Vital Signs: Believe!

John 4:46-54

Today we’re continuing our series Vital Signs, where we are looking at Jesus’ miracles as recorded in the Gospel according to John.  As the Scripture stated, this is the second miraculous sign Jesus performed.  But before we start, let’s pray.

I was a junior in high school, I was at church camp, and I was in love (for those reading this and not just hearing it, you’ve got to read that in the most sarcastic, sappy voice you can muster). There was this young lady there at camp who I thought was fantastic looking.  She was just my type.  I was determined to make my move on her.  Through the week I tried to get to know her, not really successfully.  But then my sister, who shared a cabin with this young lady, told me about one morning, when the young lady in question had gotten dressed.  She was apparently admiring herself in the mirror, saying, “My shoes are brown, my pants are brown, my shirt is brown, my socks are brown, my hair is brown… my last name is Brown!”   This kind of summed up her personality. While she was great to look at, her other traits (like personality and intelligence) were, well, less than optimal.

Here’s the thing: there are plenty of people who simply pursue the sensational. It’s the same as people who are all of a sudden fans of whatever sports team is doing well – we call them “fair weather fans.” Kind of like all the fans who have jumped on the Cleveland Cavaliers bandwagon with LeBron James. Meanwhile some of you have suffered through years of being Cleveland fans…

In this passage, Jesus confronts the sensational nature of much of his ministry.  "Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders," Jesus told him, "you will never believe." (John 4:48).  Now, understand that Jesus wasn’t calling out this one man, the royal official.  He was talking to all of the people gathered around.  They were all waiting, wondering what kind of sign Jesus would perform.  They were all ready for him to go to the royal official’s royal house and do something spectacular.  They’d all heard about the water into really good wine incident that had happened right there in Cana of Galilee. 

Jesus wasn’t calling this royal official out for a lack of belief.  He was speaking to all the people.  Unless you see miraculous signs and wonders, you will never believe. 

What is your faith made of?  Does it hinge on the miraculous? If Jesus doesn’t do something miraculous, what happens to your faith? Last week I told you about the Big Wheel miracle, how God provided not only a Big Wheel for my fifth birthday, answering the prayers of my childhood faith, but provided one for each my brother and my sister.  And I’ve seen other miracles, too. When I was in high school, I remember one Sunday morning getting the news that my friend Jeff had been in a terrible car accident.  It was horrible, and Jeff’s life lay in the balance – the doctors gave him a very slight chance of survival, and if he did live, he would certainly be brain damaged, maybe in a vegetative state.

I remember praying for Jeff – we all were – and I remember visiting him at Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis.  I remember him lying there, unresponsive.  And then responding.  Then telling the nurse to watch her language.  Then recovering and doing well – maybe even better than he was doing before the accident! 

I certainly learned to trust in God’s providence through His miracles.  I learned to trust in His healing powers through his miracles. And Jesus does accept those who just believe because he performs miracles, but it’s clear that this isn’t the highest form of belief.  This person is merely a baby Christian. The Apostle Paul calls them “mere infants in Christ” to whom he gave “milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it.” (1 Corinthians 3:2).

I believe that we often receive miraculous signs as spiritual milk.  When we look at the Old Testament, sometimes we have to step back and remember that Abraham and Moses didn’t have the Bible to read – they didn’t know everything about God that we know.  This is what is called progressive revelation; they were learning as they went along – often through signs and wonders. A prime example is Moses leading Israel out of Egypt.  They saw with their own eyes the plagues that God inflicted on Egypt.  They walked through the Red Sea on dry ground.  Yet they grumbled and wondered if God had led them out into the desert to die.  Again and again.  They wondered how they would eat.  They wondered what they would drink.  They doubted that they could conquer the nations that God told them HE would drive out before them. 

They pretty much say, “We saw God working back then, but eh, we hardly believe now.” In fact, at the very time when Moses is up on the mountain receiving the Ten Commandments from the LORD, the people are down below saying to Moses’ brother Aaron, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.”  (Exodus 32:1)

Here’s the thing: they demand a sign, and then another sign.  They move from sign to sign, and in the in-between times, they wonder, “Where is God?”  This brings me to those who are angry at God.  I can understand wondering where God is, especially in tough or trying times, but there are some whose anger at God is really pointless.  They have been angry at Him for years because they’ve demanded a sign from Him and He didn’t come through.  Can we see the foolishness of this attitude?  We, God’s creation, supposing to demand our way of God, demanding Him to do our bidding.  We demand, by our words and actions, that God fit into our mold, do what we tell him to do, and play by our rules , and if he doesn’t, then we somehow think we have the right to rail at him, attack him, denounce him, or even disbelieve him. Honestly that’s not too different from a 2 year old throwing a tantrum because mommy won’t buy him the toy he wants.

This should remind us that any and all of God’s miracles should be seen for their true purpose.  God doesn’t just do miracles just to show off; they are always for the purpose of pointing people to God.  So when we see Jesus healing someone, it’s not completely for the sake of the sick person who has been healed or even for his or her family. If that was the purpose, then why would they still die?  Or, when we pray for a Christian’s health and they’re healed, why would God do that?  They were on their way to Heaven!  Why would we even want to jerk them away from their eternal reward?  Because God wants to use the miracle to point people to Himself.

When we have this view of miracles, we can pray, “Not my will, but Yours be done.”

Otherwise we’re demanding our will from God. I want you to imagine this scenario: I don’t believe that LeBron James can dunk.  Why not?  Because I don’t see him dunking right now.  Sure, he has dunked in the past.  But since I don’t see him dunking right now, he must not be able to.  So if LeBron can really dunk, he needs to show up right here and dunk right now.

Do you see how ridiculous that is?  Why should he go and perform just because this fair-weather bandwagon Cavs fan demands a dunk? Yet we do exactly that when we demand a sign from God, except instead of demanding it from the best basketball player in the world, we’re demanding from the Creator of the world.

The author of the letter to the Hebrews blames it on our immaturity.   In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.  Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity. (Hebrews 5:12-6:1) This effects us in this way: if we are mature, we can live by faith, not from miracle to miracle.

How do you know if you’re mature?  If you’re moving to solid food from milk?  Understand that the major difference between those two is who is doing the feeding.  Infants require someone else to feed them, while adults can feed themselves.  I hear people complain about their churches saying, “I’m just not getting fed here.” I want to say, “Oh, really?  Can’t you feed yourself yet?” Sure, there should be something we “get” from a service, but what if we treated our Sunday mornings as a time for us to bring something to God? The Old Testament is clear that when Israel came to the Tabernacle or the Temple, they came bringing their sacrifices.  It wasn’t about what they were getting from the Temple, but what they were bringing to God!

Maybe it’s time to evaluate what we’re bringing to God – and a time to begin feeding ourselves.  Understand that if you’ve never fed yourself, if you’ve never read the Bible for yourself, that it’s not easy and it’s not always pretty.  But when a toddler begins to eat, he or she does it with gusto.  So go all out, and they make a mess while they’re learning.  But they have others around to help them clean up, and soon they learn to do it themselves.

As an aside, this is why I think our cell group ministry is so important as an entry into the realm of feeding oneself – when you’re in a group of other Christians who love you and care for you, they can help you with the difficult parts of being a Christian!

So anyway, back to the passage: Know this: I’ve been speaking to those who have been Christians for a while here – you need to be eating solid food, feeding yourself, but here’s how awesome our Lord is: Jesus accepts you even if you’re just in it for the sensational.  Even though the royal official’s faith was tiny, even though he needed confirmation that Jesus would do something, even though he was just grasping at straws, Jesus heals his son.

Did you notice how this miracle has progressed over the miracle we witnessed last week?  Though the setting was similar, then we saw an inanimate object transformed on the spot: Jesus was there to turn water into wine.  Today we see a person healed.  Remotely.  Jesus wasn’t even there, and the man’s son was healed on the spot.

An amazing miracle.

Do you remember what I said about miracles always having a purpose? They always exist to point us to God. How does this happen through this miracle?

To get the higher purpose of this miracle, we have to read the passage closely.  Did you notice that John repeats himself?  He repeats Jesus’ comment “Your son will live” John 4:50, 52. This comes as a contrast to the royal official’s plea, “Come down before my child dies.”

Last week we saw Jesus miraculously providing wine for a poor couple, saving them from humiliation and possibly even a lawsuit.  Today we see Jesus providing life.  This is the point of Jesus’ miracle; to demonstrate that He (and He alone) is the Life giver.

This helps to prepare us for John 14:6, where Jesus proclaims, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” We wouldn’t have the basis to believe this if he hadn’t laid the foundation by not only saying it, but showing it.

Jesus shows that he gives life, and he tells us that he is the Life; there is no life aside from Him. 

I love the moment when Jesus releases the man, telling him, “You may go; your son will live.” Did you get his response?  The man took Jesus at his word and departed. (John 4:50)

Do you take Jesus at his word? Do you really?  Do you believe that Jesus is the Savior, the Messiah, the Anointed One?  He said he was. Do you believe that Jesus is the only way to God the Father?  Jesus said he was.  Do you believe that Jesus and God the Father are one?  Jesus said he was. Do you believe God will provide for your needs? Jesus said He would. 

Here’s the thing: I think we’re often ignorant of what Jesus really said about himself and about what he commanded.  If we take him at his word, we’re going to have to know his word.  That’s one of the reasons I’m reading the entire Bible during Lent.  I know several of you are reading along (and even ahead of me), but even if you’re not doing the challenge, you have to be reading your Bible. If you aren’t, how about start – if you wonder where to start, the Gospel According to John is a good start – that way you’ll be reading about Jesus and what he said about himself and the miracles that are the basis of our sermon series up to Easter. 

Maybe you’ve read the Bible, but it’s been a while; it’s time to read some more.  But don’t just read it; take Jesus at his word and actually obey what he says.  If you’re wondering how to do this, start your reading with a prayer, asking the Holy Spirit to reveal to you what you’re supposed to obey, and then mark in your Bible any commands – and write them down elsewhere, too. Perhaps get a journal where you write things down.  Color code.  Whatever it takes.  Then tell someone.  Don’t just expect your life to change on your own; we were made to be in community together.

Don’t just chase the sensational; the truth is, when the sensation is gone, so is the drive to follow it.  I started out this morning with a silly example from my life of young love at church camp – once I realized that she didn’t have much personality, I stopped chasing after her.  And that’s often what happens with people who chase after Jesus based solely on sensation.  Remember 9/11? I don’t know what it was like here, but most churches were packed out for the few weeks after.  But it didn’t amount to much on-going life change.  Here’s the thing: don’t just chase the sensational; get to know the Person.  He will transform you.