Your Son Will Live

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Today's scripture reading is from the Gospel of John, chapter 4, verses 46 to 54, as printed

John 4:46–54

in the liturgy.

A reading from the Gospel according to John.

Once more he visited Cana and Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine.

And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum.

When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged

him to come and heal his son, who was close to death.

Unless you people see signs and wonders, Jesus told him, you will never believe.

The royal official said, Sir, come down before my child dies.

Go, Jesus replied.

Your son will live.

The man took Jesus at his word and departed.

While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living.

When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, yesterday, at

one in the afternoon, the fever left him.

Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, your son

will live.

So he and his whole household believed.

This was the second sign Jesus performed after coming from Judea to Galilee.

This is the gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, O Christ.

Good morning, Christ Church.

We are continuing in the gospel of John today.

And I have to say that this passage is a hard passage to preach.

Because if you're new with us, about 10 weeks ago, we lost Isaac Lee, a beloved son of Christ

Church.

His first child we baptized in our church.

A pillar in our youth group.

We learned that he was sick.

And some of you came.

We gathered together to pray right up there.

And we begged God to heal him.

And he went to be with the Lord.

And we've been grieving with his family, with his parents and his siblings.

And it's been tough for me to read the story this week about this healing of the sickness

of the son that Jesus pulled back from the brink of death when our experience so recently

in our church was just so different.

So Brian and Sam know this.

I hope Jack and Juliet know it.

I hope all of you know it.

That that's the tension in my heart.

The grief that I bring very close to my heart as I read and preach this text today.

And I hope to circle back to that tension and that grief at the end of the sermon.

But I want to ask, you know, why did John give us this story in his gospel anyway?

The Gospel of John is a book about faith.

And we assume that the Apostle John had been asked many, many times, you know, what is the

Christian faith?

What is the path to faith?

And out of his vast catalog of files that he had on Jesus, John gathered together the

stories that are in this little booklet that he wrote to answer many of the questions that

we have about faith.

John gathers together stories from people who were there at the Jordan River when Jesus

underwent baptism and began to call his first disciples.

He went and gathered the stories of the people who were at that wedding in Cana where Jesus

turned the water into wine.

And he talked to the people and interviewed the folks who were there in Jerusalem at the

temple when Jesus cleared it out.

And he said, you know, I am now the meeting place between God and his people.

He went and interviewed Nicodemus and his family and his students.

And he asked them more.

What did Jesus mean when he said he was the one to bring the new birth from above by the Holy

Spirit?

He went and talked to that woman in Samaria and her whole village that came to discover

Jesus as the living water and the Savior of the world.

That's why he's put all these stories in this little booklet for us.

And he actually tells us this at the end of the book.

If you want to turn to John 20, John chapter 20, verse 30, he tells us the point of writing

John 20:30

this book.

He says, Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are

not recorded in this book.

But these signs are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God,

and that by believing, you may have life in his name.

So this is a book about belief.

It's a book about faith and the eternal life that comes through faith in Jesus.

And of all the stories that John had on file, why did he choose this one about the healing

of the official son?

Well, you'll notice that that word belief occurs three times here.

In verse 48, Jesus talks about how you will never believe.

Verse 50, it says the man took Jesus at his word.

Or in the Greek, it says he believed Jesus' word.

And then in verse 53, it says, so he and his whole household believed.

The story was written down for us and our questions as a signpost pointing us to what real faith,

deep faith, life-saving, life-giving faith is all about.

And so what I want to talk about a little bit this morning is how Jesus challenges our faith,

gives us his word, and heals our bodies.

That's what I think this story is about.

That Jesus challenges our faith, gives us his word, and heals our bodies.

Let's think for a minute about how Jesus challenges our faith.

This is an urgent moment.

This young man is sick.

He's close to death.

The doctors say it's hopeless.

And agony, powerlessness, and desperation has settled in upon his family and his friends.

And yet there is this glimmer of hope because it's reported that Jesus is back from the Passover at Jerusalem.

And everybody's talking about his power.

And so hearing this news, the boy's father takes courage.

He takes action because there's not a moment to lose.

Life-giving faith starts with reason.

It starts with our minds.

It starts with thinking and our rationality.

Why did this guy go to Jesus?

Because he had heard the reports about Jesus.

We didn't print this verse, but it says in verse 45,

When Jesus arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him.

They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover festival,

for they also had been there.

And once more, he, Jesus, visited Cana in Galilee,

where he had turned the water into wine.

So Jesus is doing wonderful works, mighty deeds, public miracles,

and the word is beginning to spread.

Perhaps even people that this man knew and trusted,

they're saying, we've seen Jesus with our own eyes.

And this man would not have gone to Jesus

unless he had heard and weighed the evidence of those reports.

So I want to say today that faith moves beyond reason,

but faith always starts with reason.

Most of the things that we believe,

we take on the authority of other people.

We believe the authority of reports from historians and scientists

and sociologists and psychologists and journalists,

and maybe even our uncle posting on Facebook.

But that's, you know, we have to sift through all these things.

We have to sift through these reports

with our reason to see if they're reliable,

to see if they're believable.

Maybe our uncle posting on Facebook

isn't somebody worth listening to after all.

But that's why we go through the Gospels on a regular basis,

because we want you to be able to hear directly

from these eyewitnesses and weigh the reports

and decide for yourself whether or not they're trustworthy.

And that's what this guy does.

He takes the first baby step of faith

based on those reports, and he goes to Jesus.

But Jesus, of course, wants more than that.

And so we hear him say in verse 48,

unless you people see signs and wonders,

you will never believe.

Now, I'm 100% confident

that none of us would like Jesus and the apostles

as much as we think we would like them, right?

Because of stuff like this.

They're constantly saying things that are off-putting,

that disturb us and make us uncomfortable

and maybe even offend us.

No writer of fiction that's aware of Jesus' compassion

would come up with this sharp rejoinder

that seems harsh and maybe even cruel,

because here's this desperate man in agony,

and he's begging, please come and heal my dear son

who's dying.

Why does Jesus respond to his first baby step of faith

like this?

Well, first of all, Jesus says you, plural, not singular,

which kind of softens the blow.

He says you all, y'all, you people are all the same

unless you see, you'll never really believe.

And Jesus is not here against the need

for proper and substantial evidence

to be presented to our rational mind.

He's not saying you just need to be persuaded

without any facts, because we're told in verse 54

that this was the second sign Jesus performed

after coming from Judea to Galilee.

Jesus knows that we need signs,

and that's why he gives us signs.

So what is Jesus challenging here?

I think he's challenging superficiality.

I think he's challenging shallow, surface-level faith.

Think to Jesus teaching on the parable of the sower,

and he talks about how those seeds are scattered

in that second type of soil,

and what happens is they sprout up quickly,

and it seems like faith,

but there are actually no roots.

There's no depth.

It's not gone to the inmost heart.

It's shallow.

And so Jesus says when the heat comes,

when the trouble comes,

that shallow faith becomes scorched and withered

and falls away because it has no roots,

and therefore it can bear no fruit.

And Jesus there in his teaching

is helping us distinguish

between superficial faith and deep faith,

between temporary faith and lasting faith.

And I think what he's saying to this guy in verse 48 is,

have you come to me because you think

that I'm just a conduit of power

that responds to foxhole prayers?

Do you think I'm a Messiah

who just performs on-demand miracles?

Have you come to use my supernatural power

to get what you want and what will benefit you?

Or do you want me?

Do you want a relationship with me

whether I heal your son or not?

See, Jesus is saying,

I want a belief.

I want a faith that's not about the signs

and not about what I can do for you.

I want a belief and a faith

that moves toward what all the signs are pointing to,

namely, me.

This is challenging, isn't it?

Jesus is saying,

I don't just want to physically heal your son,

I want to spiritually heal you.

And it's a massive challenge.

It's a massive test.

He's drawing this guy out.

He's seeing what's in his heart.

And what comes out of his heart next

is absolutely amazing.

Verse 49,

the royal official said,

Sir,

sir,

come down before my child dies.

Sir,

he's respectful.

He's humble.

Come down, please.

He's dogged and persistent.

He prayed once

and Jesus put him off.

And so he doesn't stop praying.

He keeps praying persistently,

coming back.

That's his second step of faith.

And I wonder if you're ready today

wherever you're coming from

to take that first baby step of faith,

to just look directly at the evidence for yourself,

to weigh these reports about Jesus.

If you've never done that,

we're so glad that you're here.

And we would invite you to come

on Wednesday nights to Christianity Explored.

We're looking at the Gospel of Mark.

It's a gospel.

You can read it in about 45 minutes

over a cup of coffee.

And we're reading it,

asking questions,

watching videos,

engaging discussions about it.

If you can't join us on Wednesday nights,

we encourage you to join in

to our daily Bible reading plan

in the Gospel of John

and just see for yourself

whether this eyewitness testimony

about Jesus is reliable,

trustworthy,

and believable.

But if you've taken that first baby step of faith,

then are you ready to take

that second baby step of faith,

to move beyond superficial interest in Jesus

and going to Jesus

only for the benefits that he gives you?

Maybe some of you have said,

you know, I tried to pray once

and it didn't work,

so I stopped.

Or I went to Jesus

and I didn't really like what he said back,

so I quit going.

Are you willing to wrestle with Jesus like this man?

Are you willing to invest

in having a relationship with Jesus

even when he doesn't engage on your terms

or say the things you want him to say

or play by your rules?

That's the second step of life-giving faith.

You guys with me so far?

Jesus is challenging.

And Jesus challenges our faith.

But more than that,

Jesus not only challenges our faith,

he gives us his word.

He gives us his word.

How does Jesus respond

to this man's second prayer request?

Well, he tells him in verse 50,

go, your son will live.

Now we know more than this man knows,

but this is actually a higher challenge

than the first challenge that Jesus gave.

Because this man says,

please Jesus,

come with me

because you need to be physically present

to bring healing.

And if you're not there,

then there's no hope.

And Jesus makes this astounding,

astonishing claim.

He says, you know,

I don't need to go with you

because I'm so powerful

that I don't even need to be there.

I can just heal with a word.

And I give you my word.

I give you my word of honor.

I promise that I'll do it.

Who else can claim

that kind of ability

and authority

to give life?

Who can heal disease

and save from death

at a distance

and with only a word?

I would say only God.

Only God can do that.

Only the God who says,

let there be light

and there was light.

Only the God who has

light-making power

in his word.

And that's what Jesus is claiming here.

He's claiming creator-like,

life-giving power.

You don't need my physical presence

to experience my power.

I can heal my sick,

sinful,

broken,

dying creatures

that I created

from anywhere

with a word.

Now you gotta remember

that John is writing

his gospel

to people

who can't see Jesus.

Jesus is resurrected

and he's ascended

into heaven

and people around John

are saying,

how can we put our faith

in Jesus?

How can we put our trust

in a Jesus

that we cannot see?

And this story

is here to tell us

that we don't need

to have the physical presence

of Jesus

to become a believer.

what we need

is the word

of Christ.

And we have

many of the words

of Christ

in our Bibles.

Right?

The question is,

do we read them?

Do we even know them?

And then,

if we know them,

will we believe them?

And will we trust

these promises

and will we obey

these commands?

That's what faith

is about.

Jesus challenges

and he tests

this man a second time

and basically

he's saying to himself,

okay,

if Jesus can't do

what he just said

he can do,

if he does not have

the power

that no one else

has ever claimed

to have,

then my son

has no hope.

So am I going to trust

my present

and my future?

Am I going to trust

my son's life

to this incredible

claim of Jesus

that he's the life giver?

Remember,

imagine,

imagine the scene

where he to arrive home

and his wife

and his servants

are like,

where's the healer?

You had one job.

Where's the healer?

I mean,

if he goes home

with only a word

of promise,

how foolish

is he going to look

in the eyes

of everybody

in his household

and in his village?

And how many of us

are super excited

to look like a fool

in the eyes of others?

But friends,

that's what faith is about.

Faith means

taking the risk

of looking foolish.

And that's the risk

he takes.

In verse 50,

it says,

the man took Jesus

at his word

and departed.

The man believed

Jesus' word

and he went home.

That's the third

baby step

of faith.

Faith is taking Jesus

at his word

and then living your life

according to it.

He acts.

He moves.

Jesus speaks

and he begins

to walk

home.

Faith is going

each morning

to Jesus' teachings,

to his words,

to his promises,

to his commands

and saying

to ourselves,

these are going

to be the very words

by which I live

my life.

And when you

do that,

you know

that like this man,

you're moving

from rationalistic belief

that Jesus exists

to a personal

trust in Jesus.

You're moving

from intellectual

assent

that Jesus

has power

to actually

entrusting

the details

of your life

to him.

Right?

You're moving

from knowing

about Jesus

to staking

your life

on Jesus.

Does that make sense?

You're moving

from saying,

okay,

that chair

will probably

hold me up

if I took the risk

to sit down

in it

to actually

going over

and putting

the full weight

of your life

on that chair

and maybe

it won't

hold you up.

Maybe you'll

fall down.

Maybe you'll

look like a fool

or maybe

you won't.

That's what

faith is all

about.

There are many,

many nominal

Christians,

right?

And nominal

Christians believe

some of the stuff

that they like

in Christianity,

kind of conveniently

they pick out

the things that

sort of fit

with what they

already believed,

but they're not

actually trusting

their life

to Jesus.

Tons and tons

of people

believe in Jesus,

but what do they

trust?

They trust their

money.

They trust

themselves.

They trust a whole

host of things

other than Jesus

and Jesus is saying,

I want you to

trust your whole

life to my

claims and

to my words

and to my

promises.

And when this

man puts

Christ's word

to the test

and he found

the result

that Jesus

is the one

who gives

life,

it pushed

him all

the way

to that

fourth

baby step

of faith

and he

became a

convinced

and convicted

believer

with his

whole household

it says.

So are you

ready today

to take that

third baby

step of faith

where you

don't just

say that

you believe

in Jesus

but you

actually listen

to his

words every

day,

that you

make it a

priority.

First thing

in the morning

to chew

and to

digest

his

words

and then

to ask

God

help me

believe

these

words

in such

a way

that I

change my

life

according

to them

no matter

how foolish

that might

make me

seem in the

eyes

of others.

Jesus will

kind of say

this again

at the end

of the gospel

when he's

talking to

doubting Thomas

in John 20

and he

says

Thomas

blessed

are those

who have

not seen

and yet

who have

believed

on the

basis of

my word

on the

basis of

the testimony

and the

word about

me

blessed

are those

who have

not seen

and yet

have

believed.

Jesus

challenges

our faith

he gives

us his

word

and lastly

he heals

our bodies

Jesus heals

our bodies

here he is

in Cana

and he says

to this

father

go home

to Capernaum

there's nothing

to fear

your son

lives

the time

is about

one o'clock

in the

afternoon

in the

blazing

heat

in the

middle

of the

day

it's

so hot

back

at this

man's

home

that his

wife

we're

sure

is working

furiously

to

help bring

down

the raging

fever

that's

about

to

take

the

life

of

her

son

the

sun

is

scorching

their

little

house

is

boiling

there's

no

air

conditioning

there's

no

bathtub

there's

no

running

water

mom

keeps

going

back

and

forth

to get

more

water

to bring

his

temperature

down

and she

goes

out

one

more

time

and she

comes

back

and

amazingly

he's

completely

and

instantly

healthy

98.6

degrees

and she

is

amazed

and so

she sends

her servants

to her

husband

with the

glorious

news

that her

son

is

perfectly

well

and the

man

begins

to cross

examine

the

servants

saying

well

when

did he

recover

and they're

like

well

we think

it was

about

one

o'clock

in the

afternoon

yesterday

in the

heat

of the

day

and the

man

thinks

that's

when

Jesus

gave

me

his

word

of

promise

verse

53

then

the

father

realized

that

this

was

the

exact

time

at

which

Jesus

had

said

to

him

your

son

will

live

and

so

he

and

his

whole

household

believed

he

now

has

taken

that

fourth

baby

step

to

a

conviction

he's

convinced

that

Jesus

gives

life

and so

he

has

to

share

that

conviction

with

all

who

are

near

and dear

with

him

in his

household

and in

his

village

who

also

come

to

believe

the

thing

that's

been on

my

heart

all

week

as

I've

been

thinking

about

this

healing

is

that

there

were

many

in

Israel

with

sick

bodies

that

Jesus

did

not

heal

I

think

of

Jairus'

daughter

Jairus

was the

synagogue

ruler

he was

the father

of a

12 year

old

daughter

who

was

also

dying

he

comes

and he

desperately

begs

Jesus

to come

and to

heal

and if

you know

the story

Jesus

delays

and because

Jesus

delays

this

daughter

like

many

others

died

but

Jesus

says

to this

man

to

Jairus

he

says

do

not

be

afraid

just

believe

now

anyone

who

says

that

is

either

spectacularly

misguided

or

is

supremely

confident

in his

own

power

and

authority

don't

be

afraid

just

believe

and

Jesus

will

show

this

particular

grief

stricken

family

his

power

over

death

when

he

says

to

her

little

girl

rise

up

and

he

takes

her

the hand

of her

corpse

and

he

wakes

her

up

like

she's

been

in

a

nap

the

same

thing

happens

with

Jesus

good

buddy

Lazarus

he gets

this

urgent

message

Lord

the

one

you

love

so

much

is

sick

and

what

does

Jesus

do

he

delays

he

delays

again

and

his

friend

dies

and

these

bewildered

sisters

say

to

Jesus

Lord

if

only

you'd

been

here

our

brother

would

not

have

died

and

when

Jesus

sees

their

tears

he

begins

to

weep

too

why

because

I

think

he's

looking

around

at

all

the

people

he's

not

going

to

heal

all

the

people

whose

bodies

he's

not

going

to

raise

up

I

think

he's

looking

down

the

corridors

of

time

through

the

centuries

to

all

of

our

tombs

all

of

our

funerals

all

the

bodies

of

his

beloved

people

he's

looking

he

cannot

hold

back

his

own

tears

because

he's

looking

at

all

of

his

loved

ones

who

are

going

to

lose

their

loved

ones

but

Jesus

in

that

moment

he

gives

this

particular

grief

stricken

family

a

sign

that

he

has

the

power

over

death

and

so

Lazarus

come

out

you

see

Jesus

when

this

father

came

to

Jesus

Jesus

did

not

come

on

the

father's

terms

but

he

did

decide

for

whatever

reason

to

heal

his

son

and

yet

in

these

other

stories

Jesus

did

not

come

immediately

when

Jairus

said

it's

urgent

when

Mary

and

Martha

said

please

Lord

come

it's

urgent

Jesus

did

not

come

he

delayed

and

people

died

many

of you

know

that

this

happened

to

my

mom

my

mom

got

sick

when

I

was

19

years

old

and

that

was

the

first

major

problem

of my

life

and

like

this

man

I

went

to

Jesus

many

of

us

many

many

people

went

to

Jesus

and

we

begged

Jesus

we

said

please

Lord

come

for

she's

she's

gonna

die

please

heal

her

and

for

whatever

reason

Jesus

chose

not

to

do

things

on

our

terms

he

delayed

and

she

died

at

the

age

of

50

right

I'm

gonna

blink

and

be

50

when

Isaac

got

sick

we

came

together

and

we

said

Lord

Jesus

please

we're

begging

you

please

heal

this

beloved

young

man

and

for

whatever

reason

Jesus

chose

not

to

do

that

and

he

delayed

and

Isaac

died

at

the

age

of

16

and

so

I

want

to

say

that

it's

so

right

for

us

to

ask

the

healer

for

healing

when

we

need

healing

have

any

of

you

ever

known

people

who've

been

healed

by

Jesus

anybody

asked

for

healing

we

got

too

many

Presbyterians

in

here

we

okay

a few

I

see

a few

Pentecostals

and I

pray

okay

hands

are

coming

up

wow

okay

um

yeah

we

need

we

need

more

of

that

but

think

about

it

this

man's

son

who

Jesus

healed

he

eventually

died

and

Jairus

his

daughter

would

die

again

Lazarus

would

die

again

all

of

us

we

might

experience

healing

but

we're

gonna

die

we're

gonna

die

maybe

when

we're

young

Jesus

in

every

case

for

all

of

us

he's

gonna

delay

his

coming

that

could

save

us

from

death

but

we

know

we

know

that

Jesus

has

given

us

his

word

that

he

has

the

power

over

sickness

and

death

that

he

is

the

one

who

gives

healing

and

life

and

we

very

much

are

like

this

father

whom

Jesus

sends

back

on his

anguished

way

to walk

20 miles

back home

on that lonely

road

by himself

with only

Jesus

word

that he

has life

in the face

of death

and that's how we're

called to live

it looks foolish

it looks beyond

the bounds

of possibility

but we know

more than this man

knew

because we have

the final sign

that Jesus gave us

at the end

of this gospel

that we're

going to talk

about

on Easter

Sunday

in John

John 20 · chapter mention

chapter 20

it says

that very

early

on that

third

morning

after Jesus

own

death

the son

of God

died

but very

early

on that

third

morning

after his

death

Jesus

rose

up

in the

darkness

of night

in the

power

of an

endless

life

so friends

at present

Jesus

sometimes

and often

times

he doesn't

respond

on our

terms

and Jesus

probably

for every

one of us

is going

to delay

his coming

that would

prevent us

from death

but make

no mistake

for those

of us

who believe

all of his

life giving

power is going

to come

to us

in the end

he will

heal

our bodies

he will

raise us

up

to

indestructible

life

he will

make

all things

new

that is what

all these

signs of

healing

all these

signs of

resurrection

are pointing

us to

it's how

John begins

his gospel

in John 1

4 he says

in Jesus

was life

and that

life

was the

light

of all

people

the life

that's in

Jesus

is the

hope

of the

world

I want

to leave

you with

this famous

passage in

the Bible

about God's

people who

live by faith

and this

wonderful

definition of

faith

Hebrews 11

you ready

for it

it says

now faith

is the

assurance

of things

hoped for

and the

conviction

of things

we cannot

see

now faith

is the

assurance

of things

hoped for

and the

conviction

of things

not seen

and after

going through

example

after example

after example

of people

who live

by faith

it says

this

all these

people

were still

living by

faith

when they

died

they did

not receive

the things

promised

they only

saw them

and welcomed

them from a

distance

admitting

that they

were foreigners

strangers

and strangers

on earth

and that's

the question

for us

will we

have this

kind of

assured

and convicted

faith

even in the

face of

certain death

a faith that

sees that

coming day

in the future

when Jesus

will heal

and resurrect

our bodies

to be like

his body

that's what

it means

to be a

Christian

that's what

it means

to be a

church

that's what

it means

to live

by

faith

may it be

so

among us

in the name

of the Father

Son and Holy

Spirit

Amen