Pastor Adam started out the sermon with a great story about Bill Irwin. Maybe you’ve heard of him and maybe you haven’t… He was the 1st blind person to hike the Appalachian Trail, from Georgia to Maine, with only his guide dog. As a recovered addict and a believer, he said that his theme for the hike was the verse 2 Corinthians 5:7 “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” He estimated that he fell 5,000 times on the eight month journey, but he got back up and kept on going. What does this story have to do with us? We aren’t hiking the Appalachian Trail, but we are hiking the trails of life with all kinds of challenges. A steep path between offered prayer and answered prayer. Which brings us to the sign in John that we’ll be looking at this week: Jesus heals a royal official’s son. We will see Jesus' miraculous power on a trail in between offered prayer and answered prayer.
Let’s take a little dive in and set things up. Jesus had been in Samaria and met a Samaritan woman at the well. Jesus did not follow cultural norms, he spoke not only to a woman, but a Samaritan AND she had a past. That’s Who Jesus is. Her life was changed in an instant and she let everyone know what He had done. After this encounter, Jesus returns to Cana of Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. There was a royal official from Capernaum who had heard that Jesus was in Cana and He went to Jesus. You see, he had a need, his son was sick, so sick he was at death's door. He came to Jesus asking for healing for his son. Specifically we read in John 4:49 “The official pleaded, “Lord, please come now before my little boy dies.” We all have something in our lives and we need Jesus desperately. Just like the royal official who was facing the possible death of his son, he knew his son desperately needed Jesus' healing touch. What is it you are facing today and you need Jesus to show up? What do we do with our needs? There are some things we can learn from this royal official.
Let’s take this week and look more into this story and what we can learn.
MONDAY:
Just like that royal official needing Jesus to heal his son, what is it you are needing Jesus to do? When you are in need, the first point Pastor Adam made was, “Reveal your need to God-no matter what it is.”
Read John 4:46-47 (NIV) “Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. 47) When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death.” The journey this official took was about 20 miles, it would be comparable to the distance from here to New Braunfels. And not only has this royal official made the 20 mile journey, he is begging Jesus to heal his son. Keep in mind this man is more than likely a Gentile Centurion (Commander of more than 100 Roman soldiers). He didn’t ask for help and especially not from this man. But he has a need that he himself can do nothing about, but he has heard of Jesus. Now today, we don’t have to literally walk 20 miles to get to Jesus. Because of His great love and sacrifice on the cross, we are invited into His presence.
Take some time to read and meditate on this verse and then take action accordingly:
Hebrews 4:16 (NIV) “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
TUESDAY:
Let’s continue considering this first point-Reveal your need to God-no matter what it is.
He cares so deeply for you. Take comfort in this verse as you read and meditate on 1 Peter 5:7 (NLT) “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.” He is neither overwhelmed or annoyed by your requests. Some of us may ask, “Why pray, God already knows?” Or we wonder why we should even bother because even if we ask, it doesn’t mean God will answer the way we want. This act of praying and bringing our need to God helps remind us that He is God,we are not! Prayer helps build our relationship with God. It is so important to not get hung up on “I don’t know how to pray!” There is NO wrong way to pray. It can be a quiet whispered prayer. It can simply be conversational, as you would talk with a friend. Just talk to Him.
Read Philippians 4:6-7 and allow God’s peace (His peace that is beyond our human understanding) fill you…”Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7) And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
WEDNESDAY:
You may find that the first point is easy compared to the second point Pastor Adam made… “Receive His answer (no matter what it is). What??? Jesus responds to the official in a couple of ways in John 4. First let’s read John 4:48 “Unless you people see signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.” He is speaking not only to the man needing healing for his child, but also to the crowd that is around him in Cana. They know about the sign of the water to wine and they want more. However, He was just in Samaria where people simply believed by hearing His words. Jesus is warning against the mentality of if/then faith. We aren’t playing “Let’s Make A Deal” with God. Let’s think about this question that is behind this statement Jesus made, “Is He enough for you?” If He never does anything you ask Him to, is He enough? Take some time to consider this question today: “Is my faith contingent on the answer to my prayer?” And then let Jesus own prayer in the garden the night before His crucifixion be your own, “God, not my will but yours be done.” (Luke 22:42)
THURSDAY:
Today let’s take a look at John 4:49-50a, at Jesus second response to the desperate royal officials request, “The royal official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.”
50 “Go,” Jesus replied, “your son will live.” Jesus has told him what to do. The official asked Jesus to come, heal my son. And Jesus tells him to go…AND that his son will live.
When you have prayed, have you gotten a “YES!”? Have you gotten a “NO”? Have you gotten “WAIT.”? It can be so tempting to walk away from Jesus when we don’t get what we think we should. It is so important to not walk away from The One who will get you through whatever you are facing. Take some time to consider answers to prayers you have prayed. The “yes” and “no answers and even “wait” answers. How did you handle each? What can you learn?
FRIDAY:
In taking what we read yesterday and considering Jesus' responses to some of our prayers, we see Pastor Adam’s third point was “Respond to His direction (no matter what it is). The royal official wasn’t expecting the first answer Jesus gave in John 4:48. So the official asked him a second time (vs 49) to come and heal his son who was very close to death. When Jesus answered “Go”, that is not what the official was expecting. Jesus had answered him and given him a direction and even said, “your son will live.”(vs 50). We have our own plans of how things should go and we certainly hope Jesus is willing. The official faces a decision and we read his decision in John 4:50b “The man took Jesus at his word and departed.” He believed Jesus and he moved to action, he departed. He starts the roughly 20 mile trek back to the son who was sick and close to death. What was he thinking? Was he cycling between fear, doubt and faith? Where are you in this process? Have you prayed and made your request to God? Do you feel you have an answer? A step of action? Go? Stop? Wait? How are you handling the answer?
SATURDAY:
Yesterday, we looked at the royal official taking Jesus at His word and he moved to action, he started on the road home. We can only imagine what was going through his head, but it was probably very similar to what goes on in our own head as we pray. And then, “51 While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. 52 When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, “Yesterday, at one in the afternoon, the fever left him.” 53 Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he and his whole household believed. Read verses 51-53 again! Where are you on the path between your prayer and your answer? Are you cycling through fear and doubt and faith? Maybe you feel like Bill Irwin, falling down and getting up over and over and over. Don’t quit! Be encouraged! Be obedient! Be bold! John wraps up chapter 4 with verse 54: “This was the second sign Jesus performed after coming from Judea to Galilee.”
Take some time to pray, read and meditate on these verses:
Hebrews 13:5b “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
Psalm 46:1 “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”
Isaiah 43:2 “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.”
Exodus 33:14 “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
Romans 8:38-39 “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”