New Healing
Jesus has left Jerusalem for Galilee. He had pointed
out that a “prophet has no honor in his
own country,” but Jesus goes there anyway. The Bible says that the
Galileans welcomed Jesus because of all of that He had done at the Passover
Feast in Jerusalem. They were there to celebrate the Feast and saw the miracles He performed firsthand. However, the Galileans were not committed to Jesus. They just chased after His miracles.
These scriptures
remind us that Jesus had performed another miracle at Cana in Galilee. He
transformed water into wine. In the miracle of transforming the water into wine, Jesus showed His transforming
power to His servants only, but not to the others.
The Galileans welcomed Jesus but they did not “honor” Him. We must
receive Christ before we can honor Him. Jesus is far more than just a
miracle-worker. The crowd wanted His signs and wonders, but they did not
recognize Him as the Son of God and their Savior. Jesus’s miracles were proof
that He is God and has the power of God. But Jesus wants us to have faith in
who He is and His Word, not chase after miracles. Faith
comes when we see Him for who He truly is – the life-giving Word of God who is
God and Creator of all things. Honoring Jesus is the evidence of faith.
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. John 4:46-47
This man was a royal officer in the king’s palace. He
understood authority because he had authority in the king’s court. He is desperate
because his son is at the brink of death. This man had the very best doctors
and medicine at his disposal and none of them could save his son from certain
death. Jesus will use this circumstance to increase the officer’s faith and
trust in Him and also save his whole household. We don’t always understand the
ways of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Their ways are not our ways. Jesus didn’t
let the royal officer determine how He would answer this desperate father’s
request. As a man of authority, this royal officer no doubt expected Jesus to
do as he asked. Jesus is under no man’s authority!
Jesus responds
to this man’s request in an unusual way. “Unless
you people see miraculous signs and wonders, you will never believe.” V48 Jesus
is speaking to the wider audience surrounding Him, not just this royal officer.
Jesus is correcting the crowd and testing this man’s faith in Him. This officer
who is used to being in authority wanted Jesus to come with him to heal his
son. Jesus refused to “come” with this man. Instead He told this official to “Go, your son lives.” This royal
official must learn to trust the authority of Jesus’s Word. We must believe God’s
Word in simple faith and trust. There is authority, power and life in God’s
Word. Jesus’s Word is enough because His Word is Truth and He watches over it
to perform it. In the beginning the Trinity spoke all things into existence by
God’s Word. It was the Word of God (Jesus) together with the will of God and
the power of the Holy Spirit that brought all things into existence. We must
live our lives trusting in the full Godhead to recreate us into a new,
spiritual creation who knows, loves, trusts and obeys the Lord.
At first it
seems as if Jesus is rejecting this man and his request. Jesus will use this circumstance
to correct the wrong attitude of the Galileans toward Him and to instill
trusting faith in the royal officer. The belief of the crowd was superficial –
based upon His miracles, not His character and Person. Jesus didn’t reject or
ignore this royal official’s request. Jesus knew this man’s heart and saw his
limited faith. He will show the officer that he must believe His Word, not
just His miracles. Jesus spoke His Word with authority. As a man in authority,
this officer understood that those in authority must make their word their
bond. As an authority himself, this officer knew that Jesus would do as He
said. So, he obeyed Jesus’s Word. The
man took Jesus at His Word and departed. V50 First this royal official
heard the Word, then acted upon the Word and finally saw the result. He
believed without seeing in blind faith and trust. John 20:29: “Blessed are those who haven’t seen, and yet believe.” Distance
is no barrier to the power of Jesus and His Word. Jesus’s Word is enough! We must take Jesus at
His Word and hang onto it until we see the results. If there is no faith, God
can’t work. The life-giving Word of the life-giving Savior would breathe new
life into this young man.
On his journey
back home, the royal official’s servants met him to tell him the good news that
his son lives. His recovery was at the exact hour that Jesus spoke it. This
miraculous healing strengthened this man’s faith and brought his whole
household to faith in Jesus. Again, Jesus didn’t perform this miracle before a
crowd.
The Word
became flesh in Christ Jesus. The Word also become flesh in us when we believe
and do it. The Seed of the Word is sown into us and then reproduces. This royal
officer’s obedience brought results. Through his faith and obedience to Jesus's Word, this royal officer's faith
and knowledge of Jesus has grown. No longer was his faith superficial based
upon miracles but was now saving faith based upon Truth. This royal official
sought after Jesus and shared the need of His heart. Jesus answered with His
saving grace and His life-giving Word. Jesus has the power to give life – both physical
and spiritual. John 11:5:15: “I am the
resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live, even though he
dies; and whoever lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”
This royal
official’s faith is rewarded.
No comments:
Post a Comment