Who can help in this situation?

Sermon Notes: Who can help in this situation? John 4:43-54

Here in this passage we have this Royal Official, a top Civil Servant who is in deep desperation and distress. Why? Because his young son is at death’s door.

1: This man turns to Jesus at a time of crisis and great distress in his life. Verse 46-47.

Jesus at this point is in Cana while this Royal Official lives, 20 miles away in Capernaum.

His son is very seriously ill. In desperation the man leaves his dying son not even sure he’ll still be alive when he gets back. Yet his father is so desperate that he won’t go to anything or anyone else except Jesus. Why?

Because he’s heard about some of the miracles that Jesus had done.

Haven’t we done that? We’ve been thrown into some crisis and we’ve prayed those 999 prayers, ‘O Lord, please, HELP! Get me out of this trouble and I’ll do this, or I’ll stop that, or I’ll start doing this! And of course, we somehow never get round to doing those things.

Yet our God is amazingly gracious and extraordinary generous and merciful.

2: This man takes Jesus at His Word; and is willing to act on the strength of only a promise.

V49, ‘The royal official said, ‘Sir come down before my child dies.’ This man’s need are real, his desire is genuine, and his request to Jesus is sincere, ‘please come sir before my child, my little boy dies.’

If Jesus doesn’t step in and heal his young boy, well then who can? V50, ‘You may go, your son lives.’

The civil servant expected Jesus to come back home with him and lay hands on the boy and heal him. But instead Jesus simply says in verse 50, ‘You go. Your son will live.’

Is this a push off? Or is this a question of TRUST? Can he TRUST Jesus? Can he TRUST the words of Jesus?

How can you really TRUST Jesus and His words?

Answer: When we are prepared to do what He tells us, even though we can’t see anything or feel anything different.

All this man has is a command and a promise. Will he obey and act on the strength of it and go and do what Jesus has said?

3: This man trusted Jesus fully.

1. He’s heard something about Jesus, and he believes that maybe Jesus could help and heal.
2. He meets Jesus and listens to Him and is prepared to step out in faith and trust with only a promise from the lips of Jesus.
3. He comes back down the road and he sees the servants running. Is his little boy dead? NO! They’re so excited, so happy, so overjoyed because the boy is alive and well.

But when did he recover? When was there this critical change?

Yesterday!

Verse 52, ‘When he enquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, ‘the fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour.’’

At 1p.m. The exact time Jesus had spoken; and the boy’s father had trusted Jesus’ words.

John adds this postscript in verse 54, ‘This was the second miraculous sign that Jesus performed, having come from Judea to Galilee.’

This is God’s Son and He speaks God’s powerful WORD. Do you take Him at His Word in your life and life situations?