John 4:43-54
Key Verse 4:50

"Jesus replied, 'You may go. Your son will live.' The man took Jesus at his word and departed."

Part I. Unless You People See Miraculous Signs, You Will Never Believe

Look at verses 43-44. Let's read these two verses together. "After the two days he left for Galilee. (Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.)"

Here the apostle John took the time to mention what Jesus had pointed out earlier--that is, "a prophet has no honor in his own country." We don't know exactly when Jesus said this. He might have said it during His recent stay in Samaria. The Jews did not consider Samaria to be part of their own country because it had been defiled when the Israelites intermarried with the Gentiles living there and produced a race of mixed blood. So, Jesus, being a Jew, did not consider Samaria part of His own country. But what happened when He visited Samaria? While He was there He met a beautiful Samaritan woman by a well and asked her for a drink. At first this Samaritan woman did not welcome Jesus. In fact, she talked back to Jesus, saying, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" And she said, "Are you greater than our father Jacob?" However, as Jesus kept up a conversation with this woman, her heart slowly began to open to His word. In the end, she confessed, "Sir, I can see that you are a prophet," showing that she honored Jesus as a prophet. Furthermore, when the townspeople heard her testimony about Jesus, they all went out to meet Him. After spending two days with Jesus they said to the woman, "We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world" (John 4:42). Jesus received great honor in Samaria, even though it was not His own country. The Samaritans especially honored God's Word spoken by Jesus.

But before setting out for Galilee, Jesus warned His disciples, saying, "A prophet has no honor in his own country." Jesus was from Galilee and His disciples, too, were mostly Galilean. They might have expected to receive honor from their fellow countrymen for sacrificing everything to follow Jesus. But if even Jesus Himself could not receive honor in His own country, how could the disciples expect to? Because of this, the disciples might not have been very happy. It must have been quite a shock for them to realize that they could not expect to be honored in their own country. They probably wondered if this meant that they would be rejected by their countrymen because of Jesus. Maybe their own people would even hate them on account of Jesus! So what happened when they arrived in Galilee?

Look at verse 45. "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."

The Galileans welcomed Jesus, and when they welcomed Jesus, they also welcomed His disciples. Thank God! The disciples must have felt greatly relieved. Yet what was the Galileans' motive for welcoming Jesus? Was it because they honored Him as a prophet? No, not really. It says, "They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem." The Galileans welcomed Jesus because of some miracles they had seen Him do in Jerusalem. They wanted to see more miracles. They were treating Jesus as a local celebrity, not as a prophet sent by God. Upon arriving in Galilee, Jesus revisited Cana where He had turned water into wine, expecting to see some fruit of faith growing in people's hearts. There, a certain royal official came from Capernaum, begging Jesus to come and heal his dying son. In modern terms this man was like one of the politicians working in Sacramento. The main difference was that this man was royalty. Anyone with 65 signatures can run for governor, but not everyone can be born into a royal family. Being a royal official, this man had great wealth and political influence. But now his beloved son was dying, and all his money, power, and prestige could do nothing to save him. He was reduced to nothing and nobody in the face of Death. So he came and begged Jesus to come help him. How did Jesus respond?

Let's read verse 48 all together. "'Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders,' Jesus told him, 'you will never believe.'"

This man might have expected Jesus to comfort him saying, "Don't be afraid." However, Jesus did not comfort him, but rebuked him. Let's see what kind of rebuke it was. First of all, Jesus said, "you people" to indicate that this man's problem was not his problem only. It was the problem of many, not just people of Jesus' day, but also of people today. This problem can be called the problem of sign-seeking. What is sign-seeking? Of course sign-seeking is seeking signs. But what's the problem with seeking signs? The problem is that signs can never, ever be the foundation of true commitment to God. Instead, if they are going impact your faith at all, signs must come as a result of your commitment to God. By saying, "you will never believe," Jesus implied that people will never really believe in God simply by seeing signs. Indeed, the people of Jesus' time saw many miraculous signs. However, in the end the large majority of them didn't believe, but condemned Jesus to be nailed to a Roman cross. For this reason, Jesus said in Matthew 16:4, "A wicked and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah." Here 'wicked and adulterous generation' refers to those who try to change their outward circumstances instead of repenting and living a new life. Such people want to use Jesus to solve the whole world's problems, such as the deficit problem, healthcare problems, and job problems. In the same way, when individuals have a problem they often try to solve that problem by changing something on the surface. For example, many sisters want to solve their feelings of inferiority by getting a boyfriend or a more fashionable wardrobe. Yet even though they do so, their problem doesn't go away, but just grows worse. Some try to overcome a guilty conscience through following more rules and regulations, but nothing can erase the haunting memory of their past sins. But no one can live a new life by seeking outward signs. To all such people Jesus says, "You will never believe." It is only by repenting and committing our life to Jesus that we can truly be set free from our underlying problem, the problem of sin and death. Only then can we live a new life.

Part II. You May Go, Your Son Will Live

When the royal official heard Jesus' response, he didn't give up. He said, "Sir, come down before my child dies." He pleaded with Jesus more urgently than before. Let's read verse 50 together. This is the key verse. "Jesus replied, 'You may go. Your son will live.' The man took Jesus at his word and departed."

The royal official expected Jesus to come down with him to heal his son. He never expected Jesus to dismiss his case so simply, saying, "You may go." Shouldn't there have been something more? Shouldn't the man have at least begged a little more, saying "Please, please, please, oh please, Lord!"? Here Jesus works like a Supreme Court judge, who hears the facts, makes a judgment, and dismisses the case, without listening to endless emotional appeals. The words, "You may go" are a testimony to Jesus' absolute authority to answer our prayer at any time. What was Jesus judgment in this case? Jesus said, "Your son will live." Jesus' words here, remind us of the command and promise given to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-2, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing." God promised to bless Abraham when he obeyed the Lord's direction to leave and go by faith. This required Abraham to have absolute faith in the promise of God. In other words, he had to believe that God really had the authority to bless him. When the royal official believed the authority of Jesus' words, "Your son will live," what did he do? Again, the key verse says, "He took Jesus at His word and departed." It was that simple. No questions. No more begging. Not complaining and no doubt. He simply took Jesus at His word.

This semester I struggled hard to be a good Bible teacher. I contacted students faithfully and tried to make arrangements with them so that they could hear the Word of God in Bible study. But time after time I failed to establish anything. Something always happened: their schedules were too busy, we played phone tag, they lost interest in hearing God's Word, etc. I grew so frustrated. Unlike the royal official, I didn't take Jesus at His word and depart in faith. Instead I questioned God's sovereignty. I begged for His help. I complained about my inadequacies and failures. I doubted my position as God's servant. I was tempted to give up. But then God saw fit to appoint me as the messenger for this passage. From the royal official's example, I learned that I must operate my life by faith, not waiting to see the results, but working unceasingly in faith that at harvest time there will be something to show for my labor. I must take Jesus at His word and do His work even when I can't currently see what good it's doing. I must believe Him when in Galatians 6:9 He says, "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." I must keep inviting students to study the Bible so that they may personally meet Jesus who loves them so dearly. Jesus called me as a shepherd for His flock, and has given me His word to equip me according to His promise. This means I must set aside my questioning, begging, complaining, and doubting and begin anew each day, inviting students, contacting them, praying for them, and preparing material to teach them. I must not look for signs of success or progress, but instead, I must have absolute faith that God is working invisibly in the hearts of precious college students and He will most definitely send me a Bible student to love and serve. I must take Jesus at His word and depart for my mission field where I will be a shepherd of absolute faith.

Look at verses 51 through 53. "While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, 'The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour.' Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, 'Your son will live.' So he and all his household believed."

When the royal official took Jesus at His word, he experienced a miracle. His servants met him with the news that his son was living. When he inquired of the time his son got better, it matched the exact time that Jesus told him, "Your son will live." After experiencing Jesus' grace in Cana, this royal official thought deeply about how to commit his life to God. He kept a close record of his prayer and when he received God answer, he related it to the miracle he experienced. Through this struggle to seek the truth, he and his entire household came to believe in Jesus.

One Word: The man took Jesus at His word and left.