Trinity 21
Jn
4:46-54
10/24/21
I will never
forget the impression made on me when we brought Timothy, our first child, home
from the hospital. I was struck by the
fact that here was this tiny little life that was completely dependent on Amy
and me. And along with this came the profound sense that his needs would always
come before my own – that I would do anything that I could in order make sure
that he was safe and healthy.
I assume
that all parents feel this way about their children. And of course, that
feeling doesn’t change as they get older. The same commitment to their health and
well being – to doing anything necessary – continues. Here at Good Shepherd we have experienced a remarkable
example of this. When Ryan broke the bones in his lower leg playing football,
it did not seem like it was anything serious.
Of course, there was disappointment that his season was ended and
concern that it would impact the baseball season. But people break bones all the time. The
doctors set them, they heal, and everything goes on as normal.
Except in
Ryan’s case, nothing turned out to be normal. First there were problems
with the alignment of the bones. Then an
infection developed that was related to the metal implants in the bone. The doctors seemed to be unable to treat the
infection. Ryan had surgery after
surgery at St. Louis Children’s Hospital – I think in the end he had twenty one
of them.
Jay and
Dayna made trip after trip after trip to St. Louis for surgeries, doctor’s
appointments and physical therapy for Ryan. They were responsible for administering
antibiotics on a schedule that basically controlled their lives. Yet they willingly did all these things
because Ryan is their child. And we give thanks to God that in the end the
infection was resolved, the bones healed, and Ryan is even playing baseball
again.
In our
Gospel lesson this morning, we see the same kind of commitment and love by a
father for his sick child. He goes to
Jesus seeking healing. Jesus doesn’t do
what the father wants – and yet in end our Lord provides healing and so much
more.
Our text
begins by telling us: “So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made
the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was
ill. When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee,
he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the
point of death.”
Jesus had been in Jerusalem for the
Passover. It is John’s Gospel that tells
us of how Jesus made several trips to Jerusalem, including trips for more than
one Passover. It is his Gospel that
allows to understand that Jesus’ ministry lasted more than one year.
Jesus had performed miracles in
Jerusalem and in the verse just before our text John says, “So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans
welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast.
For they too had gone to the feast.”
A royal official, probably for Herod Antipas, was in
Capernaum where his son was sick and near death. When he heard that Jesus was
back in Galilee, he made the trip to Cana in order to seek Jesus’ help. Cana is twenty four miles away from Capernaum
– about the same distance from here to Murphysboro. The trip is uphill, because
Capernaum is located on the Sea of Galilee at a lower elevation. But the official
made the trip to Cana because Jesus was there and he saw in Jesus the one
chance to save his son.
When he arrived the official asked Jesus to come down to
Capernaum and heal his son, because he was at the point of death. However, our
Lord replied, “Unless
you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” This reply seems rather
harsh. However, there are two things we
should note. First, in Greek one can
indicate whether “you” is singular or plural.
Here it is plural, so Jesus expresses this comment to the whole group
present with him, and not just to the official.
And second, in Jesus’ statement we
find an evaluation of the man’s motives.
The official had come to see Jesus in Cana because he saw our Lord as a
last chance to save his son. He didn’t
come because he had faith in Christ. He
came because he was desperate to save his child, and he would try anything.
The official could have been put off
by Jesus’ statement. He could have been
offended, and left. But instead he
replied, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” He returned and implored Jesus yet more
fervently.
When our Lord answered, he didn’t
do what the official asked of him. The official asked Jesus to come to
Capernaum and heal his son. Instead,
Jesus replied, “Go; your son will live.” He told the official to return to
Capernaum and declared that his son would live. John tells us, “The man
believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way.” The man did not receive what he had
asked of Jesus. Instead, he received Jesus’
word – his promise of healing for his son. We learn that he believed Jesus’ word,
and therefore he began his journey back to Capernaum.
As he was going back down, he was met
by his servants who were on their way find the official and share wonderful
news: his son was recovering! He asked
them the hour when he began to get better, and they told him that it had
occurred the day before at the seventh hour. Then we hear in our text: “The
father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, ‘Your son will
live.’ And he himself believed, and all his household.”
The official went to Jesus as someone
who saw our Lord as a last chance for his son.
He didn’t receive what he wanted – Jesus didn’t come to Capernaum with
him. But through Jesus’ word he received
what he needed … and so much more. He
received the healing of his son. But more importantly, he was drawn to faith in
Jesus. And this didn’t just happen for him.
We learn that his whole household also now believed.
In the official’s experience, we see
the manner in which God often deals with us. The official received what seemed
like a “no,” as Jesus said to those present, “Unless you see signs and wonders
you will not believe.” We know the
experience of disappointments, hardships, and challenges. These things in
themselves seem to indicate that God does not love us and is not caring for
us. So we pray to God and ask him to do
something. And nothing happens. Or perhaps things even get worse.
The temptation is to conclude that God
doesn’t really care, or to get angry with God, or even to begin to give up on
God. But like the official, God deals
with us in this way in order to draw us closer to him. He does so in order to prompt us to grow deeper
in faith. He does this because we are fallen people in whom the old Adam is
still present, and we need this.
Although it seemed as if Jesus had
rejected the man’s request, the official responded with an even more urgent
plea: “Sir, come down before my child dies.” This needs to be our response
as well. We turn to God with yet more
fervor. We hold up God’s word and promises before him. And when we do so, the Holy Spirit is causing
us to grow in our trust and faith. The apparent “no” of God is really the “yes”
that seeks to draw us closer to him.
The last statement of our text points
us to the reason that we can trust this is so.
There John says: “This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he
had come from Judea to Galilee.” These
words call our attention to the fact that Jesus is in Cana. As the beginning of our text states, it was
at Cana that our Lord turned water into wine.
After this miracle John says, “This,
the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his
glory. And his disciples believed in him.”
John is once again telling us that Jesus’ miracles – his
signs – reveal his glory. But this glory always points to the cross. Paradoxically to us, it is in the cross
that Jesus’ glory is revealed. During Holy Week Jesus said, “The hour has
come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to
you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains
alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”
Jesus’ glory revealing signs all point to his death. Our Lord went on to say, “And I, when I
am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” Then
John adds, “He said this to show” – literally, ‘to sign’ – “by what kind
of death he was going to die.”
It is in the cross that Jesus revels
his glory because the Word – the Son of God – became flesh to be the Lamb of
God who takes away the sin of the world.
Jesus was lifted up and died on the cross in order to free you from sin.
He was lifted up so that through faith in Jesus we might receive forgiveness
and life. Our Lord told Nicodemus, “And as
Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be
lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”
Jesus’ glory was revealed by his death
on the cross, because the cross and death were not the end. Our Lord said, “For this reason the Father
loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up
again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own
accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it
up again. This charge I have received from my Father.” In his resurrection and ascension, Jesus’
glory has continued to be revealed.
Because of the resurrection of Jesus, we see the cross for what it
really was – the revelation of God’s saving glory for us.
This truth – that the cross is not the
absence of God, but instead his powerful saving presence – now guides the way
we look at our life. In the death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ we receive the confidence to trust and believe in
God no matter what is happening in our lives.
When the circumstances of our life seem to be God saying “no” to us, we
press on in faith, returning to the Lord yet again, just as the official does
today in our text. We do so because in the resurrection of Jesus we have
already received God’s great “yes.”
You have been born again of water and
the Spirit. God has given you faith in
the crucified and risen Lord. He seeks
to cause you to grow yet stronger in this faith and trust. This occurs as we encounter the cross in our
own lives. But because we know the risen
Lord, these circumstances do not turn us away.
Instead, we press on more fervently in faith toward God. In this way God kills the old Adam in us, so
that more and more we can live as those who have been born again.
In our text today we see a sign. Jesus does not do what the official
asks. Instead he speaks his word of
promise which calls the official to faith, and then also gives him the very
thing for which he hoped – the life of his child. This sign points us to the sign of our Lord’s
death and resurrection, in which we have the assurance of forgiveness, eternal
life, and the confidence to trust and believe no matter what we encounter.
John says near the end of this Gospel,
“Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which
are not written in this book; but these are written so that you
may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by
believing you may have life in his name.” We return constantly to God in faith because
in the crucified and risen Lord we do have life. In Jesus we have life – a life that we can be
confident carries us through every circumstance as we trust in God’s love, now
and forever.
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