Believe the Word of the Lord (John 4:39-54)
I have been contemplating different strange topics from the Bible for a while now, that most modern folks would cast off with great force. I’ve probably been wrestling with these things in my own mind for a few years. And I think the reason for that is that it’s difficult to deprogram.
Another way of putting it is this, “I don’t want to seem crazy.”
But the reality is that there are some strange things in the Scriptures, in God’s Word, that I am to believe. I am to believe the Word of the Lord.
I spoke of this some in the Book of Genesis. I believe in a 6 day creation of the world. I believe that whether the world would say that makes me a knuckle dragging, troglodytic neanderthal or not.. in the flood account. I hold, what would be considered a minority position among scholars, that the “sons of God” that conceived children with the “daughters of men” were fallen angels. It is just plain when we look at what Jude and Peter have to say on the topic. And how on Earth would the offspring of ancient mighty men create giants. Oh yeah, and I believe giants existed too. There just doesn’t seem to be any denying it, unless you just don’t want it to be true. Or, you might deny it if you want to look good for everyone else.
In situations like these, and many others, I believe the Word of the Lord.
But believing the Word of the Lord is not always easy. That is why there is such a juxtaposition between the Samaritans and the Galileans in our text today. The Samaritans believed Jesus because of the word He spoke. And the Galileans would not believe in Jesus unless they saw miracles take place. Remember, water had already been turned into wine there. They needed to see the miraculous and the Samaritans did not. And this is put forward repeatedly in our passage today.
The entire set of events seems to be put forward in a way that brings us to this realization. And you’ll see it as we examine the text today.
There are many reasons that we hesitate to believe the Word of the Lord. It might be that, as I mentioned above, we want to seem respectable to the outside world. This is often the reason people equivocate on the moral issues found in the Bible. Why else would a pastor who claims to believe the Bible say that abortion and homosexuality are okay? Why would they claim that there are more than one way to be made right with God?
It might be that we hate being confronted with our own sin. There is a choice to be made when we are told that we are sinning. And one of the choices people make is to refuse to believe what the Lord has plainly said in His Word.
A man wanted to leave his wife to be with another woman. He believed that if he desired this more than anything that God must be okay with it. He was told that God hates divorce and other things. But nothing would dissuade him.
And how many times have you known people that are confronted with their rebellion and the salvation offered to them in Jesus Christ, only to have them respond and say that surely God will accept them. They haven’t been that bad. Or that, given all the other world religions, there are other ways to God. Or, when faced with a crisis they might say, “If God will only give me this, then I’ll believe.”
The Samaritans, which are lauded in this passage for their response to Jesus, needed no such sign. These people that were thought of as rejects, trusted the word of Jesus. Remember, because of their past, the people of Israel despised them. In 721 BC the Assyrians had conquered the area, taken captive anyone they believed was worth anything, replaced them with people they didn’t want, and they intermarried with Jewish people in Samaria. They were considered half-breeds by the Jews in Jesus’s day. And they were despised by them. But it was the Samaritans that believed the Word of the Lord. It was the Samaritans that are lauded in our text today for that reason.
Believe The Word Of The Lord Because It Is The Word Of The Lord (John 4:39-48)
Why is it that the Samaritans believed in Jesus?
Remember, Jesus told the woman at the well all that she had ever done. The woman then left and told people in town what Jesus knew about her. And it peaked their interest. Then they heard it for themselves from Him and believed that Jesus was the Savior of the world. They didn’t know all the story, but they knew that Jesus was the Savior of the world. They trusted Him.
God created mankind good and righteous, but we rebelled against Him. In doing so, we earned death and punishment in a place called Hell. God made a way to save us by sending His Son. His Son took on human flesh and dwelt among us. He lived a perfect life for us and died on the cross for us. He then rose from the grave and accomplished our justification. All those who trust in Him are brought into God’s family and are saved.
Jesus stayed here for two days and then He went to Galilee. Here, the authorial remark is quite puzzling. Before Jesus gets to Galilee we read, “For Jesus Himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in His own hometown.”
Galilee is where Jesus spent much of His life. And this derogatory statement is directed toward Galilee and it connects us directly to what happened in Samaria. In other words, the editorial comment is supposed to help us understand what is going on here. We are encouraged to draw comparisons, so we will.
In Samaria Jesus stayed two extra days because the people understood Him to be the Savior. He performed no miracles. He preached. In Galilee, Jesus was welcomed because of what He had done at Cana. He had turned water into wine and apparently this eventually grabbed a significant amount of attention. Apparently word got around. And now there would be another sign performed in Galilee.
An official, which is likely a man of high standing in Herod’s court, pled with Jesus for help. His son was ill and about to die. And Jesus’s response to this is telling. “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” (John 4:48 ESV)
The contrast between the Samaritans and Galileans is striking at this point. The Galileans had already seen the water be turned into wine. And they still did not believe the word of the Lord as did the Samaritans. And that is just the point.
Most often, we don’t get signs and wonders. John calls these miracles “signs” because they point to the reality of who Jesus is: God the Son who came to save. And in Samaria there was no big public sign. Jesus spoke to the people, and they believed.
Most of the time, that is how things are for us today. We read of who God is in the Scriptures, who we are, who His Son is, what His Son did, and how to respond to this message.
We read of who God is. He is eternal, holy, completely righteous. And He is so far beyond us that we cannot even look at Him without falling on our faces in worship and terror. How do we know this? He has told us in His Word.
We read of who we are. We are sinful rebels who have earned punishment in a place called Hell.
We read of who Jesus is. He is God the Son who took on human flesh. He lived a perfect life for us. And He died on the cross for us, paying the punishment for our sins. Three days later, He rose from the grave.
And we read of the right response to Him. All those who repent and believe, will have eternal life. They will be brought into God’s family and be given life eternal.
And why is it that we believe this news. We believe it because it is the Word of the Lord.
You Must Believe The Word Of The Lord (John 4:49)
The official insisted that Jesus go and heal His Son. “Sir, come down before my child dies.” (John 4:49 ESV). But Jesus would not do it.
I imagine that this man was not accustomed to being told “no”, but in a sense he was. Instead, Jesus insisted that the man trust His Word rather than see the miracle. And so, Jesus said, “Go, your son will live.” (John 4:49 ESV)
The official believed and obeyed Jesus. He left just as Jesus commanded. And Jesus healed his son from a long distance. The man trusted the word of the Lord and the Lord healed his son.
This is the most humorous part of this account. This official was a man of high status serving under Herod and was likely not told “no” very often. It is very likely that people just did what he said.
And Jesus would not go with him to his home to heal the child. Jesus just said “Go, your son will live”. And in an act of faith the man went.
I love this. Jesus, in a sense, forced this man to trust His Word and not see the miracle. He had to trust that what Jesus said was true and a lot had to go into that. This official had to trust that Jesus could heal his son from this great distance. And he had to trust that Jesus wasn’t lying to him.
Isn’t that how our salvation works? We aren’t given all the answers immediately. And then later, we receive them.
Isn’t this how our decision making works? We trust the Lord will be good to us, act upon it, and then see that the Lord is good to us.
In other words, what Jesus did to this man is what Jesus does to us often. He calls upon us to follow His Word, to believe Him, and then we act upon that.
This can be illustrated by the life of Abraham. God called Abraham to leave his home to a land that would be given to him and his offspring. And Abraham went.
Abraham didn’t have a ton of information when he left. But he trusted the Lord and went.
The same could be said for Noah, Gideon, and others. The Lord did not reveal all the details, He called upon them to follow His Word.
We are to believe the Word of the Lord. And it is later that we see plainly that the Lord has been faithful.
Believe the Word of the Lord, You will not be Put to Shame (John 4:52-54)
As the man obeyed the Lord and went to go see his son he ran into people that came to tell him that his son was well. As anyone would do that had just spoken to Jesus who said his son would be well, he asked when it happened (John 4:52). And when he heard the time, he realized that it happened when Jesus had said, “Your son will live.”
And the story ends with the faith of the man’s entire household. He believed the Lord and was not put to shame.
The end of this is beautiful. The official had trusted the Lord and went back to his home. When Jesus spoke these words from a long distance away, his son became well. And people that served in his home came to tell him about it.
What do we read in the Scriptures?
“Fear not, for you will not be ashamed; be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more.” (Isaiah 54:4 ESV)
“But the Lord GOD helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame.” (Isaiah 50:7 ESV)
When you trust Jesus, when you trust the Word of the Lord, you will not be put to shame. You will be so very glad that you did.
Conclusion
If you have heard the message today and heard the gospel preached, trust in Him today.
If you have been a believer for a short time or for many years, trust the Word of the Lord. Trust Him.
Trust Him with the decisions you have to make. Follow His Word.
We don’t get all the answers up front. We don’t know how these things are going to work out. What do we get?
We get promise after promise from God that everything will work for our good in the end.
We get promise after promise of God’s presence in the lives of all those who believe in Him.
We get promise after promise of God’s presence in our lives for all eternity through the finished work of Christ.