Jesus is seeking some form of faith toward Himself from among the Jews. Unfortunately, the Jews do not place their trust in His person and words, but respect Him for the miracles He does. The Samaritans, whom the Jews dismiss, believed in Jesus Himself, even to call Him Savior. This is a common theme in John’s gospel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this story, Jesus meets a nobleman who seeks Jesus for healing his dying son. But Jesus finds an opportunity to convert him to faith. Let’s see how it was done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
The nobleman came from Capernaum to Cana when he heard Jesus was there. That’s a journey of around 8 hours on foot, a whole day. So we know he was desperate. He “implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death” (John 4:47). So his cause was urgent.
We can almost hear the exasperation in Jesus’ voice when He said, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe” (v. 48). Jesus will eventually be going away, back to the Father. He was seeking people who would continue to trust Him when they could not see Him or His miracles any longer. These will be people of faith who will trust Him though they don’t see or feel Him. Are you that person today?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then the nobleman said to Him, \u201cSir, come down before my child dies!\u201d (v. 49). He had no idea what Jesus meant. He was self-focused, not Jesus-focus. The desperate case of his son was all he could see. He did not see his need for God for himself, only what could be done for his son.
Jesus seized on that. “Jesus said to him, ‘Go your way; your son lives.’ So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way” (v. 50).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Did you see that? He believed the word Jesus said. He trusted in Jesus’ integrity. It was clear that Jesus wasn’t returning with him on his day-long journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the nobleman was going home with something better. He was believing Jesus when he couldn’t see Him. He walked away from Jesus, trusting that His word was golden. This is what we want to do when we have our morning time in the Word. What do we take away with us; what are we believing of Jesus for the uncertain day ahead of us, though we don’t see Him?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the nobleman went back, his servants met him and told him, saying, \u201cYour son lives!\u201d (v. 51). Beautiful. This calls for praise to God Most High, who has visited men.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He then asked them when his son got better. “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him” (v. 52). Beautiful. This calls for thanksgiving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“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’ ” (v. 53). Believing in the faithful word of God, then seeing the faithful work of God, he believed all the more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Will we believe Jesus only when circumstances are bright? Only when all is going well? Only when our needs and wants are being taken care of? If so, we are trusting in the works and not the person of Jesus. Perhaps we are bargaining with God, thinking God will bless us if we keep up certain moral standards, “our end of the bargain,” as it were. But morality doesn’t take the place of trusting Jesus. When things go south before His coming again, Jesus wonders, “will He really find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now is the time to trust Jesus when you can’t see Him working. “We walk by faith, not by sight.” Perhaps we need to stop forcing God into a box of our understanding, such as when the nobleman was trying to get Jesus to come to his house. Go back to the gospels and focus on the person of Jesus and why you should trust Him completely. Pay attention to His words, page by page, to find a passage to believe Him for that day. Jesus didn’t say much to the man, but simply pointed him to Himself. Every book in the Bible does that. \u200b<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Jesus is seeking some form of faith toward Himself from among the Jews. Unfortunately, the Jews do not place their trust in His person and words, but respect Him for the miracles He does. The Samaritans, whom the Jews dismiss, … Continue reading