We come for the signs but we must stay for Jesus (4/8/18 The Book of John #23)

ATTN: When i was not a believer, I used to challenge my Christian friends, “If I see a miracle, I will believe.” I was a naturalist – meaning that everything came from the big bang and everything came naturally without any “divine” origin. So, naturally, I didn’t believe in miracles. That’s why I challenged my Christian friends, “Do a miracle and I will believe.” They never did. But I still believed, which actually is a miracle! I didn’t realize this until later in life, but I came to understand that even if my friends were able to perform a miracle back then, I would not have believed. I would’ve tried to explain it away, or if I was convinced that it was a genuine miracle, then I would’ve thought, “Well, I guess there is more to the world than the physical. But that still doesn’t mean that the God of the Bible is true.”

That is in fact what we see in the Bible – unbelief even in front of an obvious miracle. One of the most surprising verses in the Bible is Num 14:11, “And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them?” God is speaking to Moses about the Israelites and how they didn’t believe in Him. But this after 10 plagues, and the parting of the Red Sea, manna in the desert, water coming out of rocks, a pillar of fire and a pillar of clouds leading them day and night. It was miracle after miracle, but God indicts them by saying that they don’t believe in Him. What does He mean? He certainly didn’t mean that they didn’t know God existed. Oh, they knew. They even heard His voice. But they didn’t believe in Him in that they didn’t trust Him, they didn’t believe in His good intentions for them, they didn’t desire His will for them. They wanted their own will and follow their own plan.

And we see people during Jesus’ day too. Jesus performed miracle after miracle in front of the pharisees, and yet what did the pharisees say? “He’s doing that in the power of satan.” So, they knew these were supernatural things that Jesus was doing but because they hated Him, they didn’t want to admit that they were of God. Were they to admit that, they would have to submit to Jesus. And they didn’t want to.

And today, we come a passage in the book of John where Jesus does a miracle as a sign that points to  who He is. So, let’s make some observations about this passage and I will make a few remarks about what this says about Jesus.

1. 43 “After the two days he departed for Galilee.”

Context: Where did He just leave? Samaria. Remember, Jesus had a conversation with a Samaritan woman and she was gloriously converted. And not only her, her towns’ people came to know Christ as their Savior and Jesus was so accepted and loved that he stayed there two more days. And then, afterwards, he went on to his own town where he grew up – Galilee, up north. But listen to this ominous comment that was inserted.

44. 44. ( For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.) What is this referring to? It’s referring to fact that Jesus Himself said that he didn’t feel welcoming in his own hometown. In matthew, this is explained in a little more detail: Matthew 13:54 and coming to his hometown he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? 55Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? 56And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” 57And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.” 58And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.

You know what they are doing, right? They are saying, “He can’t be that great. He’s not that different from us. We know where he grew up. We know His mother and father.” They were judging Him by his upbringing. It was their pride and jealousy that worked against them to reject Jesus. It is their pride that thought, “well, if Jesus could come from our town and do these things, maybe I can do these things too. He isn’t much better than me if he also came from Galilee!” and jealousy in that even though he had similar pedigree as them, he was so much more popular and admired now.

And Jesus saw right through them and indictment as being unbelievers. Now, this is interesting because we just saw that He was accepted and loved by the hated Samaritans – the archenemy of the Jews. But what about the Jews? His own people? He wasn’t accepted in his own home town. He was booed in his own home court. But v. 45 seems to say something contradictory to v. 44

1. 45 “So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him,”

Wait, I thought Jesus wasn’t accepted by his own people! But here it says, they welcomed him! What gives? They welcomed him only as a celebrity, as someone who will entertain them, as a miracle worker – the next two phrases give a clue as to what kind of welcome it was: “having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast. 46 So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine.”

ILL: like in the olden days, when a circus came into town, you went there to see all the weird and wondrous things – like a two-headed woman, Jesus was welcomed in that way – not like the way the Samaritans accepted him – as their lord and savior. This kind of reception – mere popularity and fame without the willingness to submit and obey – Jesus did not find pleasure in.

1. 46 And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. 47 When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.

As soon as he gets back to his hometown, people clamor for Him because the word got out that he does miracles. So, a man with a sick child walks a long distance from Capernaum to find jesus – about 18 miles from Galilee – that’s a 6 hour walk! He must’ve heard that Jesus was nearby town and walked all that distance to see jesus.  We don’t know much about this official. He worked for Herod, who put John the Baptist to death. But we don’t know whether this man had faith in Jesus previous to this encounter or not. But he had a dire need. He was desperate. Doctors couldn’t heal him. He probably had access to best doctors of the land but they couldn’t do anything for him. So, feeling desperate, he is grabbing onto straw and goes to Jesus – probably knowing that his boss executed or about to execute Jesus cousin.

1. 48 So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.”  Who is He addressing? The father or the crowd? The “You” here is plural. He’s addressing the Jews including this father. It’s an indictment against them. He’s saying that they won’t take His word for it. But they have to see a physical manifestation of the reality of God in order to believe. I think He had the Samaritans He just spent time with in mind when He said this. It hit me that with the Samaritans, he hasn’t done any outright miracles. The only thing that came close to being a miracle is that Jesus knew this woman’s lifestyle without being told. But the town’s people were ready and willing to believe. Verse 41 says, “Many believed because of his word.”  Yet, the Jews saw him do miracles right in front of them, and many still didn’t believe.  

Then, why did Jesus do miracles? What was the reason for the “signs?” Well, signs point to something. A sign that says, “Disneyland – this way” points to where Disneyland is. So, these signs or miracles point to who Jesus is. The fact that He is the Son of God. John 20:30, 30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

So, then is it wrong to ask for a sign? No. But it could be. I will answer that more completely in just a moment. But for now, let’s finish the story.

1. 49 The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.”

The father, along with the Jews, was just rebuked by Jesus as being faithless. But the father doesn’t say, “Are you questioning my faith? Why are you rebuking me? If you don’t wanna come, don’t come!’ No. there was no time to display his pride. He had something much more pressing that he was more than willing to swallow his pride for – his son was sick. I believe this enabled him to genuinely believe in Jesus. It was an event that humbled him to let him know that he couldn’t do anything even though he was an official and someone with power. He sought out someone much more powerful in Jesus.

1. 50 Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way.

This is what makes me believe this official became a genuine believer. He didn’t say to Jesus, “Please come with me. I’d feel better if you are physically better. What if I go home and he’s still not well? It might be too late.” He “believed the word” and acted on that belief by following Jesus’ directives. In other words, this man obeyed according to his belief! He didn’t scuff. He didn’t sneer.

1. 51 As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering. 52 So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” 53 The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” And he himself believed, and all his household.

Only thing left to do was verification. And once it was verified, he became full on believing and not only him, but his whole household became believing as well.

TRANS: Let me say one thing about the place of miracles and two things about Jesus:

1. The place of miracles:

Is it wrong to ask God for a sign? No. Moses did. Gideon did. And Abraham’s servant did in finding a suitable mate for Isaac. However, it is not the norm for knowing God’s will nor verifying God’s existence. It certainly would be wrong to ask for a sign continually to prove that God exists. That would be unbelief.

ILL: If my children came up to me and constantly said, “Daddy, if you are really my daddy, you will buy me an iPhone. Daddy, if you really love me, you will take me to the mall….” That would be using me and treating me like her servant. God doesn’t play that game just like Jesus didn’t play that game with the pharisees. He said to them, Matt 16:4“An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. The pharisees kept on asking for signs even though He has shown plenty. Why? Not so that they will believe in him, in earnest. But because they just wanted to see it the way little children want to see magic tricks. They had no intention of submitting to him. They just wanted to be entertained. God will not respond to this kind of request for a miracle.

However, when we are in a dire situation, and we are earnestly seeking for God’s deliverance, and a sign would strengthen our faith and obedience in Him, I believe He would grant it. That is the way the official was with Jesus regarding his son in today’s story. But not to rely on it as a continual proof. That would be unbelief! The normal way that God leads His people is through giving them a renewed mind that will discern what God would approve and what He wouldn’t approve. Romans 12:2, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

I’m not going to say much about this because it’s a topic all on its own – but let me say, God is much more interested in us being the type of people who know and act according to how God works than us being puppets who chase after miracles.

2. Jesus is gracious

Jesus didn’t have to do miracles at this unbelieving town. He could’ve said,  “You only believe in me because I do miracles. You are only using me for your own benefits because you have a need of me. I’m not going to do that anymore…” He gets used. He get abused. Yet, he is patient. And He does listen to this father’s earnest plea and heals his son even through unbelief. Jesus is gracious – that means He doesn’t treat us according to what we deserve. And I’m glad because so often, I do things that are characteristic of unbelief and downright sinful. But He is patient and still listens to my pleas when I come back to Him.

3. Jesus is powerful.

He didn’t have to be physically present at the boy’s side to heal him. All he had to do was say the word and it was done at the moment He said it – not gradually. What this means for us is that prayer works anywhere. And Jesus doesn’t have to be on earth to listen to our prayers. “Those who do not see and believe are more blessed.” Although we do not ask that God will perform miracles in every situation, we come to Him believing and trusting that He is gracious and powerful and will give us what He deems appropriate.