Twenty-first Sunday after Trinity – October 20th, 2024
Trinity Ev. Lutheran Church, Block, Kansas
Rev. Joshua Woelmer
Text: John 4:46–54
“By His Word”
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Jesus performs miracles a few different ways. Some are by touch, as when he touches a leper. Some seem unspoken. When feeding the 5000, all he does is bless the bread before handing it out. Sometimes people are even healed by touching the hem of his robe (Mark 5:27)! Probably some of the most fantastic miracles happen simply by Jesus’s word. Jesus calms a storm on the Sea of Galilee by saying, “Peace! Be Still!” (Mark 4:39). He raises Lazarus by calling out with a loud voice “Lazarus, come out” (John 11:43). Some people recognize this. You might remember the centurion of Capernaum who has a servant who was paralyzed, and he asked Jesus only to say a word, and his servant would be healed. Jesus simply said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed” (Matt 8:13).
We have another man in our Gospel text who is asking for a miracle. He was a royal official in Capernaum, perhaps working for King Herod. His son was ill, even at the point of death. How did he know where to go? Jesus’s fame had been growing by this point. This is the second miracle that Jesus did in Cana. If you remember, he turned the water into wine at a wedding there.
This father’s faith is remarkable even before he meets Jesus. It’s doubtful that he had seen Jesus do a miracle before. He simply heard reports about Jesus and believed them and went. This is partly why John is called “the Gospel of Faith.” He emphasizes these sorts of stories. This father mirrors us in some ways. What about you? Do you believe in Jesus? Do you believe that he died on the cross for your sins and rose again? Do you need to see evidence of his existence before you believe?
Faith in Christ is not built on feelings or popular opinion polls. Faith in Christ is not based on archeological evidence, though such evidence supports biblical narratives. Faith in Christ is based on the Word—the hearing of the gospel. True saving faith clings to Jesus along for salvation. It trusts in the promises of God despite what happens around us.
There’s a lot that happens around us, isn’t there? That was certainly true for the official and his son. No doctor could help. They may have done a lot for him, we don’t know. Perhaps he got the news, “I’m sorry there is nothing more we can do for your son.” Doctors and hospitals today are a great blessing. So much has improved in the last hundred years. God has blessed them and he works through them. Our lives can be prolonged. However, we can never prevent death. Somehow and in some way it will come. We don’t want to hear those words, “I’m sorry there is nothing more we can do.”
The root cause of all of these problems is a sinful nature. The son got this sinful nature from his mom and dad and they got it from their parents all the way down to Adam and Eve. We also have this sinful nature. We got it from our parents too. Our sinful nature within us causes us to be sick. It causes us to say things we should not have said. It causes us to do things we should not have done. It will cause us to physically die. The wages of sin is death. None of us are immune from sin. None of us are immune from death.
The only Savior from sickness and temporal death is Jesus. The official heard that Jesus was nearby; that Jesus was in Cana—a neighboring town to Capernaum. No problem. But it was 18 miles away. For us that’s no problem. We get in the car, and we can be there in a half an hour. But for the official, he had to walk the 18 miles. How long would it take you to walk 18 miles—4 to 5 hours? This official is determined to see Jesus. He has to see Him. He was persistent.
I’m sure he didn’t walk. I see him running almost the whole way. He finally found Jesus. It is as if he said, panting, “Jesus, please come to my house and heal my son. He is very sick and near death. I heard about you. I believe in you. I believe that you can heal my son. Please come.”
But Jesus seems to have a cold shoulder. He seems to rebuff the official and those around him. Jesus said, “Unless you people see signs and wonders you will not believe” (48). What does this comment have anything to do with this official’s request? This official believes in Jesus without seeing. Is Jesus saying “no” to the official? What does the official do? Does he throw in the towel and walk away? Does he doubt the reports he heard about Jesus?
What do you do and say when your prayers are not answered? What do you do and say when your faith is tested? Do you throw in the towel and say, “Well, all of this church stuff doesn’t work.” Our sinful flesh will say, “Do you really believe that God created the world in six twenty-four hour days? Come on, no one believes this anymore. Evolution is the “in” thing.” Our sinful flesh will say, “Do you really believe that salvation is through a cross? No God would humble himself like that.” Our sinful flesh will say, “Is God really powerful? If He is then why hasn’t he answered your prayer?” Our sinful flesh will say that Baptism is just plain water nothing more and nothing less. Our sinful flesh will want us to take matters into our own hand.
Will you throw in the towel? Will you doubt God and His Word and in His many promises? Will you put God to the test demanding that He meet your standards, your expectations, like doubting Thomas on the day of the resurrection? There is a battle out there. Our Epistle lesson says that we wrestle against rulers, against authorities, against the cosmic powers, and against the spiritual forces of evil. They all attack God’s Word and the proclamation of the Gospel. They do not want you to believe in our Creator and Redeemer.
The official, however, does not come to Jesus with such attitude. He does not come demanding evidence. He repeats his request saying, “Sir, come down before my child dies” (49). You can just see him plead for mercy. We plead for mercy too. Jesus, then, looked at the official and said, “Go; your son lives” (50) – four beautiful words. Jesus does not have to travel the 18 miles in order to perform a miracle. He does not have to go to the official’s house in order to heal his son. Jesus did it from a distance. Snap. Just like that Jesus healed the official’s son.
Will the father travel back home for 18 miles and then believe, or does he believe that Jesus has actually healed his son from a distance? The father does not say, “Unless I travel home and see with my eyes that my son is alive and well, I will not believe.” Instead, our text says that the official “believed the word that Jesus spoke.” He believed without seeing. Later, on his way home, he learned that his son was made well the exact hour in which Jesus said, “Your son will live” (53).
The official’s son was given life, but our heavenly Father’s only begotten Son died. From the cross Jesus cried out, but there was no one to comfort Him. Jesus made the righteous payment on the cross for the official, for his son, and also for you and me. Jesus was put in the tomb, but three days later, He came alive. The Good News is that our heavenly Father’s only begotten son lives. He lives even now.
Did the disciple Thomas believe in the resurrection? At first, he did not. He said, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” Thomas was a pragmatist wanting evidence before believing. Eventually, the risen Christ appeared before Thomas. Thomas’ response was, “My Lord and my God!” Then Jesus said, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Faith believes in what God’s Word says despite what our human reason may say. Faith believes that God brought everything into existence simply by His Word. It believes that Jesus died and rose again.
Faith is more than what you see. During a baptism you see water, but the Word declares that this child lives and is alive forevermore. During Holy Absolution faith trusts in the word of forgiveness. During the Lord’s Supper you see bread and wine, but the word declares is to be Jesus’ body and blood. When you look into the mirror of God’s law you see a sinner, but when you hear the Gospel proclaim you believe that you are a child of God redeemed with the blood of Christ.
The royal official left Jesus with just a word “Your son lives.” You will leave today with just a word, “Pardoned, forgiven, died for, justified. You live. You live in Christ.” Trust in Jesus. He is the Word who brought all things into existence. He is the Word made flesh. He is the Word who died in the darkness of Good Friday and rose in the dawn on Easter Sunday. He is the Word who gave you life in your Baptismal waters. He is the Word who sustains your faith. He is the Word who feeds you. He is the Word who will raise you from the dead.
During the journey home, the official believed that his son lives. During your journey to your eternal home, you believe that your body will live immortal and incorruptible. For on the Last Day when Christ will come again, you will rise with a perfect body and soul. Your prayer for healing will be fully answered on that day. But while you remain here on earth, you live by faith in Christ as your Savior. You live by faith in God’s many promises. You live now and you will always live. You have God’s promise.
Now may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen.
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