Preacher- Adrian
|
Jesus meets a sick boy
John
4:43-54
43 After dthe two days he departed
for Galilee. 44 (For Jesus himself had testified ethat a prophet has no
honor in his own hometown.) 45 So when he came to Galilee, the
Galileans welcomed him, fhaving
seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For gthey too had gone to the
feast.
46 So he came again to hCana in Galilee, iwhere he had made the
water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. 47 When this
man heard that Jesus jhad
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. 48 So Jesus said to him, k “Unless you see signs
and wonders you will not believe.” 49 The official said to him, “Sir, come
down lbefore my
child dies.” 50 Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The
man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. 51 As he was
going down, his servants1
met him and told him that his son was recovering. 52 So he asked them the hour when he
began to get better, and they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour2 the fever left him.” 53 The
father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” And he himself believed, mand all his household. 54 nThis was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea
to Galilee.[1] 
This is a story about belief and unbelief from a book about the same subject!!
We have been looking at Jesus- how do you respond to him?
How do our friends respond to him?
Are we like the Samaritan woman a good advert for Jesus or is there a danger that although we are his own people, we don't hold him in high honour?
Jesus was surprised by the welcome but knew that there was not much faith there.
This made the faith of the official even more surprising.
I am a father and know what it is like to have a sick child- this week I discovered my son is most likely born deaf. Hes not dying but hes born deaf. This is hard for any father to bear- imagine what its like to know your child is going to die and there's no hospital as such, no ITU no antibiotics or paracetamol to treat the fever.
So what is the godly faith response here.
- To face the facts of the situation, not be in denial – twice he tells Jesus his boy will die. This is not unbelief as some would have us think, this is rather simply stating the facts of the situation- Abraham ‘Faced the facts that his body was as good as dead’ but didn’t doubt
- Faith brings Jesus into desperate situations- Jesus is here so maybe just maybe there is hope! It is trust in a person rather than a collection of ideas or persuading yourself that something is true by effort. Do you have to worry if the ground underneath you is going to open up and swallow you? No you trust it every time you step on it- Jesus is that trustworthy.
- Faith is not put off by difficulties- Jesus here seems to test the mans trust directly by appearing unwilling to heal. In fact in life he does NOT always heal, so this can be our experience. Jesus is less interested in the sensationalism of a healing than he is in what is happening in a heart
- Faith is full of respect ‘sir’ but not unwilling to plead in its urgency. I read a verse ‘the deaf shall hear’ this week. My wifes response was well we know it will happen one day, and my response is lord before he dies please! We trust though in this sovereign God that whatever happens he will be with us and our son will hear one day.
- Faith is patient. The man walks away, taking Jesus at his word and as there are no mobile phones its not till the next day that he hears that his son is indeed alive. We may have promises that God has given us we have not yet seen. It grows and grows as it sees more and more results of faith- his whole household believed.
We are going to break into groups and pray
- Does anyone have any difficulties/ situations they are facing they would like prayer for- be honest if you feel free to do so!
- Lets invite Jesus into these situations
- What promises are we aware of- growth for our student work and church and the CU in Middlesex uni.