A Word About Faith

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

A WORD ABOUT FAITH

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 Feast, 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 miraculous signs and wonders," Jesus told him, "you will never believe."  49 The royal official said, "Sir, come down before my child dies." 50 Jesus replied, "You may go. 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, "The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour." 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 all his household believed. 54 This was the second miraculous sign that Jesus performed, having come from Judea to Galilee.

NIV

It is noteworthy to consider all three of the other gospels record the event in which Jesus made the statement about having no honor in his own country. It does not appear he was speaking of Galilee in general but specifically of Nazareth, his hometown where he grew up. Each one of the accounts includes the townspeople making comments about Jesus being the son of the carpenter, just a lad who grew up in town, nobody special. However, Jesus headed over to Cana and this is where he encountered the royal official. Jesus’s response to this urgent begging of the nobleman was not pointed directly at just the nobleman, for Jesus used a plural, “You people”. If we see what is going on here, the royal official came some way to seek out Jesus because of his sick and dying son. This is not a man of no faith, this is a man who believed Jesus could do something about his son’s condition. However, it would appear the Galileans, in general, were lacking as much faith as this royal official. Is our faith based on miracles or simply because we believe?  Why do we believe? Why do some seem to believe more than others? Do some lack faith unless they see something supernatural? Is it just an intellectual faith that some have? We read the scriptures and some people believe and some do not. It is true that without the Spirit ,belief is impossible. But some of us have seen and have experienced the hand of God in miraculous ways. Was that because we lacked enough faith? Some of us needed that kind of sign from God to prove he is real and does listen to our requests, which resulted in our faith in him. Some of us have simply grown up in a home that always believed, but never actually saw the hand at God at work in a miraculous way. Do we all have different degrees of faith? Does it matter, as long as we all have faith? The scripture says that we cannot even have faith unless God gives it to us.

Rom 12:3

3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.

NIV

Is the measure equal, or does God give one measure to one and another measure to another? We know God does not show favoritism, so we would have to believe he treats all of us exactly the same, given each of us the same measure of faith. So then how can some lack enough faith? Or as Jesus puts us, being men of little faith. Could that mean although God gives us this measure of faith that if we do not exercise it, or use it, it becomes weak, or little? The royal official simply took Jesus at his word. Was it because of him taking Jesus at his word, that his son lived, or would his son lived just because Jesus said so, whether the man believed or not? The narrative does not tell which was the cause, Jesus said his son would live, or because the man believed. Either way, faith is essential in seeing God work in our lives. Let us be people of God given faith. Let us believe with all our being. No doubts, not a single shred of disbelief. Just faith.