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Proverbs 13:9-14
9 The light of the righteous rejoices, But the lamp of the wicked will be put out.
10 By pride comes nothing but strife, But with the well-advised is wisdom.
11 Wealth gained by dishonesty will be diminished, But he who gathers by labor will increase.
12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But when the desire comes, it is a tree of life.
13 He who despises the word will be destroyed, But he who fears the commandment will be rewarded.
14 The law of the wise is a fountain of life, To turn one away from the snares of death.
Father God, open the mind, ears, and eyes of the lost to see the miracles around them that are calling their souls to you. Help the lost to believe with their heart and not their mind. In Jesus name we pray, Amen!
Gospel of John 4:39-54 NKJV
This week’s lesson starts out with the conclusion of the Samaritan woman’s encounter and her spreading Gospel seeds to her community. There are two forms of conversion in this lesson; one based on believing by hearing the Word of God and the other based on miracles. Thomas is a prime example for us on believing. Let’s see what we can learn.
39 And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, "He told me all that I ever did."
This is a remarkable event for people to be saved. There must have been many in this community that was praying for the Messiah. It is no wonder the Holy Spirit sent Jesus through Samaria instead of around it. For people to believe just from the words of this woman shows the fields were ready for harvest. As a result of this woman’s testimony, many also came to Jesus and believed.
We should never despair of doing good in the most unpromising circumstances, and we should seize every opportunity to converse with sinners on the great subject of their souls’ salvation. If you hear the truth of God’s Word, what do you do with it, live it, or go on living man’s ways?
40 So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days.
What a joyous time this must have been for Jesus and His disciples to be welcomed here by the Samaritan city after being rejected by the Jews in Jerusalem. If only the Pharisees would have accepted Jesus like these Samaritans, but they didn’t and their animosity toward Jesus started and continued to grow. These two days must have been the greatest two days of this community’s life.
41 And many more believed because of His own word.
This verse is referring to those that heard the words of Jesus and believed during His two day stay there. They heard Jesus and accepted Him as their Saviour.
So we see here that these Samaritans heard the words of Jesus and repented of their lifestyle. Why is it then that these people heard the words of Jesus and believed, but today people can read the red text in a Bible and not believe? The red text is Jesus speaking to us, isn’t it? Why do people go on living according to men devised doctrine and the ways of the world, instead of heeding the red text of God’s Word or the Spirit inspired words of the Epistles?
42 Then they said to the woman, "Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world."
Then they said to the woman, "Now we believe, not because of what you said; This phrase should have been translated, “because of what you said we went and heard the words of Jesus and now we believe”. It was the words of the woman that piqued the interest of people that drove them to seek out Jesus.
For we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world; What a proclamation these people are making! Only one other time is this statement recorded in the Bible and that is in; 1 John 4:14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world.
43 Now after the two days He departed from there and went to Galilee.
Galilee was the site of the majority of His Ministry. He made His Headquarters in Capernaum. Most of His Disciples came from Galilee. Jesus native country was Judaea; He was of the Tribe of Judah; He was born in Bethlehem of Judaea. His adopted country was Galilee, because Judaea rejected Him, while Galilee somewhat received Him.
44 For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.
The phrase, “That a Prophet hath no honor in his own country,” speaks of Judaea, as Jesus was the descendant of David. Jesus also states this in Matthew 13:57, Mark 6:4, and Luke 4:24 Then He said, "Assuredly, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country.
If this was true of Jesus, and it definitely was, then the same is true of His followers. The hardest people for believers to witness to is family, relatives, and close friends, even though they see and witness a change in the person, they refuse to believe, which is so sad. Matthew 10:34-37 "Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. 35 For I have come to 'SET A MAN AGAINST HIS FATHER, A DAUGHTER AGAINST HER MOTHER, AND A DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AGAINST HER MOTHER-IN-LAW'; 36 and 'A MAN'S ENEMIES WILL BE THOSE OF HIS OWN HOUSEHOLD.' 37 He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.
45 So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they also had gone to the feast.
The Galileans received Jesus meaning they accepted Him into their community. It doesn’t mean they believed. They were present at the feast and saw firsthand the miracles He performed and heard His words and received Him as a messenger of God, although some did believe. They accepted Him out of what Jesus did and said and they hungered for more. Out of this hunger many became believers. A person has to have a hunger to know more about Jesus, a seven course meal hunger and not just an appetizer. The Galileans faith was based on outward observations and was weak, but Jesus was soon to rectify this weak faith, whereas the Samaritans only needed Jesus Words. What is your faith based on?
46 So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.
This nobleman was of the royal family and was probably an officer in Herod's service, possibly one of the officers of the court. Capernaum was about a day’s journey from Cana so he had walked approximately 20 miles to see Jesus and addressed him as "Lord," putting himself under Jesus even though he had legal authority over Jesus.
So this journey would be quite an undertaking for someone to walk 20 miles to request something of Jesus. This journey speaks volumes of this man believing Jesus could heal his son. A person can walk about 3 miles per hour and if they can maintain that speed it would take approximately 7 hours to walk 20 miles without stopping. So it could very easily take 8-9 hours with eating and resting along the way. By vehicle, from Streator to Huntsville, AL it is 601 miles; 8 hours 50 minutes; or Grand Island, NE which is 564; 8 hours 14 minutes. So here is the question for you. Is your belief such that you would travel all day to see Jesus and ask Him to heal your son or daughter, or would you say to yourself it is too far?
47 When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.
As stated in the previous verse this man believed that Jesus could heal his son. His son was at the point of death, so this was an urgent matter for this father. Although he was high in office, he did not hesitate to go personally to Jesus to ask His aid. This father believed that Jesus could save his son because of the other miracles Jesus had done.
This man was asking Jesus to come to Capernaum to heal his son. Evidently he thought Jesus had to be present with his son in order for him to be healed, probably due to other miracles Jesus performed and was present with the recipients.
48 Then Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe."
This verse tells us what Jesus saw in this Nobleman’s heart. He believed that Jesus could heal, but he didn’t really know or understand who Jesus was. This man’s faith was seeing Jesus or hearing about Jesus healing people. His faith was in his mind and not in his heart.
There are many people with this same frame of mind today. They know Jesus and who He is, but don’t love, honor, and cherish Him. They speak well of Jesus with their lips, but the actions of a deceitful heart speaks volumes of their faith. This person is not a believer and verse 53 tells us that. He was desperate for his son to live and he turned to Jesus as a last resort.
49 The nobleman said to Him, "Sir, come down before my child dies!"
As stated in the previous comment this Nobleman was desperate and this plea to “come down before my child dies” tells us that. As a parent you can sense his anxiety and love for his child. It was a matter of urgency that Jesus started moving His feet toward Capernaum, but Jesus is about to test this man’s faith with the next verse.
50 Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your son lives." So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.
Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your son lives."; I wonder what this man’s thoughts were when Jesus said this? Did numerous things flow through his mind like, really! You’re not coming. I came all this way for nothing? We don’t know but knowing how the mind works at times like these I’m sure there were some flashes of thoughts, but just as quickly as these thoughts may have come they left and were filled thoughts of belief.
So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way; We know this man was an officer of Herod’s; therefore he respected authority and accepted commands. He viewed Jesus as someone of authority, but not of the magnitude that He was. In view of this man’s respect for authority he believed what Jesus said that his son lives and obeyed by started his journey back to Capernaum. I wonder what type of thoughts this man had during his trip back home?
As Christians we are to ‘believe’ and ‘obey’ the Word of God.
51 And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, "Your son lives!"
When this man saw his servants at a distance coming toward him, I wonder what he thought. Was the news good or bad about his son. The news was good with the servants using the same words as Jesus, “Your son lives!” What joy must have been in this man’s heart.
52 Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better. And they said to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him."
Here this man gets assurance and confirmation that his son was healed by the words of Jesus and truly believed. The seventh hour was about one o’clock in the afternoon (if Roman time, 7 p.m.), which was the very time when Jesus spoke “your son lives”, and the fever left him. It appears the fever left him suddenly and entirely; so much so that his friends went to inform the father.
53 So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, "Your son lives." And he himself believed, and his whole household.
Faith of a person can grow and this official’s life event caused his faith to grow. First, he believed enough to go ask Jesus to heal his son. Second, he believed Jesus' assurance that his son would live, and he acted on it. Third, he and his whole house believed in Jesus. Faith is a gift that grows as we use it.
As stated in other lessons God calls and draws us to Himself in many different ways. Here we have an example of sickness being a calling to God. Sickness or any deep affliction is often the means of great good. Here the sickness of the son resulted in the salvation of the whole family.
54 This again is the second sign Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.
This again is the second sign Jesus did; This is referring only to Cana of Galilee. The first was the changing of water to wine at the wedding feast. Jesus performed many miracles between these two events. In both instances all Jesus had to do was speak the word and it was done. Jesus is the authority over all of creation.
When He had come out of Judea into Galilee; Everywhere Jesus went, miracles followed, plus the changing of individual lives and entire communities.
Jesus changes everything, and all for the better! He never leaves a place worse than He found it, but rather takes the person and the place to sublime heights of joy and peace. Jesus did this when He walk this earth in the flesh and still does it today!
Colossians 1:16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth,
visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.
All things were created through Him and for Him.
Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, Most assuredly, I say to you,
unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
The Lighthouse Full Gospel Church
Sinners Prayer; Pray this, and if you believe it with your heart, Jesus will save you!
“Lord Jesus I know I am a sinner. I confess my sins to you; I am sorry for my sins; I repent (Meaning, desiring to turn from a sinful lifestyle.) of all my sins, and I am asking for your forgiveness. I believe that only you can forgive sin. I commit my life to you and ask you to come into my heart, direct, and take charge of my life. I believe that you died to set me free from my sinful lifestyle and you rose from the dead to give me eternal life, and right now you are seated at the Right Hand of God Almighty. I believe you are the Son of God; the only Way, the only Truth, the only Life, and my Savior.” I believe this and have faith you will make a new person out of me, by sending the Holy Spirit to dwell in my heart and lead me in a new life. In Jesus name I pray Amen.”
(John 3:16,17; Romans 3:23; 6:23; 5:8; 10:9-13; Ephesians 2:8-10; 1 John 5:11-14; 1:6-10) (Sin: Rom. 1:22-32; Gal. 5:19-21; Eph. 5:3-7)
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