John 4:46-54

http://biblehub.com/parallelgospels/The_Second_Visit_to_Cana_with_the_Healing_of_the_Courtiers_Son.htm

“Seeing is believing” is a common saying that does not reflect the truth of Scripture.  In fact, just the opposite is true.  The Bible teaches that believing is not seeing.  Those who insist on seeing demonstrate the fact that they don’t believe and once we do see there is really no need to believe.  Jesus criticized the Jewish people because they were constantly asking to see miracles as a means of proving His identity as the Messiah.  The problem was that the people were not ready to admit, under any circumstances that Jesus was Messiah.  No matter how many signs He performed they never seemed satisfied and would just ask for another sign.  As Jesus came into Galilee the people flocked to Him because they were anxious to see another miracle but were not truly interested in His identity or His message.  No matter how many signs they saw they never came to believe.  That attitude is contrasted in today’s text by a Gentile who comes to seek Jesus in Cana.  This is one of many narratives recorded in the Gospels where we see Gentiles responding to Jesus in a more positive way than the Jews did.  We must be careful not to be constantly expecting the miraculous in our lives in order to keep from doubting the Lord.

A FATHER IMPLORES - JESUS IMPLIES A LACK OF FAITH: This royal official from Capernaum travels a significant distance to come seek Jesus out in Cana.  This is the first of many contrasts that John records between the Jews who waited for Jesus to come to them and this desperate Father who comes to try to find Jesus.  Even though he is a Gentile he implores for Jesus to heal his son from a very grave illness.  We are weak and fragile beings.  We get sick, our children get sick, things happen in our lives and there are many times that we feel like things are completely out of our control.  God is always in control and there is never anything that takes Him by surprise.  That is why we must constantly come to Him and recognize our weakness and simply call out to Him.  We must learn to do this not only in our times of desperation but on a regular basis we must learn to depend on Him, lean on Him and walk with Him each and every day.  Jesus seems critical of this request because it looks like this is just another one of the crowd looking for a sign.  Jesus implies that this seeking of a sign is a lack of faith; but in the case of this ruler it was a sign of faith because He came to Jesus believing that He had the power to solve his problem.  Jesus knew this man’s heart but said what He said more than likely for the benefit of the people who were standing around waiting to see what Jesus would do.  Asking God to help us is not a sign of a lack of faith.  Requiring that God do a miracle in order to “prove” Himself is a lack of faith.  Never be afraid to plead with God about anything in our lives.  Never doubt God’s power, goodness or grace because He doesn’t answer in the way that we might want Him to.

A FATHER INSISTS – JESUS INTERVEINS AND HEALS SON: The ruler is not deterred by the response that Jesus had to his request.  He is not concerned that Jesus is using his request to criticize a lack of faith on the part of anyone else.  He simply restates his need.  In other words, he says Jesus, I don’t really care about who has faith right now; my son is still sick and you are the only one who can help me.  This is a true demonstration of faith on the part of the ruler.  He is not about to give up because of an initial response that was not what he expected.  Timidity in prayer is not a virtue.  God knows our needs before we ask for them but He is pleased when we recognize our dependence upon Him and ask Him to intervene on our behalf.  When God does not respond in the way that expect and we still find ourselves in need; there is nothing wrong with being insistent with God in prayer.  Jesus taught this principle repeatedly in Scripture and this ruler models it for us here.  Jesus simply tells the man that his son has been healed.  He did not go to the man’s house or do some sort of ritual; He just told him that his son was no longer sick.  The words of Jesus were enough to convince the father that his son was better so he turns away and goes back towards his home with assurance that he will find his son well.  This is faith.  He could not see his son.  He had no way of knowing for sure that Jesus had done what He said but the ruler believed the word of Jesus.  He believed without seeing.  This stands in stark contrast to the Jews who had seen miracles time and time again but were still not ready to believe.  This Gentile had not seen anything but believed in the power of Jesus without questioning.  There may be times where it looks like the promises of God are not working out the way we would expect them to.  These are the times that we must learn to take God at His Word, trust Him and believe that His promises are true.

A FATHER INQUIRES – JESUS INSPIRES BELIEF IN THE FAMILY: On his way home the ruler is met by his servants who have come to inform him that his son has made a full recovery.  He inquires of the servants what time the boy had started to improve and it coincided with the time that Jesus had told him his son was healed.  This answer to his question was all the evidence he needed to believe that Jesus was the Son of God.  He went home and immediately told the entire household about his encounter with Jesus.  He wanted all of them to know just exactly who Jesus was.  He believed and he wanted his family to believe as well.  This is the natural and necessary response to those who become true believers.  The first thing we want to do is tell others what we have discovered and help them come to faith in the Lord as well.  Good news is always too good to keep to ourselves.  When we fail to share the Gospel with others it begs to question whether or not we truly believe it.  Jesus has proven His identity as Messiah.  He has died for our sin and He rose again victorious over sin.  We either believe this or we don’t.  If we do believe it; our sins are forgiven and we will want others to experience the same joy that we have found in Christ.

APPLICATION: In our times of need and on a regular basis, in and out of crisis; we must depend on the Lord and cry out to Him in prayer.  If God does not respond in the way we expect we should neither question His character or give up asking.  We must trust Him fully and then readily share our faith with others no matter how many disasters and deaths we might face.