If you have ever been to a circus, you have seen elephants tied to a chain that is connected to a stake in the ground. You may not realize that that stake is only eighteen inches long and that an elephant can easily pull that stake up, because a grown up man has to pull the stake up to free the elephant. Now if a grown man can pull up the stake, why doesn’t the elephant pull that stake out of the ground and free himself?
Well, when that elephant was a baby, he did not have the strength to pull that stake out of the ground. After years of trying, the elephant concludes that he can never pull it out of the ground. So in circuses all over the world there are massive elephants, capable of lifting entire trees out of the ground by their roots, held captive by puny or small, weak stakes.
Likewise, there are many people in this world who are chained to the stakes of sin, sorrow, and suffering who could be free in an instant if they would just trust Jesus.
We need a faith that can conceive the invisible; we need a faith that can believe the incredible; we need a faith that can receive the impossible. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
This is a story about a man who learned how to “just trust.” With just three words, “Lord I believe”, his life was totally transformed. Just by faith he went from darkness to light, from blindness to sight, from weakness to might, from wrong to right. In the process he shares with us the single greatest lesson we can ever learn on how to walk through the valley of the shadow of disaster, darkness, and even death, and come out victorious on the other side.
I. When Grief Strikes, Just Trust:
“So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.” (John 4:46-47)
This man is called a “nobleman.” That word comes from a Greek word, which gives us the word kingdom, and it literally means “a king’s man.” This man was an officer in the king’s court. He was a man of preeminence and a man of position. He had money and influence in the highest places.
But he had a problem. His son was at the point of death. Now I am sure this man had spent more money. He had hired the finest doctors, he had bought the most expensive medicine, and all the while he watched helplessly as the life of his son was slowly flowing out of him. For the first time, this man realized how little money really means. Because money can keep poverty from your door, but it can’t keep problems out of your life.
This nobleman learned that there are some things that money can’t buy. Money can buy a degree, but it can’t buy wisdom; it can buy people, but it can’t buy friendship; it can buy influence, but it can’t buy respect; it can buy a house, but it can’t buy a home; it buys pleasure, but it can’t buy peace. Money can take you almost anywhere except to heaven, and buy you almost anything except eternal life.
Now we can see that it was trouble and tragedy that brought this man to Jesus. It was a dying son that brought him to a divine Savior. Do you realize that if this man had not known grief, he may never have known grace. If he had not experienced tragedy he might never have experienced triumph.
So often when trouble comes our way we will get bitter toward God, and ask the question: “Why did God allow this trouble to come into my life?” Well, many times, in fact I believe any time trouble is brought into your life, one purpose is that the trouble might bring you closer to God.
Anything that drives you closer to Jesus is a blessing, whether it be cancer, the premature death of a child, the loss of a job. Anything that drives you to Jesus is a blessing. This father comes to Jesus and literally begs him to come to his home and heal his son. That would seem to be a very normal natural request, but notice how Jesus responds: “Then Jesus said to him, ‘Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe.’ The nobleman said to Him, ‘Sir, come down before my child dies?’” (John 4:48-49)
Now Jesus was not just talking to this man. The word “you” is plural. Jesus was talking to the crowd that was standing around. This crowd was full of miracles and sign-seekers. They were not interested in salvation. They were interested in signs. They didn’t care about worship. They just wanted to see wonders. The world is no different today than it was two thousand years ago.
Most people never learn that the miracles of grace are far greater than the miracles of glory. Jesus said to this crowd in effect, “You don’t need a sign, you need a Savior. You don’t need a miracle, you need a Master.” You see, you can’t believe in miracles without believing in the Master. This nobleman’s problem was he was more interested in the power of Jesus than he was in the person of Jesus. He was more interested in what Jesus could do for him than he was in what Jesus could do for him. Just remember what God expects you to do when grief strikes, is just trust.
II. When God Speaks, Just Trust:
So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him. John 4:50b
Now Jesus did what this man wanted him to do, but he didn’t do it the way the man wanted him to do it. This man wanted Jesus to come to his house, lay hands on his son and heal him. He evidently thought that Jesus had a certain “healing range” and he had to get close enough to do it! What he didn’t understand was that with Jesus distance makes no difference. His power is not limited by time or space.
But Jesus refused to come, and the reason was this: He was more interested in his father’s faith than he was in his son’s sickness. I’ve got news for you. God is more concerned with your faith than he is with your finances; more concerned with your faith than he is with your fitness; more concerned with your faith than he is with your feelings; more concerned with your faith than he is with your fortune; more concerned with your faith than he is with your future.
You can be in the greatest shape in the world, have more money than you can spend, enjoy a beautiful family, live in a three-story mansion, drive an expensive car, and hold a top position in the greatest corporation on earth, but without faith you will never please God. While this man was harping on healing, Jesus was focusing on faith.
“Jesus said to him, ‘Go your way; your son lives.’ So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.” (John 4:50) Jesus simply says to this man, “your son lives” and evidently the man simply said, “Lord, I believe.” That is what real faith is. Just believing that God will do what he says he will do. It is just believing the word of God. “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17)
You see, this man had to learn a very valuable lesson. He thought “believing is seeing.” He said, “Lord, you come to my house and touch my son, let me see with my own eyes you can heal him, and I’ll believe in You.” But Jesus didn’t take that bait. He said, “No, I won’t give you my presence, I won’t even show you my power, but I will give you my promise—your son is healed.” This man learned that seeing is not believing, but rather believing is seeing.
So many people look for a work from God and I want to tell you if the word of God is not good enough for you, the works of God won’t be either.
Now what does this man do when Jesus tells him his son is healed? We’re told very simply in v.50 “he went his way.” “And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, ‘Your son lives!’ Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better. And they said to him, ‘Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.’” (John 4:51-52) That boy was healed at the “seventh hour.”
Now it is debatable whether this was seven o’clock in the morning (which would be Roman time), or one o’clock in the afternoon (which would be Jewish time). But it really makes no difference.
Now we learn what real faith is. Real faith is putting all of your eggs in God’s basket and then counting your blessings before they hatch. I know some of you are thinking, “Well, I could never have that kind of faith.” When the truth is, you have that kind of faith every day.
There are people every day who get sick, go see a doctor who will tell them they have a disease they can’t spell, write out a prescription they can’t read, for a medicine they can’t pronounce; they will take it to a druggist they don’t know, and go home and take it and expect to feel better the next morning. Now if you can have that kind of faith in a doctor and a druggist, how much more can you have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ!
III. When Grace Summons, Just Trust:
Now I want you to notice what happened to this man beyond this miracle:
“Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better. And they said to him, ‘Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, ‘Your son lives.’ And he himself believed, and his whole household.” (John 4:52-53)
Now there seems to be a contradiction here, for we are told in v.53 that this man believed. But we were told earlier in v.50 that the man believed. It’s the same Greek word, but the reason why we are told twice that he believed is because he believed in a different way.
There is more than one kind of faith that people can have even in a relationship to God. For example: Nine out of ten Americans believe that Jesus is the Son of God, but only three out of ten Americans have received Him as Lord and Savior.
You see, in the Bible there are different levels of faith and different kinds of faith. In v. 50 this man had a satisfied faith, but now he has a saving faith. At first he believed in the promise of Jesus, but now he believes in the person of Jesus. First he believed in what Jesus said, now he believes in who Jesus was. First he believed in the sign, but now he believes in the Savior. Never ever get the idea that salvation is simply believing in the Word of God, it is also believing in the God of the Word.
This man had a different agenda from Jesus. He wanted Jesus to deal with his son; Jesus wanted to deal with his soul. The highlight of the story was not in the son’s physical cure, but in the father’s spiritual conversion. The reason why Jesus performed this miracle was not primarily that the son would be healed, but that the father would be saved.
But I want you to see one other aspect of this story. Not only did salvation come to the man, but v. 53 says it came “to his whole household.” I can see this man walking down the road to his house, the servants excitedly run out to meet him, and all they talk about is the miracle, the healing of his son. This man looks at them calmly, and says, “Forget about the miracle, let me tell you about the man that performed the miracle. Forget about the sign. Let me tell you about the Savior that gave the sign.”
They probably said to him, “Well, aren’t you glad your son is cured?” He said to them, “Oh, I’m glad that my son is cured, but I’m more concerned that my son is saved.” That father led that entire household to Christ.
Can I just make a practical observation about many of us here today? So often when we ask for prayer requests, the vast majority are for people we know and love who are sick and ill. I want to emphasize that we ought to pray for the sick and we want people that we love to be healed. One of the reasons why I know this man really believed in the Lord Jesus is because he wanted others to believe in the Lord Jesus.
When you just trust that is what will happen to you. God will work miracles in you, through you, for you, and with you. There is nothing that God cannot do for you, both on earth and in eternity will you just trust. Amen.
