Sign, Sign, Everywhere A Sign- "No Reputation, No Name, No Hope"

Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign- Miracle 2

-A story about a land with no reputation
-……………...a leader with no name
-…………and a lad with no hope

"These things are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name."

Jesus said, "All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me."

Jesus has total authority over everything. There is nothing outside the authority of Jesus.

Everyone and everything are subordinate to Jesus.

We see it in the way He commands the forces of nature, which He designed and created, by turning water into wine.

We see it in the exercise of His authority in matters of life and death, both His own and other’s—and ultimately in the matter of eternal life.

John 4:45-54- the second sign that John writes about

Pleading Request (4:47)

-The leader with no name came a long way
-He was most likely a nobleman of sorts, but his connections with the King’s palace, the country’s government, and the county’s doctors could not help him
-Can you imagine being in such a desperate situation that you are willing to expose your reputation for a chance?
-I mean, this man most likely has access to the palace, and Christ was basically a peasant
-The reality of life is that the greatest of men must become beggars before God
-He is no different than most of us in his pleading. There is a ton of desperation, and a measure of some believe, but his prayer or request expresses a perceived limitation on Christ’s ability to answer it, and, therefore he sort of fleshes out the solution to Jesus.
-In other words, he asks Jesus to ‘come down’ and heal his dying son. We have a barrier of geography here. We have a barrier of physicality here. We have a barrier of time here. Here is what I want you to do and here is how you need to do it.
-We have a tendency to limit Jesus by our own perceptions of barriers
-We are encouraged to pray, but we should not prescribe to God exactly how to answer the prayer in some sort of either/ or fashion
-Lord- please heal, whether by word or touch, but even then your will be done
-The total authority of Jesus over life and death

Pointed Reply (4:48)

-At first glance Jesus reply appears to be cruel. What parent would not go to God when their child is in trouble and plead with Him for help?
-Yes, there is a gentle rebuke here to the leader with no name
-Christ will at times humble us with seeming frowns before He honors us with splendid favor
-Most likely Jesus’ abrupt retort is directed to others as well who happen to be around
-Where do I get that from?
-The pronouns (you) ‘you see’ and ‘you believe’ are plural.
-The abruptness and rebuke is also primarily for the benefit of the curious crowd gathered around
-There were other Galileans who were there with an insatiable desire for more spectacular works such as they had already seen at Jerusalem just recently
-Curiosity seekers who had an appetite for wanting to feast on the food of seeing a miracle rather than banquet on believing that Jesus was Messiah. Do you seek a miracle worker or do you seek the Messiah?
-You see a tension that exists that we deal with
-the affect of the spiritual power of the Word –versus-
-the attraction of the sensible power of miracles
-He first came preaching repentance. The miracles followed the Word.
-He came to transform the heart, and not titillate the eyes.
-The leader with no name’s response (vs 49) for the lad with no hope was imploring and respectful and urgent and desperate all at the same time
-It is a sign of good demeanor and of humility when we take a gentle rebuke and the pointing out of some faults well without responding in anger
-This is very, very important lesson to learn here. Oftentimes when we go to God in prayer for anything, but especially for something that is desperate to our hearts, God’s way of answering is to first work on us, then to work for us.
-In other words, in the midst of that situation He will start to work on our character, and our conduct, in order to make us more Christ-like.
-The total authority of Jesus over life and death

Powerful Response (4:50)

-The answer to prayer, the healing is not done the way the man asked
-The answer to prayer, the healing is not something that is visual to everyone
-It’s clear that Jesus is not interested in defending His reputation per se. He will honor His name in the way He chooses, whether we agree or not.
-The answer to prayer is accomplished through the Word
-The answer is without so much as breaking a sweat. It is done with the ease of a spoken Word, and without the trouble of a 15-20 mile hike
-The barriers and restrictions are our perceptions, but they are not reality
-We pray here, and God can answer anywhere. There is no geographical, or physical, or time, or state-of-life restrictions for God
-Here the healing beams of the Son of righteousness are dispensed from Cana to Capernaum some 20 miles away, but could have just as easily and quickly been dispensed from one end of heaven to another
-When He denies what we ask, it is because He will give us what is much more to our need
(we ask for ease, He fosters patience)

-Pray the problem
-Pray with persistence
-Pray with passion
-Pray without restriction
-Pray with realization
-Pray awaiting response

-In the land with no reputation, a leader with no name, prayed about a lad with no hope. The nobleman came with certain parameters and outcomes in mind. But Jesus was looking beyond the lad. He was working on transforming the leader’s own heart, and not just healing the lad, but saving the entire family.

-The total authority of Jesus over life and death, and ultimately over eternal life