Knowing Your Need - John 4:43-54

In Shakespeare’s classic play, Macbeth, the main character, a Scottish general Macbeth, is told that one day he will be king over Scotland. After he and his wife obsess over it, they hatch a plan to murder the king and take the throne. And he follows through on the plan. He murders the king and becomes King himself.

But because of his evil deed and how he became king, he becomes increasingly paranoid and begins killing all the people around him, which ultimately leads to his own death.

There’s a real nugget of truth in the play Macbeth. The thing that we want isn’t always what’s best for us. The thing that we believe will solve all of our problems sometimes leads to our own demise.

The play is incredibly relatable because so often in life the thing that you think will change your life for the better simply leaves you disappointed.

I think we can all relate to that on some level. We constantly tell ourselves if only I had this thing, this experience, this job, this relationship, fill in the blank, my life will be better. And then you get it and it’s not as glamorous as you thought it would be.

We always tell ourselves that the grass is greener on the other side, but then we get to the other side and discover the grass really isn’t that green after all.

Oftentimes, we don’t know what’s best for ourselves, but God does. The Lord knows what we need better than we do. And this is exactly what we see in our passage.

The crowd thought that worldly pleasure would improve their lives, but Christ knew better. And the official thought only his son needed to be healed, but again, Christ knew better.

Just to remind you where we are in the book of John, we’re officially past the woman at the well and Jesus is on the move. Jesus is traveling north. He’s traveled through Samaria and is heading to Galilee. And Galilee was a Jewish region.

Jews traveling north would have to make an incredibly difficult decision: to pass through Samaria in order to get to Galilee or to avoid Samaria altogether? Obviously, Jesus chose to pass through Samaria and has now entered Galilee.

The crowd thought that worldly pleasure would improve their lives, but Christ knew better. (vv. 43-46a)

Which actually presents a problem right away in verse 44. John appears to give us two conflicting statements. First, we’re told that Jesus said, “... a prophet has no honor in his own hometown,” but immediately following that statement we’re told the “Galileans welcomed [Jesus].”

After all, Jesus was a Galilean, his hometown of Nazareth, was located in Galilee. But the Greek word for “hometown” can also be translated as “homeland.” The idea that John is trying to communicate to us is that Jesus’ own countrymen, the Jewish people, are welcoming him, but they’re welcoming him for the wrong reasons.

They knew of the miracles he had performed in Jerusalem and they were seeking more miracles from him. And we get a little more geographic information in verse 46. Jesus is in Cana in Galilee. Do you remember what happened in Cana in Galilee? The wedding feast in Cana, from two chapters ago where Jesus turned the water into wine?

The Galileans remembered all of this stuff. They knew of miracles performed in Jerusalem and they remembered the miracle he performed right there in their backyard. The memory of Jesus turning the water into wine is probably fresh on everyone’s mind!

You see this is precisely why Jesus had said, “a prophet has no honor in his hometown or homeland.” They weren’t welcoming him in order to receive a word from the Lord. They weren’t welcoming him as the Savior of the world. They were welcoming a circus act to town. They wanted to see a performance. They wanted to be entertained. And most likely of all, they probably wanted more wine!

They just wanted Jesus to supply them with a good time.

Can you imagine the things they said? “Hey Jesus, remember what you did the last time you were here? Wink, wink, nod, nod…

They simply wanted Jesus to fulfill their basest desire for worldly pleasure.

But isn’t this the exact same lie that we believe today? That worldly pleasure is going to make us happier. That maximum pleasure is the key to a fulfilled life. The more wealth, sex, and power you attain, the more enjoyable your life will be.

How different are the Galileans from the people that we all know that simply live for the weekends? Because every weekend presents another opportunity for debauchery.

And that is quite literally their life. Chasing worldly pleasures is chasing ghosts. There’s no light at the end of that tunnel, because there’s nothing there.

If you just step back and contemplate for two seconds what’s going on, you’ll quickly realize that your life has no meaning.

But equally as sad is the fact that many professing Christians believe that Jesus is a conduit for worldly pleasure.

Many professing Christians still believe that Jesus will fulfill their desire for worldly pleasure. Maybe how we get there logically is a little different, perhaps slightly more sophisticated but it’s still the same.

We might not think that Jesus is literally going to give us wine, but often we think of our Christianity as a negotiation or some sort of transaction.

I think it’s probably fairly common for people to think of Christianity as purely transactional. If I do this, then God owes me that.

Often it manifests itself this way, “if I avoid these sins, God will give me what I want.” Our relationship with the Lord is quid pro quo. You scratch the Lord’s back and he’ll scratch yours.

God is no longer worthy of our worship, he’s simply a divine gift giver. If I act better, God owes me a better career, better friends, better fill in the blank. This mindset is foundational to the false teachings of works-righteousness and the prosperity gospel. We reduce Christianity to transactions and turn God into some sort of divine bean counter.

It’s easy for Christians that know better to slip into this mentality. What’s the root cause of all of this?

We think we know what’s best for ourselves and we want God to give it to us. The God of the universe is reduced to nothing more than a means to an end.

This is precisely why Jesus didn’t give the crowd what they wanted.

Sometimes not getting what you want is actually what you need. Our circumstances don’t dictate the truth of Romans 8:28. “We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

That truth transcends our circumstances.

But even worse, if Jesus had given the crowd what they wanted he would have been reinforcing bad theology. He would have communicated to them that he was simply a street performer. A circus act and not the Savior of the World.

The Lord knew that he couldn’t give the crowd what they wanted because sometimes not getting what we want is exactly what we need.

The official thought only his son needed to be healed, but Christ knew better.

(vv. 46b-49):

But as we all know, often there are people within crowds that aren’t necessarily in full agreement with the majority.

You might even say that this passage moves from the general to the specific. Because initially, Jesus accuses the official of sharing the crowd’s sentiment. Afterall, everyone wanted to see a miracle!

And this is why Jesus says to the official, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.”

Jesus thought that everyone wanted to see a miracle in order to fulfill their desires, but also as a means of proving his divinity. As a means of proving that he was indeed the Messiah.

But the official obviously responds differently. He says to Jesus, “Sir, come down before my child dies.”

The official wanted to see a miracle for a different reason. He wanted his son to be healed.

The official’s desperation reminds me of a story that I read from 2015, about a man named George Pickering’s son, George the III who had been declared brain dead by a hospital in Houston. The hospital had already elected organ donors because they were going to slowly wean him off of life support.

George the Father, desperate, went to the hospital with a gun and demanded to see his son. He stayed in his son’s hospital room which eventually led to a standoff with police. But while he was in a standoff with police, his son began to display signs of life.

And his son, who had been declared brain dead, ended up making a recovery.

Who cannot relate to that?

You can almost sense a similar level of desperation here in this passage. Going to Jesus was a hail mary. It was the last resort.

To be fair to the official, there’s a history of on site miraculous healings. In fact, in 2 Kings 4, Elisha heals a widow’s son by “stretching himself out” on him.

So, not only was his presence necessary, but so was maximum physical touch.

The obvious implication is that the official believed that Jesus had the ability to heal his son, but he didn’t believe that he possessed divine power.

You see, the official fails to understand two important things: first, Christ’s miraculous power extends beyond his physical location and two, he assumes that Jesus cannot raise the dead.

But if the boy had died would Jesus suddenly be evil?

After all, what happens millions of times each day? People of all ages die. Young people die. Old people die. Fit people die. Out of shape people die. We all eventually die.

Does that happen because God is pernicious and evil? Of course not! Death is the result of sin. For the wages of sin is death. Death is the payment for sin and demonstrates the seriousness of sin.

And even after the official’s son was healed, he would eventually die.

But Jesus out of his abundant grace simply speaks the words, “Go; your son will live.” Maybe a better translation is, “Go; your son lives.”

The instant Jesus spoke was the very instant the official’s son was healed. God’s divine omnipresence and omnipotence is on full display.

And obviously we know what happens - the child lived. And all that was required for Jesus to heal the boy was for him to speak.

It harkens back to Genesis 1 in many ways. God spoke everything into existence. There is power in God’s word.

You know, we still have access to this power in God’s Word in the Scriptures.

There is real power in the word of God. Do we still believe in the power of God’s Word? Do you actually believe that the word of God is truly life-giving?

There’s a famous Martin Luther quote about the power of the Word of God during the protestant reformation, “I simply taught, preached, and wrote God’s Word; otherwise I did nothing. And while I slept, or drank Wittenberg beer with my friends Philipp and Amsdorf, the Word so greatly weakened the papacy that no prince or emperor ever inflicted such losses upon it. I did nothing; the Word did everything.”

The protestant reformation was simply a back to the Bible movement. And outside of perhaps Jesus’ earthly ministry there has been no greater influence over the course of human history than the protestant reformation. And Martin Luther, the name most closely associated with the protestant reformation gives sole credit to the word of God.

We so quickly forget that we have access to the living word of God. The Bible contains the words of eternal life. Everything we know about Jesus Christ, the grace of God, forgiveness of sins, the gospel itself is contained in the Bible.

And yet, we’re often so flippant, cavalier, and dismissive of it. Isn’t it incredibly ironic that we have more access to information than ever before, and yet, biblical literacy among professing Christians is incredibly low.

There’s a huge disconnect within the evangelical church of on the one hand affirming Biblical infallibility and inerrancy. That is to say, that the Bible is incapable of being wrong (infallibility) and without error (inerrancy). Most evangelical Christians would affirm that they believe that.

But often that claim is undermined by our own actions. How can I say that? Because we’re willing to say that the Bible is important but we’re not willing to read it.

Saying that the Bible is important has become a meaningless Christian virtue signal.

I wonder if we fail to read God’s word because we don’t typically experience an immediate result. There isn’t any instant gratification even if we know there is a long term spiritual benefit. We don’t necessarily believe it.

And this is precisely how Jesus is challenging the official. Jesus doesn’t go with him and heal his son right before his eyes. Rather, he’s challenging him to trust him at his word. That his word is sufficient to heal his son.

The official had to believe the word of Christ without seeing an immediate result. And the word of Christ was the remedy for his sick son.

Likewise, for each of us here today, the word of Christ is remedy for your sin sick soul. Do you want to mortify your sins, do you want to be washed over by the grace of God, do you want to grow in godliness, do you want to know more about God and his character and who he is? Then devote yourself to the reading of God’s word.

Christ knew better (vv. 50-54):

But isn’t that true for how God works? God is at work even when we don’t necessarily see it. Just like how he healed the boy despite the official’s inability to see his health restored.

We know the rest of the passage. The official’s servant tells him that his son’s health was restored the very hour that Christ told him, “your son will live.”

But even more than that, the official thought his only trouble in life was his son’s sickness. He didn’t realize that he was sick too! His soul needed to be healed!

This is why we get this incredible statement at the end of verse 53. “And he himself believed, and all his household.”

The official went from desperate for a miracle, to believing that Jesus could heal his son from a distance, to believing that Jesus is the Christ or Messiah.

It isn’t just the son that ends up getting healed is it? The entire household is healed.

Isn’t it true that God knows what we need better than we do?

We’re like the official walking around unaware that our spiritual condition is terminal.

This is why Jesus was so committed to performing miracles of physical healing. It points to the fact that we all need spiritual healing!

We spend so much of our lives in ignorance of our own spiritual condition. We get so distracted by the cares of the world!

We have to wake up, head off to work, put in a solid eight hours, head to the grocery store, then pick up the kids, figure out what we’re going to eat for dinner, put kids to bed, stare at the wall for about an hour, then go to bed, only to wake up to start the whole process all over again!

That’s a picture of my life. Most of you probably have some variation of it. Where does the Lord fit into your life? Where does the Lord fit into my life?

In many ways, this is the ingenuity of the church. We’re given one day in seven to stop thinking about ourselves, to stop thinking about the cares of this world, to stop thinking about me, myself, and I - and to take a moment to stop navel gazing and to cast our eyes heavenward to the Lord and sustainer of life.

Afterall, there has to be more to life than politics and my immediate circumstances. This can’t get as good as it gets, right?

Because the Lord knows what we need - and what each of us need today, tomorrow, and always is Him. May we never forget this simple truth. Let’s pray together.