What Kind of Faith Do You Have?
John 4:43-54
43 Now after the two days He departed from there and went to Galilee.
44 For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.
45 So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they also had gone to the feast.
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.
Here at the end of chapter 4 John points out to us that this healing of nobleman’s son is the second sign of His Gospel. John will present seven signs, seven outstanding miracles of Jesus, prior to His death and resurrection. At the end of His Gospel John reminds us that “truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.” John purposefully chooses these signs in order that we should believe in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God.
So this is a miracle story about healing. It demonstrates the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ through His supernatural power. But more than that, it is a faith story. It is a story about believing and what it means to believe in Jesus.
You see, in the Bible there are different kinds of faith and different levels of faith. And we see that demonstrated clearly in this passage today. Here we will see four kinds of faith, four levels of believing. As we look at them today, ask yourself, “What kind of faith do I have?”
First we see:
- Sign faith: Prove yourself to me (4:43-45).
Sign faith is the kind of faith that says to God, “show me the sign!” We have already observed this kind of faith back in chapter 2 when Jesus was in Judea. John 2:23 says, “Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did.” But as we saw in chapter 2, this kind of faith is often a shallow faith that only wants to see more miracles. Remember that John comments about this faith in the 2:24-25 saying, “But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.” In other words, they believed in Jesus, but Jesus did not believe in them. Jesus could not entrust Himself to these people who only believed because of the signs.
Now look at what happens here in John 4. Verse 43 says, “Now after the two days He departed from there and went to Galilee.” Jesus has been traveling from Judea to Galilee (4:3). But He had a divine appointment in Samaria along the way. There Jesus met with the woman of Samaria at Jacob’s well and offered her the living water. He demonstrated His divine knowledge of her heart. He instructed her about worshipping the Father in Spirit and in truth. And He revealed Himself as the Christ. As a result of the testimony of the woman and the words of Jesus, many Samaritans in the village believed. Now He is on his way from Samaria into Galilee.
At this point in the story John informs us of a saying of Jesus that is found in all four of the Gospels, verse 44, “For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.” In the other Gospels Jesus says this when He is rejected in His hometown of Nazareth (Matt. 13:57; Mark 6:4; Luke 4:24). So we might expect that the next verse would confirm this rejection in Galilee, but to our surprise John records in verse 45, “So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they also had gone to the feast.” Rather than a rejection, there is a reception. What is going on here?
There are two clues to understanding verses 43-45. The first is the phrase, “having seen all the things that He did in Jerusalem at the feast.” This takes us back to 2:23-25, where many of the Jews at the feast were believing in Jesus because they saw the signs that He did but Jesus was not entrusting Himself to them, because He could see that their faith was shallow. Nicodemus in chapter 3 was like that. He was impressed with the signs that Jesus was doing (3:2), but he did not understand his need for the new birth through faith in Jesus as his sin-bearer (3:3-14).
The second clue is Jesus’ rebuke in 4:48, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe.” The New King James version makes it clear that the “you” in this verse is plural. Jesus was not just rebuking the man who was asking Him to heal his son. He was rebuking the people of Galilee because of their superficial reasons for seeking Him. They sought Him for the miracles He did, but they didn’t understand that they should seek Him because He is their Messiah and Lord.
So when the Galileans received Him, for the most part they only had sign faith not saving faith. Sign faith alone is not saving faith. It can be a place to begin to believe, but it is the most immature kind of believing. Sign faith is always saying to God, “show me a sign, prove it to me.” That kind of belief is very close to unbelief. It says, “I won’t believe unless I see more.”
Next we see the initial faith of the nobleman. It was a
- Crisis faith: Help me, I’m desperate. (4:46-49).
So here’s where the royal official was. Verse 46 says, “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.” John describes the man as a nobleman, a royal official. We don’t know whether he was a Jew or a Gentile, but he probably had some post in Herod’s court. This official probably had heard of Jesus’ first miracle in Cana and also of the miracles that He had done in Jerusalem at the feast.
But he probably never would have come to Jesus if it hadn’t been for this personal crisis: verse 47 tells us, “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.” He probably had sought all of the physicians in Capernaum, but they had not been able to help. So in desperation, the man makes the 15-20-mile walk from the north shore of the Sea of Galilee up to Cana to find Jesus. The verb tense that John uses indicates that he was repeatedly imploring Jesus to come down and heal his son. Every parent who has had a very sick child knows the anxiety that this father was feeling.
God often uses the crises in our lives to get us to seek Him in ways that we never would have done if the crisis had not occurred. Seeking the Lord in a crisis is not automatic. Some people curse God and grow bitter when trials strike. This man gives us a good example. It is always good to seek the Lord when trouble comes.
Jesus’ reply to this man’s desperate cry for help seems harsh (4:48): “Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe.”” But Jesus knew that the man was not seeking Him because he wanted to worship Him or follow Him as the Christ. He wasn’t coming as a sinner seeking forgiveness and eternal life. He had a foxhole faith. He desperately needed immediate help. And so Jesus’ rebuke, both to him and to the Galileans who were there, was a gracious rebuke intended to help the man see his greater need. Jesus wanted him to move from his foxhole faith to genuine saving faith.
This man’s faith needed to grow. Verse 49: “The nobleman said to Him, “Sir, come down before my child dies!”” He thought that Jesus had to make the journey to Capernaum in order to heal his son. And it never occurred to him that even if his son died, Jesus could raise him from the dead. Crisis faith is often limited by what we think God should do.
The amazing thing is that even though this man’s faith was still immature, demanding faith, Jesus accepted it and healed his son. Crisis faith can be a place to start. But God wants more for us.
So next we will see:
- Word faith: I Believe your promise (4:50)
Jesus could have gone with the man and healed the boy in Capernaum. He did this with Jairus’ daughter when He raised her from the dead (Luke 8:41-56). That would have been more dramatic, but it wouldn’t have developed the man’s faith.
So, instead, Jesus puts the man in a curious dilemma: The man said, “Come!” but in verse 50 “Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your son lives.”” By saying this, Jesus forced the man to make a decision. Either he had to doubt the word of Jesus, or he had to believe Him and go. So the man had to put aside his expectations of how Jesus would work and just take Him at His word. Verse 50 tells us of the man’s decision: “So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.”
So Jesus very skillfully drew this man into a deeper level of faith: Faith in Christ’s promise or His word. It’s the kind of faith that the Samaritans had earlier in the chapter. Verses 41-42, “And many more believed because of His own word. Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.””
If I sound like a broken record persisting in repeating the same theme, let me simply say that it is a theme John also keeps on repeating: “Sign-faith” is inferior to “word-faith.” Our Lord wants those to follow Him as His disciples who will take Him at His word.
So this royal official believes Christ’s word that his son was healed and he demonstrates his faith by starting off for home. This leads to the fourth level of faith:
- Saving faith: I believe in Jesus for who He is (4:51-54)
The official probably had to spend the night somewhere on his return journey. Verse 51 says, “And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, “Your son lives!”” The man was no doubt overjoyed, but he wanted to make sure that this wasn’t just a coincidence. So verse 52 says, “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.””
Left is the same word used when the Samaritan woman left or abandoned her waterpot. It wasn’t just a slow, natural recovery. It happened instantly. Verse 53 records his response, “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.”
In v.50 this man believed in the promise of Jesus, but now he believes in the person of Jesus. At first he First he believed in what Jesus said, now he believes in who Jesus was. First he believed in the sign, but now he believes in the Savior. Never never ever get the idea that salvation is simply believing in the word of God, it is also believing in the God of the word. At first he had a satisfied faith, but now he has a saving faith.
Three different times he believed in Jesus and each time his faith moved to a higher level.
*He believed once when he came to him in Cana—faith in his Miracles.
*He believed again when he left to go home to his son—faith in his Word.
*He believed ultimately when his son was healed—faith in Jesus himself.
This man had a different agenda from Jesus. He wanted Jesus to deal with his son; Jesus wanted to deal with his soul. The highlight of the story was not in the son’s physical cure, but in the father’s spiritual conversion. The reason why Jesus performed this miracle was not primarily that the son would be healed, but that the father and his household would be saved.
As we come to the Lord’s table today will you ask the Lord to examine your faith? What kind of faith do you have? Are you just at the beginning with sign faith? Saying to God, “prove it to me again, show me the sign.” Is yours a crisis faith? Do you only come to Jesus for help when trouble strikes? Have you come to word faith where you believe God’s promise to you and you obey His word? Do you really have saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ who died for your sins on the cross and was raised from the dead that you could be made right with God?
