Seven Miracles - Pt 7

Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering. 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.” 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. This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee. (John 4:50-54 ESV).

There is another point I want us to revisit before we move to the third miracle in John’s account. We must not forget the purpose of the “signs.” John is showing us the greatness of Christ by this astonishing miracle; but as a part of that, John wants to help us overcome obstacles to seeing the glory of Christ in the text. The way he does this is by showing us the kinds of things that keep people from honoring Christ. We should take note of two things that prevent us from seeing the glory of Christ. These are subtle, internal impulses we are tempted to give prominence in our lives that are very destructive. 1. First, there is the danger of the pride of attachment to someone special. It is a kind of vicarious sense of importance. The people could say that this great miracle-worker grew up in their town. This makes them want for him to do his miracles. So they “honor” him in that way. They don’t see the glory of humble service. They don’t feel the need for his grace. They use him. His power and fame feeds their pride. And so they don’t honor him for who he is, even though they think they are. This impulse is very much alive today and can infect us and keep us from knowing Christ the way he really is. We can be attached to a church, or a movement, or a music style, or a person, or a ministry in a way that starts to feed our ego. And when that happens, it becomes harder and harder to see Christ for who he really is—the one who saves by grace alone, and who calls us to lowliness and servanthood. 2. A second impulse that may be in us is a sense of entitlement. If he is “our Savior” instead of “the Savior” then we get special concessions. This mindset is still with us and creeps into our souls. If you ever start to feel entitled in yourself to the blessings of Christ, you are falling away from grace. A sense of deservedness or entitlement will keep us from knowing Christ. 3. And third, almost the opposite of the first two (but that’s how devious and subtle sin is) is a sense of over-familiarity with Jesus. This man is one of us. We know Him. He becomes ordinary. We are so familiar with the Bible and with Jesus, that it can’t shock us. He can’t do anything that overwhelms our thoughts. He becomes too familiar. We must guard against these three impulses in our own souls. The first two (the pride of attachment and a sense of entitlement) minimize his grace. And the third (over-familiarity) minimizes his power!