Too Far Away

TOO FAR AWAY

John 4:43-54

S: Faith

Th: My Life as God’s Light

Pr: TAKE JESUS AT HIS WORD.

KW: Stages

TS: We will find in John 4:43-54 four stages that lead us in how we take Jesus at His word.

Inductive

The _____ stage is…

I. THE RETURN (43-46)

II. THE REQUEST (46-48)

III. THE REVELATION (49-50)

IV. THE RELIANCE (50-54)

RMBC 07/08/01 AM

INTRODUCTION:

1. Do you ever worry about your health?

ILL Notebook: Health (correct diagnosis)

A hypo-chondriac told his doctor in great alarm that he was certain he had a fatal liver disease. "Nonsense!" protested the doctor. "You wouldn’t know whether you had that or not. With that particular disease there’s no discomfort of any kind." "Good heavens!" the patient gasped. "My symptoms exactly!"

Well, I think it is safe to say that we all worry about our health from time to time, especially when it is a pain that is different from something we have had before.

And until we know what it is, there can be some pretty anxious times.

But…

2. Perhaps there is no greater difficulty than watching a loved one in a deteriorating condition.

When we watch someone we really care for go through a difficult time, the pain is excruciating.

Whether it be for a parent, spouse or child, it is a time of great anxiety.

We even wish that we could take the pain for them, especially for a son or daughter.

We have such a passion for them that we are willing to take their pain.

Stop for a moment now…

3. Do you think that Jesus cares about your health?

We must think so, because when we are unhealthy, we sure pray a lot.

I don’t mean to be sarcastic about that, just observant.

When we are not feeling well, we pray for God’s help and healing.

When someone we care about is in trouble health-wise, we pray a lot.

So we must believe Jesus cares about our health issues.

After all, the gospels are full of stories about healings.

There is the healing of…

…the leper

…the servant of the centurion

…two demon-possessed men

…the paralytic

…the epileptic boy

…the bleeding woman

…the invalid at the pool

…the daughter of Jarius

…Mary Magdalene

…Bartimaeus, the man born blind, and of course…

…Lazarus, who died.

It seems Jesus did a lot of healing, so he must have been concerned about people that were not physically well.

We come today to the end of chapter four and in this narrative, we find Jesus is concerned about the health of a dying boy.

But interestingly, Jesus’ interest goes beyond that.

For…

4. Our narrative is about a sign that demonstrates a power over people and distance (54).

This was the second miraculous sign that Jesus performed, having come from Judea to Galilee.

ILL Notebook: Communication

Once there was a sign posted in a yard. It said:

Dogs for sale:

eats anything and is fond of children

Now think about that for a moment and realize all that sign is potentially saying. Is it saying that the dog eats anything and is especially fond of eating children? Or is it saying that the dogs are good with children?

In a similar way (but less humorous way), John wants us to examine this miracle and see what it is really saying.

The first sign was the changing of water into wine that we studied earlier this year.

There Jesus showed His power over things.

Here, Jesus shows that His power goes beyond that.

So, let’s study this narrative and see what is being taught us.

For convenience sake, we see this narrative broken down into four stages.

OUR STUDY:

I. The first stage is THE RETURN (43-46).

After the two days he left for Galilee. (Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.) When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, for they also had been there. Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine.

1. Jesus knew that the locals did not respect Him

He is returning to Galilee after he had been in Judea and then, Samaria.

Jesus is from Galilee.

He grew up in Nazareth, the next town over from Cana.

So He is coming home.

And the text tells us that He knows there is no real honor for Him in His hometown.

But…

2. Jesus was making a name for Himself.

Frankly, his time in Judea has been a hit.

So the Galileans welcomed him this time.

Now that he had made a difference elsewhere, people see him in an entirely different light.

It is an honor of a sort, but not the honor that is truly due Him.