The Difference That Knowing Jesus Makes

Music. Please turn in your Bible to John chapter 4 in verses 43 through 54 will be the text for this morning's sermon.

As we conclude our study on this chapter and then next Sunday we will jump forward to John 20. Obviously as we celebrate the resurrection.

So John chapter 4. I'm going to begin in verse 43 and read to the end of the chapter verse 54. And as is our custom would you please stand with me as we read and honor God's word together.

After the two days he departed for Galilee. For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.

So when he came to Galilee the Galileans welcomed him having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast. So he came again to Cana in Galilee where he had made the water wine.

And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee. He went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son.

For he was at the point of death. So Jesus said to him. Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe. The official said to him.

Sir. Come down. Before my child dies. Jesus said to him. Go. Your son will live. The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way.

As he was going down his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering. So he asked them the hour when he began to get better. And they said to him. Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.

The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him. Your son will live. And he himself believed and all his household.

This was the second sign that Jesus did when he came from Judea to Galilee. May God add a blessing to the reading of his word. Please be seated.

A few years ago when my son Jack was about five years old. Our church at the time had a carnival that we hosted as a fundraiser to meet a need for a family in our church.

And one of the games that we had had the prize of goldfish. Real goldfish. And so of course that was a popular game.

And of course that was a game that my son really wanted to play. And we came home that day with two new goldfish. And Jack was super excited.

And we had to go to the store. And we had to buy all the things that you need to accommodate for pet goldfish. An aquarium. Some things to put in the aquarium.

So I guess they're not bored when they're swimming around. Obviously food. The whole time that this is going on. I'm expressing my concern kind of in the background to my wife Danny.

That these fish are going to die. These fish are going to die. And he's going to see them. And we're going to have to have this conversation for him.

That I'm not sure that his five-year-old mind is ready to fully comprehend. Amen. And so Jack was super excited. Got the fish home. He even named the fish. I can't remember both of their names.

I know one was named Mike. So I guess that was in some way an honor to me. But anyhow, a couple days go by. And I'm at my office at the church.

And I get a phone call from Danny. And she tells me that the fish are dead. That they're floating at the top of the tank. But that Jack hasn't really noticed or hasn't really said much about it yet.

And she asked if I would go to Walmart to buy two more fish. And so that's what I did. I went to Walmart and I bought two fish and brought them home.

And we snuck around and got him distracted. And I was able to dispose of the old fish and put the new fish in the aquarium.

And little did I know that Jack is a very observant kid. And so he noticed that the new fish were speckled in places that the other ones were not. And so I told him, well, I lied to him.

Well, sometimes goldfish grow spots. And so sure enough, these two new fish, new Mike and new whoever his name is, are doing fine.

And then they likewise die. They meet the same demise. And so at that point in time, my wife and I, we had a conversation. And it was like, well, we can't keep doing this over and over again.

We're going to put an end to the goldfish population of our community. And so I decided that I'm going to sit down with Jack and I'll explain to him what has happened to his fish.

And so I remember the goldfish bowl was in our kitchen. And so I picked him up and I sat him down next to it. And the fish were there, present.

And so I explained to Jack as best as I could what had happened and why it had happened. And as best as I could explain to a five-year-old.

And so I just remember that as I'm explaining it to him, his face just got sorrowful, more sorrowful and sorrowful and sad because he realized that his pet fish were dead.

And so when I finally got done explaining things as best as I could to him, he asked me a question. And he said, well, so what do we do with them now?

So I said, well, buddy, there's a couple things we could do. We can have a funeral. We can bury them in the backyard or we can flush them down the toilet.

To which automatically his expression completely changed. His eyes lit up. He's like, let's do it. And he jumped off the counter and ran into the bathroom.

Never had I seen a person go through such a range of emotions in so short of an amount of time. And so I mentioned that story to you this morning because I think that it fits so well with the range of emotion that the noble man who came to Jesus, knowing that his son was on the verge of death, must have experienced that next day when he realized that his son, who was so close to dying, was well.

And it was a result of Jesus' miraculous healing of him. The Bible tells us it doesn't matter who you are. Sooner or later, you are going to experience sorrow.

You're going to experience tragedy in this life. It doesn't matter whether you are rich or poor or whether you are black or white, whether you are male or female, whether you are young or old, believer or unbeliever, tragedy inevitably will become a part of each one of our lives.

And no matter how hard we try to protect ourselves against tragedies from happening to us and to other people, there is nothing that we can do to completely avoid them.

We just don't have that much control over our lives and over our circumstances. Now, few have experienced the depths of sorrow that Job did.

Job's story is recorded in the pages of Scripture. And in Job 5, 6 through 7, he reflects over the issue of sorrow. I want to read that with you this morning.

Job 5, 6 through 7, he writes, For affliction does not come from the dust, nor does trouble sprout from the ground, but man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward.

In that chapter, Job speaks of the sorrows of this life. But he also speaks in that same chapter of the unparalleled joy that can be experienced through knowing God.

So I encourage you to read that chapter. In fact, read the book of Job during this time of downtime that we seem so many of us to have on our hands now that we didn't have before.

But for now, I want to reflect briefly on what Job said in verse 7. Job says there that man is born for trouble.

And the truth of that statement is seen from the moment of birth. I've heard doctors speak about the adjustments that a newborn baby has to make as soon as it is born into this world.

For nine months, it's rested comfortably within the uterus of its mother. Then suddenly they are pushed and they are pulled into a hostile environment where they must immediately begin gasping for air in what is akin to feeling like you're being strangled.

Then as the child grows, it must learn how to live independently from its mother and its father. Feeding itself. Dressing itself.

Eventually, going to school. Then, after that, getting a job and earning a living and providing for themselves. And throughout all of this time, that child will experience failure.

Their plans will go awry. Relationships will be painfully ended. They will get bumps. They will get bruises. They will get scratches and they will get stitches.

They will catch viruses. And become ill. And eventually, they, like all of us, experience the inevitability of death.

And then that which lies beyond it. Those aren't pleasant thoughts for me to reflect upon when I think of my own children.

Besides praying for their salvation, the second request I most often make to God on their behalf is for their safety. But I know that this world has fallen. And I know that they, like me, will experience pain and even tragedy in their lives.

I don't say these things to bring us down this morning. Because certainly we see there is enough sorrow right now in this world without our having to emphasize it at all.

We see it every day. But rather, I'm pointing this out in order to get us thinking about how you and I will react or are reacting when such events like these come into our lives.

What will we do? Will we be overcome by them? Or will we triumph over them in victory? And so what I hope to show you this morning, as revealed in this scripture that we've already read, is that through Jesus, Christians will and do triumph over sorrows that we encounter in this life and in the life to come.

These verses that bring chapter 4 to a conclusion show us is how we can have such victory and reveal the impact that knowing Jesus has when we are both overcome with sorrow or filled with joy.

And so this is the main idea for this morning's sermon. Knowing Jesus makes our times of joy more joyful and our times of sorrow less sorrowful.

To best apply this passage to our lives today, we need to review where we've been. So let's go back to verses 43 and 45 and then we'll trek back even a little bit further into chapter 2 so that we can grasp more fully what the Lord has to show us in this passage.

And so again, I'm going to read John 4, 43 through 45. It says there, After two days, he left for Galilee. Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.

When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover festival, for they also had been there. So on the surface, reading these verses, it seems like there's a contradiction.

Jesus says that his hometown wouldn't honor him, and yet when he returns with his disciples, they welcome him.

So what do we do with this? How do we reconcile these statements? Well, John, the human author inspired by the Holy Spirit who wrote this gospel, was no dummy.

He's not contradicting himself, but is instead, I believe, making a very telling observation about the nature of the people in Jesus' homeland and also the nature of people still today.

Seldom in Scripture are we told about the tone of voice or about the inflection of Jesus' voice when he spoke to people. We also have little to no way of knowing the facial expressions or gestures that were used by those who speak in Scripture.

Sometimes we get an editorial comment that provides us with that information, but those are rare. As a result, sometimes the text, when read out of context, can seem to say one thing, but when the context within which it is contained is understood, we can then understand it more fully and completely.

So the Galileans were eager to welcome Jesus back, but John's pointing out that they were welcoming him back for all the wrong reasons.

They didn't welcome him as the Messiah, but as a worker of miracles. Here John contrasts the irony of how the Samaritans, whom Jesus has just left, and whom the Jews looked down upon, how they had received him as the Messiah, and how they had concluded that Jesus is the Savior of the world.

They had recognized that he had been sent from the Father to reap a crop for eternal life in verses 34 and 36. In all this, they came to believe and to confess without Scripture recording Jesus as having performed even one miracle amongst them during his time spent with them.

In other words, their faith in Jesus did not depend upon his miraculous works. However, the Galileans, and all the rest of Israel for that matter, on a large scale rejected Jesus as the Messiah, though he performed numerous miracles in their midst.

So John here in verses 43 and 45 points out the irony of how the Samaritans turned to Jesus and acknowledged him as the Messiah was the Messiah was the Messiah.

While many in the covenant community of Israel either actively opposed him or could not get past their fascination with his miracles or their desire for him to be some kind of political revolutionary.

And they wouldn't believe, as John testifies, would be the case in chapter 1 verse 11. It says there, He came to his own and his own people did not receive him.

Jesus may have been popular in Samaria for all of the right reasons, but as he presses on to his own country, to his own people, their rejection of him ultimately will lead him to the cross.

So knowing Jesus, truly knowing him, means knowing him as Lord and Savior. Not merely as a worker of miracles.

Not simply as a good moral teacher, but knowing him as the Lamb of God who takes away your sins. Who has suffered and died in your place.

Who has borne your burdens. Who on the cross endured the wrath of God for the sins that you have committed. If you say that you are a Christian and you believe that the Bible is the Word of God, well, this is what it says.

Let's look in a few places about what it has to say about this very thing. John 3, 36. We've been here already in this study. There it says, Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life.

Whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. 1 John 4, 10. In this is love.

Not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Romans 5, 8 through 9.

But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since therefore we now have been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.

1 Thessalonians 5, 9. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. If you know Jesus in this way, then it will make your times of joy more joyful, and it will also make your times of sorrow less sorrowful, because you know, as 2 Corinthians 5, 21 says, Christ's death and resurrection explains how sinners can be reconciled to God.

Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God, was treated on the cross as if he were a sinner, though he was not.

And there, he suffered, and he died. He was condemned in our place, though he was innocent. The wrath of God was exhausted on him, and the just requirement of God's law was meted out upon him.

He took our sins as our substitute, and we who believe receive his righteousness. God the Father treated him as if he committed believers' sins, and treats believers now as if they did only the righteous deeds of the sinless Son of God.

This is not a fair exchange. But because God so loved the world, he sent his Son, Jesus, who willingly made the sacrifice to atone for our sins so that we can have peace with God now and forevermore.

The love and the justice of God met at the cross, and the empty tomb reveals that Christ's payment was received in full.

And like him, we too will be raised from the grave. And you know, if that was the only miracle that the Bible ever recorded, we would have more than enough reason as believers to be hopeful and joyful in all times, in all circumstances, all ways.

To know Jesus means to know him in this way. As your Savior, who took your sin upon himself, and who bore God's punishment for it, and who rose again on the third day, and was victorious over sin and death.

If you know Jesus, then you share in his victory. And that makes your times of joy more joyful, and your times of sorrow less sorrowful.

And we as believers will experience both joy and sorrow in our lives. Here in John 4, 43 through 54, God provides us with two principles of what we are to do during our times of sorrow.

The first principle is this. In times of sorrow, turn to Jesus. In times of sorrow, turn to Jesus.

So the story begins by telling us that Jesus came into Cana where he had previously made the water into wine. And then it ends with John's remark in verse 54 that this was now the second sign that Jesus did when he came from Judea to Galilee.

And so what we see here is John is doing something intentional. He is putting both of these miracles side by side. And he is doing so in order to express something, to put something, to press something into our minds about this very thing.

Both the miracle of the water turning into wine in Cana and now this miracle of the nobleman's son who was ill and near death and who fully recovered as a result of Jesus' healing power.

So there are some similarities between these two miracles that we need to look at. First of all, it's interesting to note that both of these miracles occurred on the third day.

These are third day miracles. The miracle of turning the water into wine occurred after Jesus left the area of the Jordan River to return to Galilee. While the miracle here took place three days after Jesus determined that he would leave Judea and return to Cana through Samaria.

Additionally, both of these miracles include a rebuke from Jesus. In the first case, Jesus rebuked his mother Mary. In the second case, Jesus rebuked the noblemen and those who had gathered around to observe this conversation.

Also, it's interesting to point out that each miracle occurs from a distance. Jesus merely speaks the word and the miracle takes place in some other location.

location. Another interesting comparison is that it is the servants in both cases who first observe the miracle that has taken place.

The servants of the wedding are the first to see the water changed into wine just as the servants of the noblemen are the first to see and to report to this man that his son was well.

finally, each account concludes with a statement that those who saw the miracle believed. In the case of the first miracle, it was the disciples of Jesus who believed in John 2.11 while in the second, it is the noblemen and those of his household who believe as a result of the miracle.

And so, these points reinforce the need of comparing these miracles side by side yet, the most significant thing or aspect to glean from comparing these miracles is not how they are similar but how they are different and there is one major difference between both of these miracles.

On the one hand, we have a miracle that of turning the water into wine taking place in a setting where people are celebrating. A wedding is a joyous and happy occasion.

Conversely, the second scene is a sorrowful scene. An anxious father comes to Jesus with the news that his son is dying and no doubt his illness caused anxiety and depression and fear to amount not just in the father but in everyone who was a part of his household.

So, in comparing the two, we see there is a time of joy and there is a time of sorrow and that Jesus is needed in both situations and circumstances.

Archibald Campbell observed from these two miracles that Jesus is more than equal to either occasion. He has a place in all circumstances. If we invite him to our times of innocent happiness, he will increase our joy.

If we call him to our times of sorrow, anxiety, or bereavement, he can bring consolation, comfort, and a joy that is not of this world. In pointing to this truth, John is further demonstrating that Jesus truly is the Savior of the world.

He is pressing into our minds the truth that Jesus is the Savior of the world at all times in all circumstances.

In these verses here, John stresses to us the truth that Jesus is the one whom we should turn to when we are sorrowful. In despair, that is what the nobleman does.

He turns to Jesus. Again, it's interesting to note who this man was. The Bible says there in my translation that he was a nobleman.

And although there are some similarities between this situation and the one of the centurion recorded in Matthew 8, they are not the same people and these are not the same stories.

The man is a nobleman. In the Greek, that is a term that referred to someone whose job related to the king. So it's most likely that this man held some kind of a position within the court of King Herod at the time, which meant that this was a powerful man and a wealthy man.

However, neither his wealth nor his powerful position could cure his son of his illness. Neither could his position or his power or his wealth bring him comfort during a time of intense sorrow.

sorrow. Whatever faith he may have had in his title and in his possessions, he's realized is totally incapable of altering the sorrowful situation that his son was in and that he and his household was in as well.

So somehow, news that Jesus was back in the region reached the nobleman's ears. And so he makes the trip to Cana to beg Jesus to come and heal his son.

While the nobleman displays enough faith to find Jesus, we see that his faith still is lacking as displayed by his insistence that Jesus come with him, come down to Capernaum with him.

So apparently what this says about the nobleman is he had enough faith to believe but he believed that Jesus would have to come with him in order for his son to be healed, that Jesus had to be physically present, that Jesus would have to touch him in order for his son to be made well.

Now there are many cases in the Bible where Jesus healed by touch. In fact, there's the case of the woman who is suffering from a hemorrhage who touched Jesus without his being aware of it, though he's omniscient, we know that he's aware, but she touched him in faith and she was healed as a result of that.

However, it is important that we understand that Jesus being God is not limited in any way and therefore we should never approach him as if he has limitations.

So Jesus now zeros in on the man's faith and he does so in order to teach him a lesson that will grow the man's faith. And so in verse 48 we hear Jesus rebuke.

He says, unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe. Jesus' statement spoke to the reality that many of those who were following him were doing so merely out of curiosity or to be entertained.

They wanted to hear what Jesus would say. They wanted to see what Jesus would do. And so his statement also served to test them but primarily I believe to test the sincerity of the nobleman's faith.

And the nobleman persisted with his request. In verse 49 he says, sir come down before my child dies.

And so here in those words we see that the nobleman was truly noble. He was not offended by Jesus' rebuke. This carpenter from Nazareth though he was a person in society of great importance.

Nor did he try to justify himself to Jesus based upon those things. He didn't say, look I'm an important person. I have important contacts. You should want to help me. He didn't do that. Instead he was humble.

And he humbly acknowledged his need for Jesus. And then he awaited his answer. So here then is the first answer and really the main answer in how we are to triumph in sorrow as far as how we are to turn to Jesus when we are sorrowful.

And that is to turn to him humbly. Humbly. Turning to Jesus in times of sorrow, has a way of growing our faith.

Because it's in those times that we more fully realize our own limitations. And it's in those times that we more fully realize the sovereignty of God.

And in those moments we acknowledge our weaknesses and in so doing we acknowledge God's strength. faith. But unfortunately you probably like me have often been guilty of first turning your focus to yourself.

And it's only after you've turned that focus to yourself to try to make things better that you finally turn to God. Because we have this way of thinking that we can just pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps.

We can figure this out on our own. I don't need help. I can do this. But scripture's encouragement is that we first and always turn to the Lord with our anxious feelings, with our desperate thoughts, with our fear-filled attitudes and turn to the Lord.

Look at what scripture says. Matthew 6, 33-34. Jesus preaching the Sermon on the Mount and talking about worry and anxiety he says, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you.

Therefore, do not be anxious. Not sometimes, do not ever be anxious about tomorrow for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.

Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. And then Philippians 4, 6-7. Do not be anxious about anything, anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving.

Let your requests be made known to God and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, here's the promise, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Now, I'm sure that you, like me, have had moments where the weight of whatever you were going through drove you to your knees and if you, like me, they've, in fact, driven you further down than that to your face in prayer because whatever you were going through at the time was just sapping the strength out of you physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

And there's been a handful of times where that's been the case with me where I just felt like I collapsed on the ground, overcome with whatever anxieties I was encountering at the moment.

And then just crying out to God in prayer, realizing that there's nothing I can do to change this, there's nothing I can do to alter or fix this, and just primarily acknowledging my need for Him.

And it's been interesting that in those moments where that's been the case, that as soon as that prayer was over, when I stood to my feet, though as far as I knew, my circumstances were the same.

Nothing had changed. I felt totally different. I felt strengthened like I hadn't been before. I felt encouraged like I hadn't been before.

And perhaps this is why God asks us to pray so much to Him because prayer has a way of changing us.

God has a way of using prayer to change us, to remind us of who we are, more importantly to remind us of who He is.

And so when you are overcome with anxious feelings, turn to Jesus first, primarily, always.

But that's not it. That's not all that the Lord has to teach us from this passage about what to do in times of sorrow. And so the second principle is in times of sorrow, trust in Jesus.

And that comes from verses 50 through 54. So Jesus responds to the man, He says, go, your son will live. And the man, it says, there believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and then he went on his way.

to trust in Jesus is the most effective way to have your mind put to rest even when you are faced with sorrow.

So we understand here that Capernaum was the place where this man lived and it's about a four mile walk on foot from Cana where this conversation took place.

And so if this conversation took place in the afternoon, as many scholars suggest that it did, then the nobleman, if he was in a rush, if he was in a hurry, he could have made it back home that evening of that same day.

However, in verses 51 and 52, the nobleman's servants inform him that his son is well and when he inquires of them of when this happened, when did he recover, see, they tell him it was yesterday.

It was yesterday. So here we see the trust that the nobleman had in Jesus fully being displayed. He must have heard Jesus' words and then trusted in them.

So he took care, maybe, of whatever business he had left to do in that town before he headed back home. In other words, he was in no rush or hurry to race back home to see if Jesus could be trusted.

He trusted in his words. He believed. He turned to Jesus in his time of sorrow and he trusted in his word. He trusted in his promise that his son would be made well.

And he knew that Jesus was someone whom he could and should fully trust in. and as a result, we see in verses 51 through 53, as he was going down, his servants met him and told him his son was recovering.

So he asked them the hour when he began to get better and they said to him, yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. The father knew that this was the hour, this was the precise time when Jesus had said to him, your son will live.

And so he himself believed as well as his household. So he turned to Jesus and he trusted in Jesus. And as a result of that, his sorrow was transformed overnight into joy because not only was his son well, but most importantly, he knew Jesus as his Lord and as his Savior and not only him but all the rest of those who dwelled in his house.

So there are three applications that we need to take from this and apply to our lives and they're very applicable especially during these days.

The first is this, is that Jesus is the answer to our anxieties. The man came to Jesus, he talked with Jesus and then he went on his way without any tangible evidence that his request had been granted.

But he trusted in Jesus' words, he trusted in who Jesus was. Because meeting Jesus has a way and knowing Jesus has a way of taking our anxious feelings and having them go away.

Not that the circumstances go away but our thoughts about them change because we are thinking more with a heavenly mind. That this world is not our home, that we're passing through, that Jesus has overcome sin and death and that we share in that victory as well and there is no power or no force great enough to separate us from his love.

And so again, if you're anxious, what Jesus wants you to do is not to be stubborn about it, not to try to fix it yourself, nor to be afraid, but simply to go to him because he is the answer to our anxieties.

He is also the answer to our fears. And as we talked about a few weeks ago, that the greatest of all human fears is the fear of death. But as we reviewed then that Jesus' life and death and resurrection, they conquered that fear.

And though our prayers for deliverance or healing may not be answered in this life, they will be answered in the next. As Romans 8, 8, 28 says, and we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love him.

Who have been called according to his purposes. There will be circumstances where it may be hard to see that what God is doing is good or how God can work through that to do a good thing.

But we know that like the noblemen, we must continue on trusting in God and his word and his promises. Because ultimately we know that each of one of us will experience full and complete eternal healing.

And we will be physically in the presence of our Lord forever. Death is not the end for the believer. It is truly the beginning. And then finally, Jesus is the answer for everyone.

He's the answer for everyone. To this point, John has shown Jesus interacting with rich people and poor people, with educated people and uneducated people, with Jews and with Samaritans.

And so in so doing, he has shown that truly Jesus is the light of the world. That truly Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. That truly Jesus is the Savior of the world.

He has shown that in this gospel, that this gospel is for everyone. And so the gospel is also for you. It's for you. And so Jesus is speaking to you today.

And he invites you. When he asks you, when he invites you, come now. Let us reason together. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be like wool.

And he says to you today, as he said in Matthew 11, 28, come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Not I might give you rest. I will give you rest. And so I hope that you, like me, know that knowing Jesus has a way of making our times of joy incredibly joyful.

And knowing Jesus makes our times of sorrow less sorrowful. Because we know that in Christ we have redemption, we have salvation, we have hope that carries us through no matter what we experience in this life.

Because we agree that as the Apostle Paul says, to live is Christ, but to guide is gain. Thank you.