The Gospel of John - Outline Part 10 - Finishing Strong

TITLE

John 4:43-54 – Finishing Strong

EXPLANATION

Continuing on His journey, Jesus reached Galilee.  He received a warm welcome in Cana, where He had performed the previous miracle of turning water into wine.  And, He was given another opportunity to demonstrate His power.  An official came to Jesus and asked Him to heal the man’s son, who was sick to the point of death.  Somewhat bluntly, Jesus chided the man for his requirement of seeing miracles before evidencing genuine belief.  Undeterred, the man pressed Jesus for healing, a request He finally consented to.  He told the official to go on home, and his son would live.

Sure enough, the man’s servants met him on the way home.  They confirmed that the child had been healed at the exact time when Jesus said he would live.  Because of this demonstration of miraculous power, the text says the man believed, and all his household.

APPLICATION

The official from Cana seems to begin in a bad light in this passage.  We are given a glimpse into his motivation by Jesus’s rebuke of his materialistic request for healing.  Yet, Jesus compassionately heals the man’s son anyhow.  And it is at this point that something interesting happens in the text.  John records for us in verse 53 that the man and his household believed.  This is curious, because we were already told, back in verse 50, that the man believed.  There seems to be a special significance in this second expression of belief.  This is corroborated by the additional detail that John gives of the man’s household believing along with him.  I think this second round of belief was genuine saving faith.  The man came to Jesus looking for a quick miraculous fix.  But he left and received eternal life because God quickened his heart to believe in Jesus as the Son of God.  There is no grammatical evidence to support this hypothesis, because the exact same Greek word is used in both verses.  However, I think the context demands a different interpretive conclusion between verse 50 and 53.

Why is this relevant?  I think it has huge significance.  Quite often, in evangelism, exhortation, confrontation, or instruction we do not immediately receive the results we would like to see.  People reject the gospel, they dismiss our words of rebuke, they are offended that we have brought up a sensitive topic, or they go to sleep during a lesson or sermon.  Yet, this example from John 4 tells us not to give up on people.  It instructs the instructors to never lose faith, to always be ready and willing to observe the power of God at work in a human heart, even when that power is not displayed on the time table we think it should have been displayed on.