“Believing Without Seeing”
John 4:46-53
INTRODUCTION: We continue in our series on great events in the life and ministry of Jesus. TONIGHT, we will take a look at the healing of the Nobleman’s son.
We take a lot of things by FAITH. Every time we sit in a chair, we have FAITH that it will hold us up. Sometimes our faith is misplaced, when the lawn chair breaks or folds … as has been known to happen from time to time!
By faith, I believe in the Grand Canyon … though I have never seen it. I can tell you about the Pyramids of Egypt … even show you pictures. I have seen them. If you haven’t seen them, your faith that they exist comes from your faith in ME … that I am telling you the truth. Like my telling you about the 48” tarpon I caught. You will believe it, if you have FAITH in me that I didn’t lie about it (that’s why I brought back pictures!).
Let’s take a look tonight at the FAITH of a Nobleman.
4:46 – Jesus had been in Cana earlier, where He performed the miracle of turning water into wine at the marriage feast. THEN … He went to Jerusalem, where he drove the money-changers & merchants out of the Temple. While in Jerusalem, He had an encounter with Nicodemus. On His way back to Cana, He passed through Samaria, where He had an encounter with the Woman at the Well. (Our last 4 sermons).
NOW … Jesus is back in Cana and He is apparently speaking to a crowd of people – 4:45.
A Nobleman interrupts Jesus while He is speaking to the crowd. Who is this NOBLEMAN? He was a high ranking official, a royal officer who served under King Herod. He may have even been related to King Herod. He was a rich & powerful Jew, and a man of great means & influence.
He also had a problem … his son was sick and dying. He had probably gone to the best physicians for help … but there was nothing they could do for him. He had exhausted all resources. There was nothing he could do, but sit by the bedside of his son, and watch him die. Up to this time, he probably hadn’t known what it was like to be in need.
4:47 – “heard” – This Nobleman had “heard” about Jesus. The Nobleman lived in “Capernaum” … about 20 miles away. Jesus had stayed there after He performed the miracle at Cana – 2:12. Maybe it was here that he had heard about what Jesus had just done in Cana.
This Nobleman interrupts Jesus as He’s teaching, and begs Him to come with him to Capernaum and heal his son. Think what the crowd must have thought! A Nobleman … begging! Jesus is a Jewish Rabbi … a carpenter. This rich, influential, powerful man was on his knees, and begging Jesus to stop in the middle of his sermon, and go with him to Capernaum.
There are several things I want to note here:
1.- Trouble Led Him To Jesus. He had tried everything else. Nothing had worked. NOW … he was going to try Jesus … as his last resort.
LESSON: Sometimes, our troubles and trials are there to bring us to Jesus. If it hadn’t been for the terminal sickness of his son, he never would have come to Jesus. Sometimes, it takes something drastic in our lives before we will see the need to come to Jesus … AMEN? He’s desperate … he has no where else to turn.
BUT … What’s the ALTERNATIVE? Sitting by your son’s bed, and watching him die. It’s sad to say, but some people choose the ALTERNATIVE … and never come to Jesus.
2.- He Personally Went To Jesus. Being a Nobleman, he could have sent a servant. BUT … this was such a PERSONAL matter to him, that he went himself.
LESSON: You can have people praying for you. You can be on every prayer list in every church in the county. BUT … Jesus wants you to come to Him PERSONALLY when you have a need that only He can meet.
Intercessory prayer is good. We OUGHT to enlist others to pray for us. Galatians 6:2 – “Bear ye one another’s burdens.” In this way, others will be blessed when they see God answer prayer. BUT … a PERSONAL need requires PERSONAL prayer, and PERSONALLY going to Jesus. Jesus couldn’t have had a PERSONAL impact on this man’s life, if he hadn’t PERSONALLY been there.
3.- He Asked For Mercy. NOTICE … that he didn’t appeal to Jesus because he was SOMEBODY … a rich, powerful Nobleman. He didn’t ask Jesus to bless him because of any merit that he had. He went to Jesus in a humble spirit … because he had a need.
LESSON: Don’t go to Jesus and ask Him to bless you because you deserve it. “Look at all I’ve done for you, Jesus. I tithe … I go to church … I read my Bible … I’m a good person … I try to live a good Christian life. This is the least You can do for me. It’s pay-back time, Jesus.”
The Nobleman appeals to the grace & mercy of Jesus … not to any merit he may have as a Nobleman. You & I don’t DESERVE anything from Jesus, but Hell. Anything good that He gives us, is because of His grace and mercy.
4.- He Wanted Jesus To Go With Him To Capernaum. In his mind, that’s the only way Jesus could heal … to be at the bedside of his son. These 2 things had to be in the same place … his sick son … and Jesus. ONLY THEN, could a miracle take place … if it was going to take place at all.
LESSON: Don’t tell Jesus HOW you want Him to answer your prayer. Have you ever done that? You have a need … you go to Jesus. You tell Jesus your need. THEN … you tell Jesus HOW you want Him to meet that need.
What are you doing? You’re trying to LIMIT Jesus. You’re trying to TIE HIS HANDS. You’re trying to DICTATE to Jesus how to act. You’re not only telling Him WHAT to do, but HOW to do it.
Maybe Jesus has something else in mind. The PROBLEM with telling Jesus HOW to answer your prayer is … when Jesus doesn’t do it the way YOU have it all planned out, you end up disappointed in Jesus.
Go to Him with your need. THEN … let Jesus meet your need HIS WAY. Don’t LIMIT the power of Jesus. Jesus wants to do so much MORE than you will ever ask Him for.
Ephes. 3:20 – “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,”
4:48 – Jesus is speaking to the crowd here. “ye” is PLURAL in the Greek. He’s talking to the crowd.
Everything stopped when this Nobleman approached Jesus. When the Nobleman asked Jesus for a miracle, the crowd wanted to see what Jesus would do. They were hoping for another miracle … maybe they had missed the last one at Cana (His first miracle).
They were following Jesus, NOT because they believed in Him … BUT … because they wanted to see Him work a miracle. They didn’t have FAITH in Jesus, because they hadn’t seen Him work a miracle.
Hebrews 11:1 – “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
2 Cor. 5:7 – “For we walk by faith, not by sight:”
Jesus turns away from the Nobleman, to talk to the crowd.
4:49 – The Nobleman redirects Jesus’ attention from the crowd, back to himself. It’s like he’s saying: ”Uh, Jesus, I don’t care about THEIR need to see a sign or miracle. All I care about is that MY son is sick and dying. I don’t need you to preach a sermon to them … I need a miracle … and SOON.”
This man didn’t give up.
NOTICE … the growth of his faith.
o SPARK – When he heard about Jesus & decided to try Him.
o FLAME – When he refused to give up after Jesus seems to ignore him.
We will see his faith grow into a FIRE.
4:50 – NOTICE here, that Jesus denied his first request … to go to Capernaum with him. Jesus said “No! I’m not going with you.” You see, Jesus had something BETTER in mind. Jesus was going to heal his son without ever laying hands on him.
This reminds me of Lazarus. Mary & Martha sent for Jesus because their brother Lazarus was sick. Jesus said “No!”. Lazarus died. Jesus didn’t grant their request. They tried to tell Jesus HOW to meet their need.
BUT … Jesus had something BETTER in mind for Lazarus. Jesus was going to raise him from the dead!
LESSON: Sometimes when Jesus says “No!” … He has something BETTER in mind. It might not be what we had prayed for. It might not be what we EXPECTED … or even what we WANTED. We may never understand HOW it could be better. BUT … just because Jesus says “No!”, doesn’t mean that He doesn’t know what He’s doing. It doesn’t mean that Jesus hasn’t acted in our best interests.
NOW … we see his faith growing into a FIRE … “he went his way.”
LESSON: The more you OBEY Jesus, the stronger your faith will grow. His OBEDIENCE demonstrated his faith.
What if he hadn’t left … but stayed and continued to beg Jesus to come to Capernaum? It would have showed that he didn’t believe Jesus could heal his son without being there. He left … and headed home. He had faith that what Jesus said was true … so he obeyed.
BEFORE … he had believed because he had heard the REPORTS of Jesus from others. NOW … he believes because he hears the WORDS of Jesus himself.
4:51 – His servants must have really loved him, because they couldn’t wait for him to come home to tell him the good news. They headed out for Cana.
NOTICE: They said the EXACT same thing Jesus said … “Thy son liveth” – cp. 4:50. I’ll bet this put chill bumps down his arms. “That’s exactly what Jesus said!”
4:52 – NOTICE several things here:
1.- He Got More Than He Bargained For. The Nobleman said: “began to amend” … the servant said: “the fever left him”.
The Nobleman was expecting his son to GRADUALLY get better … and live. When Jesus healed him, He healed him fully, totally, instantaneously.
LESSON: When you stop trying to tell Jesus what to do, He’ll do much more than you ever expected. Don’t put Jesus in a box. Trust Jesus to do what’s best.
2.- He Took His Time To Go Back Home. “yesterday”. It was about 20 miles from Cana to Capernaum. Jesus healed the boy at 1:00 PM. He could have made it back home by dark. The Nobleman took his time going home … spending the night in Cana or somewhere along the way.
WHY didn’t he immediately go home? No need … his son was going to be OK.
LESSON: When you pray, and give your need to Jesus … rest in His promises. Jesus PROMISED him that his son would be OK. He had PEACE about it. He knew that Jesus had taken care of it.
Why do we pray & pray & pray … and worry, worry, and worry … WHEN … Jesus has told you Matthew 11:28-30 – ribbon.
4:53 - When the Nobleman went away with peace in his heart, Jesus gives him CONFIRMATION of the answer to his prayer.
LESSON: Pray. You can stop asking when you see the answer to your prayer. OR … if you never see the answer that you expected … pray until Jesus gives you PEACE. Sometimes Jesus won’t meet your need the way you asked. BUT … He will give you PEACE that He has taken care of it … His way … His time … His will.
What was the RESULT of the Nobleman’s encounter with Jesus?
His faith grew from a SPARK … to a FLAME … to a FIRE … to an INFERNO! Jesus had performed a PHYSICAL miracle. BUT … Jesus had something BETTER in mind. What started out as the giving of PHYSICAL life … turned into the giving of ETERNAL life.
I can imagine what the Nobleman said when he returned home. I’m sure he told his story to EVERYONE. “house” = ‘household’ in the Greek. That included his family, servants, hired help, etc. They were ALL affected by this man’s faith. He couldn’t keep it to himself. It spread like WILDFIRE!
If you are saved, Jesus has performed a MIRACLE in your life. You need to spread it around. I’m sure the Nobleman was EXCITED about what Jesus had done for him. We need to get EXCITED about what Jesus has done for us.
CONCLUSION:
Jesus shows us that He is:
o OMNISCIENT – He knew where the Nobleman lived, without ever going to his house. He knew this man’s heart. Though little in faith, he used the faith he had.
o OMNIPRESENT – Jesus didn’t need to come home with Him. Jesus knows your needs, even though He is in Heaven.
o OMNIPOTENT – There’s nothing Jesus can’t do to meet your need. This man needed a miracle … nothing else had worked. Trust Jesus to meet your needs. He might not perform a miracle as dramatic as this one … but He will meet your every need. Maybe not the way you EXPECT … maybe not the way you ASK … but the way that’s BEST.
Don’t go to Jesus as a LAST RESORT. Go to Jesus as your FIRST SUPPORT.
STAND – PRAYER
OUTLINE FOR HANDOUT:
“Believing Without Seeing”
John 4:46-53
INTRODUCTION: FAITH has a lot to do with the one you put our trust in.
4:46 – Jesus is back in Cana, speaking to a crowd – 4:45
- Nobleman was a rich, high ranking royal officer.
- His son was dying … he had exhausted all human resources.
4:47 – He had “heard” about Jesus – 2:12
- This rich, powerful man, comes BEGGING to Jesus.
1.- Trouble Led Him To Jesus – Our trials & troubles are to lead us to Jesus.
2.- He Personally Went To Jesus – Intercessory prayer is good – Galatians 6:2 – but Jesus wants you PERSONALLY.
3.- He Asked For Mercy – He didn’t say he deserved it.
4.- He Wanted Jesus To Go With Him To Capernaum – He told Jesus HOW to answer his prayer … don’t limit Jesus.
- Jesus wants to do MORE than you ask – Ephesians 3:20
4:48 – Jesus tells the crowd that they will only believe what they can SEE – Hebrews 11:1, 2 Corinthians 5:7.
4:49 – He didn’t give up … his faith is growing.
4:50 – Jesus denies his first request … Jesus has something BETTER for him.
- The more you obey Jesus, the stronger your faith will grow.
4:51 – His servants repeated the words of Jesus – 4:50
4:52 – Notice:
1.- He Got More Than He Bargained For – Stop telling Jesus WHAT and HOW to do it … you will limit Him.
2.- He Took His Time To Go Back Home – “yesterday”
- When you pray, rest in the promises of Jesus – Matthew 11:28-30.
4:53 – Pray … until you get an answer … OR … peace.
- His faith grows from a spark, flame, fire, inferno!
- The giving of physical life turned into giving spiritual life.
- Get excited about what Jesus has done in your life.
CONCLUSION: Jesus shows that He is:
• OMNISCIENT – He knows your heart.
• OMNIPRESENT – He knows your needs.
• OMNIPOTENT – Jesus can meet your needs.
- Jesus isn’t your LAST RESORT … but your FIRST SUPPORT.
PRISCILLA BAPTIST CHURCH – Ray Scott, Pastor
