listens to them, he goes down to the river and washes seven times, he is completely cured, and he becomes a believer in the God of Israel. It's a miracle. Miraculous and wonderful situation. Now, back to John chapter 4. In this brief moment after Jesus tells the official, go, your son will live, he has a choice to make. Remember, his expectations are almost certainly not met. He wanted Jesus to come with him. He believes Jesus has to be physically present to heal his son. So what's he going to do? He could get upset and stomp away like Naaman did initially. Or he could believe Jesus's word by faith, like he did, Naaman did eventually. Look at the end of verse 50.

20:12The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. Now, that's what I would call level two faith. Remember, level one faith is that Pascal's wager kind of faith. It believes that God exists, and in certain situations, he might be helpful to you. If he can help out, great. If not, no worries. Well, friends, level two faith is more than that. This man is choosing to believe Jesus' word that he can heal his son just by speaking from a great distance. So this is not a, if you can do anything to help us, have compassion on us kind of faith.

20:53No, this is a faith that says, Jesus said it, so I believe it, and I'm going to prove it. That faith by turning around and walking home 20 miles where my child is dying. Let's pick up in verse 51. As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering. 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. The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, Your son will live.

21:36Now, just imagine the scene when the father is hurrying home to be with his son. And somewhere along the way between Cana and Capernaum, he sees his servants, who didn't come with him, walking toward him. And you have to wonder, what is he thinking in that moment? Is he wondering if this is going to be a situation like Jairus the synagogue ruler, when he went to go see Jesus, when his servants came to him, they told him, hey, don't bother the teacher anymore. Your child is dead.

22:16Is it going to be that situation? No, they come bringing good news. Your son is recovering. Nearly every other translation says, your son is alive, or your son lives. This is incredible news. But the official wants to know because of what Jesus said, he wants to know when his son began to recover. And the servants tell him, with no knowledge of the situation, it was yesterday about one o'clock. That is the exact time that Jesus spoke the word, your son will live. I want you to look at verse 53.

22:57And he himself believed in all his household. He himself believed in all his household. This is what we could call level three faith. This kind of faith is much more than a Pascal's wager kind of faith. It's more than a faith that even believes that Jesus can heal us if we ask. Friends, this kind of faith believes that Jesus is who he claimed to be, that he is the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who himself is the all-powerful God of the universe.

23:35That's level three faith. That's saving faith. That's why John ends this section with this note in verse 54. Take a look at how he ends. This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee. This is more than a miracle. Jesus performed lots and lots of miracles. This is a sign. And like we talked about earlier in the Gospel of John, he's highlighting all of these signs that point to the fact that Jesus is not just a miracle worker. Jesus is in fact the Christ, the Son of God. And every sign is pointing to that reality and calling us to exercise saving faith in him.

24:21And you see, this man and all of his household exercised that kind of saving faith from this moment on. No longer do they view Jesus as someone who might be able to help them, or even as someone who definitely could help them if they just came and asked. They viewed him as the Christ, the Son of God, the Messiah and Savior that they needed. Friends, I think for many of us who already have saving faith in Jesus, this passage reminds us of Jesus' true identity.

24:54And it's a real challenge to us to consider how do we approach God in prayer when we come to him and make our requests. See, I think a lot of times, even for those of us who are believers in Jesus, we come to God in prayer like a name in the Syrian. We demand that God do certain things for us in a certain way, in a certain time frame. And if he doesn't answer our requests in the way that we want, in the time that we want, how we want, then we become bitter.

25:30But, friends, this passage is a challenge to us and a reminder that Jesus is God. He does what he pleases, when he pleases, how he pleases. He is perfectly good, and he gives good gifts to his children, even when his answers to our prayers are not carried out in the way that we want or hope, in the timeframe that we want or hope. I want you to remember today that God is God, and that is good.

26:10We would make terrible gods because even if we were invested with all power to do everything and anything that we wanted to do, we do not have wisdom, perfect wisdom, and perfect knowledge of the future and what all of our choices will bring about and the unintended side effects of all those choices. Only God knows those things. God is God, and that is good. And so, this passage is an invitation for us as Christians to trust him fully and completely, even when we do not understand why he's not answering our prayers in the way and in the time that we want.

26:50And if you're here today and you've not yet exercised saving faith in Jesus, it might be helpful to consider. Your faith in view of what we find in this text, because I think there are at least some in this room today, surely, that are exercising the same kind of faith that this official exercised at the beginning of this passage. You, for maybe your whole life, have come before the Lord, believing that he exists, but only when you need something.

27:30Because you figure that you've tried everything else out, and if you pray and God can help you, well, you have nothing to lose. If he doesn't help you, okay. But maybe if you ask him, he will help you and you have something to gain. There might be others of you that exercise a level two faith, a higher faith than that, where you believe that God exists and you believe that if you ask, God will answer. And even sometimes his answer will be no, and you're okay with that, but you have never exercised saving faith in Jesus, where you believe that he's not just able and willing to do these things, but that he himself is the son of God, that he himself is the Messiah and the Savior that you need, the only one who can rescue you from your sin and its consequences.

28:16You see, friends, Jesus wanted to heal this man's son. But even more than that, he wanted to save this family. He wanted to redeem them and rescue them from their sin. And its consequences. And he was willing to challenge this man in the middle of the hardest trial of his life because the worst thing that could happen to us is not that we would get sick or die, or that someone we know and love would get sick and die.

28:51The worst thing that could happen to us is that we or our loved ones would die without being forgiven and reconciled to God through faith in Jesus Christ. That is the worst thing that could happen. Our biggest problem is not medical or financial or social. Our biggest problem is our sin and our rebellion against God, which either directly or indirectly leads to every other problem that we have. And so this morning, I want to challenge you to examine your faith. I want to challenge you to see what level you're at. Not because the Bible speaks in terms of levels of faith, but because I'm trying to illustrate for you this morning that everybody exercises some level of faith.

29:41But only one kind of faith saves. And that is faith in Jesus Christ, his sinless life, his death, his resurrection from the dead. And so I urge you this morning, if you've not exercised saving faith in Jesus, that you put all of your hope and your trust fully and completely in him so that you can be. Forgiven and reconciled to God, just like this man and his family. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the clarity of this passage and how it helps us to evaluate what kind of faith that we have.

30:49All of us are exercising some kind of faith. An atheist is exercising some kind of faith. People that just believe you exist are exercising some kind of faith. People that have faith that you can do all things are exercising some kind of faith. And I pray that no one would be content just thinking that because they have some kind of faith, that that will save them. I pray, Holy Spirit, you would illuminate hearts. We We are unable to even evaluate truly, accurately, in an unbiased way, our own hearts, what we worship, what we're trusting in.

31:42And so I pray that you would illuminate hearts this morning and that you would bring people from death to life. Grant saving faith this morning, God. Father, we pray for ourselves, those of us who are believers in Jesus. God, we are sorry that we have come to you so often, making requests, but not really believing that you can definitely do something about it, and that whatever you decide will definitely be the best thing. Too many times we've come before you and we have a plan, and we want you to stick to that plan and that time frame. And if you don't stick to that plan in that time frame, we become bitter, jaded, cynical.

32:36We start to think that prayer doesn't work. We start to doubt your existence. All kinds of silly things creep into our hearts and minds because we're so prideful that we think we know what is best. Forgive us, humble us, and help us to respond like this Father did. Being willing to lay Down everything that we thought and hoped and had concluded that would be the best. Help us to lay those things down and trust that you are God and that that is good.

33:16We thank you for your word today and for another picture that Jesus is the Christ. Amen. Thank you for listening to the sermon audio from New Life Baptist Church in College Station, Texas. For more information or to support our ministry, visit us online at newlifecs.net.