Good morning After looking at 45 verses last week of chapter 4 the gospel of John I think it's only appropriate that we look at eight verses this morning We're reading from the gospel according to John chapter 4 We're going to be reading this morning verses 46 to the end if you're able would you please stand let us honor the reading of God's holy Inspired and in there at word this morning John writes and he says so he came again to Cana in Galilee where he had made the water wine And at Capernaum where there was an official whose son was ill When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea's Galilee He went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son where 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 said to him go your son will live The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way as he was going down his servants met him And told him that his son was recovering So he asked him 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 that was the hour when Jesus had said to him Your son will live and he himself believed and all his household This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he came when he had come from Judea to Galilee The word of the Lord this morning when you pray with me Lord Jesus. We come to you again in prayer knowing that you know each one of us You know where we are you know all thoughts You know a deepest longing You know the places that we're crying out to you this morning come and heal us and So I asked you to meet us at our point of need Would you allow us to hear what we need to hear this morning? Only by your spirit who makes this possible Lumin this your word that we just read so that Lord we may listen to you and I'll just listen but obey you We pray this in Christ's name. Amen. Please be seated a Popular Christian blogger this week wrote an article on the website the Gospel Coalition and she she wanted to To basically talk about what's going on as Mark was praying this morning regarding the hurricane season that's going on my wife And I live in Florida for a long time and you know We're used to this season and so you're knowing you've been following the news of hurricane durian and how it's wrecked Have it in in the Bahamas especially and such a huge disaster and so she wrote this article and and she pointed three things about National disasters that come to us and one of the things that she mentioned is that we shouldn't we shouldn't actually be Calling them natural disasters because there's nothing natural about natural disasters When God made the heavens and the earth he made everything and what did God say he was good and So she says that the idea that we call them natural disasters actually not right because these things have come after the For it's because of brokenness because of the fall that we experience these disasters the second thing that she Knows is is something that's encouraging to us and it is this you said that they're not only not natural, but they are temporary That will come a day because Jesus is that we're redeeming all of creation and bringing all things to himself and restoring all Thing when we will not have to deal with natural disasters like hurricanes and earthquakes and all of afflictions Isn't that good news for us? The final thing which is even more encouraging is that these disasters are not natural They are temporary, but they are an earthy meaning they make us long and desire for better country They make us long and desire for a place that is better a place that is peaceful a place where we dwell with Jesus a place where there's no Sickness, there's no earthquake. There's no all this thing that we have to deal with and that that day is coming soon I would love to add a fourth. This is not from this Christian blogger, but this is from me, which is this that hurricanes earthquakes Disasters remind us that there comes a time when nothing else will do for us There comes a time when a government with when money with an army and military and anything that we can think of that can fix our problems Just will not do and when that happens or cry remain Where is God? Who is going to heal us? Who is going to rescue us from our desperation?
Hurricanes earthquakes sickness loss of job loss of a loved one separation loss of marriage Addiction a struggle with sin every one of those things remind us how desperate we are without Jesus and They make us call out to him and say the word come and heal us and So John is reminding us in this very short verses that we just read So when we are driven to a place of desperation There's a place that we can go There's a place that we can go by faith and cry out to the Lord To heal us and and I think it's really beautiful here in this verse that we just read that John begins by reminding us that Affliction's known no boundaries Affliction have no boundaries. They can affect any Person the desperate man here. We see in this verse. We just read we're told is a royal official. You may wonder who is this person He was what they called the Basilicos meaning he was a noble man. He was a king's man He worked in the courts of the king and and here we know who was king right around this time was herad antipers as they as they called him And so he was clearly a man of influence was clearly a man of significant status He was a man of wealth. He had it all But having everything that he had his significant status and everything else did not exempt him from The normal tragedies of this life he found himself in a desperate situation because his son became sick And there's nothing that he could do someone once said pain is a is a is a universal phenomenon I have no idea who said that but that is so true right that it affects everyone and and it goes deeper than we can imagine And so this man travels we're told 20 world we're not told 20 miles But it's actually the distance between Canaan to pernium is actually about 20 miles give or take In order to come and seek the village carpenter Jesus himself this man of means comes to meet this Village carpenter by the name Jesus He follows his pride and comes to Christ not knowing not caring what people are gonna say because I mean This is a significant imagine. I mean the president showing up in a my house So to speak. I mean just imagine all the people in winter sling that are gonna want to come and see What's going on here with all these stars and the police and everything so there must have been a sensation Yes, this man doesn't care about with that He's desperate and nothing will stop him from coming to Jesus and finding help with son Imagine with me for one second is this is just speculation But is it possible that this man had used everything in his power Money wealth and his status to try and fix his sons problem. Is it possible? I believe it is he had done everything that he could do and now he's at a place where he's picking nothing else will do I got to go find help somewhere else Again his son had contracted fever and he went from a bad state to a worse state He is about to die. He's he probably was in some kind of a coma We don't know when I'll tell but we're told that he was aware that his son was going to die unless he knew He did something to his son and so the official comes and starts begging Jesus Please come down and heal my son before he dies You know what he's asking? He's asking Jesus. Can you come with me right on my horse? 20 miles up to component come and touch me my son and heal him come and do something do a miracle and heal him His son's sickness filled with filled him with profound Misery and we all know that there is nothing that can shatter a parent or more completely that the affliction That is falling on a child Have you ever watched your child? Especially the young ones have a two and a two and a half year old when they're just helpless and helpless and there's nothing you you feel like there's nothing you can do and you're just watching them Fade He is helpless. He is hopeless. He is restless Death is knocking at the door and the man knows And unless he does something he's gonna lose his son But friends let us not miss the the nature of this tragedy Let us not miss that this is a young son who is dying. This is not an older person that's lived their life 90 years or a hundred or whatever it is and they're dying This is you know when we all know the truth that the pain or bearing a child Only a parent that has gone through that pain can tell us how it feels You cannot we cannot imagine the pain or bearing your own child unless you have done it You know what's amazing the very first grave that was dug in all of creation Was apparent bearing their child It was Adam and Eve bearing Able Not the other way because tragedy strikes where we least expect it Tragedy and pain has no boundaries. What a reminder for us as God's people to know that we should never ever ever put confidence on long life
That we must be ready Ready to go Because tragedy can strike any moment And it's so easy for us. Yeah, I think to just begin thinking about this wealthy man this powerful man and and and start to think well You know what is it possible that the wealthy and the people with means and and and resources really don't experience the visories of the rest of us As I mentioned tragedy knows no boundaries And the encouragement for us. I think is clear that we we don't envy those things We don't envy resources. We don't envy power and all those things because as I said They really don't fix any problems at all. In fact, I think the wealthy have more problems and and and the anxieties than most average people do worrying about my jet plane, you know, I don't worry about my jet plane Oh my 20 billion dollars. I don't have it. So I sleep well at night My $1,000 will do Because the people that are truly rich are the ones who store their treasures in heaven Not the ones who look upon the things of this life. Listen There's something that wealth and power and fame cannot buy It cannot buy your life Cannot buy your health You can prolong it try to see the noble man is here reaching out to Jesus reaching out to Jesus out of desperation But with little thought as to who Jesus. I mean initially we don't even we can't even realize whether he knows who Jesus is as far as he's concerned He had heard about Jesus that this guy was coming and performing miracles and turning world into wine And so there's hope there. I mean if this guy can turn water into wine There's a possibility maybe there's a chance that he can actually heal my son It's only after the healing has actually happened that we see his desperation Turning and becoming into actual faith But you see him pleading here pleading with Jesus to please come and help my son. He's he's begging Jesus Do you paint can you paint the picture in your mind? Can you imagine Jesus walking around with people around him and he's a man who's saying Jesus please come please stop Can you come with me? I'll give you a ride Please come with me and heal my son This is a man who understands that affliction That God can use affliction in our life for all good No, when we go through hard times we don't realize we we really cannot see it We don't even want to be told that God is using it for his glory But can you think of any other reason why this noble man would have gone to Jesus other than the fact that his son got sick and he was desperate and needed to go to Christ It was his trouble. It was his affliction that led him to Jesus and there he would find something much more beautiful than he could ever imagine It is there that this man finds his own sin sick soul that needed Jesus
Affliction Is one of God's medicines Jason Rios ass affliction is one of God's medicines for us You want a dose of a little bit of that so you may be well
There's a him that we usually don't sing here Jesus how my cross have taken One of the verses actually calls upon come trials and disaster and pain Wait Come trials disaster and you're calling upon pain to come to you and yet we can do that Because sometimes it is during those times of affliction and pain and disaster that we are able to learn things that we can learn no any other way That the only way we can understand that the only way we can learn that lesson from God is through affliction What is Jesus teaching you through your affliction Through your trial Through your waiting You know the truth is all of us or most of us And let rightly so seek prosperity We seek the comforts that this world has to offer that's really natural of all of us We seek safety we we seek to be shielded from all the trials that plague us and all world We do the same to our children. We do the same to those that we love
Is it possible that it is through losses and crosses If they lead us to Jesus that that's what we need to be longing for Our losses and our crosses that we have to bear if they lead us to Jesus That's what we need to be longing and so instead of complaining instead of murmuring when we when when we're going through a hard times Maybe we need to start looking at Jesus Maybe that's what our focus needs to be not on our problems Maybe our focus ought to be Lord. I am in the School of Affliction Lord. Please help me to understand What is it that you are teaching Because I'm in class right now And I'm learning and you know our losses and crosses are not in vain They are not in vain One day we'll see that in reality they were actually gains
I love in verse 48 Jesus responds to this man's question will you come down And you my son he says so Jesus said to him unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe Now let me ask you you think that Jesus is rebuking the man. I think it's both him and and the crowd For focusing so much on these signs and wonders give me this and give me that Is Jesus throwing a cold glass of water to his face after his request? Is there grace here at all Is Jesus offering a challenge to him to exercise his faith Saying I challenge you brother. Can you exercise your faith and see what's going to happen because you don't know who you're talking to you see as Lewis describing his experience and how he fought against God and you know want to believe in him He says you know the hardness of God is kinder than the softness of man That the hardness of God is kinder than the softness of man and that his comparison is all liberation. What It frees us Jesus words are going to lift this man to another level He's gonna turn around and drive back or ride his horse back 20 miles back to Capernaum with nothing absolutely nothing but Jesus words and assurance and he will be okay No miracle Which is what brings us to our second and final point that afflictions not only no boundaries no no boundaries But afflictions grow our faith Exactly what happens again unless you see signs and wonders you not believe what is Jesus doing? Jesus is basically pointing the people and this man to the weakness of their faith You're placing your faith on we if I see that it has to be there. It has to be real Jesus saying no That's not our works I mean just think about the people are hearing Jesus turning wood into one of their thinking Jesus must be this religious side show guy Well, let's let's go and follow him and see what's the next act Like a freak show, you know Like a circus Let's see what he's gonna do now But they've completely missed the point that Jesus miracles and signs are supposed to be pointing to him The idea is let that miracle lead you to me come and see me not the miracle
I mean no wonder the man asks Jesus to come down to Capernaum not Jesus would you heal my son But Jesus come down and why because he thought to himself if Jesus comes He can perform a little magic about you know, well, that boom the sun you stand up and goes He can perform a miracle How often do you hear people searching for the spectacular and sensational? Going from one meeting to another searching for what is gonna make you confirm your faith And then you see it you see the wonder you see the sensation and yet you still miss Jesus completely You walk out in your empty days no relationship no change live no transformation just The sensationalism that you're looking for the goal for us must always be to see Christ to find him sufficient in our lives not sensationalism Again, Jesus is not saying that miracles are not important. He's not even saying the miracles don't happen. They do happen Then miracles ought to lead to faith They ought to lead us to believe on him and his word
I love the fact that this man will not go away So Jesus excuse me Jesus tells him so unless you see a sign or a miracle you're not gonna be you know, you're not gonna believe You'd expect the guy goes like oh man. Wow. I submit a mistake. Yes. I'll go find help somewhere else. No, you steal that I'm not going anywhere I am not going anywhere. I'm gonna stay here and I'm gonna listen to you. It's that's his last quote But notice too the man does not pull rank with Jesus. I mean you could have come to me and said Jesus. You know who I am I serve in the courts of Herod Antipas and I am this significant man and I need you to come to my I order you I command you I serve in you to come and heal my son. What does he do? Simply cries out from mercy simply cries out from mercy, but I love the fact that he's granted one wish But denied two of them Can you tell? Can you see it? Jesus tells him to go in his son will live But what does Jesus do does Jesus go with him to prepare? Says I'm going with you What else does he not do? This man Probably expected a miracle. He gets not out. What does he get? What does he get? Just a word Take that I'm not gonna give you a miracle I'm not gonna do some magic and say did you see it? Your son is well now He just simply says Go Your son will live. What is he supposed to do with that?
Maybe this is just me, but Do you ever come to the Lord in a time of desperation and prayer frustrated and asking God why did you do this why why am I struggling this much and every time you go to the Lord He still keeps on reminding you and taking you back to his word and you keep saying what am I gonna do with your word? I just wanted to fix Give me this word that says how faith in me and I But the problem is still there. What am I supposed to do with the word?
We'll find out no arguments Man, I wish I was this guy Lomo pleading I just think this man just remembers what he's been told about Jesus. He realized this man. This is real It's just words, but this is real. This is enough What do they say in the world? Seeing is believing bomb Believing is see That's God's word Believing is see something radical happened in this moment this man Somehow was able to see in his mind and realize something has happened I have no idea what it is But I'm getting out of here and I'm going back home because my son is gonna be okay I have not seen it I've not touched it, but I know something has happened Because faith Faith is able to see the unseen faith is the evidence of things that we cannot see
Notice when you meet the servants on his way home by the way can you do the math okay 20 miles away a horse ride And the time in here. I'm not gonna do the math because it's a sermon. I got to finish in a little bit And I'm poor math, but do the math Possibility is that this man after he was given the word did not immediately go back home When you go home just take a look at it You realize that's a lot of time that passed. You could have been home by then He didn't rush if I if that was me get back on my horse Let me go back home and find it when my son is okay The desperation somehow Whoo Gone he is calm He is okay. Why because faith had made a difference in his life
Hebrews 11 The great chapter of faith I love how the author of Hebrews captures all those men that he mentioned About faith and you know what he says about them. He says all died in faith Now listen for it in faith okay because he had seen no not having received the things promised But having sealed them and greeted them from afar And having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth Huh Jesus doesn't need to be present to touch this boy in order for him to heal Jesus doesn't need to be there to see this child all he needs to do is give his word Speaking his word because his word has power. It is effectual when he speaks Things happen How did God create the universe? He spoke it into creation. That's the power we have of his word It is word is as good as his presence What a comforting Thank for us as Christians listen friends that whatever Jesus says about you his grace and his mercy whatever he says about you that you belong to him that you've been saved You can take that to the back We believe not by seeing him. Have you ever seen Jesus face to face Yet you are here You believe in him because it is as real as his presence being here right with us and we all know right? We have all hindrances to face Some people it's intellectual some people it's all all kinds of things that stop us from having faith in Jesus for this guy It was time and distance Jesus is not here Romans 10 17 Paul tells us that faith comes from hearing and hearing the word of God Do not neglect the word of God when he sends you to his word and says son God I'm not gonna get fix your problem, but I'm sending you to my word go to it Go to it Because that's where things happen Even more beautiful here is the fact that we're you know faith is it's something that is alive right it's active We just went through the book of James Faith is active. It has to be active. Faith is not dormant Again, I'm reminding that we all know this right never ask or pray to God to give you patience right Just don't do it Give me what else you should not do actually you should but you shouldn't Don't ask the Lord to grow your faith Unless you do and we should want him to grow faith because you know what? Faith must be exercised and here is an instant for this man and his family to exercise their faith
Jesus has healed his son and he tells him well, I'm just giving you your word take it what it's worth But go home and realize that your son is gonna be okay It's about time for you to exercise your faith
But we see the nature of faith here and how it grows you know, I I'm just so overwhelmed and I think about how The Lord sometimes does entertain or evil Terrible really terrible press you know those prayers that we pray to him and we say Lord You know if only you give me A job opportunity, you know if only you do this little thing then I'm gonna You know fill in the blank, right? How many pray that pray don't embrace your hand don't raise your hand don't don't do it don't do it Don't do it because I'm looking at you We all know that we we make those press and you know what sometimes actually God does honor those things I'm overwhelmed but he would but that's not faith really faith goes deeper than that Because that notion of us thinking that we're gonna tell God if you do this then ourselves We're basically telling God that we can dictate the terms to him who oh To dictate the terms on how he relates with us and what he does to us when he knows best for us But God is so gracious that sometimes That happens But let us not miss it friend. Let's not miss that this is not simply about the miracle about this child living and having life God is proud when he's able to do that But let's not miss the miracle that happens to his father
You know, we only think about the miracle that's happening to oh wow Jesus healed this son But we don't think about the father We don't think about his spirit that was healed on this day that he became a blessing to his family and convinces family to believe in Jesus
This is what I'm getting at Don't miss it. Don't miss the fact that affliction sometimes God will use it Jesus will use his soul that he may capture your heart Psalm 19 71 right if I had not received all this affliction I would never have learned your statues
few I I met with a friend of mine a dear friend of mine This week I know that my friend has been suffering a lot But I had no clue How bad it was and so we sat in a restaurant and Just asking me off things going and I could see tears in his eyes and And he told me just just so you don't realize how hard the past few months have been And he told me every single day I've been wanting to commit suicide Because that's how desperate I've been My my heart just broke and I realized how much I had not reached out to this friend and how much I wasn't aware that he was going through such a difficult time But if he's shedding tears he starts smiling and I'm like well, this is not right What's going on? And he said but you saw you don't realize what else is happening as I go through this affliction This is for the first time I've seen my faith grow. I have clearly seen Jesus working in my life And I am a better person my faith is stronger now than it ever has been and I was like oh my goodness
How can this be? How can this be? If it wasn't for the Lord And so we rejoiced together we cried together and rejoiced together because I I knew at that moment I was reminded of how God uses affliction in all life not because he doesn't care for us We doesn't listen to us or he's not good to us in fact. He's all those things and much more But because there's something much more beautiful that is interesting He wasn't about the sun being healed. There was about the father Meeting Jesus And you know we have no trouble identifying with the father right? So anxious and so desperate and doing everything that he could to fix the problem all the fathers say amen in this house But let me ask you a question Can we identify with the passion and the prayer of this man the persistent pleading to Jesus
We've lost the language of Jacob if you will not bless me. I'm not gonna go anywhere
When we're desperate situations is that we always just seeking to find what's the next doctor that we can go find Who is the next professional who is the wealthy person in our family that can impact and reach out to you know All these man-made solutions or is the first place we go to Christ have mercy Lord have mercy Where do we go? Do we go listen friends
Nothing in this world We'll fix or cure or heal the diseases That plague us. Did you hear that?
No doctor no governments Nothing Absolutely nothing We'll cure Our diseases Only Jesus Many of you know this story The story of Donnie eggs and tada She's from here isn't she? A young girl astute athlete A daredevil In 1967 a month after graduating from high school. She attempts a pipe die off a raft The shallows of the Chesapeake Bay She hits the ground breaks a neck And is left occurred with logic Completely paralyzed As a young christian she goes into Catherine Coleman if you know that name healing Then he in healing places She cries out to god. She's angry. She's despairing. She is confused. She's angry that god has not healed her She was told that this god that she believes in heels, but he's not healing her And out there a journey of confusion and anger To god She gets to a place reading Luke chapter five. You know the story
And then she begins to rejoice Rejoice and giving thanks that god did not hear her
I could tell you what she says, but I think it sounds better if I read what she says He's what she says I learned That the core of christ's plan is to rescue us from sin or physical aches and pain and broken relationships Aren't they ultimate focus? He cares deeply about these things But they are symptoms of a cheap problem in this fallen world She continues god's goal is not to make us comfortable. Oh boy He wants to teach us to hate our transgressions as he grows our love for him Healing us is no big deal. He can do it. He's got the power and authority to do to do that But forgiveness of our sins all redemption required blood and a strong arm of salvation And she confesses she says I collapse in tears when I began to glimpse how he knew as my sin was physical healing paled in comparison to the unthinkable abuse my transgressions heaped on my lord Oh Then finally she says so now for the last 50 years in my wheelchair I've been daily dying to self and rising with Jesus dying to self and rising With Jesus dying to self and rising with Jesus my goal is to modify my fleshly desire so I might find christ God has been answering my prayer exposing dark things in my heart things from which I need to be healed Does god miraculously heal sure he does But in this broken world is so the exception and not the rule I know answer to my request for miraculous physical healing has meant purge sin I love for the loss increased compassion stretched hope and appetite for grace and increased faith I happy longing for heaven a desire to serve a delight in prayer and a hunger for his Word and I love how she ends her letter She says oh bless you Stern wheelchair Oh bless you my stern wheelchair that is my school master It's all for the praise of a greater healing a deeper healing In Jesus Christ friend What are you crying for this morning? What do you need Jesus to heal you from every single one of us Has something to be a crying about Listen Don't miss it It's not about the aches and pains of your body It's about something much more beautiful May he heal your soul Father we come to you this morning and we give you thanks That you remind us that there's greater healing that we need to be calling out or That you are a great healer But you're more concerned about our hearts Our souls yes, you can heal us from everything that makes us from physical things emotional mental things But you care for a soul And you want to heal that soul You want us to have a relationship with you So follow me the cry of our heart this morning be come and heal us But you are a God of grace a God of healing The name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit Amen