Focal passage: John 4:46-54
If you put “Signs of Christ’s Return” into an online search engine, you’d find many sites like “Eight Signs of Jesus’ Soon Return,” and “12 Signs …” and “6 Signs …” and “5 Signs …” and “SEVEN Signs …” and lots more. Obviously, people today are very interested in the signs of Jesus’ Second Coming.
The Apostle John was no doubt interested too, but even more so regarding the signs of Jesus’ first coming. Our current lesson series is entitled All Signs Point to Jesus — the signs being seven miracles that took place during Jesus’ life here on earth. Although Jesus did numerous miracles (that the other three Gospel writers recorded), only seven of them were included in John’s account.
These miracles were called ‘signs’ by John because they clearly demonstrated that Jesus was GOD who “became flesh and took up residence among us” (John 1:14). This week’s study is the second of those miracle signs; our lesson is The Sign of His GRACE. It’s from John 4:46-54 and is the story of a hurting parent hunting for hope and healing. Four dramatic moments are presented in this story.
The first is in verses 46-47: The Pitiful Plea of the father.
Mike Dawson
On occasions as a pastor I’ve been in the room with a family as their loved one breathed his or her last. I’ve been there with some of my own relatives too. I can tell you, no matter how committed to Christ the loved one and the family were, the final moment was tough. The father in this story was nearing that point with his son. This was in Cana where Jesus had previously performed the wedding miracle; so this dad, a government official, surely knew about Jesus’ wonder-working power. You can almost feel the emotion as the father pleaded with Him to come down and heal his son, for he was about to die.
The second dramatic moment is The Startling Statement of the Lord in verse 48-49.
We might be shocked to hear Jesus’ words that seemingly ‘scolded’ this man and his people, especially at such a time. But the Lord Jesus used every occasion to teach Kingdom truth. Knowing how quickly people can get caught up in signs and wonders rather than sincere belief, he spoke a word of caution before the declaration of healing. And by the father’s words and actions, he heeded the lesson! It’s almost as if he said, “Yessir, I understand; believing IS seeing. May we move on?”
Then there’s “sudden faith” because of The Wonderful Word of the grace of Christ, shown in a command and a promise, verse 50.
When Jesus said Go, the man departed; when He said Your son will live, the man believed — even though his faith might have been partial here at first. But no more seeking signs and wonders; just “trust and obey, for there’s no other way…”
The final moment of drama is The Faithful Follow-Up of this father and the family, verses 51-54.
When this father discovered that his son was healed at the exact hour Jesus spoke the word, his faith became complete — and he led his entire family to Christ! “He himself believed, along with his whole household.”
Healing grace, like saving grace, IS amazing, isn’t it? B&R — Dawson is pastor emeritus at First Baptist Church, Columbia, and has served as transitional interim pastor at numerous churches since his retirement from full-time ministry.
