WEBVTT 00:00:01.679 --> 00:00:03.600 All right, well, we started last week. 00:00:03.759 --> 00:00:10.240 Russ began a new sermon series in the Gospel of John, looking particularly at the miracles of Jesus. 00:00:10.320 --> 00:00:29.199 And he did a great job kind of introducing this topic of miracles and a lot of the ways that we as modern 21st century Americans can can stumble on the reality of miracles, their prevalence in the scriptures, and maybe their lack of prevalence in our own lives. 00:00:29.440 --> 00:00:32.880 So I encourage you to go back and listen to that if you weren't here last week. 00:00:33.520 --> 00:00:42.159 But really, what the miracles were meant to do then as they are now are to point us and lead us to Christ. 00:00:42.719 --> 00:00:45.600 And that's my hope for us this morning. 00:00:46.000 --> 00:00:53.359 As I was studying our passage this morning that Sam read for us in John chapter 4, I couldn't help but think of a recent podcast. 00:00:53.600 --> 00:00:55.520 It's made the rounds, it's been pretty famous. 00:00:55.600 --> 00:00:57.039 Maybe you've heard of it a bunch. 00:00:57.119 --> 00:01:01.039 It's called The Rise and Hill, Rise and Fall of Mars Hill. 00:01:01.520 --> 00:01:05.280 It's about the ministry of a particular pastor out on the West Coast. 00:01:05.599 --> 00:01:16.640 It chronicles his meteoric rise to celebrity and power, the growth of his church into a megachurch, and then his astonishing fall from grace. 00:01:17.359 --> 00:01:21.760 It's a pretty powerful and challenging podcast to listen to. 00:01:22.319 --> 00:01:26.000 But you'll notice that it's called The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill. 00:01:26.079 --> 00:01:29.680 That was the name of the church and the ministry that this pastor started. 00:01:29.840 --> 00:01:49.519 It was not called the rise and fall of this particular pastor's name because it's really about problems that the editor or the guy who put the podcast together, the problems he saw in evangelicalism as a whole, and not simply the large ego of a particular pastor. 00:01:50.079 --> 00:02:00.239 And again, as I read our passage this morning, I thought a synopsis of this whole podcast could come from verse 48 of our passage. 00:02:01.519 --> 00:02:09.120 That the American evangelical church, unless you see signs and wonders, you will not believe. 00:02:09.439 --> 00:02:24.080 We're so drawn to celebrity, to movements, to power, to signs and wonders, things that draw us, that help us to believe maybe this gospel is actually true. 00:02:25.199 --> 00:02:33.520 But as we listen to that podcast and we see all the pitfalls that that kind of faith can lead us to, we realize that we need something deeper. 00:02:33.680 --> 00:02:39.199 We need something more than just signs of power and growth and spectacle. 00:02:40.240 --> 00:03:00.080 Unless we here at Redeemer are tempted to scoff at the people who go to megachurches and feel like they were perhaps duped by particular pastors, those who worship their pastors, rest assured that there is nothing in those people's hearts that is not also present in our own. 00:03:00.479 --> 00:03:04.000 Mine, yours, every one of us in this room. 00:03:04.159 --> 00:03:07.599 There is no temptation that is not common to all people. 00:03:07.840 --> 00:03:08.479 Amen? 00:03:09.120 --> 00:03:09.680 Amen. 00:03:09.840 --> 00:03:12.319 We're getting off to a great start this morning. 00:03:12.879 --> 00:03:14.560 Well, that's the bad news. 00:03:14.719 --> 00:03:15.520 That's the bad news. 00:03:15.599 --> 00:03:29.439 And I bring it up because the good news of this passage is here to address that very temptation in all of us, that draw to power, to spectacle, to signs and wonders. 00:03:30.319 --> 00:03:41.840 This passage, John, the author of the gospel and Jesus himself, want us to follow the signs, not for the sake of the signs, but to where the signs are pointing us. 00:03:41.919 --> 00:03:43.919 And that's what I hope that we'll see this morning. 00:03:44.000 --> 00:03:48.560 So let's jump in to John chapter 4 together. 00:03:48.800 --> 00:03:53.199 First, Jesus moves toward the broken and the sinful. 00:03:53.439 --> 00:03:56.560 Let's look again at verses 43 through 45. 00:03:57.120 --> 00:04:07.919 After two days he departed from Galilee for Jesus himself, for Galilee, for Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown. 00:04:08.240 --> 00:04:16.720 So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast, for they too had gone to the feast. 00:04:17.759 --> 00:04:20.800 This is actually a little bit of a confusing set of verses. 00:04:21.120 --> 00:04:23.040 It feels like it contradicts itself. 00:04:23.120 --> 00:04:33.279 But what John is saying is Jesus intentionally moved north after, if you just look above in chapter 4, it's the story of Jesus meeting the Samaritan woman. 00:04:33.439 --> 00:04:35.839 So he had moved from Jerusalem in the south. 00:04:35.920 --> 00:04:47.360 He'd been moving up through Samaria, and now he is moved, continuing to move north to Galilee, the area where he was born, Nazareth, and his home where he now resided, Capernaum. 00:04:47.680 --> 00:04:49.120 He actually goes to Cana. 00:04:49.360 --> 00:04:59.120 But he's moving there intentionally, but John inserts this statement that we have heard from Jesus in the past, which is that a prophet is not without honor except in his hometown. 00:04:59.199 --> 00:05:01.279 And you know, that's kind of a truism. 00:05:01.839 --> 00:05:11.199 You can go and you can make your way in the world, you go home, and you're just, you know, you're still the son, the brother, uh, the little kid that grew up in that place. 00:05:11.279 --> 00:05:14.639 And Jesus experienced the same thing. 00:05:15.360 --> 00:05:20.959 And yet, knowing that, Jesus went there intentionally. 00:05:22.079 --> 00:05:26.720 We see, though, that the Galileans uh welcome him with open arms. 00:05:26.800 --> 00:05:31.519 They're excited, but were told why, because they had been in Jerusalem for the annual feast. 00:05:31.600 --> 00:05:36.000 They had seen the signs that Jesus had performed, and so they were excited. 00:05:36.160 --> 00:05:39.120 This this hometown boy had become a celebrity. 00:05:39.279 --> 00:05:48.160 He had done these incredible signs and wonders in front of everyone at the temple, in front of all the leaders and powerful people. 00:05:49.040 --> 00:05:58.240 And they thought uh he made them look good, but perhaps they could benefit from his power and his possibilities, as we'll see later in our passage. 00:05:58.399 --> 00:06:03.439 But this despite all of this, Jesus moved in their direction. 00:06:03.600 --> 00:06:08.560 And just that movement was an exercise of grace and mercy. 00:06:09.680 --> 00:06:11.439 So that brings us to our second point here. 00:06:11.600 --> 00:06:15.439 Jesus cares enough to confront those that he loves. 00:06:15.759 --> 00:06:17.439 So Jesus arrives in Cana. 00:06:17.600 --> 00:06:29.279 If you were here with us last week, this is the passage we looked at where Jesus performed his first sign, his first miracle at the wedding in Cana of Galilee, where he turned water into wine. 00:06:29.439 --> 00:06:32.000 Jesus is back in that same place. 00:06:32.240 --> 00:06:41.360 And there's a particular royal official, someone who was in the higher ups of the Jewish uh aristocracy, a powerful man. 00:06:41.519 --> 00:06:52.959 He resided in Capernaum and he heard that Jesus was back in the region, and so he took the two-day journey, walking journey to Cana, because his son was on death's door. 00:06:53.120 --> 00:06:54.560 He was incredibly sick. 00:06:54.720 --> 00:07:05.040 Now, he may have come to Jesus with misunderstanding, as we'll see, but he came for this one particular important purpose to find help for his child. 00:07:05.199 --> 00:07:10.959 And for any of us who have children, we can relate to this man's motivations. 00:07:13.439 --> 00:07:18.319 Now, me, I would have probably given in to this guy's request, right? 00:07:18.399 --> 00:07:20.639 He's a powerful uh Jewish official. 00:07:20.800 --> 00:07:27.519 He's walked days to see Jesus, and he asks for the healing of his child, right? 00:07:27.600 --> 00:07:28.879 What's not to like? 00:07:29.600 --> 00:07:30.800 Heal him, Jesus. 00:07:30.879 --> 00:07:33.199 Our heart goes out to this man. 00:07:33.439 --> 00:07:38.639 But Jesus' response seems dismissive, if not rude, right? 00:07:39.519 --> 00:07:45.920 He says, unless you see signs and wonders, you will not believe. 00:07:46.079 --> 00:07:53.519 Now, what's interesting about this, and if you you have a Bible open, you may see a footnote for the you, uh, these you's are plural. 00:07:53.680 --> 00:08:01.439 So though he is speaking to this Jewish official, he's actually making a broader statement to all of Israel. 00:08:01.680 --> 00:08:09.680 That unless the people of God see signs and wonders, something miraculous, they will have no faith. 00:08:11.199 --> 00:08:17.439 Um Jesus loves this man and his family enough to confront the real problem. 00:08:17.839 --> 00:08:23.839 Now, the theologian Tom Wright, he gives a great illustration to show what's going on in our passage. 00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:34.879 Imagine you live in a small but beautiful town, uh, beautiful architecture, historic landmarks and places, maybe not unlike Marietta. 00:08:34.960 --> 00:08:46.879 Uh, but the traffic has gotten so bad that the town has installed beautiful signs on street corners showing the way to help move traffic along. 00:08:46.960 --> 00:08:54.080 But the signs are so beautiful that people actually stop their cars and they get out and they're examining the signs. 00:08:54.799 --> 00:08:58.480 And so traffic, rather than getting better, it gets worse. 00:08:58.799 --> 00:09:02.240 And that's exactly what's happening in Jesus' situation here. 00:09:02.399 --> 00:09:12.879 Jesus has been performing these miracles, these signs and wonders in order to point people to who he is and why he came, but people are fixated on the signs themselves. 00:09:13.200 --> 00:09:23.759 All right, the feeding of the 5,000, those people were so amazed that they could, this whole group could be fed with just a few loaves of fish, uh, bread and a few fish that they follow him around. 00:09:23.840 --> 00:09:30.399 And Jesus confronts them and he says, You're not here for me, you're here because you had your fill. 00:09:31.600 --> 00:09:37.519 These signs and wonders were so miraculous and beautiful that they were actually getting in the way. 00:09:37.679 --> 00:09:43.200 They were causing bigger problems than what they were intended for. 00:09:43.360 --> 00:09:50.159 They were meant, again, to point people to Jesus, to show him who he is and why he was there. 00:09:50.320 --> 00:09:58.639 But instead of coming to Jesus because of the signs, they were going to Jesus for the signs and for more signs. 00:09:59.440 --> 00:10:00.879 But here's the point. 00:10:01.200 --> 00:10:05.840 Come to the signs all you want, but they can't ultimately help you. 00:10:06.240 --> 00:10:06.639 Right? 00:10:06.879 --> 00:10:09.679 You can eat a miraculous meal today. 00:10:09.840 --> 00:10:16.879 Your son can be miraculously healed tomorrow, but he will still die in his sins. 00:10:18.000 --> 00:10:31.759 And Jesus knows that if we get caught up in the signs and in the small miracles that we ask for, we miss the whole reason of his coming and the bigger point of who he is. 00:10:32.799 --> 00:10:40.399 Just as Jesus said to the Samaritan woman in the story preceding ours, he said, referring to the well, she asked for a drink of water. 00:10:40.559 --> 00:10:50.559 Jesus said, All who drink from this well will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst again. 00:10:51.519 --> 00:11:01.039 You see, if Jesus had simply answered this man's request and healed his son immediately, he would have returned home without the greater and more important gift. 00:11:01.120 --> 00:11:08.639 He would have simply come for the sign and missed the one to whom the sign pointed. 00:11:09.279 --> 00:11:12.159 And the same is true for us, beloved. 00:11:12.960 --> 00:11:15.200 Jesus is willing to confront. 00:11:15.679 --> 00:11:17.200 He's willing to say no. 00:11:17.919 --> 00:11:22.799 He's willing to say not yet to our prayers and our requests. 00:11:23.440 --> 00:11:32.000 Because he loves us enough to desire the deeper things of life and eternal life for you and for me. 00:11:32.240 --> 00:11:41.840 He knows that unless we come and see him for who he is, the very Son of God, then anything he gives us will not satisfy. 00:11:42.240 --> 00:11:44.000 Nothing else will satisfy. 00:11:44.240 --> 00:11:45.679 So that leads us to our third point. 00:11:45.840 --> 00:11:48.000 Jesus wants us to know him for who he is. 00:11:48.240 --> 00:11:53.360 Jesus rebuffs the man, right, with this what seemingly rude response. 00:11:53.600 --> 00:11:55.440 What will the man do? 00:11:56.000 --> 00:12:02.159 Well, for the love of his son and his deeper desire for his healing, he persists. 00:12:02.320 --> 00:12:10.879 He says, Sir, or actually in the Greek it's the word Lord, which was a common use of word of respect. 00:12:11.519 --> 00:12:16.399 Lord, come before my child dies, he says. 00:12:17.120 --> 00:12:26.320 You see, the man is now ready to receive from Jesus on Jesus' terms rather than seeking to receive from Jesus on his own terms. 00:12:26.480 --> 00:12:28.320 Jesus has pushed back. 00:12:29.919 --> 00:12:40.080 And now the man in humility returns and metaphorically kneels before the Lord of life. 00:12:40.960 --> 00:12:44.960 And it's in this moment that Jesus responds seemingly very quickly. 00:12:45.600 --> 00:12:46.879 He changes what he says. 00:12:46.960 --> 00:12:51.440 He says to the man, Go, your son will live. 00:12:51.679 --> 00:12:56.080 Or more literally, he says, Go, your son lives. 00:12:58.320 --> 00:13:00.720 And here's where we see the change. 00:13:01.279 --> 00:13:09.279 In verse 50, it says, The man believed the word Jesus spoke to him, and he went on his way. 00:13:10.080 --> 00:13:15.200 Notice that the man came to Jesus a two-day journey and begged him to come with him. 00:13:15.360 --> 00:13:20.960 Come with me, come and lay hands on my son, miracle worker, heal him so that he won't die. 00:13:21.120 --> 00:13:26.399 And yet, here at this moment, he believes the word that Jesus speaks. 00:13:27.120 --> 00:13:29.120 And he returns home alone. 00:13:30.320 --> 00:13:32.159 And yet full of faith. 00:13:32.879 --> 00:13:42.159 Not in the miracle, but in the man, the person, the son of God, Jesus himself. 00:13:42.320 --> 00:13:48.240 You know, it it may seem like a small difference, but it makes all the difference in the world. 00:13:49.519 --> 00:14:04.960 He may have come to Jesus because of the miracles that he'd heard, but now he leaves Jesus, seeing him for who he is, the very Messiah, the Son of God who has the power to heal from days away with only a word. 00:14:06.799 --> 00:14:09.440 Just as an aside, have you ever thought about that? 00:14:09.759 --> 00:14:15.600 We're so used to these uh incredible movies and stories, you know, Marvel, superheroes. 00:14:15.759 --> 00:14:17.360 What does it actually mean? 00:14:17.440 --> 00:14:18.879 What does it tell us about Jesus? 00:14:18.960 --> 00:14:22.480 That he can say, Go, your son will live. 00:14:22.559 --> 00:14:28.000 And in that very moment, miles away, his son is healed. 00:14:29.120 --> 00:14:34.000 It speaks of incredible power, incredible authority. 00:14:34.960 --> 00:14:41.440 No wonder people begin to worship and call him the Son of God. 00:14:41.600 --> 00:14:46.559 It echoes what how John opened this same gospel in chapter one. 00:14:46.720 --> 00:14:51.759 He said, In the beginning was the word, the word was with God, and the word was God. 00:14:52.480 --> 00:14:54.000 In him was life. 00:14:54.240 --> 00:14:56.639 And the life was the light of men. 00:14:57.679 --> 00:15:08.639 Finally, this official, this father, this man looked past the signs and saw the one to whom all the signs pointed, the Lord of life, and he believed. 00:15:09.600 --> 00:15:14.080 That brings us to our fourth point, which is really long and wordy. 00:15:14.320 --> 00:15:21.759 Jesus wants us all to follow the signs and believe his word that tells us who he is, what he has done for us, because he loves us. 00:15:22.000 --> 00:15:27.200 Or the shortened version, Jesus wants us to come to him for who he is. 00:15:28.320 --> 00:15:31.600 Beloved, this is what Jesus wants for us. 00:15:32.399 --> 00:15:42.399 In the midst of our anxieties, in the midst of our confusions, in the midst of our askings, our needings, he wants us to go to him in prayer. 00:15:43.679 --> 00:15:47.039 But not simply for what he can give us or what he has done in the past. 00:15:47.200 --> 00:15:52.399 He wants us to come because of who we know, who he is. 00:15:53.039 --> 00:15:54.000 So here's a question. 00:15:54.159 --> 00:16:02.240 What sign or lack of a sign is getting in your way of getting to Jesus this morning? 00:16:03.519 --> 00:16:11.039 What is Jesus doing or not doing in your life that is causing you to doubt his goodness and love? 00:16:12.799 --> 00:16:17.519 I believe Jesus wants to speak to you in that place today. 00:16:18.080 --> 00:16:24.720 For months and even years, I prayed that God would do a particular miracle in my life. 00:16:25.440 --> 00:16:31.279 And as I prayed over and over, day after day, the strangest thing happened. 00:16:31.919 --> 00:16:37.279 I was experiencing, on the one hand, true and excruciating suffering. 00:16:37.679 --> 00:16:46.080 And on the other hand, I was experiencing the presence and the love of God like I never had before. 00:16:46.960 --> 00:16:49.919 It was actually pretty confusing. 00:16:50.399 --> 00:16:59.200 He wasn't giving me the thing I was asking for, but he was unusually present with me during that time. 00:16:59.360 --> 00:17:02.159 And then at some point, he did answer my prayer. 00:17:02.480 --> 00:17:03.840 And he said, No. 00:17:05.039 --> 00:17:06.720 Again, I was confused. 00:17:06.799 --> 00:17:09.440 I wondered what I had done wrong. 00:17:10.640 --> 00:17:14.640 I had trouble praying and reading the scriptures for a while. 00:17:16.240 --> 00:17:22.880 Over time, I began to see that as I had been praying and asking of the Lord, he had been at work in me. 00:17:23.839 --> 00:17:28.559 And rather than giving me the thing that I prayed for, every day, he was giving me himself. 00:17:29.359 --> 00:17:32.720 And in giving me himself, I was beginning to change. 00:17:33.039 --> 00:17:41.599 I was beginning to see myself differently, I was beginning to see him differently, I was beginning to see my circumstances differently. 00:17:42.720 --> 00:17:53.039 And I think I began to receive him in a way that I would not have been able to if he had simply answered and given me my initial request. 00:17:54.160 --> 00:17:57.440 Notice one more thing in our passage. 00:17:58.160 --> 00:18:11.680 By addressing this official's heart and drawing him to himself and faith in his word, when this official returned home, he became a channel for faith in the life of his family. 00:18:12.079 --> 00:18:12.400 Right? 00:18:12.559 --> 00:18:15.680 They would have simply experienced the miracle while he was away. 00:18:16.000 --> 00:18:18.880 I'm sure the child's mother was right there at his side. 00:18:19.039 --> 00:18:22.559 There were servants and perhaps siblings around. 00:18:22.880 --> 00:18:25.359 And they saw the sickness go away. 00:18:25.440 --> 00:18:36.319 But it was in his returning that he was able to tell them about the one he had met, the one who had said the word, that the healing had happened at the very moment of their conversation. 00:18:38.559 --> 00:18:51.519 You see, rather than just experience the miracle, his family too was able to come and to know and come to know the one to whom the sign appointed, the very Son of God, who can do so much more than simply heal an illness. 00:18:51.680 --> 00:18:56.160 He can heal us from our sin and give us eternal life. 00:18:56.720 --> 00:19:03.839 Allow us to become adopted sons and daughters of God and enter into God's eternal embrace. 00:19:04.880 --> 00:19:08.160 And beloved, the same is true for us. 00:19:08.880 --> 00:19:18.559 As we grow in faith and love for our Savior, we become channels through which others can come and enjoy this relationship with the Lord. 00:19:19.519 --> 00:19:29.119 But as we know, the official is not the hero of the story, and we are not heroes of our own story. 00:19:29.839 --> 00:19:54.640 As we close, I ask you to consider Jesus and what this miracle, what this sign has to teach us about who we are, about who he is, how he moves toward the broken and the sinful, that he is willing to confront and disappoint us in order to draw us deeper into relationship with who he truly is. 00:19:56.559 --> 00:20:03.119 That we can see how powerful his word is, that he is the Lord of life and death. 00:20:03.279 --> 00:20:12.240 There is nothing that he cannot do, and that we are his beloved, even as we love him. 00:20:13.119 --> 00:20:14.079 What a savior. 00:20:14.720 --> 00:20:15.200 Amen. 00:20:15.279 --> 00:20:16.319 Let's pray. 00:20:17.519 --> 00:20:22.079 Our Father and our God, we rejoice in Jesus. 00:20:23.359 --> 00:20:27.759 Lord, the one who with a word can heal. 00:20:28.480 --> 00:20:36.480 With a word, he makes the mountains into plains and he fills in the valleys of our lives. 00:20:37.599 --> 00:20:41.440 Lord, we love you and we are so thankful for you. 00:20:42.079 --> 00:20:44.640 Lord, we pray, give us more of yourself. 00:20:45.279 --> 00:20:50.480 Where we are running after the signs and not the one to whom the signs point. 00:20:50.559 --> 00:20:56.480 Lord, show us so that we might rejoice all the more in the lover of our souls. 00:20:56.799 --> 00:20:58.480 We pray this in Jesus' name. 00:20:58.960 --> 00:20:59.440 Amen.