He Can Be Rough

From one point of view this morning's text is a simple account of one of Jesus' many healings. It follows a familiar pattern. Someone comes to Jesus with the request to heal either himself or someone he loves. Then, usually after a conversation, the person is healed. That's pretty straightforward. The punch, of course, comes in the conversation. Jesus has some very interesting conversations with people in need of healing. And that is what we will find in this healing also. There is a lot going on in that conversation. So, please listen as I read our text, John4.43-54.

So, what do we have here? Jesus leaves Samaria after a brief stay, and he makes his way to the region of Galilee where he grew up. There, after he is welcomed by the people, Jesus is met by a man. What do we know about this man? There are several things that John tells us about him, but the most important thing is that he has a son whom he loves and this son is on his deathbed. The man had heard that the new miracle worker was in Cana, so he traveled there from Capernaum to make his request. He wants Jesus to accompany him back to his home to heal his son, and he wants him to do that soon, before the boy dies. What happens next? Ah, the conversation. In response to the man's request, Jesus says this. 'Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.' Now, this is curious. It almost sounds as if Jesus is a little ticked. This is unexpected. And that's why we need to stop and look at it. There's something going on here.

First, some grammar. When Jesus says, 'you' in that sentence it's a plural 'you'. You can't make that distinction in modern English. You could in older English. It's the difference between 'thee' and 'ye'. (One point for the King James Version.) You can also do it in the Greek that John used to write his Gospel. Some modern translations put a footnote here to let you know about this plural. Others insert the word 'people' after the 'you' to make it clear. There's one other thing to note. There's a double negative in front of the word 'believe'. You can't do that in English. (Or at least you shouldn't!) But again things are different in the Greek that John wrote in. This was actually one very good way to stress the negative. So, let's put these two points together. One translation puts Jesus' sentence like this. "So Jesus said to him, 'Unless you people see signs and wonders you simply will not believe.'" Jesus is talking to the man, but he refers to 'you people'. And the way he talked about their failure to believe, it's pretty clear that there's an edge to what he's saying.

Now, we're ready to take the text apart. Let's start with figuring out who these 'people' are. And for that we need to go back to the beginning of our text. Listen again to what John wrote. '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.' John lets us know something about these folk who are welcoming Jesus. They were in Jerusalem during the Passover when Jesus was also there, and they saw him in action. In fact, we've met these folk before.  Back to the end of chapter 2: 'Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing.' Do you remember what John wrote next? 'But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them …' This is how I put it when I preached on that section. 'They believed in him, but he didn't believe in them.' ‘There is believing, and then there is believing.’

Now, the first part of our text is becoming a bit clearer. John tells us that the Galileans welcomed Jesus. And he tells us why. They saw all that he had done. They saw his signs and wonders. They saw his miracles. And as a result of seeing these things, they believed. We've seen that Jesus was not impressed by that. He didn't trust them. And that explains this comment in today's text: 'For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.' Oh, they were welcoming him all right. But not for who he was. Not even as a prophet. They welcomed him because of his miracles. They saw the miracles he did in Jerusalem, and they were hoping for more.

So, Jesus accuses this pleading father with being part of the same crowd. That's why he said to him, 'Unless you people see signs and wonders you simply will not believe.' These people believe - kinda - but only if they can see miracles. Jesus is not impressed with this kind of believer, and he says so. In fact, he seems a little rough as he says it. So much for Jesus 'meek and mild'. 

I'm pretty sure that the man wasn't expecting that kind of reception. He comes to Jesus expecting at least to be heard and, hoping against hope, that his request will be granted. Instead, he is accused and insulted. I wouldn't have been surprised if he had responded with a bit of a shock and even a little anger. 'I thought you were a man of God! If you're going to treat me like that…' But there is none of that. 'Sir, come down before my child dies.' The man simply renews his request. All he wants is for his little boy to be healed. He is still looking to Jesus for that.

What happens next is key. Jesus responds to the man. This time I hear gentleness in his words. 'Go; your son will live.' Now, you need to remember what the man was asking for. He wanted Jesus to accompany him to his home in Capernaum. Jesus, in effect, tells him that that is not necessary. He has performed the miracle from a distance - or did he? The man does not know. He could not know. He was expecting to be able to see Jesus lay his hands on his little boy and then to see that it worked. But he sees nothing. All that has happened is that he has heard Jesus’ words. 'Go; your son will live.' What will he do now? This is when his heart is revealed. What does John write? 'The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way.' All he had to go on was a couple of words from Jesus. He saw nothing. But he believed what Jesus said. And it was clear that he did, because he did what Jesus told him to do. 'Go.'  So, he went.

Now, understand what's going on here. The man has just proven that he is not included in that group, 'you people'. He is not like the Galileans who were welcoming Jesus because of the miracles they expected to see. He saw no signs and wonders, but he believed anyway. He believed what Jesus said. And so, he went home.

here's one more thing I want you to notice in the text. So, the boy is healed. The man knows that it happened when Jesus spoke those words to him. His servants confirmed that. But John then writes, 'And he himself believed, and all his household.' Wait a minute! I thought he believed already. Isn't that what John had written earlier? 'The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him.' But here, it sounds as if something more happened. The man's believing took another step forward. I think that John is telling us that the man and his family believed in Jesus as more than just a miracle worker. The man believed Jesus' word about the healing, and then he, along with the rest of his family, believed something more. His believing developed.

I've explained one slice of the text. Now, it's time to see how it relates to you. To do this I want to remind you of something that John wrote back in chapter one. 'No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is at the Father's side, has made him known.' The Word has become flesh. Why? Jesus has come to make the Father known to us. So, seeing Jesus deal with people is a revelation of how the Father deals with people. And that's why, at the end of his ministry, Jesus could say to Philip, 'He who has seen me has seen the Father.' Jesus, the visible, is revealing the Father, who is invisible. That's what he is doing in our text. So, this question is appropriate. What is it about the Father that Jesus is revealing in his dealings with this man? Here's is one lesson about the Father that we can learn from this incident. Sometimes, he can be rough.

Here is this poor man, a distraught father, coming to Jesus for the sake of his dying son. And Jesus yells at him. Jesus throws him a curve ball that he just did not – could not – expect. But why? Jesus does it to reveal in the man's heart, to show to all (including the man himself) that he believed with the kind of believing that simply trusts Jesus. He also deals with the man in this way to develop that believing. So, Jesus has good reasons for acting in the way he did. And John includes this in his Gospel so that we would understand: sometimes, the Father can be rough.

Why is it important that you know this? It is too easy to think that the Father is always supposed to be gentle with you. And that becomes a problem when you bump up against one of those times when he isn't, one of those times when he's rough. That's when you can get very confused and life begins to unravel. That's not good. We have inherited this expectation from our culture. I'm pretty sure that a medieval peasant didn't expect a God who treated him with kid gloves. They were used to a rough life. We are not. Life isn't supposed to be all that hard - or so we have been told. And what is that but another lie from Satan. There are times when your heavenly Father will be rough. So, don't be surprised when it happens. Expect it.

There are a bunch of verses that speak to this. One favorite of many is Hebrews 12 which includes this: 'For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.' Good verse. But, I'm not going to use that one. Instead, let me mention a bit of Scripture that you may not be as familiar with. 'The Lord has disciplined me severely, but he has not given me over to death.' And this, of course, is from the Psalms. Your Father can be rough. Let's get rid of the common notion that a God of love never does anything that makes life difficult; he never causes pain. Where does the Bible say that? He disciplines us. And sometimes he disciplines us severely. And saying it that way explains why. Jesus was not just venting at the man. He was not punishing the man. He was not playing with the man's emotions. His intentions are always good. He wanted the man to see reality more clearly. Jesus wanted the man to take the next step in his believing. When he arrived at Cana the man understood Jesus to be a miracle worker. But after he returned home he understood more. He believed Jesus for more.

There will be times when you will feel the severe discipline of the Father. You won't enjoy it. It will hurt. But consider this. Everything turns on how you understand what is happening. If you think that your Father has forgotten all about you, or that he is venting his anger at you or that he is punishing you for some sin - if you think those kinds of things, you will become bitter or angry or despairing. How is Jesus honored then? You will respond in those ways only if you believe a lie. It's just a fact, another Gospel fact, that the Father will never forget about you, never vent at you, never punish you. Never. He loves you - more than you know. He wants you to know him better, to enjoy him more. But sometimes, the only way to make that happen are rough words, severe discipline. And here's one reason why. There are some sins that we just cling to. We won't give them up with a gentle word from the Spirit. So, the Father could leave you in that pitiful situation, or he could save you from it. And that's why he's rough. He's saving you from a sinful attitude that you just don't want to give up. There can be other reasons for the rough words, but this will do for now.

So, be careful to understand what's happening to you when life gets hard. The Father is loving you. And in the midst of the pain, keep your eye on the goal. When the discipline is over, you get more of God. And there is nothing - absolutely nothing - in all the world that can compare with that. And as you keep your eye on that goal, don't just grit your teeth, as if you could deal with the pain all on your own. Cry out to your Father. Imitate David. 'Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord! O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy!' Your Father can be rough with you, but he does that because he loves you. What you need to do is trust him. That's what this man did. And as a result, not only was his son healed, but the whole family believed.

I want to take this one more step. We saw that the man's believing changed. Because of what Jesus did with him, his believing developed. It became more. I'm not sure exactly what that looked like in his life, but it seems good to consider what it might look like in your life. How might your believing develop, become more? Let's stick with the basics of following Jesus. Those basics are all tied up with believing in Jesus as Savior and Lord. So, what might believing more in Jesus as Savior look like? Here's one possibility. More might include a greater sense of your sinfulness. I say that because a greater sense of your sinfulness would lead to a greater sense of your need of a Savior. A greater sense of your sinfulness would lead to a greater grasp of what Jesus, the Savior, has done for you. And what might start that off is something like this: the Father showing you your own heart more clearly, showing you more of the evil that resides in there. That would be hard. And what might be the fruit of all of this? A greater sense of being saved, of being rescued from your sin. The foul sin that you saw all too clearly has been forgiven. And even though there is still lots of sin clinging to you - and sin that you cling to - you are loved. The Father knows the real you, and he still loves you. And Jesus becomes more precious because he made that happen.

Then, there is growing in your believing in Jesus as Lord. The point here is not complicated. Your life is not your own. You've been bought with a price. Jesus owns you. He is Lord of your life. But, saying that and believing it, especially in the details of life, are not the same thing. How might your believing in Jesus as Lord of your life develop? The Father could let you have your way in some area or other. He could let you call all the shots for a while - and then let you see how badly that works. Depending on how far he let you go, that could hurt a lot. But it would lead to you becoming much more willing to give up control. It would lead to you becoming more willing to say, 'Lord, you really are Lord of my life. You run my life, not me. Help me submit to your Lordship. Rescue me from my sin.' It would be hard but worth it. And it isn't just that he would do a much better job. Your being in control means that you are responsible for your life. You are responsible for all of it. And the only possible result of that is fear - whether you call it that or anxiety, stress, worry, insecurity or any of the other modern synonyms. The result is fear. And the reason for that is clear. You were not made to be in control of your life. That's just not a part of God's creation plan. Trying to do that is trying to do the impossible. And as the impossibility of that becomes clearer to you, so does the fear. 'I can't do this. It isn't working. I'm losing control! My life is going to fall apart!!' But believing that Jesus is Lord of your life means that he is responsible, not you. And so, there is nothing to fear.

There are several things going on in this morning's sermon. But what is key is this. Flourishing as a person is tied up with understanding who the Father is and what he is doing with your life. There are times when he is rough. I hope you understand that a little better so that you can respond as well as that man did.