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The Twenty First Sunday After Trinity
Jesus Heals the Nobleman's Son
October 12, 2008
TEXT: NKJ John 4:46 So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had
made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at
Capernaum. 47 When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he
went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the
point of death. 48 Then Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and
wonders, you will by no means believe." 49 The nobleman said to Him, "Sir, come
down before my child dies!" 50 Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your son lives."
So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way. 51
And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, "Your
son lives!" 52 Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better. And they
said to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him." 53 So the
father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, "Your son
lives." And he himself believed, and his whole household. 54 This again is the
second sign Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.
This is Jesus’ second trip to Cana—the place of His first miracle—the making of
water into wine at the wedding feast—and now on His return to this small village
about 10 miles from Nazareth—where Jesus grew up—the trip for this nobleman was
probably about twice that distance—and it was over mountains and through rough
country—and the nobleman asks Jesus for help
TEXT: NKJ John 4:49 The nobleman said to Him, "Sir, come down before my
child dies!" 50 Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your son lives." So the man
believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.
What a beautiful example of faith—true faith—this nobleman didn’t know much
about Jesus—but he knew enough to believe in His ability to heal his son—that
healing was driving the nobleman to find Jesus—and to ask for His help—I’m sure
he will seek to learn more about Jesus after the healing
Our faith starts out like that—a simple understanding in a Savior—not knowing
much about how we are saved—but grasping the hope of our salvation—but it
shouldn’t stay like that—it should grow—and continue to grow until we are called
home
This man surely will be driven to learn more about Jesus—we must also continue
forever to learn more about our Lord—continuously getting to know Him
better—immersing ourselves in the Word of God
This is what we should do—but is it what we do?—not to the extent that we know
we should—and why not?—because we are in the world and the devil is the prince
of this world—each of us has been subject to the temptations, lies, temptations,
and tricks of the devil—he never rests—he is always prowling around looking for
an opportunity to distract us from focusing on our Lord—the devil wants to give
us doubts—he tries to tempt us—he wants to devour our very souls
NKJ 1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks
about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
That’s what Jesus is trying to warn us against
NKJ John 14:30 "I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world
is coming, and he has nothing in Me.
We are dealing with the devil—our eternal lives are at stake—we’re dealing with
the devil and his workers—and the result of the life-long battle will be eternal
life—or eternal death
NKJ Ephesians 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age,
against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Whenever the devil senses that one of us has faith—he moves in to cause doubt—to
wrestle us away from God—the devil wants to protect his kingdom—he will try to
take us by surprise—Consider the Scriptural examples
The children of Israel—rescued by God from Egypt—witnessed the plagues—crossed
the Red
Sea—received manna every day—were protected and guided by the pillar of
cloud—and the pillar of fire—suddenly they feared that they would perish from
lack of food and water—and they complained
This example of Moses and the children of Israel—is the incident that kept Moses
out of the promised land—listen to God’s people complaining
NKJ Numbers 20:1 Then the children of Israel, the whole congregation, came into
the Wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh; and
Miriam died there and was buried there. 2 Now there was no water for the
congregation; so they gathered together against Moses and Aaron. 3 And the
people contended with Moses and spoke, saying: "If only we had died when our
brethren died before the LORD! 4 "Why have you brought up the assembly of the
LORD into this wilderness, that we and our animals should die here? 5 "And why
have you made us come up out of Egypt, to bring us to this evil place? It is not
a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates; nor is there any water to
drink."
There are examples in the New Testament too—no one had greater faith than
Peter—he had the courage to walk on the water with Jesus—but did not keep his
focus on the Lord—he turned away from Jesus long enough to begin sinking into
the sea—our Lord let him sink—but He did not let him drown—it is that way for
all of us—it is part of making our faith stronger—Scripture promises that we
will not be burdened beyond our capability to cope with things
NKJ 1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common
to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what
you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you
may be able to bear it.
NKJ Matthew 14:28 And Peter answered Him and said, "Lord, if it is You, command
me to come to You on the water." 29 So He said, "Come." And when Peter had come
down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw
that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out,
saying, "Lord, save me!" 31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and
caught him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"
Here the devil was able to instill fear in Peter in the very presence of our
Lord—therefore if you think you are strong enough to overcome the devil without
spiritual help—think again!—only the power of God—the power of the Holy
Spirit—can put the devil in his place
A quick look back at the first Holy Week—Jesus’ triumphant entry—that same week
the people cry out for His death—the devil was at work then—and he is at work
today—consider these words of Scripture
NKJ Luke 23:21 But they shouted, saying, "Crucify Him, crucify Him!"
This is the same Jesus that they had considered a prophet a few days before—they
had laid their garments on the road before Him—yet as Jesus was arrested and
tried—even His disciples denied Him—when the devil smells faith—he immediately
tries to destroy it—look at the Church today—compare it to the Church right
after the resurrection—see how the devil tempted men with their own weaknesses
He tempted them with their egos—he let them think they are smarter than God—how
many divisions have we experienced in the Church—over the Lord’s
Supper—baptism—what name we should call God—when we should hold worship
services—and other silly things men come up with
In Luther’s day men were members of—the Roman Catholic church—the Greek Orthodox
church—they might be a Jew—or they might be a heathen—today the devil must be
happy—he divides us up into hundreds of denominations—keeps us confused—gets us
to watch television—and uses the latest technology to distract us from focusing
on the things of our Savior
THE DEVIL CANNOT ALLOW THE PURE DOCTRINE OF SCRIPTURE TO BE PREACHED
None of us can sit back and feel secure—none of us are safe—each of us must
constantly be on our guard—we have example upon example of strong men of faith
failing under the devil’s pressure--David with Bathsheba—Peter and his denial of
Christ—Peter walking on the water and starting to sink—Moses double-striking the
rock for water
Remember the lesson we learned from the fall of Adam and Eve—the devil will try
to separate us and find our weakness—we must never allow ourselves to be
spiritually alone—we have to stay together physically to encourage one
another—and we need to stay in the Word to spiritually maintain our faith—and
hence we have our ability to overcome and defeat the devil
NKJ Luke 17:5 And the apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith."
[Luther] “Our hearts should always be in the condition as if we had only
begun to believe today, and always to be disposed toward the Gospel as if we had
never heard it before. “
Remember when you first understood that Jesus died for you?—remember your hunger
for the Word?—you couldn’t wait to hear the next sermon—you asked questions—you
thought about the Lord all the time—Paul tells us about man’s faith-relationship
with God—how encouraged the devil is by our weak nature—and how the devil tries
to turn our attention away from the things of God—but our strength is in the
Word—a gift from God which makes us strong enough to survive the devil’s attacks
NKJ 2 Corinthians 4:6 For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of
darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the
glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 7 But we have this treasure in earthen
vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. 8 We are
hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in
despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed -- 10
always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of
Jesus also may be manifested in our body. 11 For we who live are always
delivered to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be
manifested in our mortal flesh.
The earthen vessel referred to here is us—the treasure is the Gospel
The nobleman that asked Jesus to heal his son had faith—and Jesus demonstrated
the power of God through the healing for our learning—let us remember this
lesson and keep our faith strong
ALL GLORY BE TO GOD!