Take Christ at his word.

George Clayson

Sermon • Submitted 5 years ago

John 4:46–54

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Introduction

In our reading we read of the second sign that is recorded for us in the Gospel of John. This second sign is done again in Cana of Galilee, the same place where the Lord Jesus turned water into wine.

As I mentioned the last time I spoke, a sign is something that points to something greater than itself, this mircale is referred to in John’s Gospel as a sign becuase it points to some truth about who Jesus Christ is and what he came to do.

The question I want us to ask of this text this morning is; What does this sign performed by Jesus communicate to us about him?

If you trust someone and you know they are able to perform what they promise then you willingly trust their word before they have done what they promised to do.

As we walk through this accoun of this second sign together I want us to look at it in three sections. The first section can be summarised in the sentence- A man begs Jesus for help.

A refusal to believe the person beofre the action is performed shows a lack of trust.

I. A man begs Jesus for help

Jesus was in Cana of Galilee where he perfomred his first miracle, then he went into Judea and after that left to return again to Galilee.

In order to get to Galilee he had to go through Samaria. He stayed in Samaria for a few days and left after many of the Samaritans believed in him and he has now come back into Cana of Galilee.

This was the same place where Jesus performed his first sign.

v.46 says “So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine.”

20 miles away from Cana of Galilee was a town called Capernaum. In Capernaum there was a royal official who’s son was dying. He had obviously started to lose hope, a man with his power and wealth must have tried everything possible in order to cure his son, I’m sure he tried all the physicians he could.

When he heard about Jesus he decided to go and beg for his help.

The New King James Version. (1982). (). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

V.46-47 say “And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.”

This royal official who probably served Herod Antipas, a tetrach of Galilee and Perea, came to the Lord Jesus and implored him to come down and heal his son.

The New King James Version. (1982). (). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

The New King James Version. (1982). (). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.”

The royal offical was desperate, he had tried everything else and his only hope was that Christ would come and heal his son.

We can understand why he was desperate, the end of v.47 says his son was at the point of death. This is enough to make anyone desperate.

Thankfully in his desperation he came to the right person.

He had a great need and he brought this need to Christ.

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I wonder when you have a need do you bring that need to the Lord Jesus?

It seemed like for this man Jesus Christ was his last resort, his final hope.

Thats not how it should be for those of us who know Christ.

The Lord Jesus should be our fisrt port of call what ever the need is.

As the hymn says;

What a friend we have in Jesus All our sins and griefs to bear And what a privilege to carry Everything to God in prayer

Oh, what peace we often forfeit Oh, what needless pain we bear All because we do not carry Everything to God in prayer

At this time the royal official would have had limited understanding of who Christ really was because the Lord was at the beginning of his public ministry, but still he went and begged Jesus for help.

What excuse do we have who have a better knowledge of who Christ is, if we fail to commit our needs to him.

This royal official went to Cana of Galilee and begged Jesus for help, as we continue in the narrative we see the response of Jesus to this mans request.

The second part of this story could be summed up in the sentence Jesus heals with a word.

II. Jesus heals with a word

The Royal official came and asked Jesus for help.

In verse 48-50 we read of the conversation that took place between this man and the Lord Jesus Christ

Look with me at verse 48;

“Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe.”

As with many of the recorded responses of the Lord Jesus this one seems like it has little do with what the man was asking, but we must remember the Lord knows the thoughts and intents of every person.

The New King James Version. (1982). (). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

The Lord here is rebuking the people for demanding signs and thinking of him as some kind of miracle worker rather than the promised Messiah who came to seek and save that which was lost.

This Royal official probably had this same misconception about the Lord Jesus and so the Lord confronts it with this statement.

The response of the Royal official is again one that shows his desperation. He does not have time to think through his theology.

V.49 “The nobleman said to Him, “Sir, come down before my child dies!”

The New King James Version. (1982). (). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

III. Jesus heals with a word

Whether this man believed everything that was true about Christ is unlikely, however he certainly believed that Christ was his only hope.

He was not going to be easily put off, the man persisted in his plea for help.

As we see numerous times through out the Gospels the Lord Jesus often refuses the first request but after they display persistent faith he grants their request.

we see an example of this in .

There was a lady from Canaan who had a daughter that was demon possesed, she was a gentile.

She came to Jesus and begged for help for her daughter.

The Lord refused to help her because he had to preach to the lost sheep of Israel. She persisted and in the end the Lord says these words to her “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.”

The New King James Version. (1982). (). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

That is what we see the Lord Jesus do here.

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After the mans desperate plea the Lord Jesus says these words.

v.50 “Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your son lives.”

Here the Lord seems to grant the petition of the Royal official, but yet it presented a crisis for him.

He wanted the Lord Jesus to come down and heal his son, this man thought that maybe Christ could heal his son, but he would have to do it in person.

The New King James Version. (1982). (). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

The response of Christ reveals the power of the Lord Jesus, he says the word and it is done.

The problem that faced the Royal official was, would he believe or would he continue to ask Christ to come in person?

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This is a crisis that we as Christians can sometimes face.

Will we take Christ at his word?

Do we believe what he has said what he will do?

When he says that He will lose none of his sheep do we believe him?

WHen he says I will never leave you nor forsake you, do we believe him?

When he says he will return, do we believe him?

This isnt just a crisis that believers face.

Unbelievers face this same challenge.

The Lord Jesus has said “he who comes to me I will never turn away” Do you believe that? If you do then you wouldn’t say Christ would never accept me.

Jesus said He who believes in me has eternal life. Do you believe that?

He said that he was laying his life down for his sheep. He said that he came to seek and to save that which was lost, that he had not come for the righteous but to call sinners to repentance.

The question is if you are an unbeliever will you take Christ at his word?

This is what the Royal official did.

The end of verse 50 says “So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.”

The man believed and he went his way.

The New King James Version. (1982). (). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

We know he belieevd because he left Jesus and went home. Belief is always accompanied by action.

Lots of people claim to believe in Christ, but the way you can know for sure is because their lives evidence the fact they believe.

So Christ said the word, the man believed. What was the result?

we find the answer in verse 51 “And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, “Your son lives!”

The New King James Version. (1982). (). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.nd as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, “Your son lives!”

The Lord Jesus healed the dying son of this royal official with a word. The Lord Jesus commanded and it was so.

Whats the meaning of this sign? What greater truth is it pointing to?

The New King James Version. (1982). (Jn 4:51). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

Well this sign clearly points to the fact that Jesus was not just some mircale worker worker but rather he was the promised Saviour.

He was God manifest in the flesh, he had power to heal with a word.

He also had power to forgive sin, he has power to save sinners.

Just as he has power to heal, he also has power to give eternal life to all who believe.

says “ But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:

This sign was revealling the true character of who Jesus is, he is the Son of God who came to save sinners.

The New King James Version. (1982). (). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

He has the power to give life, he is the sovereign Lord and he merely utters the word and it is done.

Those of us who are Christians how humbled we should be that such a great Saviour died for our sin on the cross in order to redeem us back to God.

If you are not a Christian then you need Jesus Christ, you need him to pronounce the word ‘forgiven’ concerning your sin.

So the man begs Jesus for help. The Lord heals with a word.

The final part of this account could be summed up with the sentence the royal offical and his family believe.

III. The royal official and his family believe.

The royal official believed what Jesus said and went his way. as he was journeying back to Capernaum his servants met him on the way and told him the good news about his son.

Then in the final few verses of this account we learn that the mans faith was confirmed and his whole family believed with him as well.

In v.52 we read these words after the servants have just told the royal official about his son, v.52 says “Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better. And they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.”

The royal offical wanted to know when exactly his son got better. If his son had improved from the moment he left, then he would have probably thought that his son was not healed by Christ but that he got better by himself.

The New King James Version. (1982). (). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

The servants tell him the exact time. they say “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” The seventh hour is roughly 1 oc lcok in the afternoon.

Yesterday at one o clock the fever left him.

The phrase fever left him seems like it was an instant healing, one minute he was sick the next minute he was well.

What was it that made the difference?

It was the word of Jesus Christ , he commanded and it was so.

Just as in the creation of the world, God said let there be light and there was light, so here the Lord Jesus said your son is healed and he was healed.

Here we see the sovereign power of Jesus Christ.

The very hour that Jesus said your son will be healed, the boy was healed.

This proved to the man that Jesus was the Chrsit, the Son of God.

verse 53 says these words; “So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, “Your son lives.” And he himself believed, and his whole household.

The royal official believed and his whole house hold.

The New King James Version. (1982). (). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

We have already learned that he believed the word of Jesus in v.50 when he took Jesus at his word and went on his way. But here we see that now he believed in Jesus. He believed the word of Jesus now he believed in Jesus.

Now he knew that Jesus was the Christ, now he knew that Jesus was not just some kind of miracle worker, but rather he was the promised messiah.

Everything that Jesus claimed about hiumself was true.

He did have power to forgive sin.

He was the light of the world.

He was the way, the truth, the life.

He was the good shephed who was laying his life down for the sheep.

This man believed, but not just him, his whole household believed.

This man obviously started to evangelise straight away. The moment he believed he shared about Christ with his loved ones.

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There are a few points of application here for us.

Firstly, we see again the power of the Lord Jesus , the instant healing of the boy shows us that nothing is too hard for CHrist.

Maybe you have a sickness that you have prayed to be healed of, well if it hasnt gone then it isnt because Christ doesn’t have power to heal you. The encouraging truth here is that if as a believer you have bad health then God has a good and loving purpose for it, if he didn’t have a good and loving purpose for it then he would heal you, just like Christ did in our passage.

This truth means we can trust God in our suffering.

Because he could ake it away and if he doesnt then he has a purpose for it.

Second, we see the belief of the man. He believed in Jesus. i wonder do you believe in Jesus? If you are not a Christian this morning then you need to turn to Jesus Chrsit and be saved.

This miracle proves that Jesus was not merely some good teacher who perfomred miracles, rather he is the Son of God who died for our sin on the cross and rose again the third day. He saves to the uttermost all who come to God by him.

Will you follow the wise example of this royal offical and believe in Jesus?

The third application from this section is the fact that his household believd, whatever knowledge he had of Christ he shared with his family and they believed with him. I wonder have you shared the Gospel with your family?

Sometimes our family are the hardest ones to speak to but if we want to see them believing like this mans family then we must share the Gospel with them.

So the man inquired of the time, now he believed in Jesus with his whole family and then in v.54 we have a kind of summary statement.

v.54 “ This again is the second sign Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.”

Conclusion

In conclusion, from this second sign that the Lord Jesus performed, we learn that Jesus Christ is not merely a good teacher who performed miracles, he was not a miracle worker that was sent to make people happy.

The New King James Version. (1982). (). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

Rather this sign points to the fact that Jesus Christ is the divine Son of God. He has sovereign power over creation and he can command something to happen with a word and it is done.

This sign points to the fact that Jesus was the promised Messiah, the Saviour who came in to the world to seek and save the lost and this miracle points to the truth that the Lord Jesus can save to the uttermost all who come to God by him.

This sign reveals the true identity of Jesus Christ he is God manifest in the flesh.

There are two main points of application from this sign that I want us to leave with this morning.

The first is for believers those of us who know Christ, those of us who believe in Jesus. This royal official had such a limited knowledge of who Jesus Christ was at the time that he believed his word and went his way.

The royal official didn’t know much about Jesus but yet he took him at his word, he trusted his word.

The application for us as Christians is the encouragement that we too can always take Christ at his word. We can and we must trust everything that Christ says to us through the scriptures.

The second application is for anyone here who may not yet be a believer. This man believed in Jesus for himself.

Will you follow the example of this royal official and believe for your self?

Jesus offers you something much greater than the healing of a deadly fever. The Lord Jesus Christ can give full forgiveness of all sin to those who repent of their sin and believe in him.

The Lord Jesus didn’t just perfrom miracles, the miracles pointed to the reason that he really came. He came to save people from their sin.

He did this by dying for sin, in their place on the cross and rising again the third day. If you believe like this royal official believed then you can experience this forgiveness for yourself.