Faith-Driven Perseverance Series

INTRODUCTION

• Today we continue with the second of eight messages on our Signs series.

• In this series, we examine the seven signs John describes in his gospel, along with the resurrection, which is the ultimate sign of Christ's victory and divinity.

• These signs give us a window into how God is at work in the world through Jesus and what it means for our faith and salvation.

• Once again, Jesus is in Galilee.

• This time, after seemingly lamenting the lack of faith among his people (John 4:44), we find Jesus confronted with someone who has traveled a great distance because of his faith in Jesus.

• An official in Capernaum learns of Jesus and goes to him to ask Jesus to heal his son.

• Because of this man's position, we will assume he is a proud, self-sufficient man.

• The royal official had power, status, and prestige.

• What more can a person want? What more can a person need?

• Why come to Jesus?

• There are two levels of distance between this man and Jesus.

• The first is geographical: Jesus is in Cana, and the official is in Capernaum.

• The distance between Capernaum and Cana is a full day's travel on foot, and yet this man has made the journey to request Jesus's presence to heal his son (Craig Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament [Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2014], 261).

• The second point of distance is social: the official was most likely of the aristocratic class.

• As a member of Herod Antipas's court, he was also most likely highly influenced by the Greco-Roman culture of the time.

• So, in every way, he was the opposite of Jesus (Keener, New Testament, 261).

• The event we will examine will show us what kind of faith Jesus desires from us.

• Sometimes it takes an event that rocks us to our core to realize that we need something more than what we think we have in life.

John 4:46–47 (CSB)

46 He went again to Cana of Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. There was a certain royal official whose son was ill at Capernaum.

47 When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea into Galilee, he went to him and pleaded with him to come down and heal his son, since he was about to die.

John 4:49 (CSB)

49 “Sir,” the official said to him, “come down before my boy dies.”

SERMON

I. Faith-driven perseverance in action.

• Jesus is back in Cana of Galilee.

• Jesus had been in the Judea area and Jerusalem, where He performed other signs and wonders.

• On his first visit, Jesus was at the wedding in Cana and turned water into wine.

• In the throes of desperation, as he seeks healing for his son, this desperate father is willing to come on a 20-some mile march to see Jesus and to convince Jesus to come to see his son before it is too late.

• The royal official most likely lived his life without a need or worry.

• Now, something has rocked his world.

• This proud man is now before Jesus, and the crowd gathered around Him, begging Jesus to help his son live.

• In verse 47, the word translated PLEADED means to beg over and over again.

• Neither riches nor office would lift one above affliction as his son was closing in on death's doorstep.

• Neither circumstances, age, nor situations can guarantee joy; we still must seek Jesus.

• Here is this man, broken, desperate, and devastated.

• He is standing before Jesus, begging for help.

• In verse 49, the royal official asks Jesus to come to his home before his son dies?

• This royal official displayed faith-driven perseverance.

• We see that perseverance in action as he made the trip to see Jesus.

• Think about the level of faith that man has in Jesus.

• This man's son is close to death, and he decides to leave his son's side to make this twenty-mile-plus journey BELIEVING Jesus can heal his son.

• What do you believe Jesu can do in your life?

• Think about that for a moment.

• It is one thing to acknowledge that Jesus can do something, or to believe He can heal your marriage, your life, or whatever needs healing in your life; it is another thing to take that journey of faith to do something, to act upon those beliefs.

• Make no mistake. For this royal official, this is a journey of faith, to leave your son who is at the point of death and go a day's journey away in the hope that you'll be able to find the one person you think can heal him.