Matthew Poole: Good house this morning. It is good to be here. It is good to gather. It's a good thing to gather and worship our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Let's ask for his blessing on the time that we're gonna spend here in his word. Would you pray with me? Heavenly Father, we thank you that you are a speaking God and that you speak words of grace, words of hope. Words of comfort, mercy, kindness, peace. God, we thank you. We thank you that you are a kind, gracious God, and we ask God now as we open up your word that you would speak to us. We need the double grace that you would also open up our ears to hear. And we thank you that your word is here, but now we ask for the supernatural opening of our ears and our hearts to understand and to see and to behold what we cannot behold on our own, which is your son Jesus, to see him in his glory and to treasure him, to delight in him, to worship him. And so we pray that you would do that work here this morning. May this not be just some mere religious exercise, gathering here, a social gathering, but would this be worship, God? We ask that you would bind away the enemy from the word that you would like to be sewn into our hearts this morning. Guard us from distraction and busyness and everything, just the weakness got in us that would... somehow cause us to miss your word this morning. We ask this for your glory and our joy. Amen. I have a strong affinity for whipped cream. It is true. I am not a stranger to take the can and and then my little kids come running out and each of them. So just we do like little birds. I'm not a stranger. love whipped cream. I think it deserves its own category. It not only goes with dessert, it is its own dessert. I love it. And now while whipped cream may provide a very real temporary pleasure, not to be minimized, it provides zero nutritional benefit. And yet there are times when I believe I need whipped cream. I need it. There is nothing else on the windshield of the horizon. That's what I see. That's what I need. I need the whipped cream. And so often spiritually, this is exactly what we do as well. Spiritually, we chase whipped cream when what we truly need is a nutrient rich salad, right? We need some colors, some vegetables, because whipped cream does not provide the benefit for the body. There's layers of need here, and we're going to see this morning a situation in our text where there's layers of need present. We're to see a man who's desperate. And it couldn't be more desperate for him. It's for the life of his son. His son is dying. And while that is not to be minimized at all, he's missing out on a deeper need. He's unaware of a deeper need that he actually has. Not for the life of his son, but life in the son of... And the fact is we're no different from this Father this morning. All of us come in here filled with needs. Tons of needs. They're everywhere, right? In this broken world, every single one of us is filled with needs at all times. Right? What is the thing occupying your mind this morning or last night, the thing that kept you up? That you're tossing and turning, not able to sleep. What was it that's on your mind? or you wake up this morning and those anxieties, circumstances just rush upon you like bullets. Or even this morning, just fill in the blank. I need what? What is there? Is it money? Less stress, better work environment, some change in circumstance, and it's not to be minimized, maybe whipped cream is there? And while that is not minimized, is there anything past that? Is Christ present? Is Christ present today on the windshield of your knees or whatever it is that's occupying your mind? Is it taking up the whole windshield and there is no Christ? word of God says to us this morning, if there is no Christ, then we are in eternal danger. Because there is a greater need at stake, our souls. And here's our problem this morning. Apart from the grace of God, we are enslaved to every need on this planet other than Christ Jesus. Apart from God's activity in our hearts, we don't need Christ and we don't want Christ. That's our problem. But the grace of God comes to us this morning. Jesus comes to us this morning in this text to graciously expose our needs, that we have something deeper. There is a deeper need and not only to expose that need, but to deliver the sufficiency of Christ himself as the solution to our need. That's what Jesus intends to do this morning, I believe, through this text. exposing our true need not for whipped cream but for the eternal life-giving power of himself. And he's going to perform some signs this morning, a unique sign this morning in this text, but listen, he graciously performs this sign not merely to meet physical needs or to meet our creature comforts, but he does that to cause us to believe in him and to worship him. alone as the Son of God. That's the movement this morning is for us to move from fixing our eyes on physical temporary needs to see deeper needs and to see the one, the Son of God Jesus who meets that need in glorious fashion. The first thing that we see in this story is we see a father's concern for his son. A father's concern for his son. After two days, he departed for Galilee. For Jesus himself had tested that a prophet has no honor in his hometown. 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. So he came again to Canaan, Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and he asked him to come down and heal his son. For he was at the point of death. Okay, so here we meet this Roman official. He's got everything going for him. He's high up, he's got status, he's got wealth, he's got position. resources, everything is going for him except for this one thing that he cannot fix. His son is ill and it looks like his son is going to die. He's at the point. Kid has run his life, he's at the point, he's on the brink and death is on the other side. And this dad is grieved. I would imagine he's exhausted, desperate, he's run the gamut on all the options, right? He's probably thrown everything he can at this problem and he's found himself to be insufficient. Nothing can heal his son. He loves his son. What can be done? Then news travels to him of this miracle worker, this guy named Jesus, who turned water into wine, and he's nearby. And so this guy, this father hears about it, and he says, I'm going. I'm going to him. It's like a 25 mile journey straight uphill. He goes to find this Jesus. Perhaps this man who turns water into wine can reverse the sickness of my child. And so in desperation, he meets Jesus and goes to him. This is instructive. He went to him. He went to him. He did not stay where he was. He went to him and asked him, Jesus, come down and heal my son. Goes to Jesus with his problem, with his need. Seems appropriate, doesn't it? Seems very appropriate. Look how Jesus responds and in this next section we see Jesus's concern for a father. We've seen a father's concern for a son. Now we see Jesus's concern for a father. Verse 48. Jesus said to him, unless you see signs and wonders, you will not believe. Jesus, did you just hear what this guy, like, what are you talking about? It's like Jesus is not even talking to this guy. What Jesus is actually doing is he's offering a rebuke. It's a rebuke. He doesn't engage this guy and his son at all, unless you believe, and he actually uses this guy as an example. He's a representative, many point out he's a representative of a group of people. And we've been reading about this group of people that. already are seeing Jesus and they're seeing miracles that he's doing, but they're not seeing who Jesus is. They are fixated on the miracles. There's irony here in John's statement when he says that Jesus came over here and they welcomed him. There's irony there. This is not a deep welcome. They're welcoming Jesus because what Jesus can do for them, because he's a miracle worker. Not because of who Jesus actually is as the Son of God. This guy's fixation is on the signs and here uniquely in verse 48 he says signs and wonders, John does. It's the only place where John uses that language. He's highlighting the point. He's fixated, this guy's fixated on the wonder here that he wants Jesus to perform. Why? Why, Jesus, are you being insensitive to this guy? Why are you giving him a rebuke like this? I believe the point that Jesus is making is this. I will not be a genie to meet your needs so that you remain at the center of the universe. I will meet your needs, but I will meet your needs with myself at the center of the universe as the only object to be worshipped rightly. Jesus is to be worshiped and let me be very clear here, this is not dismissing the guy's pain. Jesus is not dismissing the tragedy that is here. He's not dismissing it at all. Jesus cares deeply for this father. He cares deeply for the son. He's on the brink of death. Jesus is just not focused on that. That's not what he cares about in this moment. It's not what he's talking about. What he is focused on is this guy's faith, his improper, insufficient faith. A faith that is on miracles and at the level of miracles. A faith that's not directed to who Jesus actually is. Jesus does care about the pain. We'll see that in a second. We'll see it even now. It's not that that's to be minimized. It's okay to have whipped cream. But there's other needs that are important and more important. That's where Jesus is fixing his attention. And may we be reminded here that Jesus cares deeply for whatever you filled in that blank earlier with. Whatever needs are occupying your heart and your mind this morning, Jesus cares deeply for He cares about you. He does not dismiss pain. But he does care about ultimate needs. And that's his greater care. It's the greater way that he is trying to offer care. What's ultimate is not our physical comfort and worldly blessing. That's not ultimate. So that's not what Jesus is giving ultimate allegiance to. What's ultimate is himself. That's what he's trying to give us. He's being incredibly gracious and incredibly kind by telling us we have more needs and deeper needs that we may not even be aware of. And the question is, we like this guy, do we sometimes treat Jesus, maybe even now, do we treat him just as a miracle worker? Just as somebody to meet our needs? Do we care about his agenda, worship of Jesus, or do just want Jesus to be on our agenda? Do what we want them to do. And if we are in the latter camp, that is not saving faith. That makes gods out of ourselves. It's idolatry. Rather, we need to see Jesus as the center of our worship. If you notice, the guy, the official, he bypasses Jesus' rebuke. And I think there's even a little bit of instruction in that. Like just persevere with the Lord. Persevere with him, he bypasses, still in this desperation. Verse 49, the official said to him, sir, come down before my child dies. Forget all the religious talk, whatever you're talking about. Come heal my son. Verse 50, Jesus said to him, go, your son will live. or another translation, your son lives. Your son lives. Go, go see him. The man believed the word of Jesus. that Jesus spoke to him and he went on his way. What grace here. Jesus had every right to rebuke the guy and walk the other way. It's not what he does. He comes close. He enters in right into this guy's pain. Meets him right where he's at. Doesn't ask him to budge one bit. Comes all the way in. The father here in the story might be blind to the son of God, but the son of God is not blind to the father. He's not blind to the Father's temporary physical need, nor is he blind to his deeper spiritual need, and Jesus is flexing on both accounts right here. He's flexing on both accounts. We see this, the last section here of our text, a Father's concern for Jesus. Now, Father has concern for Jesus. Verse 51, as he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering. Just imagine this moment, the excitement in this moment, the desperation that this father has had. Now he's going down and before he can get home, the servants of the house who had been taking care of his son come running out to meet him. The curse is reversed. We're not heading to death anymore. Life is coming back to this child. And they run to meet him. This is an unbelievable moment. Look at this, before the Father celebrates about what's happening with His Son, something else is beginning to take center stage in His mind here. It's not about a healing, it's about a person. It's not about his son, it's about the son. It's almost like the gears are starting to turn for this father. Look at verse 52. he asked them, what was the hour that this happened? I need to know this. What's the hour that this happened? See here, he's not primarily concerned with his own son. He needs to know what's going on with this man he just met. What's the hour that he began to get better? And they said to him, yesterday, at the seventh hour, the fever left him. The father knew. The father knew that was the same hour when Jesus had said to him, your son will live. And he himself believed in all of his household. This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee. So this is like one of those movies where at the end of the movie, somebody's like playing back the tape like an interstellar or one of these things, and it's like the end of it, now you're just like playing back the whole thing and it all has different meaning and all of it starts to click into place. That's what this guy's doing. He's playing the tape back. He's getting all the way back and he sees the seventh hour. And I remember when this man, Jesus, he said, go, your son lives. He says, there it is. The Holy Spirit rushes upon his heart, puts everything together, and he sees past the sign of the healing to see the identity of the one who was doing the healing. He sees it's the son of God. He is no miracle worker merely. He is the son of God. and he falls in worship. That's what's happening in this moment. The unique miracle of Jesus here, he speaks a word. A word. And he's healed. Right? No lotions, no potions, no ceremonies, doesn't go down to meet the kid, lay hands on him, no sacrifices, just speaks a word. Declarative, authoritative voice, your son lives. That hour, that moment, and he lives. It all clicks for this man. So John is using belief on two planes here. Two planes of belief. The man believed Jesus' word earlier about him being healed. That belief already happened. Here is a different belief. Here is the belief of, I now believe who this miracle worker is, the son of God. It's like, I mean this is the point of signs, right? I-40 sign, if you're out on I-40, you see a sign that says Atlantic Beach 150 miles east. That's the reality that you are to be thinking about. Not the sign itself. Signs don't point to themselves. They're pointing beyond themselves to a greater reality. It'd be super strange. If you are on I-40 and you bypass a sign and there's a group of people with their lawn chairs out and their coolers and their umbrellas and they're in a circle all around one of these big green metallic signs sitting there staring at the sign, that would be strange, would it not? This is exactly the point John and Jesus is trying to make. Stop fixating on the signs. See what they point to. Don't do that. See the greater reality, the who of the signs, not the what. Look at John 20, 30, and 31. This is the end of the book. This is important. We'll probably return to this often. Listen to this. This is a purpose statement for John as he's writing this book. He says this. Now Jesus did many other signs. in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written, why? 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. Sign leads to the identity of the sign giver. Jesus the Christ and by believing you have life in his name. That's what John is saying is the point of his book. So the question he's answering for us is often not the question that we're asking. The question is not, can Jesus heal? The question is, who is Jesus? Of course he can heal. We see in this text today, he heals. But what does that point to? And it's pointing us to this reality. As the healer, he is the sovereign creator of life. But more than that, he is also a loving Redeemer. This story reminds us, points us to another story of a father and a son. A story of a father who would not run from the death of his son, but would gladly give up his son to death that others may live. true story of the Father and the Son. You read this back in John 3, 16, for God so loved the world. How did he love the world? He gave up his only Son that whoever should believe in him would never perish but have eternal everlasting life. That's the heart of the Father for you and I this morning. I wonder how much here in John four in this text, how much this story, the divine story of the father and son is going on in Jesus' mind. Is thinking about his father? Is he thinking about himself? I would imagine so. He's already been talking about the hour that's coming. Jesus knows what's coming for him. The hour that's coming when he would not just merely speak a word of life, but he would become the word of life. not by speaking, but by going and by entering into death to bring life to others. the creator of life enters into death as a substitute. so that those who deserve death may live forever. That is the gospel, good news for us. For you and for me, I can't stop thinking about our creature comforts. That prize everything in this world but Christ and deserve death for it? Just, the just wrath of God, it's what you and I deserve. If we don't understand that, we don't understand the holiness of God that we just sang about. We deserve His wrath. He gives His love, His Son, as a sacrificial substitute for us. That's love for us. And rising from the dead, Jesus transforms our hearts. He transforms them. Once we were dead and could not prize Christ, hated Him even, hostile towards Him, But through the death and resurrection of Christ, we get new hearts, hearts that do beat for our God, that do beat for the Father and the Son through the power of the Holy Spirit. Transforms our hearts to see Jesus as both our greatest need and our deepest delight. It's a work he does. Church, you can't force that to happen. can't make yourself treasure Jesus more than this world, but God can. God is in the business of transforming hearts and lives. He always has been. It's what he does for his glory, for the glory of his son to magnify the gift of his son, to magnify his mercy and his grace for us. Religion will always say, deny your creature comforts and then you will live. The gospel says believe in the one who already did and live. We then can live sacrificially, we live content, we don't have to hold on to all of our creature comforts because we have Christ and in Christ every blessing has been given. God is not withholding one thing from you and I this morning. As we fill in that list, that fill in that blank with all kinds of things, we look to the scriptures and we see Christ has been given, which means God has given us everything we need. In this life we may struggle, we will struggle, we do struggle, but we struggle with hope. We struggle as those always sorrowful in this broken, corrupt, evil world, but we struggle rejoicing because we have Christ. He lived, he died, he rose from the dead, he's coming again. We will have all of our comforts met one day in glory. So what, we gotta wait a little bit here. And I'm not minimizing the pain, because we wait in agony. There's agony here. But there's hope here. There's real hope here in the text in Christ now and forever. call this morning is to see past our needs, to see Christ, to see life forever with him, to look past the whipped cream, to see the nutrient-rich salad of Christ himself, eternal life given to us. To live is Christ, and to die is gain. May our faith be in Him this morning. And if He meets our needs, glory to God in this life. If not, glory to God in this life and in the one to come. He's all wise and one day His wisdom will be made known to us. It was good that we didn't have everything we wanted. We did get everything we And truth be told, in Christ is everything we want. It's His grace that keeps leading us back to Him, the object for which we were made and created, that He might get all the worship. In Him is true life, and may His true life now and forever be radiating in and through us for God's glory, for God's glory alone, and our joy now and forever. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word this morning. We thank you that Lord Jesus, you have come near and you have entered into our pain. Our pain doesn't repulse you, but you come to meet greater needs, not of physical death, but of spiritual death. You've entered into it, taking the penalty for our sin to give us life with you forever. Because you came out of the grave paying the debt for our sin. Life, physical and spiritual is now ours to have. We thank you God and we praise you for it. God I ask this morning that you work your life into our hearts and minds. Would we look past, not minimizing, not minimizing the very real struggles that we have today? Because you don't look past them. But you do say that there's something more. Just like we saw last week, there is a water that's different than the water at the well. Yes, we thirst physically, but there's a deeper thirst. Yes, we hunger physically, but there is a deeper hunger. And you've come near to us today, God and your son, Jesus, who is for us living water, who is for us the bread of life. God, would we see that? Would we see you, not merely as somebody to meet our needs as a genie, but to see you as the Son of God, and that by believing we would have life in your name. And at the same time, God, I pray you would meet our needs in this room, the ones that are pressing upon us. Sickness, job loss, confusion, hurt, pain, all different types of things. Your word tells us to pray and to offer everything to you, so we come now, God, we ask for help. We ask for you to provide for us for all things, but help us not miss your son Jesus as the giver of all things good. Help us respond in worship, Lord. Help us to be a beacon of light to this dark world that needs to know there is more. There is not only a greater need that we have, but there is a greater God that we serve. Lord, you alone are worthy of our worship and you are the deepest delight of our souls. It's in your name that we pray. Amen.