Unit 2: The Word: The Agent of Creation
Key Verse:
John 4:53 NLT
53 Then the father realized that that was the very time Jesus had told him, “Your son will live.” And he and his entire household believed in Jesus.
The fruit of the Word is the bounty of the Kingdom!
What you need to know
John 4:1-6 NLT
1 Jesus[a] knew the Pharisees had heard that he was baptizing and making more disciples than John 2 (though Jesus himself didn’t baptize them—his disciples did). 3 So he left Judea and returned to Galilee.
4 He had to go through Samaria on the way. 5 Eventually he came to the Samaritan village of Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime. 7 Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.”
Continuing our survey of the Book of John, we find Jesus preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven in the region of Judea, outside of Jerusalem, in the wilderness near the Jordan River. People are responding to His message, Souls are being saved. John, the Baptist has been preaching the message of repentance in preparation for the coming of Christ. Now that Christ has come, the masses are turning to Him with hearts that have been prepared for His arrival. So much so, that in that moment, His ministry had overtaken John’s ministry in the number of followers (believers) who had committed their lives to His message.
However, the religious leaders in Jerusalem remained a threat as long as Jesus remained in the area, so He departed for Galilee, stopping briefly in the region of Sychar, which had beed the capital of the Northern Kingdom in the day of old. It was there that Jesus encountered the Samaritan woman, which turned out to be one of the most important narratives in the entirety of the Gospels. This brief encounter with a woman whose people were rejected by the Jews because of their questionable lineage revealed a great truth that remains to this day: that a day would come, and indeed had come where true worshipers of God would worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. It was after Jesus made this statement to the Samaritan woman that He revealed Himself to her as the Messiah; The Messiah to the Samaritans and the Gentiles, as well as the Jews. IT was after this pivotal narrative that our lesson begins.
The Lesson
John 4:46a NLT
46a As he traveled through Galilee, he came to Cana, where he had turned the water into wine…
So Jesus returned to the place that He called home. Cana was situated between Nazareth, the place of Jesus’ birth and Capenaum, the place where Jesus made His headquarters, as it were. It was in Capernaum that Jesus performed His first miracle, turning water in to wine at a family wedding. The people in the area knew him well. He was the carpenter’s son.
John 4:46b NLT
46b …There was a government official in nearby Capernaum whose son was very sick.
We don’t know his name, or his nationality, per se. We can make some informed guesses, but they are only guesses. The Amplified Bible and the NASB identifie him as an official of of the Royal court. That connects him to Herod Antipas, who was Governor of the northern region of Israel. This official may then, have been Jewish, an Edomite, or gentile of Roman descent. There are several possibilities. The reason I introduce this seeming element of question into the narrative is because of a something I’ve noticed in my own study of Scripture. It seems there was a symbiosis of sorts that existed amongst the people in the regions of Israel, out side of Jerusalem and the region of Judea. It seems, the further that one was from Jerusalem, the better the people of the communities got along, regardless of ethnicity or background. Often times, Jesus was invited to speak to religious leaders in northern Israel. In those situations He was treated cordially. By contrast, the religious leaders in Judea often sought to entrap Him in their encounters. It is along this line of thought that I suggest that, whatever the background of this royal official, he would have been quite comfortable in the presence of this Jewish Rabbi.
John 4:47 NLT
47 When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged Jesus to come to Capernaum to heal his son, who was about to die.
So then, when faced with a personal crisis, a life and death situation, this official made the trip to Capernaum without reservation. He did what any parent would do. He sought help from someone that felt certain could help him. The Bible says, “…when he heard that Jesus had come…”, indicating that somehow, faith was stirred at the thought that Jesus was in the vicinity. It was in desperation and faith that this man sought the Master’s help. Selah.
John 4:48 NLT
48 Jesus asked, “Will you never believe in me unless you see miraculous signs and wonders?”
This verse could be interpreted in several different ways. Some theologian suggest that Jesus was not addressing the official directly, but that he was addressing the people gathered around him. This is quite plausible. We will see later that many of the people of the region had trouble accepting Jesus as the Messiah, sent from God. To many, especially the Jews in the region, he was the carpenters son.
On the off chance that Jesus was addressing the official directly, there are a couple of possibilities that come to mind. One; might Jesus have been upbraidding the official for a lack of faith? The official desired that Jesus come and heal his son. Compare that to the Centurion, who requested that Jesus only speak the Word and his servant would be healed. Similarly, the Syro-Phonecian woman entrated Christ for the life of her daughter by stating that een dogs (gentiles) had a right to the crumbs from the Master’s table. In both cases, Jesus lauded their faith as greater than any that He had encountered among the Jews, who were the rightful heirs to the Inheritance promised to Abraham: Jesus.
The other possibility is similar. In Judea, Jesus had not performed any miraculous signs. He had only preached the Gospel and people believed. Lives were changed eternally simply at the hearing of the preached Word. Again, was Jesus displaying His frustration at the level of unbelief that He continually encountered in Galilee?
John 4:49 NLT
49 The official pleaded, “Lord, please come now before my little boy dies.
“...Lord, please…” , the urgency with which this man sought Jesus’ help is clear in his response, or rather lack of response to Jesus’ seeming frustration. Rather than retreating into a shell of guilt or shame for having somehow missed the moment, he continues to press Jesus on behalf of his son. His son is first and foremost in his heart and mind at this moment. The Good News is that it seems that the increased urgency and determination that the official displayed in the face of Jesus’ retort stirred the Master’s heart on his son’s behalf.
John 4:50 NLT
50 Then Jesus told him, “Go back home. Your son will live!” And the man believed what Jesus said and started home.
The the Logos spoke. With the same creative force that set time and space in motion, Jesus spoke to the man, telling him to go home, assured that his son would live. And the Bible says that the man believed what Jesus said and turned toward Capernaum. His desperation had been rewarded. His entreaty of God had been met with God’s umatchable … Grace.
John 4:51-52 NLT
51 While the man was on his way, some of his servants met him with the news that his son was alive and well. 52 He asked them when the boy had begun to get better, and they replied, “Yesterday afternoon at one o’clock his fever suddenly disappeared!”
I can only surmise how much this man was loved by his servants. Before he could make the entire trip home to Capernaum, some of his servants met him with joyous news: his son was healed! While he immediately left Jesus’ presence to return home and find out his son’s condition, at the moment of his son’s recovery his servants embarked on the road to Cana with haste to tell their master the good news. Wait. Pause for a moment. Consider this wonderful example of thankfulness. The official inquired of his servants the very time of his son’s recovery. They confirmed that it had occurred the previous afternoon at around one o’clock. That confirmed to the official that his son was healed in the very hour that Jesus had spoken.
John 4:53 NLT
53 Then the father realized that that was the very time Jesus had told him, “Your son will live.” And he and his entire household believed in Jesus.
Because of the miraculous healing of his son, the official’s entire household believed. This was a common occurrence on the region with concern to religion. When the head of the household came to faith, the entire household followed suit (including the servants). We find this to be the case in the case of Cornelius, in Acts 10 and Lydia in Acts 16.
John 4:54 NLT
54 This was the second miraculous sign Jesus did in Galilee after coming from Judea.
In closing, I want to make note of thought that John brings to our attention the fact that this is the secon miracle performed by Jesus. It wasn’t His last. A quick survey reveals that most of His miracles occurred in the regions of Galilee, Samaria and other regions outside of Jerusalem and Judea. Yet, in the region of Judea, many came to Christ through just the preaching of the Gospel. Why is this important. Here’s why. Beloved, I can’t guarantee you a miracle on demand. No one can. YEs, I believe in miracles, but I believe in Christ above all else. We don’t have the benefit of being able to seek Christ out in Cana or Jerusalem or anywhere on earth to ask him personally to intervene on our behalf in our time of need. But we have the assurance that we can invoke His Word, we can pray to Him, literally standing in His presence spiritually at the throne of Grace, when we are making our requests to God, our Father. We have been given His Word, the very Logos, the embodiment of His (Christ’) essence. The very same essence that set time and space in motion. Additionally, He gave us His name: Jesus. And He assured us that if we ask anything in His Name, the authority of His name woud be present to perform it. All of this is tied to the will of God, which activates the logos and performs His will by His Spirit. Additionally, according to His will, He empowers us by the indwelling of that very same Holy Spirit, thus grafting us (believers)into the family of God. No, we don’t need Jesus to be present in the flesh. He’s accomplished all that was required of Him and for us… at the cross. Selah. Miracles: sometimes yes, sometimes no. Jesus: yea and amen!
2 Corinthians 1:20 NLT
20 For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “Yes!” And through Christ, our “Amen” (which means “Yes”) ascends to God for his glory.
We have all we need.
Selah,
wb
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