“Believing is Seeing”
John 4:43-54
Sermon Series: “Getting Acquainted With Jesus”
Introduction: There is probably nothing harder for a parent than seeing a child that is sick and suffering or having a child to die. It is an experience that rips your heart out. Well, the nobleman (probably an official in Herod’s court) pictured in this passage of Scripture found himself in that difficult and desperate situation. He seemingly had everything you could want from life; but his money, prestige, power, and success could not heal his little boy. He didn’t know where to turn, but he heard that Jesus had come back into the area. It would have been strange for a royal official to go to a carpenter turned teacher to beg him for a miracle, but the nobleman had heard about a miracle that Jesus had already accomplished. Therefore, he took the chance of leaving his sick child (that must have been incredibly heart wrenching) to go and beg Jesus for a miracle. His faith was faulty and misguided at this point, but at least he went to the right person! Jesus chose to heal the boy and transform the man. Verse 54 says, “This again is the second sign Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.”
Remember, a sign is a miracle with a message. The message of this miracle is that believing His seeing because Jesus has all power. Nothing, not even space, limits Him so we experience His planned results when we trust Him. Faith is taking God at His Word and acting on it.
Let’s break this passage down further and learn some important lessons about faith because it is impossible to please God without faith (Hebrews 11:6).
Faith Lesson #1: No matter where we are in regard to circumstances or faith, Jesus is the right place to go because of who He is (v. 46-49).
God honors even imperfect faith.
The key to faith is its object.
Jesus is completely trustworthy because He has all power, is totally truthful, and is very gracious.
Therefore, if you don’t feel like you believe, cry out to Jesus. If you have questions and doubts, cry out to Jesus. Even if your theology is messed up, cry out to Jesus.
Faith Lesson #2: The essence of faith is taking Jesus at His Word and acting on it (v. 50). True faith comes through the Word of God (Romans 10:17) instead of external signs.
Faith Lesson #3: Exercising faith involves obeying the instruction of God (v. 50). If we are going to experience God’s best for our lives, there has to come a time when the instruction of God for our life becomes bigger than the circumstances in our life and the opinions of others about our life.
Faith Lesson #4: Faith in Jesus always brings transformation (v. 52-53). It always transforms us. Sometimes it transforms our circumstances. That depends on the will of God. Sometimes it transforms both. Really, it is God’s grace and power that are transforming, but He chooses to work through faith.
Faith Lesson #5: Genuine, saving faith involves personally trusting in Jesus instead of trusting in what He can do for us (v. 53). Have we given ourselves to Jesus or are we looking to see what we can get out of Him?
Faith Lesson #6: Genuine faith influences others, especially those closest to us (v. 53). In fact, it usually spreads to those closest to us. However, what we are really trusting in and what is most important to us is really what will be transmitted to our families. We cannot believe for our household, but we can influence them to believe because of the reality of Christ in our lives. In fact, dads, our families should believe in Jesus because of how much of the reality of Jesus they see in our lives.
