The emphasis in this passage of John’s gospel is how important it is to listen to Jesus’ words. He did so many remarkable things, but if you’re only looking and not listening to Jesus then you’ll miss the life he offers.
Even more pointedly, if you’re only looking at your own problems and situation then you really, really need to listen to Jesus.
If you are suffering anything in any way, these verses will point you to hope. If you’re not suffering, these verses will give you something to store up for the day when trouble comes.
These notes accompany a sermon on YouTube delivered at Bromborough Evangelical Church in June 2024. You can find more in the series in our Sermon Index.
Go to Jesus in your pain (43-47)
Read John 4:43.
That is, he left Samaria, where he’d met the Samaritan woman that we thought about last time. He was supposed to be just passing through, but ended up teaching in Samaria for two days. Read John 4:41 – literally, “many more believed because of his word.”
Jesus knew that his own people (the Jews) didn’t really want to hear his word, they just wanted some razzle-dazzle miracles. The Samaritans believed his word, but the Galilean Jews didn’t. Read John 4:44.
Jesus was going to Galilee to teach. But they welcomed him for a different reason: Read John 4:45.
They wouldn’t honour him as a prophet – they didn’t respect his words. But they gave him a shallow welcome as a doer of big things – because of what they’d seen him do at the Passover (end of chapter 2).
This whole episode is to redirect you from the signs (what you can see) to Jesus’ words (so that you will trust him).
So he gets a visitor: Read John 4:46-47.
Dire pain
The royal official was in a desperate situation: His son was about to die.
He was in Capernaum, and he’d heard that Jesus was in Cana – 25 miles away (a full day’s walk).
Many of us know what it’s like to have a sick child. Everyone knows that the thought of a child dying before their parents just feels contrary to nature. We grieve terribly when we lose someone close to us, but to lose a child must be pain beyond pain. The fear of it would certainly be enough to drive a father to walk 25 miles in the hope of finding Jesus to bring healing.
When you pause to consider such pain and loss, you must ask: Was it a small thing for God to send his Son into the world to die to save you? Shouldn’t we be amazed at such love for us?
It’s also worth pausing to reflect on how the man’s wealth and status hadn’t been able to prevent the situation either. We are all spiritually equal before God, all equally in need of him. The rich, the poor, the local, the foreigner. Trouble and death comes to us all, and we all need God.
Where do you go in your deepest distress? That man went to Jesus, and so must you.
To be in the presence of Jesus is your highest possible good, because he is God. When life is easy, you’ll often find yourself drifting away from him. Your prayer life cools off, you don’t spend time in the Bible so much, if ever. And then something happens, and you find yourself driven to him with an urgency and fervency you’d forgotten you ever had.
Goodness in pain?
And since being with him is your highest good, even pain and trouble can be good.
- Psalm 119:68 You are good, and you do what is good
- Psalm 119:50 This is my comfort in my affliction: Your promise has given me life.
- Psalm 119:71-72 It was good for me to be afflicted so that I could learn your statutes. Instruction from your lips is better for me than thousands of gold and silver pieces.
Imagine being able to say to God, “It was good for me to be afflicted.” It’s because affliction drives you to him – and that’s good.
When you go to God in Christ, there’s no guarantee of relief from your pain. The Apostle Paul asked for relief from an illness and the Lord refused, since Paul’s weakness glorified the work Jesus was doing through him.
But being with Jesus in your pain is better by far than being without him, because he is God. More, his own pain has secured your ultimate eternal peace with him forever. And, as he is now in heaven and hears your prayers, you know that you pray to a God who became flesh and who knows your pain. He knows you.
Some people let suffering and pain drive them from God. But where could you go? He has the word of life. Trust him.
Trust the Word (48-50)
Jesus’ reply to the man might seem a bit of a surprise at first. Read John 4:48.
But his answer isn’t just to the man, he’s speaking to all the Galileans who’ve gathered. Jesus had come to preach and teach, but the people just wanted a bit of drama. Again, there’s a refocus on Jesus’ words.
The man’s reply is desperate: Read John 4:49.
What Jesus actually did wasn’t typical for him. Read John 4:50.
Why didn’t Jesus go? That was his usual method. He’d go, lay hands on someone or speak close up. He’d be gentle and caring, treating each individual with dignity and care. Jesus brought healing, cleansing, and love to every person. But on this occasion, he didn’t go.
He just said, “Go, your son will live.”
All that those Galileans witnessed was Jesus’ words (not his actions). That was what Jesus wanted them – and you – to focus on.
And the man went because he’d believed (lit.) “the word that Jesus spoke.” The man’s faith was weak and wonky, but it was enough to trust Jesus’ words. Where there’s faith, there’s action. If you say you have faith but never act on Jesus’ words, then your faith is questionable at best. Maybe even kidology. But you can’t kid God, only yourself.
The man believed what Jesus said – his son would live. He trusted Jesus enough to go, not needing Jesus to go with him
Focus on Jesus’ word
There’s no need for him or the Galilean crowd to see the healing.
They benefit most from trusting in Jesus’ word. In fact, in this event the most amazing moment isn’t the healing, it’s the fact that the father believed Jesus enough to go. When you understand that, then you begin to realise that you can also trust Jesus’ words yourself.
J C Ryle puts it this way: “His word is as good as his presence.” You don’t need Jesus to be physically present with you to experience his grace and blessing. Listen to Jesus’ words.
Trust him. Because he is God, and you have his word here. His “absence” from this place (bodily) is no barrier to his compassion, his power, or even his presence mediated through the Holy Spirit.
You can be absolutely certain of this: The word of Jesus is powerful enough to bring life to the dead, hope to the lost, forgiveness of sin for everyone who asks it. Because he’s God.
Read his word
You have his word written down for you in the Bible. Through the Bible God speaks to you with power.
Jesus is the Word of the Father – the exact expression and communication of the glorious Father. And the Bible is the Word of Christ.
The Bible isn’t a god, or anything to be worshipped. But it is a living word that brings you life as you trust the Word who spoke, Christ himself.
There can be no shame of the Bible because it’s the power of God to save you. And it’s the power of God because it communicates Christ to you, and he communicates the Father to you.
So go to Jesus in your pain; trust the Word (Jesus, revealed to you in written word, the Bible).
Follow the sign (51-54)
The man dashed off. He was a day’s journey from his son, but he believed Jesus.
Read John 4:51-53.
Again, the emphasis here isn’t so much on the miracle but on Jesus’ words, “Your son will live.” The father remembered Jesus’ words. The joy of the event isn’t even focussed on the healing as such, but on Jesus’ power to speak and on the belief in his words. It gets even lovelier: The whole household believed.
It had been a traumatic time for the family. The son was dying, the father had gone a day’s journey away, and no-one knew if anything could be done. But then Jesus spoke, and healing was certain.
The glory is focussed on the word of Jesus.
So read John 4:54.
It’s a sign!
So here we get to the nub of the whole thing.
- Remember that I said the word “miracles” isn’t used in John’s gospel – they’re always called “signs”.
- Chapters 1 to 12 are sometimes called “the book of signs”.
- Chapters 12 to 21 are sometimes “the book of glory”.
- The hour of Jesus’ glory is the time of his death and resurrection.
- Since he’d never done any wrong, he didn’t deserve death. He knew that his death would be substitutionary.
- All the “signs” in John’s gospel point to Jesus’ glory. And this, we’ve just read, was the second sign in John’s gospel.
- God became human so that he could take the punishment you do deserve – because he loves you.
So here’s the big question that the whole episode has been building up to: How does the healing of the man’s son point to Jesus’ glory – seen in his death and resurrection?
First: God loves you and has compassion on you.
- The pain came to that family specifically so that they would come to Jesus and find blessing.
- The pain was a gift, since it took them to God’s highest gift, Jesus.
- When you suffer, never doubt God’s heart for you.
- God is good, and does good.
- And in ways you won’t see at the time (and maybe never will), God is always doing you good when he brings you nearer to himself in Christ.
You know this because Jesus came into the world specifically to die for you. His dealings with that family were born from his compassion and grace, even through their pain.
- So Jesus is glorified in his compassion and mercy.
Second: There’s power over life and death in Jesus’ words.
- The focus of the whole event is on Jesus’ words.
- John’s gospel records so much that Jesus will say, so many claims about who Jesus is – you need to know there’s power in those words.
He claims that no-one comes to God except through him.
He speaks about laying his life down for his people.
Jesus calls himself “the resurrection and the life” – all matters of life and death are centred on him.
- The small example of healing a boy 25 miles away by the power of his word is a sign: A sign to you that his words have power, and that you can then trust all he says.
- More: It’s a sign that you can trust Jesus for eternal life.
Third: You come to God by faith, not by sight.
After Jesus rose from the dead, he appeared to his disciples. John 20:29 records Jesus saying to Thomas, “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”
Jesus didn’t need to be physically present to heal that boy. He doesn’t need to be physically present here for you to experience his saving power right now.
That is his glory and what he came to do: To save you. You listen to Jesus’ words.
Hear his invitation, his love, his grace, his compassion. Believe his words; trust his words.
So:
- Go to Jesus in your pain. Don’t let your pain keep you away. Trust him to be good and to do you good.
- Trust the Word. He’s the Word of the Father, and the Bible is the word of Christ. It’s living and powerful to save you.
- Follow the sign. You don’t need him to be physically present; his word is powerful and gracious.
This whole incident is to persuade you that you can and must trust Jesus for eternal life. So trust him.