From Fever Relief to Family Belief

How far would you travel to pick up some medicine that would relieve your sick child of their condition? It is logical to assume that any lengths necessary would be on the table in order to help out your child. Most of the time we don't have to travel very far since we have access in most cases to pharmacies which are open 24 hours a day. However, this luxury wasn't available in the first century. In our lesson from John 4:46-54, there was someone much better than a pharmacy to consult for a cure, and his name is Jesus.

In this story we find Jesus coming again into Cana of Galilee where he performed his first sign. He was approached by a nobleman who was probably an official in service to the king, probably Herod Antipas the Tetrarch of Galilee. This man possibly could have been Chuza, the king's household manager as referenced in Luke 8:3 (Westcott 78). His son was sick with a fever, near death, and he wanted Jesus to come down to heal him before he died. Capernaum was at a much lower elevation than Cana, hence the phrase "come down." Jesus eventually sends the nobleman on his way home where he would find his child well, and he in fact determines from his servants when he returns that it was indeed the very moment that Jesus told him "your son will live" (53) that he was healed. It is in this account of the second sign of Jesus that we see faith on display from fever relief to family belief.

The Nobleman's Faith Was Conditional

We've all heard of people who had to see something to believe it. This writer was once told stories by his wife (at that time girlfriend) and her father of seeing something crossing the road that looked like a kangaroo. Needless to say, that is something that would have to be seen to be believed in middle Tennessee! A few years after that it was documented that some local deer hunter had killed one and had its picture in a local market. This writer was also driving down the highway one day to see a helicopter perched on top of a powerline tower. Again, that is something that somebody would have to see to believe. We probably all know people like this, and we might even be one of them.

Jesus was confronted with this in dealing with the nobleman. This is what prompted Jesus to say what he did in verse forty-eight. The nobleman seemingly felt that Jesus had to be present to heal his son. Has your faith ever been conditional? Have you ever been like Thomas in John 20:24-29? Remember that before he saw Jesus upon the other disciples' report of seeing the Lord Thomas required visible and physical proof before he would believe. Consider also the reaction of Naaman in 2 Kings 5:11. Before he was obedient, he reacted in a very animated way to the command of dipping seven times in the Jordan river, thinking that the prophet should come in person to stand and call on the name of the Lord and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. Paul says "for we walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Cor. 5:7). Don't let our faith be conditional on what the Lord does or doesn't do for us in times of distress.

The Nobleman's Faith Was Critical

We know what someone means when they say someone is in critical condition, whether they're in the hospital, at home under hospice care, etc. The nobleman's son was critical in the sense that he was near death. We don't know what kind of illness he had but he did have a fever. The nobleman was trying to act before it was too late. Think about this - is it ever too late for Jesus to heal someone? Case in point, look at the story of Lazarus. Martha and Mary both told Jesus if he had been there Lazarus would not have died (John 11:21,32). Jesus proved that he can not only heal the sick but also raise the dead, as he has the power over death.

What are we willing to do to act on our faith? Peter's faith was critical - it caused him to get out of the boat when the Lord called him (Mt. 14:28ff). Yes, he did start sinking, but at least he acted on his belief. As the nobleman's faith was critical in the health of his child, the health of our souls is much more critical than our physical well-being. Don't let a crisis be the only time you act on your faith.

The Nobleman's Faith Was Contagious

Colds and viruses can be contagious, but good things can be contagious as well, such as a smile or great attitude. The nobleman's faith in Christ was contagious. Not only did he believe in Jesus but also his entire household did as well. This reminds me of what we're told of the Philippian jailer in Acts 16, where his whole household was baptized into Christ.

Do we have a contagious faith? We ought to be contagious by sharing our faith with the world, but we certainly need to be contagious around our family. When we're sick, the most likely people to be infected are our families. Passing on our faith to our families makes sense, because they're the most likely to be influenced by us. Consider Noah in Genesis 6. He was unable to save anyone else except for his family. Does that make him a failure? That idea would be absurd. It's a wonderful thing when we can ensure that we are taking our families to Heaven!

It seems that this nobleman had two levels of belief in Jesus: one in his word and two in who he was. It was the result of this encounter with Jesus that went from fever relief to family belief. What will it take for you to believe in Jesus as the Son of God?

Rescue by Refill

We've all heard of the typical things that go wrong at a wedding. You know, like when the bride trips coming down the aisle; the candles won't light properly; the aisle runner won't unroll like it's supposed to; the preacher forgets to have the people sit down (it happened to this writer!). In the case of this particular Scripture of focus, it's not what happened during the wedding but after.

In the custom of Jewish weddings a feast ensued after the marriage ceremony where the bride was actually considered married once she entered this "festive evening meal" (Edersheim 359). It is this wedding feast for which we find the setting for Jesus' first sign in John's gospel, the changing of the water to wine. In the old Mighty Mouse cartoon the animated superhero would yell "here I come to save the day!" Jesus would find himself needing to save the bridegroom from a potential disaster. The reading comes from John 2:1-11 where Jesus is at the wedding with his mother and his disciples in Cana of Galilee. Let's see what happens in this story where we see a "Rescue by Refill."

Jesus Was Aware of the Absence of Wine (1-5)

A host of a party commits a big no-no by running out of food or drink. Knowing how many people are going to attend a function such as this is necessary as proper preparations have to be made to ensure the right quantity of refreshments are available, whether it's a super bowl party, catered meal, etc. The bridegroom made the mistake of running out of wine. It was Jewish custom that the bridegroom was responsible for paying and providing for everything at this event, which could be quite costly. This was an error in etiquette; you've heard of fashion faux pas, but this was feast faux pas!

As if Jesus didn't know it, his mother made sure he was aware of the absence of wine. Much has been said about the manner in which Jesus replied to his mother by calling her "woman," (4) but in that day and time there was not even a hint of disrespect in what he said. He was letting her know that when it was time for him to act he would do so. Notice she believed in him wholeheartedly for she told the servants to do whatever he said. Could she have been reflecting on the fact that she knew this was the Son of God? (Luke 1:35) Even after finding the boy Jesus in the temple, the reply that Jesus must be in his Father's house made Mary treasure all these things in her heart (Luke 2:51) It seems as though her faith in him was concrete to prompt the response "do whatever he tells you" (5).

Jesus Rescued the Day by Refilling the Wine (6-8)

When your beverage runs out at a restaurant you can get a refill. Even when you run out of drinks if you're hosting an event, you can still drive to the nearest store to pick up more. There is no worry about having to say bye bye to your beverage! Life in the first century did not lend itself kindly to resolve a situation such as this. In the midst of a wedding feast if you ran out of wine you couldn't just run down to the local Piggly Wiggly to restock like we would if we needed more drinks. Whether too many people forgot to RSVP or the bridegroom miscalculated on the appropriate amount of wine, he was now in a quantitative quandary!

Jesus rescued the day by refilling the wine. There were six stone water jars nearby which were used for purification. There were all kinds of laws for Jewish purification. The number six represented imperfection to the Jews, but this imperfect representation wasn't used to purify, but to provide the perfect replacement. The book of Hebrews is clear that the New Covenant is in every way better than the Old Covenant, and perhaps Jesus was demonstrating that as he began his ministry with this first sign. The volume of liquid contained in these six jars would be somewhere between 120 and 180 gallons. Jesus made sure the wedding feast went from failing to flourishing.

Jesus Manifested His Glory with the Miraculous Wine (9-11)

Many substances have been changed throughout the ages but only miraculously. If we alter a substance you must add to or take away from the chemical compound. Consider H20, which is water. Add another atom of oxygen and you get a completely new compound called hydrogen peroxide, H2o2. Human beings cannot change the properties of substances miraculously, but God can. Consider the changing of Aaron's staff into the snake or the changing of the water to blood, which were both signs to Pharaoh in the book of Exodus. These were changed miraculously, but not by human beings. Only God has the power to transform properties such as water into wine.

Notice the reaction of the master of the feast to what had happened. As he tasted the wine, he realized what he had just put into his mouth. The custom for Jewish wedding feasts was to use the best wine first, then when guests have had their fill to serve a lesser quality wine. The quality of wine that Jesus provided last exceeded that of what the bridegroom provided first. This writer believes to get into a discussion of whether the wine was fermented or not is fruitless (no pun intended), and it loses sight of the meaning of the sign performed by Christ. However, research has been done and there are methods of preserving the juice of the grape both in unfermented and fermented conditions. The meaning of the better wine is not totally known other than to know it was far better quality than the previous, but it shows just as Merrill C. Tenney writes that Christ is the master of quality (http://faculty.gordon.edu/hu/bi/Ted_Hildebrandt/NTeSources/NTArticles/BSac-NT/Tenney-TopicsJohnPt2-BS.pdf).

Jesus manifested his glory and his disciples believed in him. Jesus affirmed that the man who was born blind in John 9 would result in the works of God being displayed in him. The works of Christ being signs, miracles and wonders showed that Jesus truly was the Son of God. Just as John says of the signs of Jesus, "but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name" (John 20:31). His disciples believed in him. Don't look past this statement, because the proof is written for us to believe!

While it does seem interesting that only a handful of people knew what Jesus did at Cana of Galiliee, there is no denying the fact of how amazing this was. Jesus truly showed that he was the master of quality by coming to the rescue as he refilled the wine, even as an upgrade in quality. Jesus' first sign involved him providing what is referred to by many as the blood of the grape to rescue the party. How much more meaningful should it be to us that Jesus later provided his blood to rescue those who would partake in him?

What Tools Do You Use for Bible Study?

I came across an article today that got me to thinking about some different tools which we use for Bible study. Many of us who are preachers use concordances, lexicons, commentaries and other resources to help us in preparation of our lessons. Many people use highlighters to make certain passages stand out in Scripture. Others might use sticky notes to mark certain pages. How many of us use something like razors and glue sticks in our Bible study?

One of the most recognizable names in the history of the United States of America is Thomas Jefferson. He was our third President (1801-1809), he was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, he is one of the faces on Mount Rushmore and he is on the two dollar bill. While he is recognized as one of the greatest figures in the history of the United States, there is something many people don't recognize him for that can be quite troubling.

Thomas Jefferson was an individual who didn't believe a lot of what is in Scripture. He didn't believe in the virgin birth, the divine healings, the exorcisms and resurrections from the dead. It is stated that he felt these parts of the Bible were "superstitions, fantacisms and fabrications" (http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/11/my-take-how-thomas-jeffersons-secret-bible-might-have-changed-history)

With a razor and glue brush in hand Thomas Jefferson would set out to create his own version of the Bible for his private study by cutting out the passages he didn't believe and glue the ones he wanted to keep in his perceived order. He aligned all of these using English, French, Greek and Latin translations. I've heard of picking and choosing, but this puts a whole different perspective on that.

We are told by an inspired Paul in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 "all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work." It is not our liberty to believe some parts of Scripture and cut out what we want to dismiss. Even with some of our older generation who have viewed the Old Testament as unnecessary for us today, I have heard statements like "I don't want that Old Bible because we don't go by that," yet Paul told us "for whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope" (Romans 15:4)

The next time you sit down to study your Bible, what will you use? A highlighter or a razor? Will you accentuate or will you eliminate? The choice is yours!