John Study 6: 4:27-54

Dear Student of the Word,

Time has come once again for your dose of the Word, this time from the fourth chapter of John's gospel. We study this week how Jesus' time with the woman at the well ended and then we see Him return to Cana, the site of His first miracle, to heal the son of a royal official.  Jesus truly did go about doing good to all people.  I am learning so much about Jesus from this study of John; I hope you are, too.

This week I wrote on the sixth day of this seven-day lesson:

4:47 – The royal official heard that Jesus had come.  I wonder if this man had been in Jerusalem or if Jesus’ fame had preceded Him to Galilee, so that the man was waiting for Him when He arrived.  The man seemed to have easy access to Jesus.  I marvel at how many modern church leaders work to make themselves inaccessible to the people with whom they come in contact.  The people are greeted by closed doors, administrative assistants and “armor bearing ushers.” 

It wasn’t so with Jesus and I try not to make it so with me.  I make myself accessible, available to meet with people or for them to at least touch me.  I feel that if I have something that someone needs to do their job or to help them function, I must serve them by making myself available to give that to them as quickly as possible.  When I am offered an “armor bearer” when I am in Africa, my standard response is, “I don’t have any armor to bear.”  If I am in my office, my door is always open.

The royal official was not impressed with his own stature or position.  He knew that he needed help, or rather that his son needed help.  He was not too proud to beg God to do what he and his royal connections could not do.  Are you begging the King to do for you what you cannot do for yourself? 

v. 48 – Jesus’ response seems a bit curt and harsh.  Yet, we know that Jesus knew the hearts of men, so He was obviously seeing something here that no one else saw.  The issue wasn’t just the healing of the boy; the issue was faith in Him.  And Jesus knew that unless He did signs and wonders, the people, or at least some of them, would not believe.  Do you need God to do great things before you will put your trust in Him?

v. 49 – The man persisted in begging Jesus, knowing that Jesus was the only hope for his son. He assumed that Jesus would have to be present for the son to be healed.  Like with the water-to-wine miracle, however, Jesus did not have to speak or in this case even be present.  He willed the boy healed and the boy was healed.  What’s more, the man assumed that Jesus had to touch his boy while he lived; he could not even conceive of the fact that Jesus could raise him from the dead. 

Where are you assuming you know what God must do for you to be helped or healed?  Where are your assumptions holding you back? 

v. 50 – Jesus spoke the word and the boy was healed. What’s more, the man believed what Jesus said and went on his way, confident that he had received the answer to his plea. There is an image here of prayer and it is that you pray until you get an answer and, when you do, you are done praying.  You can go on your way.  There is also a picture here of how God works.  He sends His word and His word is capable of achieving what it is that He sent it to achieve:

So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it (Isaiah 55:11).

As always, I welcome your comments to this week's study. You can write them or find the studies to Corinthians, Colossians, First Timothy, and Matthew's and Mark's gospels on the site where this week's entry is posted. You can also go there to sign up to receive each week's study.

Plus my website archives contains a complete collection of all my verse-by-verse Bible studies from Matthew, Mark, Luke, Acts, Romans, 1&2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1&2 Thessalonians, 1&2 Timothy, Hebrews, James, 1&2 Peter, Hebrews and Revelation, along with the unpublished Faith Files.

Download John Study 6

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THE SOPHIA FUND:  I received the following email from Kenya this week, written by Pastor Francis at the Upako Orphanage:

This is to let you know that we received $1000 from you through Sarah Network for the feeding of the orphans at Upako Centre Nairobi.We are indeed very grateful to you and all involved in this and we have channeled the money to the children's food kitty and to no other use. I will give the breakdown of what we bought with the money after use.

I also want to congratulate the wonderful people who visited Kenya with you and got the opportunity to visit Upako,they too made a difference and may God bless all of you. Finally, keep us in prayer so that you may continue helping Upako Children alongside other projects in Kenya.

Every penny you send will go to feed the poor in Zimbabwe and Kenya. Nothing goes to overhead or administration.  Won't you consider helping orphans and widows today? You can read about my rationale for The Fund here (named after my late mother) that will help feed widows and orphans in Kenya and Zimbabwe. 

Please consider a contribution of at least $5 toward the fund and hopefully more.  You can use the "Chipin" widget on the Monday Memo site to contribute, or go directly to my website to contribute there through PayPal, or send a tax-deductible check to PurposeQuest, PO Box 91099, Pittsburgh, PA  15221.  Make sure you let me know it is for The Sophia Fund. Don't delay; give today and make a difference in the world.

The most recent posted entry about The Sophia Fund is here.