He Believed and All His Household (John 4:46-54)- Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple

I invite you to turn once again to the gospel

according to John. John chapter 4 verses 46 through

John 4:46–54

54. We are continuing in our new sermon series

on the miracles of Jesus. We started this last

Sunday looking at John chapter 2, seeing the

John 2 · chapter mention

water turned to wine. As we look at this text,

again, John 4, 46 -54, note, I hope you will

note some of the similarities there. The biggest

similarity is what we said last week, that when

Jesus performs signs or miracles, they are called

signs in the book of John, and all of these signs

are significant. they all point to something

beyond themselves matter of fact the book of

John gives us a bit of a purpose statement for

the miracles the signs that Jesus performs before

I read our text for today that we're going to

elaborate upon I want to read to you John 20

John 20:30–31

verses 30 through 31 so keep your finger in John

4 But listen to John 20 33 31 for a purpose statement

For the miracles and a purpose statement really

for the entire book of John It says now Jesus

Did many other signs in the presence of the disciples

which are not written in this book? But these

are written So that you may believe that Jesus

is the Christ the Son of God and that by believing

You may have life in his name. So once again

you see this is the purpose for the miracles

this is the purpose for the book of John and

So, let's see this sign that Jesus performs reading

now from John 4 46 through 54 So 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. 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. And 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. And as he was going down, his servants

met him and told him that his son was recovering.

And 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 this was the hour when Jesus had said to

him, your son will live. And he himself believed

in all his household. This was now the second

sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea

to Galilee. This is God's holy word. Let's pray.

Father in heaven we bless you and we thank you

and we praise you for this word and Ask that

as we study this text as we look at this incredible

sign this wonder that Jesus does That you would

help us to know that Jesus He is the miracle

worker the Jesus he is the Christ That Jesus

is at work now as Jesus is at your right hand.

Oh father interceding for us We ask Lord that

you'll grant us understanding this we do ask

in Christ's name amen When is the last time that

you walked through our cemetery When's the last

time Some of you know our cemetery next door

all too well. For your closest loved ones are

buried there. You walk within those stone walls

and you experience pain. And you experience comfort.

But prayerfully, you also experience just incredible

hope. When you're in the cemetery, do you ever

stop? at the smallest of tombstones. Do you ever

look at those? Maybe you know those too. Maybe

you knew what happened with that child. Is there

anything worse than the loss of a child? I cannot

imagine. Today's sermon, this text, teeters on

the edge of such a loss. You see within this

story, the Father is desperate, and He goes to

the only one who can truly help Him. This text

here illustrates how we need Jesus, but sometimes

we don't even realize the extent to which we

need Him. Two statements that are true of every

person within this sanctuary one Trouble is coming

and two We need to be saved from our sin These

truths are illustrated in this text. We need

Jesus because we live in a fallen world And because

we have a fallen nature we live in a fallen world

And we have a fallen nature. Let's focus on fallen

world first. If you were reading all of John,

you would see this, even as we're skipping around

a little bit. And by the way, we are studying

John in the fellowship Sunday school class. You

should come to that. But if you were reading

all through John, you would see that Jesus is

for everybody. You would see in the beginning

towards the beginning of John and end of chapter

1 into chapter 2 Jesus comes and he selects Disciples

for himself and these disciples are not people

that you and I would probably have selected They

weren't making the a team on the sports team.

They're mostly riding the bench But Jesus selects

them anyway But Jesus also meets with people

of incredible influence and authority, like when

Jesus met with Nicodemus, right? A religious

ruler. Again, a man of authority. And then Jesus

meets with a Samaritan woman at a well. And we

know the Jews and the Samaritans didn't get along,

and that doesn't stop Jesus. And then we get

to this text, and we see Jesus meeting with this

nobleman. some sort of a like a royal official

inherits court. This nobleman would have had

influence. He would have been similar to Nicodemus

in that way. He would have had authority. He

probably had plenty of money. But his influence,

his wealth can't save his son. And so the official

goes looking for a miracle working carpenter

named Jesus. and you see by this point the news

of Jesus is spreading and so the man hears of

Jesus he hears that Jesus who has just turned

the water into wine he hears of this Jesus and

he goes to him the man within our text goes from

Capernaum to Cana which is probably something

like 20 miles and we don't know how the man got

to Jesus but that's not the point the man would

have gone much, much further than 20 miles for

the sake of his son. Why? Because look at verse

47. The son of this man was at the point of death.

This is the sad fact of our fallen world, that

there is death. It's a product of the fall. Perhaps

you remember Romans 6 23 for the wages of sin

is death because of sin we have sickness Because

of sin we have death And so this man goes looking

for Jesus the great physician he goes to Cana

now we don't know All that was going on in the

man's mind. We don't know what he thought of

Jesus, but he gets to Jesus and he has this request

for him. Come to my house. The way this is written

makes it sound as though the man is persistent,

that he's begging Jesus, come to my house and

heal my son. But Jesus has an interesting reply,

doesn't he? Look in verse 48. Jesus says, unless

you see signs and wonders, You will not believe.

What a thing to say to a man whose son is desperately

ill on his perhaps death bed. Why does Jesus

talk in this way to this man who is so sad and

desperate? Why would Jesus say this? Jesus is

addressing a heart issue with this man. but not

only this man. Jesus is addressing a heart issue

with all kinds of people in Cana. If you look

carefully in verse 48, the ESV says, unless you.

If you're using an ESV, English Standard Version,

you might see a footnote there. If you're using

the NASB, the NIV, or the New King James, you

might see something that's I think a little more

helpful it says you people within the English

language we don't have a second -person plural

form of you maybe we do now maybe it's in the

dictionary haven't looked at the dictionary in

a long time but in the south we would just say

y 'all right so don't be mistaken here Jesus

is talking not just to this man Jesus is talking

to this crowd. And he's calling people to believe,

not to be entranced with yet another sign. It

is true, obviously, as we will see, Jesus performs

these signs, but Jesus, there's always purpose

behind these signs. One commentator says, his

complaint, Jesus' complaint was the people did

not worship him as Savior and Lord, but merely

sought to employ him as a useful wonder worker.

They were consumers, not worshipers. They were

admirers, not followers. But friends, this rebuke

is not just for this man, and it's not just for

the crowd. This rebuke is for us, too. Because

people come to church for a whole variety of

reasons. Some of them are good, some of them

are not so good, and some of them are not the

greatest good. People come to church because

I hear you guys have really good food during

your fellowship meals. I hear you've got a really

great choir. I hear you've got a great youth

group. I hear you've got a beautiful sanctuary.

I love what you guys do with outreach or VBS.

People might say these things and they all sound

very, very good. But what is our chief reason

for being here? It's Jesus. It's Jesus. You remember

the shorter catechism number one? What is man's

chief end? It's to glorify God and to enjoy him

forever. All those other things are good. But

they all point. They should all point. To our

Savior Jesus. Our primary goal, the primary thing

that we do. Is worship. It's worship. I saw someone

this week. We all love fireworks, don't we? We

love them. They go off. They're really bright.

They're really loud. They're really fun. But

think about it. When people shoot off fireworks,

there's usually a very good reason for that.

We celebrate holidays with fireworks. We celebrate

the victory of the home team at the baseball

game with fireworks. There's usually... a purpose

behind the firework, except for where I live.

Some people shoot them off on random Tuesdays.

But we need to look beyond the firework. Not

be so caught up in all the lights and the sounds,

but be caught up in the one behind it all. Perhaps

think of it like Thanksgiving. Many of you, if

not all of you, will have Thanksgiving this week.

And there will be a table. And on it, you might

have some good turkey to eat. You might have

stuffing. You might have, I hope you have macaroni

and cheese and mashed potatoes and warm buttery

rolls. And cap it all off with pumpkin pie. But

let's say that you've got all that before you

on the table. But before the meal is ever served.

Before you ever get your plate. Before you have

to wait in that long line behind everybody else.

you fill up on cheese and crackers. Sometimes

that's the way we treat Jesus. We get caught

up with all this stuff on the periphery. We don't

focus on the very fact that Jesus is the meal,

that Jesus is the firework, that Jesus is the

reason for everything that we do. And so what

does Jesus say? He says, don't get caught up

in the signs, get caught up in me. He calls the

man here to believe. Look in verse 50. Sometimes

we see Jesus touching the sick, which others

wouldn't do. Sometimes we see Jesus touching

the dead, which others definitely would not do.

Think of Jesus touching and healing Jairus's

daughter. Think of the woman with the issue of

the blood flow who actually touches him, but

sometimes Jesus heals from afar. The nobleman

here is called to believe without sight to see

it happen. And isn't that, isn't that what faith

is? You might remember Hebrews chapter 11 verse

Hebrews 11:1

1. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for,

the conviction of things not seen. Right now

in this life we need faith because we do go through

those times of trouble. We need to trust in Jesus

that one day our faith shall be turned to sight,

but that tells us something else. that there

is substance to our faith, right? That there

is something to see. We do not have blind faith.

Scripture gives us historical testimony and other

evidence of the unseen. He gives us miracles,

but we are called to exercise our faith as we

look at these miracles. We are called to believe.

This man here this nobleman did not have the

benefit the luxury if you will of seeing his

son get better in his presence He had to really

trust Jesus here If he had not trusted Jesus

he probably would have clung to Jesus and said

I'm not letting you go until you come to my house

But you see what he does in verse 50 The man

believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and

went on his way. The man believed. In a lot of

ways, this scripture is very similar to another

miracle that Jesus performs. They're similar,

but they're different. You might remember the

Centurion's sick servant from Matthew chapter

eight. Let me read Matthew eight, five through

eight. It says, When he had entered Capernaum,

a centurion came forward to him, appealing to

him, Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home,

suffering terribly. And he said to him, I will

come and heal him. And this is amazing. The centurion

replied, Lord, I am not worthy to have you come

under my roof. But only say the word and my servant

will be healed Just say the word That highlights

a bit of difference between that story and this

one from John 4 the centurion when he came to

Jesus He already had faith in Jesus but the nobleman

He comes to Jesus and perhaps he has faith that

Jesus can do something But I think we can definitely

say when the nobleman comes to Jesus, he doesn't

quite know who Jesus is. But he comes to faith

quickly because the Holy Spirit moves in his

heart to believe. And so he comes to Jesus and

he doesn't quite know what he's in for. He needed

more than to be healed. He needed more than for

his son to be healed. He needed to believe. and

his household needed to believe. And this takes

us to our second point, our fallen nature. This

man comes to Jesus needing help, but when he

leaves, he goes in faith in Jesus Christ. Friends,

the condition for salvation for people who are

dead and are trespasses, the condition is faith,

right? We are made alive in Christ remember the

purpose For the signs within the book of John

that you may believe in Jesus and in him have

eternal life We have that fallen nature. We had

that sinful nature, but in Christ We are made

a new creation But you might say well if all

that is so Why does verse 53 say that he himself

believed? Because verse 51 has already said it.

So why does 53 have to repeat this if he's already

been so -called converted or something? You know

this about yourselves is that belief is not a

one -time thing. Belief is not just something

that happens in one moment. No, we grow in our

faith. We are sanctified in our faith. We trust

Jesus more and more. And so the man believed,

but when he meets his servants on the road, his

heart swells with belief. Especially when they

figure out the timing of it all. They figure

out the time that the son started to get better

was the time at which Jesus said, go, your son

will live. And so you see, Jesus did not have

to be in the man's house to heal. He didn't need

to see him or to touch him. Jesus simply said

it, and there it was. This is very similar to

another sign, and I won't spend too much time

on this because we'll cover it in a future sermon,

Lord willing. But perhaps you remember the story

of Lazarus. You remember Jesus' friend, Lazarus,

right? Jesus is not near Lazarus when he dies.

And Jesus, if I can say it this way, takes his

time getting to Lazarus after his death. So Jesus

gets to Lazarus on the fourth day to show us

that Lazarus was really dead, but then Jesus

does something remarkable. He doesn't go into

the tomb and touch Lazarus who has died. He simply

says, Lazarus, come out. This should show us

two things Again, the miracles are designed to

show that Jesus is divine and so there is a link

between what Jesus does his healing and How God

created the heavens and the earth? For you remember

this that God spoke it all into existence And

that's what Jesus does here He speaks healing,

if you will, into existence. Jesus is at least

20 miles away from this dying son, but he's able

to promise that the son will live. And it was

so. But secondly, this miracle right here, along

with Lazarus and along with this centurion servant,

it foreshadows something amazing for us. All

of this, these healing miracles foreshadow Jesus'

death and resurrection. It shouldn't surprise

us that the one capable of raising the dead is

also the one who was raised, right? Jesus' death,

though, goes far beyond these. Because here's

something very, very special about Jesus' death

and resurrection. Every person that Jesus healed

and every person that Jesus raised they would

all die again but not so with Jesus because Jesus

is victorious over sin and death and the grave

Jesus doesn't die again and in that what Jesus

does is he takes away the sting of death because

death does not have the final say, Jesus does.

And so today, if you are listening, do you believe

that Jesus died on the cross for you? That's

really the greatest point of all of these healing

and resurrection miracles. This shows us our

greatest need is to trust that Jesus conquered

sin and death on the cross, that he said it was

finished and then he was raised on the third

day. But this also all tells us what to do with

these things and what to make of a God who performs

such incredible miracles. We get to my favorite

part as I begin to land the plane. Look at verse

52, 53, 54. All of this began with the nobleman

requesting help, right? But God had a greater

plan than just healing this one person. This

actually reminds me of our previous sermon series

through Jonah. You remember how Jonah ran away

from the call upon his life. He ran away from

the call to go to Nineveh to go to Tarshish and

he's on the boat and there's the great storm

and Jonah tells the sailors about his God, right,

and they believe. Here we see something very

similar. We see through this miracle not just

the dad believing and not just the son living

we see the whole household believing Jesus what

he does within this passage is he's saving souls

and Yet what we do with this is to see that the

nobleman did something really good this man acts

on his faith This man lives out his faith, exercising

his faith before others. If we look back on the

whole story, we see this man and his faith growing

throughout. Spurgeon points out that the spark

of faith for this man is the hearing of the reports

of other people about Jesus, the fire of faith.

is him standing before Jesus and begging for

help. The flame of faith is him believing Jesus

and departing. And then the inferno of faith

is the whole household believing. And so I quote

from Spurgeon who said, from that day forth he

became a disciple of Jesus. He followed him not

as a hearer only or as a prophet. or as a savior

only, but as his Lord and as his God. And so

friends, final points of application. Like the

nobleman and his family and his servants, you

believe. But how are you living out your belief?

How are you living out your faith? No doubt this

man had an incredible story to tell. Are you

telling your story? Are you telling your testimony

of how you came to Christ? Let us be quick with

our testimonies. It's like someone once said,

I'm just one beggar trying to tell other beggars

where to find bread. Secondly and lastly, friends,

trouble is coming. Trouble is coming. We live

in a fallen world. Everybody is either coming

out of trouble, in trouble, or going into it,

what will you do when trouble comes? Friends,

if I could say it like this, don't waste the

trouble. Do not waste what God brings you through.

Because the way to strengthen your faith is just

like exercising. It's by exercising your muscles.

We must exercise our faith. Exercise your faith

in times of trouble. Run to Jesus. Because he's

the only one who will get you through it and

along the way He will strengthen your faith.

Let's pray