Christ Our Healer Series

Chico Alliance Church

“Christ Our Healer”

REVIEW

We continue our historical journey with John to learn as much as we can about the Jesus who walked this earth nearly 2000 years ago. Many claim to want to be like Jesus or follow Jesus but know very little about him.

Introduction to every theme of the book in chapter 1

Glory of God demonstrated at a wedding in chapter 2

The righteousness of God demonstrated at the temple 2

The wisdom of God demonstrated to Nicodemus through the teaching of Jesus 3

Now in chapter 4, we observe the love and forgiveness of God demonstrated to a woman of questionable reputation but unmistakable hunger for something more than her present experience. Today we focus on a remarkable aspect of Jesus ministry demonstrating his deity and power too reverse the curse of sickness on the earth.

Since the sin of Adam, sickness, disease, and death etched their unwelcome way on the canvas of human experience. God’s plan includes the eventual and eternal elimination of all of these things from the human experience. Jesus demonstrate the ability to deal with this aspect of human suffering in the next two events recorded by John in the last of chapter 4 and the first of chapter 5. Let’s join Jesus and his fumbling followers once again as they continue to learn from the Master.

John adds a bit of inside commentary following the two day unscheduled Bible Conference in Sycar.

And after the two days He went forth from there into Galilee. For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country. So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things that He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they themselves also went to the feast. Jn 4:43-45

The original destination was Galilee in order to avoid unpleasant political posturing. The group continues now their journey (40 miles from Sycar to Cana) to continue a ministry in Galilee where the normal reaction is to not give honor to homeboys.

Perhaps John is indicating that having gained a group of people who recognized the person of Christ (impacted by the miracles down in Jerusalem) , Christ went there to continue to minister and demonstrate His Sonship. His reception for now is a pleasant one “they welcomed” him.

Nobleman’s Son

Returning to Cana Jesus encounters a “nobleman” with a sick child.

He came therefore again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine. And there was a certain royal official, whose son was sick at Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him, and was requesting Him to come down and heal his son; for he was at the point of death. John 4:46-47

This is a government official of some sort. John purposely chose this encounter to demonstrate the wide variety of people and circumstances touched by Jesus in His short ministry on this earth. The official lived in Capernaum, probably 10-15 miles away by the Sea of Galilee. The news of Jesus traveled quite a broadly by now and when this man heard that Jesus, was in Galilee, traveled to Cana to find him. He came to Jesus asking Him several times to heal his sick son who was in the process of dying. Jesus responds fro the benefit of those who crowded around him for less than pure reasons addresses the whole aspect of properly placed faith.

Jesus therefore said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe."

Jesus draws this official into a deeper faith not in the events but the one who does the events. The people were not so interested in who was doing the signs but the sensation of the event themselves. At the core, faith believes the word of God. The sensation of signs and wonders fades and distracts if not followed to the source.

Pressing on the official cries out to Jesus in spite of the gentle rebuke.

The royal official said to Him, "Sir, come down before my child dies." Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your son lives." The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he started off. John 4:48-50

At the world of Jesus the son was healed and the official believes the word of Jesus. He is not quite to the point of full belief.

And as he was now going down, his slaves met him, saying that his son was living. So he inquired of them the hour when he began to get better. They said therefore to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him." So the father knew that it was at that hour in which Jesus said to him, "Your son lives"; and he himself believed, and his whole household. This is again a second sign that Jesus performed, when He had come out of Judea into Galilee. John 4:51-54