Introduction

This passage show us that just because you’re on good terms with Jesus, doesn’t mean he’s on good terms with you.

Welcomed or Not?

John 4:43–45 ESV

⁴³ After the two days he departed for Galilee. ⁴⁴ (For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.) ⁴⁵ So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast.

After leaving Samaria he comes back home to Galilee where he has a warm welcome from everyone who was at the feast in Jerusalem. They saw the signs he did down there and give him a warm reception.

So what’s going on with verse 44? Jesus had said that a prophet has no honor in his home town, and so he leaves Samaria – where he was greatly honored – and heads to Galilee – where it also sounds like he’s being honored with their warm welcome.

Some people argue that his hometown must be considered as Jerusalem at this point. Galilee is where he meets his disciples and people come to faith, but Jerusalem is home to all those who reject him. But despite the warm welcome Jesus receives from Galilee, there are still good reasons to believe that while hospitality is there – faith is not.

The Passover Crowd

We’re told that these people had seen the signs that Jesus did in Jerusalem at the feast – referring to the Passover. We’ve met these people before at the end of chapter 2.

John 2:23–25 ESV

²³ Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. ²⁴ But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people ²⁵ and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.

These are people who see signs and come to believe – but Jesus doesn’t believe in them. They saw the signs but never heard the message they implied. Just as we might admire a painting for its beauty but miss the message the artist is hoping to impart. Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus tells us that they refused to be born again of the Holy Spirit. They didn’t let the signs convict them to the point of becoming disciples – just admirers.

Well here they are again and while they welcome Jesus – they don’t honor him. The signs are impressive, fantastical, and really cool – but that’s all they are to these people. They welcome Jesus like they would welcome any celebrity. They’re entertaining, but they don’t have any real authority.

Signs and Wonders

In verse 46 it sounds like we’ve moved on to a different story – but it’s still connected to the crowds of Galilee.

John 4:46–48 ESV

⁴⁶ So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. ⁴⁷ When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. ⁴⁸ So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.”

One of my absolute favorite words is y’all because ‘you’ is too vague. I could be talking to you – meaning one person. Or I could be talking to you as a group – you people! Greek makes a distinction between you and y’all. The greatest feature of the old King James Version is it makes the distinction as well. Thou is you and ye is y’all. But until a modern translation is brave enough to release the y’all version, we’re stuck with you.

Jesus isn’t addressing the official all by himself. Jesus says to him, “Unless y’all see signs and wonders you will not believe.” He’s talking to all the Galileans too. And he isn’t sounding very hopeful about their reception of the signs.

This sounds contradictory to the purpose of signs in general.

How did Moses show his authority to Israel? Through signs!
How was Jesus shown to be the Son of God? Signs!
The whole Gospel was written so that we would see these signs!

John 20:30–31 ESV

³⁰ Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; ³¹ but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

So does Jesus want us to believe because of signs or not?

Our clue to Jesus’ meaning is that here alone in the entire gospel Jesus calls them ‘signs and wonders.’ You won’t find it anywhere else in John’s gospel, but we find it about 9 times in the Old Testament – nearly always referring to the signs and wonders that God showed Egypt – AKA the 10 plagues.

When we look at those 10 plagues there really should have only been one. I’d like to think that if someone turned Lake Fayetteville into a giant pool of blood that I’d be inclined to listen to them, but Pharaoh doesn’t.

Exodus 7:3–4 ESV

³ But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, ⁴ Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment.

Pharaoh does eventually believe in the signs and wonders of God – but only for a little bit. He keeps going back and forth, repenting for a time and then hardening his heart all over again. Each sign drags him out of his unbelief for a brief moment before he runs back to it again.

There are a number of times where Pharaoh tries to obey. The command of God is for Israel to go out from the country, all of Israel, and sacrifice to God. But Pharaoh is trying to negotiate through the plagues:

Exodus 8:25 CSB

²⁵ Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Go sacrifice to your God within the country.”

Exodus 8:28 CSB

²⁸ Pharaoh responded, “I will let you go and sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness, but don’t go very far. Make an appeal for me.”

Exodus 9:27 CSB

²⁷ Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron. “I have sinned this time,” he said to them. “The Lord is the righteous one, and I and my people are the guilty ones.

To which Moses replies

Exodus 9:30 CSB

³⁰ But as for you and your officials, I know that you still do not fear the Lord God.”

Even after the 10th sign, the death of his and so many other firstborn children, Pharaoh still changes his mind about God and chases after Israel to re-enslave them.

Jesus looks at the crowds in Galilee and says “That’s you!”

They see a sign and and wonder at it – but then the sign is finished and the wonder fades and they just go back to where they were before the sign. No faith, no new birth, no honor for Jesus.

Connect

How many times does God need to prove himself before we commit?

Jesus gave signs to prove a point – but he wants us to move on from that point into deeper faith. Something we see with the Official from Capernaum.

Not Seeing and Believing

John 4:46–47 ESV

Here are some differences to note:

He’s from Capernaum going a full days journey to see Jesus
We can’t say for sure that he’s seen any of the signs of Jesus
But he’s going to find Jesus anyways

John 4:48–50 ESV

⁴⁸ So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” ⁴⁹ The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” ⁵⁰ Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way.

Despite the rebuke of verse 48 the official is still asking Jesus – my Son is dying, come down and heal him.

And Jesus turns to him and says “Go; your son will live.” There’s no further rebuke. There’s no reminding him that without signs and wonders he won’t believe. Just go and trust that your son will live.

And so the man believes, and he goes.

Didn’t insist that Jesus come with him
Didn’t continue to plead or beg
He begins his journey of faith and goes home believing that Jesus has healed his son.

John 4:51–53 ESV

⁵¹ As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering. ⁵² 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.” ⁵³ 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.

Notice that this is the second time that this man has believed in Jesus. What John is doing for us is painting a picture of a growing faith.

He believes enough to come to Jesus
He believes enough to leave Jesus
And then it’s all confirmed by the healing of his son and he and his household all believe.

There are plenty of faith journey’s through the gospel of John

The Samaritans

John 4:39 ESV

³⁹ Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.”

They believe the woman because of what she said – here’s a guy who knows everything!

But that belief continues to grow. Jesus goes from someone who may be the Christ to Savior of the world.

John 4:42 ESV

⁴² They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”

Just like the official, they believe and then they believe again. their faith grows from curiosity to life transformation.

Nicodemus

It’s the same with Nicodemus.

John 3:2 ESV

² This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”

But that faith isn’t enough.

John 3:3 ESV

³ Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

We’ll see later on that Nicodemus goes on to defend Jesus against the Sanhedrin Council and after Jesus’ death is one of the few brave enough to bury him.

Connect: Where Are You On Your Faith Journey?

The point is that faith is not binary. It’s no something that you either have or don’t. If you asked, plenty of people would say they believed in God but have nothing to do with him. James famously says that the demons have faith but it takes them nowhere!

There are degrees of faith, and while ours might start with wondering at the signs of Jesus it is necessary that it grows into something more. So when John writes that the purpose of this book is to show us signs so that we may believe, it’s a belief that will honor Jesus as Lord – not just welcome him as a buddy.

Where are you on your faith journey?

I bet I can guess where most of us started – you didn’t want to go to hell. And that’s completely fine! When Peter preached to the crowds in Acts 2 he not only convinces them that Jesus is the Christ, but that they were the ones who murdered him! And so they were cut to the heart – “What do we do?” We’re afraid because we killed the author of life and stand under God’s judgement!

But has your faith moved beyond that?

We’ve been dunked in the water so it’s all done! I’ve escaped the fires of hell and can rest securely
I’ve done the five steps of salvation and the view is just wonderful from here – so here I stand
I’ll put in my time card at church this week so God remembers that I’m on his side

If we are not actively growing in our faith and being transformed by God, then we’re just telling God that the bare minimum is all we’re interested in. Like Indiana Jones squeezing under the closing door just in time, we’ll skate right into heaven by doing the least amount possible.

That’s the faith Jesus criticized in Nicodemus. It was a good starting point but we’re here to finish the race. We’re here to be born again and transformed into the image of Jesus.

That’s being born of the spirit – becoming something new because of Jesus
That’s worshiping in Spirit – living the new life as our worship towards God.

As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 3:18.

2 Corinthians 3:18 ESV

¹⁸ And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

Every day is one degree closer to being like Jesus. Every day is one step closer to him on our journey. The signs turn our attention to the destination – and then they expect us to move towards it.

The Sign

There’s one last point we need to look at before finishing this up. We look at John 4:46

John 4:46 ESV

⁴⁶ So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill.

And at the very end of the story in John 4:54

John 4:54 ESV

⁵⁴ This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee.

Reminded that this is a sign
More than a magic trick designed to impress
There is something being communicated here
It’s connected to that first sign of water being turned to wine
Wine was a sign of the good times to come in the prophets
Enemies would be overthrown
Peace would reign
There would be a super-abundance of life
This sign builds on that
“He lives” said three times in this story
1. 50 – will live
2. 51 – was recovering (better was living)
3. 53 – Reminded of Jesus saying he will live

Jesus is offering more than a good time here, He’s offering eternal life

John 6:27 ESV

²⁷ Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”

In our pursuit of the benefits that Jesus offers in this life we can sacrifice the eternal benefits.

Some people will only follow Jesus for some shallow benefits. The only reason they even show up to church is because they want some friends, the music is good, the sermon’s not so boring, makes them feel like they’re a good person. And some churches realize this and make it their entire purpose. Give the people an emotional high on Sunday, give them some pop-psychology dressed in religion to be relevant, and pat them on the back as they head out to the same dead lifestyle they’ve been living.

We’ll welcome Jesus as a great guy, but we don’t honor him as our God. Instead we ask questions like

What does it mean for me?
What’s my benefit?
Do I like the music?

And we end up like the people who chased Jesus around the Sea of Galilee – looking for bread at the expense of heaven. We call ourselves Christ-seekers but it’s all a facade for our self-seeking behavior. Jesus is no longer the treasure but a treasure chest that gives me goodies.

How often do we neglect telling people that following Jesus is actually really hard, and that he expects us to sacrifice everything down here for eternal life?

Conclusion

These signs were given so that we might believe and have eternal life. But these signs are only the first step in a long journey of dedication.

We can’t expect God to constantly nudge us in the right direction. We have to have a sustainable faith that lasts through both the highs and lows of life.
We can’t mistake the blessings of a better life down here as the reason Jesus came down in the first place.
Our faith needs to go beyond

Where are you in your journey, and how can we help you go further?