Power cannot command a fever to leave. In John 4, a nobleman of Herod’s court has influence, resources, and every physician within reach, yet his son lies at the point of death in Capernaum. He travels to Cana and begs Jesus to come down to his house. Jesus refuses, and gives him a word instead: “Go thy way; thy son liveth.”
Fr. Steve Macias preaches on the journey between the promise and the proof. “The man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way.” Before he saw his son, he trusted Christ’s word, and his whole house came to faith.
Preacher: Fr. Steve Macias
Occasion: Twenty-first Sunday after Trinity
Scripture: John 4:46–54
Four Things from This Passage
- Desperation becomes the way Christ gives faith. The nobleman did not come to Jesus first. He came because everything else had failed: “I’ve tried everything else. Let’s try Jesus.” With St. John Chrysostom, Fr. Steve observes that every parent of a dying child exhausts every option. Yet sickness, weakness, and need become the very occasions through which God gives faith.
- Christ’s word deserves confidence before there are visible results. “Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe” is spoken to all who trust Jesus only for His miracles. The world honors men by rank, wealth, and prestige; Christ calls us to believe His word. Where God speaks, it is true.
- Faith is only strengthened by obedience. Faith grows in stages; it does not fall on us like lightning. It is not strengthened by signs, shortcuts, or miracles, but by doing what Christ has said. The nobleman learned that Jesus does not always answer as we ask, and he went home without Him.
- Faith that becomes established becomes fruitful. “Himself believed, and his whole house”: not only his family but his servants and his household were changed. You cannot believe on behalf of your child or repent on behalf of your spouse, but the man who obeys leads his house in the way of the Lord: “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Again and again God spares the sons: Isaac on Mount Moriah, the firstborn of Israel at the Passover, the widows’ sons in the days of the prophets, the son in Capernaum. Yet the Father “spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all.” On the cross Christ took the sickness and sin of us all, and gave us the defeat of death.
So stop waiting for signs. Believe that God has spoken, and trust Him with your marriage, your children, and your future. Go home. Thy son liveth. Go home and get to work. Your future is made new again.
Join us for worship at Saint Paul’s Anglican Church, 101 N El Monte Ave., Los Altos, on Sundays at 10:30 AM, with a fellowship meal after the service. Plan your visit.
