LCC Sermon on John 4:43-54

Hook: Weddings- Getting partnered with a giant

- Have you ever been a part of wedding?- it’s fun! Get the food first-that’s really the best part
- I just don’t like who I’m partnered with- not all weddings but most
- Who will I get partnered with? It’s a true David question, so I always ask
- You’re going to be partnered with my friend from college- she’s great you will really like her, I
think you guys will get along well but she’s a bit taller than you- just a bit
- So I meet her and she is so tall “Gigantor”- what is the definition of little bit?
- This has been mostly the story of my life (weddings and debut)- partnered with giants (even
though people say she’s not that “tall”)
- So I’m not doing it anymore- or I have veto power
- I’ve just been lied too- to many years- I need to see it before I believe it

Like the common saying that applies to most things: I can’t believe it till I see it

Is that always the case? Sure, but sometimes you can't see before you believe. We do this all the time.

Analogy: Think dating

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Hit Movie- “To all the Boys I’ve loved before”

- Famous line- “what do you put into a contract for a real relationship?”
- “Nothing- you gotta trust” You goin to break my heart, Covey
- Then she trusts those words and dates the guy, without seeing if the relationship will be work or
not

Analogy: Think Marriage

- In vows, I will love you forever and I will never leave you till death do us part
- Thank you- and put your full weight and trust on those words and marry the person based on
their words
- No idea if we would have a good marriage
- You have no proof that you’ll have a good marriage in the future, because it’s not possible to
prove that kind of thing.
- You just have to believe before you see it! And that’s how it works with us and Jesus too.
- I mean none of us have ever seen Jesus, we are not in a position to see the resurrection nor in a
position to see Jesus’ miracles
- We have to believe before we see. That’s what our main Bible passage is about.

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Passage: John 4:43-54

43 After the two days he left for Galilee. 44 (Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no
honor in his own country.) 45 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. 46 Once more he
visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official
whose son lay sick at Capernaum. 47 When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea,
he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death. 48 “Unless you
people see signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.” 49 The royal official said, “Sir,
come down before my child dies.” 50 “Go,” Jesus replied, “your son will live.” The man took Jesus at his
word and departed. 51 While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy
was living. 52 When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, “Yesterday, at
one in the afternoon, the fever left him.” 53 Then the father realized that this was the exact time at
which Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he and his whole household believed. 54 This was
the second sign Jesus performed after coming from Judea to Galilee.

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2 Points I want to explore today:

1. We need to believe before we can see- this doesn’t mean believing in something blindly it’s
actually the opposite- putting in the work in investigating what you have heard
2. We need to believe for those we love- this isn’t a private faith, it’s meant to be shared

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1We need to believe before we can see

Put yourself in the shoes of the man in the story. His son is dying. And his only hope was a story he had
heard that Jesus could heal his son. This man had a choice. He could either treasure his last moments
with his son. Or he could take a risk and go see Jesus and try to save his son! He goes to see Jesus even
though Jesus was really far away and the man had to walk a whole day to find Jesus.

So he finds Jesus, and he begged Jesus to heal his son. And Jesus said something that sounds really cold.
He said, unless you see signs and miracles you’ll never believe. And the man said, please just come heal
my son. And Jesus said, go, your son will live. That was his whole interaction with Jesus! But let me tell
you, Jesus wasn’t being lazy. He was doing something super important for the man.

What Jesus is doing is He is forcing the man to make a really difficult choice. Would the man insist on
seeing the miracle for himself? Or would he trust the stories that he had heard about Jesus?

Jesus wasn’t asking the guy to be gullible or to believe anything he heard. That man had reliable sources
who not only told him who Jesus was but also where to find him. And the guy had to trust the evidence
from the eyewitnesses who had seen what Jesus did. Because that’s the kind of faith every Christian
needs. We need to believe based on the evidence we find, and not necessarily based on having to see
things with our own eyes.

Actually we do that all the time with other things.

Analogy: Suppose you’re a single guy and you hear the girl you like is single now. What do you do? You
don’t say, well I didn’t see her breaking up with her old boyfriend with my own two eyes. I guess it’s not
true. No, you look into the evidence! Talk to people who know her!
You look into it

Is it true? Check their Facebook status? See that the deleted all their couple photos on their Gram

Sometimes the evidence is strong enough for you to make a life changing decision.

When you look at the claims of Christ- the claims of the Bible look into it

Are the eye witnesses in the Bible credible? 1 I mean in every court of law today, we rely on eye witness
accounts

Is there corroborating evidence for Jesus outside of the Bible? What does Josephus say about Jesus?
2
What does Tacitus say about Jesus?3

How about the resurrection? Why is the tomb empty? 4

The evidence is pointing somewhere. What do you have to lose by looking into it? If you heard that it
was possible to reunite with loved ones that have passed away or heard of this glorious future where
there is no death, no suffering, no disease- why not try?

If you ask me why I believe, I could probably talk for hours about why I believe. I guess briefly:

1
Between Jesus’ death and the Gospel of Mark there is a gap of roughly 30 years. So eye witnesses and enemies of Jesus would still be around
when the Gospel of Mark was circulating. If the eye witnesses were in their 20’s when Jesus was around, they would be in their 50’s when Mark
started circulating. It’s still conceivable for people who were in the position to know if it was true or not to be around, so if they had lied then
surely enemies would say something. Also see: Case for Christ by Lee Strobel, p. 32-34, The Reason for God by Tim Keller, p.104-106

2
Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man. For he was a doer of startling deeds, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with
pleasure. And he gained a following both among many Jews and many of Greek origin. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men
amongst us, condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him. And the tribe of Christians, so named from him,
are not extinct at this day (Josephus,Testimonium Flavianum)

And now Caesar, upon hearing the death of Festus, sent Albinus into Judea, as procurator. But the king deprived Joseph of the high priesthood,
and bestowed the succession to that dignity on the son of Ananus, who was also himself called Ananus... Festus was now dead, and Albinus was
but upon the road; so he assembled the sanhedrin of judges, and brought before them the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name
was James, and some others; and when he had formed an accusation against them as breakers of the law, he delivered them to be stoned
(Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews (Book 20, Chapter 9.1)
3
"Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their
abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of
Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke
out not only in Judæa, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find
their centre and become popular. Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon their information, an immense
multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city, as of hatred against mankind" (Tacitus (70-160, The Annals passage (15.44)

4
The earliest Jewish response mentioned in Matthew 28 accuses the disciples of stealing the body. NT Wright writes that grave robbery was
common. In fact in John, Mary suggests just that, when she says that they have taken him away. Nonetheless this is significant in the sense that
there was no argument about whether or not the tomb was empty. Everyone is arguing about what happened to the body? The peculiar detail
in all the Gospels is that its women that find the empty tomb first. A 21st Century person may say what’s wrong with that. But a first century
person would find it a big deal because in the 1st century women testimonies were not considered valid; they were not credible. So if I’m trying
to convince my 1st century audience that this really happened why in the world would I use women testimony- it wouldn’t make sense, unless
that’s what really happened (N.T. Wright, Surprised by Hope, p. 58-69)
 1. Best Explains reality- best explains the human experience- from our deepest pain to our most
intimate hopes and desires and longings5

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“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen, not only because I see it but because by it, I
see everything else.”- C.S. Lewis

2. Evidence for Jesus in history- that what was done was not done in a corner but publically where
friends and enemies of Jesus can confirm, where things can be verified and tested 6

3. Lastly, best reason for hope in the midst of suffering and a death- that it’s not hope based on
something because it feels good, or sounds good to the ears but based on a historical event in an
empty tomb

And if you want to talk more about it, I would love to go to coffee with you.

Look into it yourself

Obviously, you can't see into heaven. And you can't time travel back to see Jesus doing his miracles. But
you can do the work and look into the evidence and come to a solid conclusion, so you can believe
before you see.

That’s what the Royal Official did. He believed based on good evidence. And he put his full trust in Jesus.
And his decision to believe wasn’t just for him. It was also for his family.

Which leads to my next point:

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2.We believe for the ones we love

50 “Go,” Jesus replied, “your son will live.” The man took Jesus at his word and departed. 51 While he
was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. 52 When he inquired as
to the time when his son got better, they said to him, “Yesterday, at one in the afternoon, the fever left

5
What is Christianity? Christianity is a picture of reality. It is an account or a description or a depiction of the way things actually are. It is a view
of the world out there, of how the world really is in itself. The Christian worldview is not the only way of viewing the world, of course. It has
competition. Every religion and every secular philosophy claims to represent reality in a true and accurate way. Indeed, every person has a view
like this of some sort. Everyone has in his or her mind a story about the way the world actually is, even if they haven’t thought about it much or
worked all the details (Greg Koukl,The Story of Reality, p.23) I just believe that Christianity paints a truer picture.

6
Archaeology has been a powerful tool that has been used as of late to vindicate the historical veracity of the Bible. In times past, the Bible has
been heavily criticized since the age of Enlightenment as containing nothing more than fairy tales and fables, until archaeology has been helping
it vindicate its historical accuracy. One such example was that it was once thought that an ancient people called the Hittites never existed. They
are mentioned in eight different chapters of the Old Testament and mentioned to have had dealings with the Egyptians and had a treaty with
them. Early on, this was criticized as having no historical confirmation. Dr. Henry Winckler went to the area where the Hittites allegedly lived
and discovered over 40 of their cities. In one of the digs, a palace wall was found and on it was the whole treaty between the Egyptians and the
Hittites (Angelo Juat, Is the Bible Reliable, 2015) For more see: Case for Christ by Lee Strobel, p.92-108)
him.” 53 Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, “Your son
will live.” So he and his whole household believed.

The Royal Official had to first believe for himself, but it wasn't enough for it to stay private. It was meant
to change his whole family. And his whole family came to the truth together.

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Story: Jollibee Story #2- The news has been spreading.

- It’s on the news! It’s on Facebook! People are sharing videos! People are sharing pictures

- My Parents lined up 45 minutes. Sister. 2.5 hours wait in the snow!! I have a friend who lined up
5 hours!!!

We can’t help but share the news, we can't keep it to ourselves.

Whether it’s your favorite restaurant or your favorite tv show- we are just naturally inclined to share
what we have found

How much more Jesus? If you find it to be true - that there is a God who loves you and eternal life is
possible especially in the midst of suffering and death that we know is true. Or that redemption and
forgiveness is possible, that we don’t have to be a slave to our shame and guilt that can weigh on us

This ain’t Jollibee, it’s not even close to comparison. If you really believe it, it's meant to be multiplied,
meant to be shared- how can you just keep that to yourself?

How can you keep it private?!

I know people are resistant to Christianity. It’s possible to share and the person just rejects it, I mean my
friend waited for five hours for Jollibee, only to be disappointed with the chicken

But we have to at least try. We can at least pray. We can make every effort to impress on the people you
love your passion and new life in Jesus. It's worth trying especially if this is true.

It’s meant to be multiplied and shared.

Conclusion

We need to believe before we can see- this doesn’t mean believing in something blindly it’s actually the
opposite- putting in the work in investigating; looking into what you have heard

Some of us might be searching for truth- this is an invitation to investigate not dismiss, look into this,
compare, weigh the possibilities- what do you have to lose?

Even for Christians, an invitation to find confident reasons to believe, some Christians don’t even know
why- ask questions, share doubts! Look into it! Do the work!
We need to believe for those we love- this isn’t a private faith, it’s meant to be shared. It's not just for
you! If you can come to truth, its worth sharing!!