Jesus’ Miracles Are For Signs

Transcript

GR 347
2/3/1980
Jesus’ Miracles are for Signs
JOHN 4:43-54
Gil Rugh

The bulk of the 4th chapter of John is taken up with the ministry of Jesus Christ in Samaria, focusing around His encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well. That woman becomes a believer in Jesus Christ as the Messiah and goes and proclaims Him to her town and brings many from the town out to hear Him. The result is that many in that town came to believe in Him as well, so Jesus had a very successful ministry in the Samaritan region. Remember it would be a place you would expect to be no receptive to the message of a Jewish Messiah, and yet Jesus' ministry here is marked by great response and many believed in Him.

Verse 42 concluded that section with the Samaritans saying that "we believe and know that this one indeed is the Savior of the world." Tremendous perception, that they have not only come to believe that He is the Messiah of the Jews but He was a Savior for all mankind, Samaritans as well as Jews. So great perception. Jesus had had a ministry here of just a couple of days, and then He progresses on into Galilee.

Now the remainder of the chapter, through verse 54, is going to focus attention on a miracle that Christ performs. And it is the second sign, the second miracle that John focuses in on in detail. And you remember when John told us in the 20th chapter of his book why he wrote what he wrote. Why don't we turn back there just to refresh your minds, John chapter 20, verses 30,31. He tells us that he was very selective in picking out certain miracles that Jesus had done, and he had recorded them throughout his gospel. And in verse 30 we read, "Many other signs therefore Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written in order that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that by believing you may have life in His name." The purpose of recording these miracles of Christ were to cause us to recognize that Jesus is indeed the Messiah, the One sent by God to be the Savior. And when you come to believe in Him as God’s Son who died for you, you receive eternal life. A relationship with God which will go on forever.

So in recording the miracle that we have in chapter 4, this is consistent with John's purpose, to cause us to recognize that we are dealing with One who is not just a man, He is the Savior. Now, go back to the Book of Isaiah, the 53rd chapter because here we are told that the Messiah would be One who does miracles of healing. Important to understand that. So as John records these miracles that John does and a number of them are miracles of healing, it naturally supports the contention that He is the Messiah because the Old Testament said the Messiah would do these kind of miracles.

Isaiah 53, the greatest chapter in the Old Testament, on the death of the Messiah for the sins of His people. And note verse 4, "Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted." That word translated griefs, you'll note in your margin can also be translated 'sicknesses'. Surely our sicknesses He Himself bore. Many even today misunderstand Isaiah 53. We have discussions that revolve around the question is healing in the atonement? By that we mean, did Jesus die for our sicknesses as well as for our sins?

I was in a discussion this past weekend when I was west, and the man was talking about healing today. And sickness among believers and using Isaiah 53:4 to substantiate the fact that Jesus Christ has taken away our sicknesses, so it's not necessary for us to be ill as believers.

Go over to Matthew chapter 8 to see the interpretation that Matthew gives to this passage in Isaiah. Matthew chapter 8 and verse 14 and 15, Jesus comes to Peter’s home and heals Peter's mother-in-law. Peter was a married man, as were the rest of the apostles. Remember Paul said to the Corinthians, don’t I have a right to have a wife just like the other apostles do? So here Peter’s wife's mother is sick. Verse 15, Jesus touches her and heals her. Then verse 16 we are told, "And when evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill, in order that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, 'He Himself took our infirmities, and carried away our diseases.’" So here Matthew tells us that Jesus during His earthly life healed many people, so that He might fulfill Isaiah 53:4. Isaiah 53:4 has nothing directly to do with the death of Christ. It has to do with the earthly ministry of the Messiah. So Jesus went about healing people during His earthly ministry as a proof that He was the Messiah of Israel because one of the characteristics of the Messiah is that He is going to take away physical illness—it’s going to be true of Him primarily in His earthly ministry. When Jesus comes to earth the second time and sets up the earthly kingdom, He is going to take away all illness. The curse will be removed from the earth. No one will die of cancer. No one will get the flu—He'll take it all away.

So Isaiah is talking about the Messiah during His earthly ministry. He will heal diseases. So when you come over to John and his gospel, he says he has recorded certain selected miracles of Jesus to prove to you that He is the Messiah that was prophesied in the Old Testament. He does what the Old Testament said the Messiah would do. And when you come to chapter 4, you come to one of those miracles that John has selected to present Christ as the Messiah.

Now. Before you get into the miracle itself, you have a little note of time and geography. Verse 43 we're told, "And after two days He went forth from there into Galilee." So He is leaving Samaria and going into Galilee. You remember that was His ultimate destination. Leaving Judea, where Jerusalem is, travelling through Samaria and into Galilee, but He has tarried for 2 days in Samaria because of the great response to His message, to the great response to Him as Messiah, Savior of the world. The Samaritans ended verse 42 with the recognition that He is the Savior of the world.

Now He goes into Galilee. And you’ll note verse 44 brings us an interesting insight. "For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country." Now that seems like an odd place to insert that verse. It sort of gives an explanation for 'Jesus went into Galilee after two days...for Jesus Himself testified that a prophet is without honor in his own country.’ Galilee being the home region of Jesus, and He Himself testified that He would be without honor in His own home, His own territory. But yet verse 45 goes on, "So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him." That word ’received’ carries the idea of a welcome reception. They welcomed Him, and from what we get initially, it seems the Galileans were responsive to Him. But that is only a temporary surface response. The full Galilean ministry is not laid out in John. You can read Luke chapter 4 for events that follow right on what you have at the end of John chapter 4. And you’ll find there that before Jesus ministers long there in Galilee, they attempt to take Him to the top of a cliff and throw Him off. Because when it comes to making the direct claim that He Himself is the Messiah of Israel, they are ready to execute Him. But, as long as we're just talking about the spectacular miracles, they want to see it. They want to see a great show and a great display. They are interested in the miracles, but they are not interested in the Messiah who is doing them. Strange situation. And in Luke 4 Jesus reiterates that a prophet is without honor in his own home or his own country.

It’s also interesting to me on this occasion that Jesus leaves an area where His ministry is very profitable. Many people are responding. Many people are believing in Him, and yet after only 2 days He leaves that area to go into a region where people will not honor Him, will not believe in Him. And I think it’s an important factor for us to keep in mind, that success for the servant of God is not determined by external responses. But success for the servant of God is carrying out the will of God. Remember Jesus said that He must be about His Father's business. We've already seen in chapter 4 that He told the disciples in verse 34 that His food is to do the will of Him who sent Him. And it was the will of God for Jesus to leave Samaria with this great responsiveness of the people and go into Galilee where they would hate Him, where they would attempt to kill Him. And you and I need to recognize that. We would like to stay where it is comfortable. And I am one who believes that if God is prospering you in your service for Him, you ought to be careful about changing. But we need to be careful about being tied to our prosperity, to being tied to our responsiveness of the people we are ministering to. The success of my ministry is not determined by whether great numbers come to hear me preach. The success of my ministry is determined by whether I am being obedient as a servant to the will of the Father. And often we measure others and their success as believers by the kind of responsiveness and those who flock to them. But if you are going to do that you would have to say that Jesus left a successful ministry to go to a failure. Yet that is not the case. He went from one place in the will of the Father to another place in the will of the Father, and that's all that matters. And you and I need to determine that above all, I want to serve Him. If He chooses to move me to serve Him in a hard place, then I must serve Him in a hard place. If He chooses to have me serve Him where people are very receptive, then I must serve Him there. In our evaluation of one another, we need to have that kind of appreciation. That God will give some of us more difficult ministries, ministries with people who will be less responsive. Some of us with people who are more responsive. But one is not necessarily more 'successful' than the other as long as both are faithfully serving God in carrying out His will.

So in verse 45 we’re told, "So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things that He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they themselves also sent to the feast." Here it helps you understand verse 44. They received Him but they received Him because of the spectacular things they had seen Him do.

Go back to chapter 2 of John and you have the occasion that is referred to. In verse 23, "Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, beholding His signs which He was doing." So while He was at the Passover in Jerusalem, He was doing many miracles, and the people were responding to these miracles. Now many of those who had been at the feast returned home to Galilee. Galilee was close enough in proximity for them to attend Passover, so they had been acquainted with this ministry of Christ. And now they hear 'Jesus of Nazareth is coming into Galilee' and oh, they are so excited that He is coming, the One who does these great miracles is now coming into our area. So in chapter 4, that's the background for it.
It's important to see this initial welcoming of Him is tied to the fact that they had seen the miracles.

Alright, now we're going to select out one individual in Galilee and zero in on Him for the rest of the chapter. "He came, therefore, again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine." Now that's a time note for us. Back in chapter 2, you remember, at the wedding feast Jesus had turned the water into wine. Now here is the second miracle. According to verse 54, we are told "This is again a second sign that Jesus performed, when He had come out of Judea into Galilee." It is not the second miracle in the ministry of Christ. We just read in chapter 2 verse 22, that Jesus did many miracles in Jerusalem at Passover time. But this is the second occasion where He has left Judea and come into Galilee and done a miracle. Chapter 2 He did the same thing at a wedding feast. Here again, He has left Judea, come into Galilee and He's going to do a second miracle in this area. He's done many miracles in other places. "There was a certain royal official, whose son was sick at Capernaum." Capernaum is not too distant, several hours' walk. But within a reasonable distance. "When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him, and was requesting Him to come down and heal his son; for he was at the point of death." Now here is a man, a royal official, probably a representative of Herod, serves in an official capacity for Herod who would have been ruler of this region of Palestine. And he is a man with a severe problem—his son is sick to the point of dying. And he has heard about the miracles of Christ. Perhaps he himself had been in Jerusalem at the time of the Passover, and he really believes that Jesus could heal his son. Now at this point, he is not a saved man. We'll see that as the chapter moves along. He has not yet been forgiven his sins, he has not yet come to believe in Jesus as his personal Savior. But he has come to believe that Jesus can do mighty miracles. It's interesting that a man can believe in the miraculous, even believe that Jesus does the miraculous and be an unsaved individual. His request is that Jesus would come and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. And that's a logical request. There's not one person here who if they had lived in that day and had one of their children sick to death and heard that Jesus, the One who does mighty miracles of healing, had come into the area would not be burdened to ask Him to come and heal their child. So it's a natural request. It is a request that comes out of the burden of the heart of this man. And yet Jesus responds in a way that seems to be a terrible rebuke. Note what He says in verse 48, "Jesus therefore said to him, 'Unless you people see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe.'" Here's a man who asks Him to come and do a miracle, heal my son. Jesus says 'Unless you people see miracles, signs'-John's word for miracles, remember, is signs. Miracles point to something. They evidence the fact that Jesus is the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament. Now it’s important here. This is not a personal rebuke towards this man. This man comes out to be a man of faith. But it includes all the people. In Greek you can say plural 'you’ as well as singular ‘you’. We need something like that in English. You's or you'ens or something like that! Because we can't distinguish. We say 'you' and you have to determine whether you mean singular or plural you. When I say 'you ought to do this,' you don't know if I mean you as one of you sitting here or you as a group. Well, in Greek you can say plural. I used to say 'you'ens' and I realized nobody else did!

In the New American Standard Bible, you have the word 'people' inserted and that gives you the idea because He's not just saying 'you' to the royal official. But you people, because they had all welcomed and received Him and they are all gathered around now waiting for a great miracle. And Jesus rebukes them saying 'You won't believe unless you see a miracle.' He puts it strongly at the end of verse 48, He says 'you simply will not believe.' There's a double negative here. Two no's put together. You will not in any way believe unless you can see the miraculous. He knew they were drawn to Him by superficial things, and consistently through the ministry of Christ, this desire and attachment to the miraculous is rebuked. You remember when He went and stood before Herod and Herod had desired to see Him because he had heard about Him, and he was hoping Christ would do some kind of miracle for Him? Jesus wouldn't even talk to Herod let alone do a miracle for him. This attraction to the miraculous is constantly viewed as a negative indicator of their spiritual condition.

Go back to Matthew's gospel, the 12th chapter. You remember Paul said in writing to the Corinthians that it was characteristic of the Jews (1 Cor. 1:22) to seek after a sign. They want the miraculous. The Greeks, they want to be impressed by the power of your intellect, wisdom. But note Matthew chapter 12, "Some of the Scribes and Pharisees answered Him, saying, ’Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.’" So here you see the request is for a miracle. Now it’s not for a miracle for themselves. Not someone asking for a healing or asking for help for a member of their family. They are asking ’do something to prove to me you are who you say you are.’ You note what Jesus said, "He answered and said to them, ’An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign.’" Note how He characterizes the people who are looking for the miraculous—evil and adulterous. They have spiritually turned away from God. They are adulterous spiritually. They are a corrupted people. Why? They are craving signs, not the Word of God. They are interested not in the greatness of the person standing before them but in a spectacular show. Just like people today will go in mass numbers to forms of entertainment, a great sporting event. They will come to be entertained. Great crowds come to Christ, and we see this in Galilee, because it is a form of entertainment. They are amazed at this. Here is a man who can do mighty miracles, but they haven’t come to believe in Him and the person of the One they are dealing with. Simply the spectacular is the draw, and Jesus does not cater to that. He will not do a miracle for these scribes and Pharisees. He’s not here to say ’Oh, you want a miracle? Watch this ZAP!’ Sometimes I wonder. When He stood
before Herod, it’s all I can do to hold myself back. Here is the One who could do anything, and here is puny, proud Herod, ’Do a miracle.’ And Jesus won’t even talk to Him. Boy, I would have zapped him back on his heels! I’d give him a miracle he wouldn’t forget! But that’s not the way Jesus handles His power. That’s not the way He does His miracles as He lives His life on earth. But rather it is for those who are prepared by the Spirit of God.

You know, I think there is a parallel all too real today with the people who have a craving for the miraculous. I'm afraid many of those who are so popular, who have such a following today, it's built upon the claims for the miraculous. The healings and the miracles—they are still an attraction. But that does not have anything to do with true, saving faith. Rather it is an indicator of a spiritually corrupted and adulterous people. We need to be careful that we as believers don't get sucked in because the world loves to cater to the world. Jesus would not do it for a world who demanded it and loved it.

Come back to John chapter 4. It amazes me how He carries out this miracle. He tells them "Unless you see signs and wonders, you will not in any way believe." The royal official is burdened here. He doesn't want a lecture on miracles! He doesn't want a lecture on the spiritual condition of Israel. He wants his son to be healed! So he responds, he doesn't argue the point. He says, "Sir, come down before my child dies.” Amazing faith here. This man has no question at all that Jesus can heal his son. He is convinced. There is an urgency about it. You've got to get there because you can do something about it. But he's still not a believer in the sense that he has come to trust Christ as his Savior. He simply wants something from Him. He wants a miracle. And it's interesting. He is like many of us. We note only bring our requests to God, but we also want to tell God how to do it. 'Heal my son, and come down to my home to do it.' Did you ever tell God that? Lord, I need money to pay the rent and give me a raise to do it. As though God needed some help. If we're so smart, why do we need the help? And if God needed our instructions on how to do it, He probably wouldn't be able to do it.

So what Jesus does is give this man the request of his heart but not in the way he asks. Note what He does. "Jesus said to him, 'Go your way; your son lives.'" That's it. Go on back home; your son's alright. So that's what he wanted—he wanted his son to be alright. But Jesus says 'I'm not coming down to your home to do it.' Now you want to know how we would have done this miracle. Here comes a royal official. What better chance to be a testimony for Christ. Here’s an important person and there’s no better way to make an impact for Christ than to get an important person! That’s our mode of operation today, our modus operandi. That would have been the logical way to do it to make the greatest impact. Fine, I will come with you and heal your son. And here's a multitude of people that are just hanging on the edge waiting for a miracle. And here's the big chance. So we all proceed down to Capernaum, and boy along the way the word is just spreading. ’Jesus is going down to heal this man's son! Jesus is going down to heal this man’s son!' You would have had thousands by the time you made the 20-mile journey to Capernaum. And then we would have gotten to the house and wheeled the cot out—course you would have had to wheel the cot out where everybody could see. And preferably do it on the roof where everybody could get a good view. And then Jesus could have stood over him and said 'Son, get up!’ And thousands would have witnessed it and it would have just drove them crazy! Some of you have seen those kind of miracles today. It's important to get thousands into the arena to see it. It's important to get it up on the platform. It’s important to read the history of it so everybody can hear it through the microphone. Important to lay their hands on so everybody can see and the cameras are sure to catch it. You know what Jesus does? He does His miracle in secret. Not one of the crowd got to witness this miracle. It's just like the one in Canaan of Galilee. The only ones who knew He had turned the water into wine were the slaves and His mothers and the disciples. That little intimate group. The only one that's going to be sure that healing takes place is his father when he goes back home. Jesus is unwilling to cater to the multitude. He's unwilling to satisfy that curiosity for more miracles. He does a great healing here but not one person in the multitude gets to watch. Because it is a spiritually adulterous generation that is craving for the miracles, and Jesus is unwilling to cater to them.

We need to be careful as believers. We like the spectacular too. We like to be where
the action is. Sometimes we find ourselves drawn in because we want to see it. I’d just like to see what this guy does. We want to be part of that same thing. And that’s not a characteristic of a scriptural procedure. Not at all. Now it amazes me here of this man’s faith. As you read these kind of accounts, it’s interesting to try to put yourself in that person's place. You can’t do it, but you try to think as though you were that person. What would you think of you were this man and you had just asked Christ to come heal your son and He said 'Go on home, your son's alright.' You note what it says? Verse 50, ’’The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he started off." Now that is faith! I think the significant thing here (you ought to mark it) "the man believed the word that Jesus spoke." He didn’t have to have a miracle. Here is a man that is being drawn by the Spirit of God to Jesus the Messiah, and he was willing to believe the word. I sometimes think of this would have been me, I would have been saying ’Oh, no, you’d better come.’ We have that idea today. People still say ’Oh, wouldn't it be wonderful if Jesus were here today?’ Why? He told me He’d never leave me nor forsake me. 'Yeh, I know, but if we could see Him.' Why? I mean if He were standing right here what difference would it make? Would He be more powerful if He stood here in bodily form than He is here present in spirit? Would He be more able to meet the needs of my life day by day and moment by moment if He were physically with me in my home? Not at all. It's amazing the faith of this man. Jesus spoke the word, and he turns around and starts off. All he needed. He came and asked Jesus to heal his son. Jesus said it's done. Well, I got my request I'm on my way home. That was great faith there.
He believed the word. He stands out from the multitude who were craving for the sign. He needed something from Jesus; he needed a miracle from Jesus. But he wasn't like the multitude who had to see the miracle. He believed Jesus when Jesus just spoke the word. The multitude needed the miracle. This man was satisfied with the word of God.

I believe that ought to characterize us today. We ought to be saturated with the Word. Now I believe God does many miracles today. I believe God heals people today, but I believe we as believers need to be satisfied with the Word and the powerful works of God will come as a result. Our confidence needs to be in the Word. This man believed the word that Jesus had spoken to him and he started off. That’s all there is to it. He's going back home.

Now note. "As he was now going down, his slaves met him, saying that his son was living." Natural thing. As soon as the son got well, the slaves think 'We’d better go and tell our master. His son's alright. He needs not be concerned any longer, and he doesn't need to bring Jesus down.' And you get some idea of the faith of this man. So he inquires of them the hour that he began to get better. "They said therefore to him, 'Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.' The father knew that it was at that hour in which Jesus said to him, 'Your son lives.'" Now you note here. You would think in the emotion of the moment, the last thing this man would have thought about was the time. Jesus said to 'Go your way, your son lives,' and he looks at his watch. 7:00, okay. Turns around and goes back home. And he knows when his servants tell him, 'What time did he get better?' 7:00. That's exactly the time he told me!

You know, sometimes we're not as impressed by what God is doing in our lives as we haven't kept enough track of what we've been asking Him for. This man asked for something and he kept note of what he asked for when he asks.

Ever have the occasion when you have asked God for something and you go about your way and forget about it. And you get the answer to that prayer but weeks go by before you realize you got the answer. Sometimes we must seem like awfully ungrateful children to God. Oh, we want something, we want something, and we ask Him for it but we've forgotten all about the fact that we've even asked for it after He give it to us. Not this man! He is so impressed you note what happens. "He himself believed and his whole household." I take it what you have here is an example of Acts 16:31. "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved, and your house." This man is so impressed by the display of the person of Christ and His power that he believes in Him. This is indeed the Messiah. He's not just a man who does great works of power. He believed He is the man He claims to be, and he shares this testimony with his family, and the whole family believes it and is saved. Acts 16:31, that's what it is talking about. You believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you'll be saved, and if your whole family believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, they'll be saved as well. And often the pattern is, and I take it as an encouragement when someone within a family is saved, God evidently wants to do a work in that family because He has established a believer there who is a lighthouse in that family. Who is a proclaimer of the testimony? And many of you are here this morning because someone in your family believed and they shared that testimony with you and you came to believe, and others came to believe.

"His whole household." Amazing. Jesus here does a great miracle. It demonstrates that He is the Messiah He claimed to be, yet there is only a family that is affected by it. All these multitudes with their tongues hanging out, waiting for some great miracle, and here is a family that Jesus selects out to do a great miracle for. But the multitudes are unaware, except as this man gives testimony to it in his family along the way. But they have to take his word for it.

You note what we're back to? They don't get to see the miracle. All they have is the testimony of this royal official that the miracle occurred. And they are back to having to believe the word, believe the testimony. We say, 'wouldn't it have been better if He had done it before thousands?' Why? You remember what Jesus said? ’If they don't believe what is written in the Scripture, they won't believe even if one is raised from the dead,' Luke chapter 16. That won't change things. What people need today is not miracles. They don't need great demonstrations of power and healing, etc. What people need today is to hear the Word of God and believe it. And those who hear the Word of God and are unwilling to believe it won't believe no matter what. I could bring dead people up on the platform and raise them up and you know what? Some people who sit here still wouldn't believe. Because they are unwilling to believe in the person of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world and that is the issue. But the miracles that He does do present Him, and give evidence of the fact that He is the One who has been prophesied throughout the Old Testament.

A good reminder. That Jesus does this miracle and He does it at a distance. No more difficult to heal this man 20 or 25 miles away than it is to go and stand by his bed. It's no more difficult for Jesus to take care of my problems. Amazing how unlike this royal official I can be. Have a great burden of my heart and wrestle it through, get ulcers over it when Jesus, the One who loves me is there to take it. He can resolve it. There's nothing too difficult for Him. I've got some problems that are so hard that are just stretching my mind that I just cannot figure out how God is going to work this out. That's not so amazing. With my finite mind. But I'm sure He will. I'm sure He can.
So why am I getting an ulcer over it? I fail to realize. I think 'Oh, won't it be great in the kingdom when Jesus is here?' It will, but it's great right now. When He is the One who can do whatever is necessary in my life and the lives of those around me in accomplishing His purposes. It's not always the same thing. It's not always the thing I tell Him I would like for Him to do. He doesn't always do it the way I tell Him to do it. But you know, when it gets down to it, that's not important. You know what is important? The fact that He does do whatever is necessary to be done. Interesting. You note the people He has dealt with so far? You get people from all strata. In chapter 1
He called the fishermen to be His disciples. In chapter 3 He called Nicodemus prestigious religious leader. In chapter 4 He deals with an immoral, Samaritan woman. At the end of chapter 4 He deals with a royal official. You people from the bottom end to the top end. There’s no one above Jesus Christ, and there’s no one beneath Jesus Christ.

This man, this royal official, with all of his importance, was still afflicted by the torments of the world. He can’t keep his son from getting ill. He can’t disease and affliction out of his family. He cannot deal with the basic problems of life. Only Jesus Christ can do that. Tragedy, that today there's not a person who does not have that basic need for Jesus Christ and His power in their life. The only thing is that some people have yet to recognize it and are unwilling to acknowledge it—that Jesus Christ is indeed the One sent by God. He is the Messiah of Israel. He is the One who died on the cross, was raised from the dead, that He might be the Savior of the world.
And this One, this One being presented here, the evidence of His person and character, seen in His work, is the One who desires to be your Savior. The One who desires you to believe in Him.

Have you gotten the point of this miracle? John’s point in recording it is that we might believe and that by believing we might have life. Let’s pray together.

Father, we thank you for the greatness of our Savior. Father, for the tremendous reality that God became a man. Father, for the demonstrations of power that evidence that He was indeed the prophesied Messiah. Lord, we desire to be a people who believe the Word that has been spoken. Father, we are thankful that by faith in Him, in His death and resurrection, we have forgiveness of sins and we become the recipients of life. Lord, for the reminder of the fact that He is the sovereign Lord. Every need in our lives, every concern that we can face, He is able to care for and bear.
May we be a people who are willing to rest in Him. Father, to acknowledge Him, even as your children, remind us of the greatness of the Savior we have and serve. It is so easy for us to bear the burdens that He so desires to bear for us; Lord, that we be a people willing to have you accomplish your purposes in our lives—in easy places, in hard places, that in all things you might have the pre-eminence for we pray in Jesus’ name