Last night, we continued our Wednesday Bible Study in John chapter 4:43-54. As most of you know this section is about a Royal Official coming to Jesus for the healing of his son.
Most preach and teach, from the pulpit, about this section, concerning the Royal official’s great faith. However, a closer look at the text reveals that it may not be quite the point, Y’shua (Jesus) was trying to teach.
To set the tone in this section, John reveals that Y’shua (Jesus) made two distinct statements.
1. “Prophets do not receive honor in their own country.”
and
2. “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will never believe.”
I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t sound like a prelude to an example of great faith, especially since he said the second statement, immediately after the Royal Official came to Y’shua (Jesus), about healing his son.
Before I go any further, let me say that the Royal Official did have faith to believe Y’shua (Jesus), at his word. However, the scriptures show that he didn’t truly believed, until after he received validation, from his servants, that his son was indeed healed.
That, my friends, is called, “What have you done for me lately?” faith and unfortunately, the faith of most believers fall into that category. That kind of faith is short lived and increases doubt and causes many to fall away, from the faith.
The scriptures are quite clear that true faith comes by “Hearing the Word of God.” Only by diligently digging into God’s Word, on both the literal and spiritual levels, with the Spirit of God leading you, can you achieve a lasting, loving and intimate relationship with our creator.
Only with that godly, scripturally based, relationship, can you achieve a lasting faith. A faith that will support you through the good times and bad...a faith that will allow you to see God as our savior...a God that gave his only Son, as the ultimate sacrifice, for our sins...the only sacrifice wholly acceptable to satisfy God’s righteous requirements of the Law. That sacrifice...that Son is Y’shua ha Maschiach, (Jesus the Christ).
Hi Keith,
ReplyDeleteyes I agree that many people's faith can be short lived if they do not receive what they ask for immediately. I have been going through a quite hard trial for some time. I have been having trouble with my joints and continuously praying about it and having others pray about it too. Yet many years ago I asked the Lord to teach me about sickness and healing because I had had miraculous healings, other healings and sometimes no healing. A couple of days ago I was texting my friend in Wales who is going through some hard trials. I had the television on at the time. We were talking about our trials and I mentioned that I still had not had my joints healed but that the scriptures state that there is a time for everything, even healing. I said ' maybe it is not the time yet.' At that exact moment I said those words someone on the television said 'It is not the right time yet.' How great is our God that He should accompany His Word to me with a sign like that. It increased my faith greatly, and I wait upon Him for His promise of my healing. It also encouraged my friend to remember that 'all the promised of God are 'YES' in Y'shua (Jesus), including her promises, which appear to be coming to pass.