Seeing Isn’t Always Believing
September 4, 2022
Preached by David McHale
Scripture Reading
John 4:43-54
43 After the two days he departed for Galilee. 44 (For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.) 45 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.
46 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. 47 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. 48 So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.”49 The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” 50 Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. 51 As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering. 52 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.” 53 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. 54 This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee.
In the early 2000s, the show Ripley’s Believe it or Not aired on TBS. It became popular for its circus–like collection of outlandish stories and acts performed by a peculiar set of people on the show. Whether it was the man who consumed sharp metal objects, a snake charmer, a person who had 700 piercings, or a man who could flick playing cards over a hundred feet, the show did not disappoint in providing a spectacle that kept you coming back for more.
In most cases, you wouldn’t believe these people if you didn’t see what they could do. After all, seeing is believing. Well, not necessarily. Seeing isn’t always believing. It depends on what you mean by belief. If by belief, you mean accepting the truth that something can be done, then sure. But real belief is more than that.
Compare the awe-inspiring acts that are performed on Ripley’s Believe It or Not to a man giving an engagement ring to a woman. Does a woman stand in awe at the capacity of a man to purchase such a beautiful thing? No. The ring means something more, it points to something – the love of the man for her and their future life together. If she says yes, a woman believes her (now) fiancé in quite a different way. She believes in his commitment, his desire to take up a new identity next to her. She believes in his love.
The kind of belief that we see called for in the gospel of John is much more like the latter. And Jesus continually presses people toward kind of true belief. True belief is not seeing but trusting – receiving. True belief is not seeing what Jesus can do but submitting to who He is. True belief is taking Jesus at his word.
Jesus did and does amazing things. But everything he does is meant to say something about who He is – his identity, his character, his mission in the world. He wants us to take him at his word, to know him, to trust him, to love him. This is true belief. Throughout John and in our passage this morning, Jesus presses us toward true belief. He does so by doing three things: (1) Jesus knows our desires, (2) he meets our need, (3) and he lifts our eyes.
Jesus knows our desires.
Imagine two people walk into a restaurant. A 16-year-old boy who has just finished soccer practice and a food critic. Why are they there? One is there because he is hungry, because he needs to eat. The other is there to assess quality of the food – whether it merits attention or praise. Who does the chef cater to in the situation? Well, if he wants popularity, he is going to work hard to prove his excellence to the critic and most likely, disregard the boy – after all, the boy has little to offer him. We see a similar set of characters in the story before us – a set of spectators awaiting proof and a helpless father with a dying son hoping for a miracle.
We have the Galileans, the Jews, and an official, most likely a man who served the ruler of Galilee at the time. Both the Jews and the official draw near to Jesus. They each do so for different reasons. They have different motives. They want something different from Jesus. What do you want from Jesus? Why would you draw near to him? Maybe you will find yourself in this story.
After graciously lingering with the Samaritans, Jesus enters Jewish soil. He is drawing near to his people. Now, John reminds us in v. 44 that “(Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.) or regarding this story, his homeland. “He came to his own and his own did not receive him” (Jn. 1:11). The refrain of the gospel of John is the skepticism of the Jews and their rejection of the Messiah. But here we read in v. 45, “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.”It seems like there is a glimmer of hope that the Jews are receiving Jesus.
They welcome him. But why? Because they saw what he had done in Jerusalem. Even more, Jesus is in Cana where he had turned the water into wine. We can probably assume that some of those servants spilled the beans. The Galileans had seen and heard that Jesus could do amazing things. Jesus was a spectacle to them. They were spectators waiting to watch the show.
In contrast, as the Galileans welcome Jesus, hoping to see a spectacle, a boy is dying in Capernaum (about 20 miles from Cana – so like, Elizabethtown). Read v. 47 with me, “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. He is “at the point of death.” He’s in the ICU – doctors have done all they can do. And as a loving dad who would do anything to save his boy, even if there is but a glimmer of hope in it, travels to meet Jesus.
Why is he drawing near to Jesus? Because he was desperate, weak, with nothing to bring but a request. He doesn’t come to see a miracle. He comes because he needs one. Death was at his doorstep, and he was powerless to keep it from breaking down his door. And all he had to go on was a word about Jesus, a word that there was a man who might help. In this, the official possesses the making of true belief for true belief begins with an acknowledgement of need and dependence on Jesus for help.
Who are you in the story? Are you the spectator waiting for Jesus to blow you away or are you empty-handed, desperate for his help? Is Jesus your only hope in life and in death? Or are you just here to watch and stand by until Jesus proves himself to you? What sign are you waiting for him to perform for you? Maybe you want societal reform, emotional healing, marital restoration. Or maybe you just want your guilty conscience consoled and your fear of death assuaged. Good things.
But if we want Jesus because he can give us these things, Jesus doesn’t really matter to us. It is what he can do for us that matters. And when we want Jesus simply because of what he can do for us, he quickly becomes a hired hand, a puppet, a genie, someone to use for our own ends. A genie matters only in so far as it gives you your three wishes. Their significance is contingent on what they can conjure. Jesus won’t be our genie – but he’ll be something better.
Jesus meets our need.
How does Jesus respond to this man and the Jewish onlookers in this passage? He speaks. That’s all. In some way, Jesus doesn’t do anything in Cana. Both parties wanted or needed Jesus to do something. But Jesus only says a word. In doing so, Jesus may not give them exactly what they want, but he gives them what they need.
When the man asks Jesus to heal his son, Jesus said to him, 48 “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” Even though Jesus addresses the man, he is speaking to all those in Galilee – presumably, those gathered there. Jesus is saying, “Unless you all see signs and wonders, you will not believe.” With a word, Jesus confronts the unbelief of the Jews, their preoccupation with signs and wonders. It wasn’t just that they wanted to see signs and wonders. They needed to them. They didn’t just hope for a display of power, but at points, they demanded one. Jesus claimed divine authority and the Jews believed that they were owed proof to legitimize such a claim.
Do you believe you are owed something from Jesus? Maybe you think that if you are going to have to submit to His authority over your life, then he ought to give you something in return. Is your relationship to Jesus a deal? Does your heart say, “I will submit and believe only if he shows me x, y, or z”? The Jews were not owed a thing from Christ and neither are we.
Even as Jesus speaks a word to the Jews, he does the same to the official. Read verses 49-50 with me:
49 The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” 50 Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.”
Jesus doesn’t condemn the official, he meets him in his desperation. With a word, Jesus heals this father’s son. But there is no spectacle in Cana, no wondrous sign to behold. Jesus doesn’t do anything in Cana, but only speaks. The sign that is given is a word of promise given to a desperate father. No one in Cana saw proof of this healing. Jesus did not offer any – no evidence, no verification, no scientific investigation could be done to ensure that the boy would live. They only had a word. “Go, your son will live.” They could either believe it…or not.
In giving only his word, Jesus is pushing both the Jews and the father toward true belief – a belief that doesn’t rest on seeing signs, but on trusting in his word. Jesus refuses to perform a song and dance for them to garner their belief. The Jews wanted to test him, but he didn’t play their game but goaded them to reckon with their hearts. The Jews didn’t need a sign, after all – they needed a Savior. Jesus didn’t give them what they wanted, but what they needed.
Have you experienced this from Jesus before? Maybe you wanted something from him and he didn’t give it to you but simply asked you to trust him.
I have dealt with depression for much of my life – most severely from about 2012-2018. For a very long time, I begged Jesus to take it from me. I begged on my knees, but I also begged while shaking my fist. And he didn’t heal me. At least, not in the way I was asking. He didn’t say no. He said, “Stay with me. I’m going to allow you to remain in the pit, but I’m going to come and sit with you. Stay with me. Listen to me. Draw strength from knowing I am with you – even when you have no consolation.” Over time, with the help of friends, I began to see the heart of Christ. By his grace, I was able to keep walking – even with weak knees, knowing that I was held in his hand. Now, I can look back and see that Jesus didn’t give me the healing or relief that I longed for but gave me himself. Though I didn’t always see it…he was enough. In some ways, that was the healing I needed. Healing wasn’t freedom from pain, but trust in a Savior who lives and wanted to walk with me through it.
Jesus withheld a sign from the Jews to lead them to conviction. With the same word, he confronted the Jews and comforted the official. Jesus was also testing this man, inviting him to take him at his word. And the official passed the test. Read with me starting in the second half of v. 50:
50 Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. 51 As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering. 52 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.” 53 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.
He and his family encountered Jesus that day, believed in his word. They found that their hope was well placed. But in performing this sign for them, he was not just meeting the need right before their eyes, he was lifting their eyes to see the greater hope held out in Jesus.
Jesus lifts our eyes.
Again, Jesus’ signs are not like the circus spectacles on Ripley’s Believe it or not, but are much more like a man who gives an engagement ring to a woman. He gives her something wonderful to say something greater. He is showing her his intentions, his love, and his hope. The woman is invited to take him at his word.
Signs were never meant to just shock people. Signs are meant to say something about Jesus. They testify to a truth greater than their own grandeur. Jesus doesn’t perform wonders merely to prove himself, but to proclaim his glory in such a way that draws people in to know him, love him, and worship him.
The amazing things that Jesus did were temporary. The reality is that though the official’s son was healed, it didn’t mean that he would live forever. In this way, the sign was temporary – it wasn’t the ultimate point of that day. To believe only in the miracle is to miss its greater meaning.
Jesus is showing that he has come to peel back the brokenness of the world. He has come to come face to face with the greatest evil – death. Jesus speaks and life triumphs over the grave. Sickness submits to him. He holds life in hands and by his word, he sends it out to whomever he will. But he didn’t make this boy well just show what he could do – but what he would do – how far he would go to bring life to all who would come to him with the empty hands of true belief.
Back in John 2, when the Jesus demand a sign from Jesus after he cleansed the temple, he denies them one. Instead, he says in verses 19-22,
19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
In standard fashion, Jesus denies them a sign, at least he delays it. He tells them of the sign that would do. The greatest sign – the sign of his resurrection. Jesus would be laid on his own sick bed. In similar fashion to the official’s son, Jesus would be “at the point of death” on a cross – but he wouldn’t be healed. He would die. His family would begin to grieve and lay him in a tomb. But in the same way that his word to the official – “Go, your son will live.” – was trustworthy to heal this boy, the word of Jesus regarding himself would be proved true. “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it up.” Jesus rose from the dead – the most marvelous sign of all. The resurrection shows that Jesus is Lord over all. The King has come. He offers real and lasting hope to all who would come. He gives life to those who draw near in desperation.
The resurrection can feel unbelievable. Thomas the disciple struggled to believe it. Even after hearing word from trusted friends that Jesus was alive, he declared in John 20, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” – Unless I see, I will never believe. Sound familiar. This is one of Jesus’ disciples, doubting. But hear the gentle-hearted response of Jesus,
27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Maybe you feel like Thomas. Maybe you are a Christian. Maybe you are intrigued by Jesus you’re your hesitant or your skeptical but searching, or maybe you are all three. And you say in your heart, “I don’t know how to take Jesus at his word. If only I could see a flesh and blood sign, then I’d believe.” Well, we have one – we actually have many. They are in this room. Every Christian is a miracle, a sign that proclaims the grace of the living Jesus, the Lord.
Consider the person who has been entrusted with much, but give more than any of us will ever know because they love Jesus more than prosperity.
Consider the man or woman who grew up skeptical of Christ because of the way Christians treated people, but is now humbly trusting in the love of Jesus and walking in a way that testifies to it.
Consider the person who hated Jesus because of their disabled sibling, but now laments to Jesus because they trust him enough to listen.
Consider the person who experienced a career ending failure, but is now walking in faithfulness
Consider the many men and women here who have lost loved ones and are still walking with Jesus, even with their own doubts and frustrations, because they are trusting in the resurrection.
These are signs of glory. Only God could do these things in people.
Do you doubt, pay attention to the signs of the Lordship of Christ among us. Keep your eyes peeled for them. Jesus is on the move here. These are stories of true belief. As we see through them to the only savior who could do them, we ourselves enter into true belief – and are invited to run to Christ like the official, with empty hands, and find hope in the One who is peeling back this present darkness and will do so for good in the day to come.
Sermon Discussion Questions
What do you want from Jesus? What do you need from him? How are your answers different
What is true belief? How is belief different from seeing?
In what ways, are your hopes too small? How does Jesus expand our hope?
What is the greatest sign (or miracle)? Why does it matter?
