Trinity 21
Jn
4:46-54
11/9/25
The Holy Spirit has given us four
Gospels. Certainly, one would have been
sufficient for learning about the life and teaching of Jesus Christ. But
instead, we have received four of them. The early Church referred to this as
the “Fourfold Gospel” – the one message about Christ revealed in four Gospels.
All of the Gospels tell the same
story of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. However, they do
not all do so in exactly the same way. Matthew and Luke each provide us with
information that we don’t learn elsewhere.
These Gospels also have shared information that is not found in Mark.
Each of the Gospels provides its own unique emphasis as it reveals Jesus Christ
to us.
More broadly, it soons becomes
apparent that Matthew, Mark, and Luke share information about Jesus in a very
similar way. This similarity has been captured by describing them as the
“Synoptic Gospels,” which is based on a Greek word that means “to see
together.” The Gospel of John on the
other hand is quite different. It shares
information that is not found in the other Gospels.
We see an illustration of his in our
Gospel lesson this morning. If you only had Matthew, Mark, and Luke you would
presume that Jesus’ ministry lasted about a year, as our Lord made one trip to
Jerusalem for the Passover – a trip that resulted in his crucifixion and death.
However, we learn from John that
Jesus made several trips to Jerusalem over the course of a couple of years, and
engaged in extensive teaching while there. This fact provides the background
for our text as John says, “So he came again to Cana in
Galilee, where he had made the water wine.” Jesus comes again to Cana in Galilee because
he has been away. After the miracle at Cana, John tells us, “The Passover of
the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.”
Our Lord had been in Jerusalem for
the Passover. While there, he interacted with Nicodemus. Then we learn at the
beginning of chapter four that Jesus left Judea in the south, and again went
north to Galilee. This trip took him through a portion of Samaria, and just
before our text in chapter four we hear about how the Samaritan woman and many
from her town come to believe in Jesus as they say, “It is no longer because of
what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we
know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”
Now Jesus enters again into Galilee
and returns to Cana – a town that was a little over twenty miles southwest of Capernaum
and the Sea of Galilee. We learn that there was a royal official whose son was
ill. This man was most likely a Jew who was in the service of King Herod
Antipas. His son was ill, and the
illness was very serious because we learn that he was about to die.
The official knew about Jesus’
miracles. He heard that Jesus was now back in Galilee and so he made the trip
to Cana. He went to Jesus and asked him – the Greek here gives us the sense
that he pleaded – to come down to Capernaum and heal his son.
But in reply, Jesus said, “Unless
you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” Our Lord described the role that his miracles
had in prompting faith, and we will say more about this later. What’s clear is
that he didn’t offer to go to Capernaum. And so the official said, “Sir, come
down before my child dies.” Where before he had referred to his son, now
he talked about averting the death of his child.
In response, Jesus said, “Go; your
son will live.” He declared that his illness would not take the son’s life. The
man had gone to Jesus and asked him to come to Capernaum and heal his son. But instead of going, Jesus spoke a word
declaring healing for the child. We learn that the official believed the word
that Jesus spoke to him, and went on his way in order to return to Capernaum.
As he was going down to the city –
for the Sea of Galilee is at a lower elevation – the servants of the official
met him and reported that his son was recovering. They told him that his son lived. When the
man inquired about when the son began to get getter, they told him that it was
on the previous day at the seventh hour – 1:00 p.m. – that the fever had left
him.
The official knew this was when
Jesus had told him, “Your son will live.” The man had believed Jesus’ word. Now
we learn that as a result of the healing, the man believed and all his
household with him. They believed in Christ. And in words that are very
significant for understanding our text John concludes by saying, “This was now
the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee.”
In our text today, Jesus gives life
as he overcomes sickness and death. John explicitly connects this miracle with
the previous one Jesus had done at Cana. His words call us back to what John
had said after Jesus turned water into wine where John said: “This, the first
of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory.
And his disciples believed in him.”
John calls the miracle a sign. It is a sign that reveals Jesus’ glory and
calls forth faith. In our text the sign
is a miracle that gives life, and we see that it calls the man to faith.
In his Gospel, John leads us to see that all of Jesus’ miracles are
signs that reveal Jesus’ glory. The
signs call forth faith as they point to the revealing of Christ’s glory in his
saving death.
John’s Gospel begins by declaring that in the incarnation, Jesus is
the revelation of God’s glory. We learn,
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have
seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace
and truth.”
The glory of God is revealed by Christ in his miracles. But we
learn that all of the miracles are signs that point to the cross, for it is
there that God’s glory is revealed in a definitive, saving way. During Holy
Week as he approached the crucifixion Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man
glorified, and God is glorified in him.” The saving glory was revealed in
the cross – it was the sign. Jesus said, “Now is the judgment of this world;
now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am
lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” Then John
explains, “He said this to show” – literally, “to sign” – “by what kind of
death he was going to die.”
It is sin that brought death to our lives. Sin brings physical
death, for as Paul tells us, “The wages of sin is death.” Sin also brings the
eternal death of God’s judgment. But Jesus Christ died on the cross as the Lamb
of God who takes away the sin of the world. John says in his first letter that
“the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”
Through his death in our place Jesus has taken away all of our sins
and freed us from God’s judgment. In his
resurrection, life has overcome death. Because of this we already have eternal
life. We learn in John’s Gospel, “Whoever
believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall
not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”
Through faith in Jesus we have eternal life now. Our Lord said, “Truly,
truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent
me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed
from death to life.” And in Jesus we have life that will overcome bodily death,
for he will raise us up on the Last Day.
Christ went on to say, “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is
coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son
of God, and those who hear will live.”
Jesus’ signs – his miracles – called forth faith during his
ministry. And they continue to do so today. At the end of the Gospel, John
tells us, “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.” The Spirit of Christ has given us the Gospel of John –
he inspired it – so that here we encounter Jesus’ miracles. They call forth and sustain faith in Christ.
Now one may say, “But hearing about
them in the Gospel is not the same thing as seeing them.” However this ignores the fact that those who
actually saw them were also able to reject Jesus. John tells us about Jesus
during Holy Week, “But though He had performed so many signs before them, yet
they were not believing in Him.”
It is not the manner in which we see the miracles that makes the
difference – whether we were there or not. Instead, what makes the difference
is how they are received. That is the point of Jesus’ statement in our text, “Unless
you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” Jesus signs – his
miracles – divide and separate those who believe and those who do not. There is
the same content – the same power – in the miracles no matter whether we were
there to see them or whether we hear them in the inspired Gospels. The
difference that matters is whether they are received in faith.
When Martin Luther preached on this text, he observed that the man
experiences a progression in faith, and Luther described how this truth is
important for us. He said, “Now this
Gospel reading speaks further about the increase of faith, and this is not
alike. Even though faith fully has Christ and all his benefits, yet it must
always be practiced and used so that it is certain and retains that treasure.
There is a distinction between having a thing and grasping it firmly, between
and strong and weak faith.”
We see this first as the man went to Cana to ask for Jesus’ help.
There was the beginning of faith – he believed that Jesus could help his son,
and was willing to make the trip to Cana in order to ask for his help. He went to Jesus and asked him to come to
Capernaum and heal his son.
However, Jesus didn’t give the man what he wanted. At one
level, he rejected the man. Instead,
Jesus said, “Go; your son will live.” Instead of the action he requested, Jesus
gave the man his word. And then
we learn, “The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his
way.” Jesus apparent rejection of his request led to a deeper faith that now
clung to Jesus’ word.
The man continued in faith. He believed Jesus’ word, but there was still
the unknown of his son’s condition. He began to make the journey to Capernaum,
and had no way of knowing whether the child was getting worse or even had died.
But he in the midst of that journey he believed Jesus word – he held on to it.
Finally, he was met by his servant who reported that the child was
healed. He discovered that the fever had left him at the very time when Jesus
had said, “You son will live.” And then we are told that he believed. This was certain and sure faith in Christ.
And it was not just the man. His whole household joined him in believing.
Through faith in Christ we have everything. We have forgiveness and eternal life. But
faith must deepen and grow stronger. Luther commented, “What happens with all
Christians is that, if faith is not continually practiced and used, it
decreases, so that it must go out.”
The process by which faith is exercised and grows stronger occurs
in circumstances of challenge and difficulty. As Luther said, “Yet faith must
have temptation just so that it may struggle and increase.” Or as he added
later, “This is why the cross, temptation, and adversity must come, in which
faith grows and becomes strong.”
The challenges that we face in life are used by God to put to death
the old Adam in us – all of the false gods in which we trust. Instead, we turn
ever more strongly to Christ – to the Word become flesh. We grow in our trust
in God’s Word of promise because Jesus is the One who has freed us from sin and
given us life through his resurrection. This is not different from saving
faith, but it is faith that is stronger – a faith that holds to Christ and his
word ever more firmly. It does so because Jesus is the crucified and risen Lord
in whom we have eternal life now.
No comments:
Post a Comment