Saving Faith

After the two days he departed for Galilee. (For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.) So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast. So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. 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. So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering. 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.” 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. This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee. (John 4:43-54).

The Spirit of Truth describes here a short journey from Samaria to Galilee. This seems to be a rather small detail in the larger story of… “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). The Holy Spirit inspired John to record here a testimony uttered by Jesus Himself. The Spirit moved both Matthew and Mark to record the same testimony in its original context… “And 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’” (Matthew 13:57; Mark 6:4). The Spirit brought this truth to John’s mind and moved him to insert it here to teach us that Jesus was willing to go anywhere and do anything in His search for saving faith.

When the Teacher used this expression in the synoptic Gospels, it applied to Nazareth. Here in John’s gospel the words of Christ remind us that the Jews rejected Christ and He’s probably speaking of the entire Jewish nation…  “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him” (John 1:11). John recorded the Jewish rejection of Christ… “After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him” (John 7:1). John also wrote that Christ was received by the Samaritans after spending only two days with them… “Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me all that I ever did’” (John 4:39).  Christ was also received by the Galileans, though it took longer and their reasons were suspect… So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. The Samaritans had received Christ for who He was, the Savior of the world. The Galileans received Christ for what He did, the miracles in Jerusalem.

Among the Galileans in Capernaum, Christ encountered an official whose son was ill. Jesus used this man’s desperate request for his son’s healing to teach His followers something about saving faith. He challenged this desperate father to move beyond faith in the works of Christ and to place His faith in the person of Christ… Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe. The man who came to Jesus because He did miracles was moved to ask Jesus to come in person to his dying son. Jesus did not go with the official, but He granted the healing that he requested. When this long-distance healing was confirmed, the divinity of Christ was confirmed and the official and his whole household believed. The Spirit reveals the nature of Christ here. He will go anywhere and do anything to provoke genuine, saving faith. The Spirit teaches that saving faith requires much more than believing in miracles. It requires believing that the person Jesus Christ is… “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” and “The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:14, 29).

As we grow up into Christ our zeal to share His gospel with everyone grows because we know He is willing to go anywhere and do anything to find…

Saving Faith.