John 4:43-5:15
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Intro/Background
Tonight we are going to read about 2 different miracles that Jesus did to heal people
And we’re going to see the role that faith and obedience played in each of the miracles
Let’s go ahead and jump right in!
Lesson - John 4:43-5:15.
Verses 43-47
Miracle #1 - Jesus heals a nobleman’s son
So Jesus is in the town of Cana where He did His first miracle - turning water into wine at a wedding
And while He was there, this nobleman comes up to Him and begs Jesus to heal his son
Nobleman = royal official, so he worked for the Roman government as a pretty high up dude
That tells me a few things about him:
He was wealthy - could buy whatever he wanted
He was powerful - he made things happen
He was used to people doing what he ordered
But he has this pretty big problem, his son was really sick. Sick to the point of death
The nobleman comes to see Jesus about his problem
All his money wasn’t able to buy him a solution
His power wasn’t able to influence someone to heal the son
His authority didn’t matter when it came to sickness
Something else interesting, it says the nobleman came from Capernaum
That’s ~20 miles away from Cana where Jesus is at
He comes and implores (begs) Jesus to heal his son
He doesn’t order Him or try to pay Him, he’s pleading with Jesus to heal his kid
You start to see what’s going on in this man’s heart
Desperation, hurt, fear, humility, but some faith
He knew that his power and wealth couldn’t fix this problem, but he had heard of this guy who could do it
He comes humbly, very important for us to see there, he comes humbly to ask Jesus to help him with his big problem
Jesus has this kind of interesting response
Verses 48-49
Many people were following after Jesus to just see the miracles - we’re going to see that later in Chapter 6. So this was a way to test this man’s faith
Jesus knew the man’s heart, He knew where his faith was at, but He still asks him publically to teach the crowd and to get the man to confess his heart
The man says, “Please, you need to come before my son dies!”
This wasn’t a game or a magic trick he was looking for, he was desperate, but he had faith that Jesus could heal his son
Verses 50-54
Jesus tells him to go back home and that his son was healed
The nobleman could have had a few different reactions to this news, but he chose to believe Jesus
He put his faith in the word that God said and then lived like he believed it
He starts to head home
He’s not begging Jesus to come home with him, he heard Jesus tell him what would happen, and he believed it
He takes his time to get home
On the way his servants meet him to tell him his son was healed, and this guys asks when and the servants tell him yesterday.
Maybe this dude got to Jesus late in the day and had to spend the night somewhere, maybe he took his time getting home, but he’s not rushing at all costs to see if it actually worked - he believed Jesus at his word and his actions showed it
Next miracle
Verses 1-6
Kinda crazy scenario here for miracle #2
Jesus goes to Jerusalem, and there’s this pool there called Bethesda
And there was this tradition that if you were sick or injured, if you waited by that pool, at some point an angel would come down and stir the waters of the pool and the first person in would be healed
We don’t know if that was true and God healed people this way, or if this had become a legend that people just believed it
You see people put their faith in all kinds of weird things when it comes to physical ailments, so I can see if it was just a legend that you’d still have all these people believe it
B/c you didn’t want to be left out, people would camp out there in advance of when the certain time was (probably at religious feasts)
We meet this one dude in particular who had been trying to be the first in the water for 38 years
We see later that he’s a paralytic meaning he can’t walk
Yet he believed in this legend so much that he’d show up year after year after year with some slim hope it might be him finally.
He had a disadvantage against the others who’d show up - he couldn’t walk! Yet he still kept coming
Jesus sees this man there and asks him, “Do you want to get better?”
This man could have been like, “Ya think!?” and had this attitude and everything, but instead we see the brokenness of his life in his response
Verse 7
I want to be healed, but I think it’s impossible. There’s no one here who will help me. I’ve tried and I’ve tried but I’m never the first one in the water
Verse 8
Jesus tells him something absurd, “Just get up and go home”
Think of all the excuses this man could have had!
“Who are you?! Why do you think you could say that to me?”
“How bout you help me get into the pool?”
“You’re crazy!”
Verse 9
Just like the nobleman, he believes what Jesus says and he gets up
Something kinda cool here, what is the order it says happens in vs 9?
He’s healed, and then he decides to get up
I believe that the man didn’t have this Disney animated movie moment where he rises up into the air and beams of light shoot from his legs and he feels so different. I bet that Jesus healed him and the man couldn’t tell the difference
He had to step out (literally!) in faith to trust that what Jesus said would happen.
Jesus didn’t heal him b/c of his faith, but the man needed to display his faith to receive the benefit of the work Jesus had already done
So this dude gets up, takes his mat that he’s laying on, and goes home
There’s one other problem though, it’s the Sabbath
One of the 10 commandments is to keep the Sabbath day which was a day of rest, you weren’t supposed to work
But the religious leaders went crazy with that law and made all these pointless rules about what counts as work and what doesn’t
Carrying a mat like this was considered work, so this man would be breaking one of these sacred man-made rules
Verses 10-15
The religious leaders confront the man - “You’re breaking the rules!” - more concerned about their rules than that this dude was healed!
He had been at that pool for 38 years, I’m sure they all knew who he was and the condition he was in!
So they question him and he says, “Some guy told me to do this”
“What guy?”
“I don’t know!”
Dumb dumb dumb that they care for their rules more than about another person
Jesus eventually finds the man again to encourage him
“It was me who healed you! And more important that being healed physically, you need to be healed spiritually (go and sin no more)”
Small Groups
We’re going to talk about faith and obedience now during our small groups and hopefully apply what we learned from these two miracles
Sample Small Group Questions
Sample Small Group Questions
Many of the crowds that followed Jesus just cared about seeing the impressive miracles. In what ways are we typically more interested in what Jesus can do for us than what we can do for Jesus?
Why do we attempt to take matters into our own hands, rather than trust God to work them out?
If you were the nobleman and Jesus told you that your son was healed but you had to walk 20 miles home just to find out, what are some different reactions you might have had to Jesus?
When we do trust God to work difficult situations or problems out, why is humility an important thing for us to have?
Both mean who were healed obeyed what Jesus told them to do even though it seemed impossible. Why is it sometimes hard for us to take Jesus at His word?
What are some things God has told us in His Word that are hard for you to believe?
How do faith and obedience go together in our walk?
Why is it important that we put action to our faith?
What is something in your life you need to trust Jesus in and how can you put action to that faith this week?
Prayer Requests and Group prayer
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