“Oh Lord, you were the fountain for the Samaritan woman, and you quench the thirst of every single person that comes to you. You are indeed The Fountain-King, Victorious Warrior, Lord of everything. Oh come and quench our thirst this morning Oh Fountain, come and meet every need we have, come and reign supreme oh King Jesus, you Who defeated the devil and destroyed his power and eradicated sin, oh You victorious Warrior, come and win our affections this morning.”
Let’s Turn in our Bibles to John chapter 4. The title of the sermon this morning is:
A Missing Faith, A Desperate Faith, and a Miracle of Faith
As you’re turning in your Bibles, I want to ask us a question this morning: why does the church lack power today? Why doesn’t the church of Jesus Christ see supernatural miracles on a daily basis? Why don’t we seem to have power for witnessing? Why don’t we see unbelievers convicted in their hearts and crying out to God for mercy, wanting to be right with God more than anything else in their lives? Why don’t we see those in bondage to sin, confessing their sin and seeking forgiveness from God, having their chains broken from Him?
Well some today say that the supernatural and the gifts of the Spirit have ceased, are no longer in operation, they came to an end with the completion of our Bibles. “Thanks for your Word, God, but we’ll take it from here.” And yet that viewpoint has been derived largely from experience rather than from the Scriptures. In other words, we don’t see miracles, we don’t see healings and the supernatural so we develop a theology that matches our experience. But the Bible (1 Corinthians 12) lists “gifts of healing” and “miracles” right in the same sentence as helps and administration. And we don’t say that the gift of administration and helps have ceased, why do we say healing and miracles have ceased? Who are we to pick and choose?
No, there is another reason why we don’t see the supernatural occurring today, and I hope by pinpointing the problem we will be able to see the solution, and that God once again might visit His church in power. Once we find out what the problem is, we can turn from it, and God will come, the Holy Spirit will fall on His church in power, and the supernatural will once again become common, and the power of God will once again be displayed in His church.
In the passage of Scripture we have now come to, we remember that Jesus had just spent two days in Samaria where many in that town became believers. Many of these “half-breeds” they were called received God’s grace, and submitted to Jesus as Lord. And now He is leaving Samaria and going again to Galilee. Let’s read together starting at verse 43:
43 After the two days he left for Galilee. 44 (Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.) 45 When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, for they also had been there. 46 Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. 47 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. 48 "Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders," Jesus told him, "you will never believe." 49 The royal official said, "Sir, come down before my child dies." 50 Jesus replied, "You may go. Your son will live." The man took Jesus at his word and departed. 51 While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. 52 When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, "The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour." 53 Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, "Your son will live." So he and all his household believed. 54 This was the second miraculous sign that Jesus performed, having come from Judea to Galilee. John 4:43-54
Jesus was now leaving Samaria, and was returning once again to Galilee, where He was born in Nazareth, and where He had turned the water into wine in Cana. But He did not go to Nazareth, the chief city in Galilee at the time, no He went to a much smaller out-of-the-way town, He went to Cana again. Why didn’t He go to Nazareth where He was born? And what is His draw to Cana? There are literally hundreds of little towns scattered throughout Judea and Galilee, this is the second time He has visited Cana in a short period of time.
And when we find out why He didn’t go to Nazareth, and when we find out why He went to Cana instead, we will also find out why the church today lacks power, and why we don’t experience his supernatural presence and power. So why didn’t He go to Nazareth? Well notice verse 44. “Now Jesus Himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in His own country.” Where did He point that out? Let’s turn together to Matthew 13 and we can read it. Here we see why Jesus didn’t come back to Nazareth. Starting at verse 53:
53 When Jesus had finished these parables, he moved on from there. 54 Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. "Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?" they asked. (Now notice, teaching and miraculous powers were going hand in hand).55 "Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? 56 Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?" 57 And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, "Only in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without honor." 58 And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith. Matthew 13:53-58
They had no faith in Jesus. Their pride and envy prevented them from listening to and believing in Jesus, the prophet. They were dismissive of Him, they did not honor Him, would not hear Him, did not believe Him. At Jesus birth there was no room for Him in Nazareth, and not much had changed in 30 years. Therefore He did not do many miracles there in Nazareth, because of their lack of faith.
And I say to you this morning: any person, any family, any church that dismisses Jesus, that does not believe in Jesus, that does not honor King Jesus, that is not centered in Christ, will miss out on the supernatural power of God in their life because of their lack of faith. A universal truth is this: if you mock the messenger, you don’t get the
benefit of the message. If you won’t believe in and submit to Jesus as Lord, you don’t get His presence or His power.
See this is where much of the church of Jesus Christ is today. See Jesus doesn’t come to us in His physical body like He did at Nazareth, He comes to us in His Spirit today. But we somehow don’t even expect to see miracles, or we think that because some have abused the supernatural that we will reject the gifts of the Spirit altogether. But see to reject the power of God is to reject the Son of God.
But you say, “I believe in Jesus.” Really. I invite you to turn with me to John chapter 14, and as we read this, see if you can think of any church that is actually doing this today:
11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. 12 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. John 14:11-14
Anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing? Could it be that we are like those in Nazareth? Oh we say we believe in Jesus, but where is the proof? I, for one, want to see the power of God come back to the church of God, and I repent right here and now of my lack of faith, and of my rejecting the working of the Spirit of God.
Jesus didn’t go to Nazareth because He wasn’t honored in Nazareth, because they didn’t believe there, so they missed His presence. “Oh God give us genuine faith to really believe in You, that we might not miss Your presence and Your power.”
Now let’s contrast this missing faith in Nazareth with the miracle of faith in Cana. Look at John 4:50-53:
50 Jesus replied, "You may go. Your son will live." The man took Jesus at his word and departed. (Or in other words, He believed Jesus, He exercised faith in what Jesus said, and he proved it by his actions. And guess what? The man or woman or child who takes Jesus at His Word is about to see miracles, is about to have prayer answered:) 51 While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. 52 When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, "The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour." 53 Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, "Your son will live."
Look what happens to the person who will believe, who will take Jesus at His Word. These things would have happened in Nazareth too, had they just believed. Think of all the sick children who were not healed, all the families that would not experience the blessing of God’s power, because of their lack of faith. But look at the blessing that comes to this man who believes and honors Jesus and receives His gifts.
I just want to say, that this type of thing should be happening every day throughout the church. Jesus said it, “you’ll do greater things than these.” Miracles ought to be ordinary and common place in the church. And they are with those who truly believe, and with those who do not reject Jesus as He comes in His Holy Spirit. READ BOOK!
So we’ve seen the missing faith of Nazareth, and then we’ve seen the miracle of faith in Cana. But now I want us to see the desperation of faith. This nobleman was passionate for his son to be healed.
The desperation of faith:
1. He had walked a full day. You can see that from verse 52. This man had heard that Jesus had the power to heal, and out of love for his son and out of a desire for him to be healed, he walked a full day, and I imagine he would have walked a full month if he had to. I would, if one of my sons were sick and I had hope of them getting well. No distance was too far for him to walk to be where Jesus is. He was willing to go where Jesus was, no matter how far that was. He loved his son and wanted him to be healed. What are you willing to do to have Jesus come and heal you and heal our church and heal our land?
2. He begged Jesus to heal his son. You can see that in verse 47, he begged, pleaded, cried out to Jesus. And the word here for “begged” is the Greek word erōtaō from where we get the word “interrogate.” The man begged, pleaded, interrogated Jesus to come and heal His son because he was desperate. Are you willing to beg God to come and heal us?
3. He would not take no for an answer. We can see that in verse 48 where Jesus says, “Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders," Jesus told him, "you will never believe." Like, “Oh you’re just here to see another miracle. You heard that I turned water into wine and you want to see another miracle.” The man was not dissuaded, he would not take no for an answer, and he said in verse 49: "Sir, come down before my child dies." Look at the audacity of this man, the desperation of that man. Yes, and Jesus honored his passion and his desperation and healed his son. By the way, Jesus was not being rude to this man in initially denying him his request. He knew all along he was going to heal this man’s son, but he was strengthening this man’s faith. Faith is strengthened when it has to push past difficulties, and when it has to keep praying and keep asking. Are you willing to get a “no” but to keep asking, keep knocking, keep seeking?
Summary: this father was showing that he loved his son, he would do anything for his healing. What father among us today wouldn’t do the same thing? And Jesus loved the passion of this man, and He healed his son.
You know why Jesus loves this passion. Willing to go anywhere, pleading/praying, not taking no for an answer? Because it mirrors His own passion for us.
1. God Himself had sick children, so He put Himself into a body and came, not just a day’s journey but all the way from heaven to earth. No distance was too far for Him to come.
2. He prayed for His children all throughout His life, as summarized in His High Priestly prayer in John 17. And then His passion for our healing took Him to the cross, where He prayed for us: “Father, forgive them.”
3. And He would not take “no” for an answer; to insure that His Father would forgive us He poured out every drop of blood in His body as full payment for our sins, and then He died. The nobleman gave up a day of his life to come and ask Jesus to heal his son, Jesus gave up His very life, and by His stripes we are healed. The Great Physician died for the sick, that the sick might be healed through His suffering.
Now, I want to apply this passage to us today by asking this question?
Are we more like Nazareth or like Cana? There wasn’t much miraculous power in Nazareth, because of their lack of faith, because they did not honor Christ. But there were 2 miracles done in Cana, because they received Christ, they welcomed Him, they honored Him. And they were desperate for Him.
1. As I have observed Christianity over a period of time I have discovered there are two kinds of Christians and I have been both of them in my life: the first kind is like Nazareth, those who are religious but they do not experience the supernatural in their lives. They are rational, intelligent, and knowledgeable but have not done greater things than Jesus in their lives. They have a form of godliness but they deny the power. That is the way I was for most of my Christian life, and in just a minute I’m going to pray and ask God’s forgiveness, and I invite you to join me if you need to.
2. Then there are those who are like this nobleman, who desperate for Jesus Christ, who cry to Him out of their desperation and ask Him to come, to heal themselves and others they know. They realize that if Christ does not come and heal them they will remain powerless, impotent, weak. And they beg Him, and they don’t take no for an answer. And He does come, and He brings His power, and He heals.
Pray!
Does anyone else want to pray and ask God’s forgiveness? If so, just lift up your voice right where you are.
I want to close just now with verse 53:
53 Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, "Your son will live." So he and all his household believed.
When God brings His power and does supernatural things, we are not to keep quiet about it. God does these things that His kingdom would grow, that the gospel would spread, that others would hear and believe.
