Introduction
I want to begin today with a simple refrain you may have heard before:
God said it.
I believe it.
And that settles it for me.
That little line may sound like something out of a gospel chorus, but it’s actually the heartbeat of the second sign in John’s Gospel. We’re in John chapter 4, where a desperate father walks twenty miles on nothing more than a word from Jesus. And by the time he gets home, he finds that God’s Word has no limitations.
Today we’re going to walk that road with him, and along the way we’ll discover what John wants us to see: the Word made flesh has the same authority as the Word that spoke creation into being. His Word is not bound by time or place. His Word still creates and re-creates. His Word still brings life out of death.
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God Said It
It all begins in Genesis: “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” (Genesis 1:3). That phrase repeats like a drumbeat: “And God said… and it was so.” Creation itself is a sermon about God’s Word. He speaks, and reality bends. He speaks, and nothing becomes something. He speaks, and chaos is turned into order.
The psalmist understood this when he wrote: “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.” (Psalm 33:6). It’s no accident. It’s no accident that John begins his Gospel the same way Genesis begins: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” (John 1:1–3).
John wants us to recognize that Jesus is not just a good teacher or a compassionate healer. He is the eternal Word made flesh, the same voice that once thundered across the void and called the universe into existence.
And in Cana of Galilee, that same voice is about to speak again. Not to make a world, but to save a child. Not to hang stars in the heavens, but to bring hope into a desperate home.
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A Desperate Journey
The story begins with a man in crisis. John calls him a basilikos — a royal official. This is a man tied to Herod’s court, a man with connections, wealth, and status. But none of that matters when his son is burning with fever and slipping toward death.
When your child is sick, titles don’t matter. When the doctor shakes his head, when the fever won’t break, when death hovers over the crib — money and power can’t save you.
So this royal official hears about Jesus. Word has spread — stories of a wedding where water turned to wine, whispers from Jerusalem about miracles. He’s desperate enough to try anything. He leaves Capernaum, at the north shore of the Sea of Galilee, and walks twenty miles uphill to Cana. Can you picture it? A nobleman in fine robes, dust covering his sandals, sweat running down his face, hope hanging by a thread.
And when he finds Jesus, he begs: “Sir, come down before my child dies!”
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Jesus’ Surprising Response
Now here’s the shock. Instead of rushing with him, Jesus seems to rebuke him: “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will never believe.” (John 4:48).
It sounds almost cruel, doesn’t it? But Jesus is pressing this man toward a deeper kind of faith. Faith that doesn’t depend on what the eye can see, but on what the ear has heard. Faith that doesn’t say, “Come down and show me,” but faith that says, “If You say it, I believe it.”
And then comes the turning point. Jesus speaks a sentence that echoes creation: “Go. Your son lives.”
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The Word That Sends
The Greek verb is p??e??? (poreuou). It’s not an aorist command — “Go, do it once.” It’s the present imperative: “Go on your way. Keep going. Start walking and don’t stop.”
Do you hear the nuance? Jesus is saying, “Turn your feet toward home and keep them moving. Every step you take will be a step of trust in the Word I’ve spoken to you.”
That’s faith. Not faith that stands still waiting for proof, but faith that walks on the Word. Faith that puts one dusty foot in front of the other even when the outcome is twenty miles away.
Romans 10:17 comes alive here: “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” The man hasn’t seen anything. He hasn’t witnessed a miracle. He hasn’t heard a servant’s report. All he has is a Word: “Your son lives.” And verse 50 says: “The man took Jesus at his word and departed.”
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Walking by Faith
Let’s pause here. This is where most of us live. We’ve prayed for our children, our families, our health, our future. And sometimes Jesus doesn’t give us a sign right away. He just gives us a Word.
“I will never leave you or forsake you.”
“My grace is sufficient for you.”
“All things work together for good to those who love God.”
And then He says: “Now go. Keep walking. Keep believing. My Word is enough.”
That’s what the nobleman did. He turned around and began the long road home.
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Faith on the Road
Can you imagine that journey? Twenty miles is a long walk when your heart is heavy. I picture him whispering to himself with every step: “God said it. I believe it. That settles it.”
At mile one: “God said it.”
At mile five: “I believe it.”
At mile fifteen: “That settles it.”
Every step was an act of obedience. Every mile was a sermon in motion.
And isn’t that how faith works for us? It’s not just a leap into the dark. It’s a steady walk in the light of His Word. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” (Psalm 119:105). Not a floodlight to show the whole future — just enough light for the next step.
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The Servants’ News
At last, as he nears Capernaum, he sees a group of his servants running toward him. Dust flying, faces shining. They shout: “Your son lives!”
His heart leaps. He asks, “When did it happen?” They answer, “Yesterday, at the seventh hour, the fever left him.”
And suddenly the pieces click into place. That was the exact moment Jesus had said: “Your son lives.”
The Word spoken in Cana was fulfilled in Capernaum at the same hour. No delay. No distance. No limitation. The Word of Christ is never late, never weak, never uncertain.
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Faith Confirmed
And what happens next? Verse 53 says: “So the father knew it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, ‘Your son lives.’ And he himself believed, and his whole household.”
Didn’t he already believe? Yes — he believed enough to walk. But now his faith is confirmed, settled, anchored. And the ripple effect spreads. A boy is healed, a household is saved, and a city hears the news.
That’s how God works. He takes one person’s crisis and turns it into a testimony that draws many others to faith.
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Application: Standing in the Gap
Don’t miss this: the nobleman didn’t come for himself. He came standing in the gap for his son.
And you and I have that same privilege. We can bring our loved ones to Jesus. We can carry them in prayer. We can walk by faith even when they cannot. We can trust that His Word can reach them, no matter how far they’ve wandered.
Sometimes the greatest act of love is to release them into God’s hands, to say, “Lord, he is Your child. She is Your daughter. I can’t fix this, but You can.”
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A Personal Word
I know what that road feels like. I know the weight of carrying a child in prayer for years, watching him struggle, feeling powerless. I reached the point where I finally said to God: “He is Your child. There’s nothing more I can do.”
And then, one day, the phone rang. This time it wasn’t despair on the other end. It was a voice announcing a change I could not have orchestrated. A new life. A new chapter. My son had come home.
And in that moment, I understood the nobleman’s joy when his servants ran down the road shouting: “Your son lives!”
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Faith Comes by Hearing
That’s the sign. Not just that a sick boy was healed. The sign is that Jesus’ Word carries the same authority as the Word at creation. The sign is that His Word has no limitations of time or place. The sign is that faith is born not by seeing, but by hearing.
This is exactly what the prophets foretold:
“He sent out his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave.” (Psalm 107:20).
“So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire.” (Isaiah 55:11).
And John writes this sign down decades later so that we would know: the same Word that healed then is still healing now. The same Word that saved then is still saving now.
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End-Time Faith
That’s especially important for the end time. Jesus warned in Matthew 24:24 that false Christs and false prophets will appear, performing signs and wonders so persuasive that even the elect could be deceived.
At the end, you won’t be able to trust your eyes. Signs can mislead. Wonders can deceive. But you can always trust your ears. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
So don’t chase after every miracle. Don’t let your faith zig-zag like a beagle sniffing every distraction. Keep your eyes on Jesus and your ears tuned to His Word. That’s the light for your path. That’s the lamp for your feet. That’s the anchor when everything else shakes.
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Hymn of Assurance
This is why the old gospel song rings so true:
“Many things about tomorrow
I don’t seem to understand,
But I know Who holds tomorrow,
And I know Who holds my hand.”
That was the nobleman’s testimony. That’s my testimony. And it can be yours too.
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Conclusion and Appeal
So what road are you walking today? Who are you carrying in prayer? What loved one are you bringing to Jesus?
Like the nobleman, you may not get the sign you wanted. But you can hear the Word you need: “Go on your way. Keep walking. My Word is sure.”
Stand in the gap. Keep walking by faith. Bring your loved ones before Jesus. And anchor your heart in the Word that knows no limitations.
Because in the end, it all comes down to this:
God said it.
I believe it.
And that settles it for me.
