John 4:43-54
To us who read in the gospels the thrilling narrative or Christ's work on earth, it seems strange that any of those who knew Him in the flesh could have been so blind and deaf as to give rise to His complaint that "a prophet hath no honour in his own country." Yet in this respect Christ shared the experience of those who had in past ages given the Word of God to the people. It is true that the Jews in His day had a great respect for the prophets of bygone years. They believed that these were sent by God and that their fathers had done wrong in killing them. Said they, "If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets." Yet when the message of God came to themselves they rejected One who was more than a prophet, and thereby showed that they were no better than their fathers.
The man in whose mouth God puts His own words always has a living message for the people, a present truth. He does not present issues which were vital in years past, but are now no longer so. His message fits the need of the hour and calls, not for approval of something that was done a hundred years ago, but for present decision. This is why a prophet has no honour in his own country. When there is no longer any risk of endangering their interests, the multitude will endorse the message and honour the prophet. In so doing they flatter themselves that they are one with the heroic souls who jeopardized their lives by obeying the truth when it was unpopular. Satan is well content that men shall adopt truths which were vital in past generations, if he can thus obscure truth which has a special application at the present time.
In His words to the Jewish nobleman Christ struck at the difficulty which made it possible for His own countrymen to reject Him. "Except ye see signs and wonders ye will not believe." Men do not see anything remarkable in that to which they are accustomed. The early years of Jesus had been largely spent at Nazareth, and there His blameless life had revealed the glory of God, yet His fellow townsmen saw nothing in Him to justify the assertion that He was anointed by God for the special work. "And they said, Is not this Joseph's son?" as if that were of itself sufficient to overthrow His claim.
Jesus Himself was a most wonderful sign, but His neighbours saw nothing extraordinary in Him. They thought that if He would give them a sign such as Moses or Elijah gave, they would believe. Really, their thought was, Convince everyone that you are the Messiah, and when we see everybody else recognizing you, we will do so also. They did not wish to incur the odium of espousing an unpopular cause. They wanted Him first to get rid of the reproach, and since none of the mighty works which He wrought effected this, none of them answered the purpose of the sign which they desired.
For all whose hearts were open to receive light and truth Christ's own life was a sign, but it got Him no honour in His own country. It is an incomprehensible marvel that God speaks to us in His own Word, yet how many see any wonder in it? They say, If God would thunder His word into our ears as He did at Sinai, we would believe it. It is a wonderful work that God does in providing us with food and drink, with air and light, by the unceasing exercise of His power and wisdom, yet men see nothing worthy of notice in it. They say that if God would rain bread from heaven as He did on Israel, or turn water into wine as He did at Cana of Galilee, they would no longer doubt Him. The miracles which God daily and hourly works in the sight of men get Him no honour among those who are accustomed to His working. "The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib, but Israel doth not know, My people doth not consider."
The nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum, came to Jesus very much as the majority of people come when they desire to receive something from Him. He "besought Him that He would come down, and heal his son; for he was at the point of death." His heart was full of an intense desire, and the reproof implied in the words of Jesus, "Except ye see signs and wonders ye will not believe," could not turn the father's thoughts from the boon that he sought so earnestly. His only response was, "Sir, come down ere my child die." This man did not come in strong faith, as did the centurion who asked only that the word of healing might be spoken, but Jesus does not repulse the nobleman because of his lack of faith. He is touched with the feeling of our infirmities; and His own heart responded to the father's cry for help. So when burdened hearts pour out their longing to the Lord, He inclines His ear to them, even though they know but little of true faith.
But Jesus taught the nobleman how to believe. He said, "Go thy way; thy son liveth." And the man believed the word and went his way. So many do not know what faith is. They think it is some quality possessed by themselves, of which some men have much and others little. Sometimes they say, "Yes, I believe what the Lord says, but I have not faith enough to do it." They think they can estimate the amount of faith they have, and that everything depends upon the amount. "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Faith is simply believing what God says. There is no question of how much you believe. The point is, Do you believe? What would you think if someone should say to you, "Yes, I believe what you say, but I don't believe you very much." You would conclude that the person did not believe you at all. Christ says that faith as a grain of mustard-seed will remove mountains. It is not your faith but the Word you believe that does such great things. God's Word is infinitely powerful, therefore whatever it says must be so and you believe it when it speaks. This is faith. If the Word makes a great promise, and you believe it, you have great faith. It was hearing the Word that gave the nobleman faith.
Would you like to be strong in faith? Then let the Word of God dwell in you richly. Receive it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth the Word of God; listen to it, meditate upon it, hide it in your heart, and you will be full of faith, for "faith cometh by hearing." If you listen to God speaking, the faith will come naturally, without effort on your part. When the dead hear the voice of the Son of God, they that hear shall live. Therefore, though you be dead in trespasses and sins, listen to God's Word and you will live, live by faith.
Too often when we kneel in prayer and pour out our heart before God, we rise from our knees and go our way as though nothing had been accomplished, beyond the natural relief that comes from telling our troubles. Jesus has said, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find." "Everyone that asketh receiveth." "Whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do." Everyone may ask whatsoever he will in the name of Christ, and know that his request is granted, for the Lord has definitely said so. Then when we pray to the Lord, we are not to rise from our knees and go our way, still troubled and anxious, but know that, since God honours His own promise, our desires are granted. The Lord gives us blank cheques in which we may insert our own name, and whatsoever we desire. If a wealthy man should give us such an opportunity as this, we should not be slow to take advantage of it, and when we had taken the cheque to the bank, and handed it to the cashier, we should not go away feeling as poor and unsatisfied as ever. We would know that we are richer than we were by the full amount of the cheque, and we may know, just as certainly, by the Lord's oft-repeated guarantee, that we are enriched to the extent that we have asked for in our prayer. It was in this assurance that the nobleman took his way home, and he learned from the servants who came to meet him that at the very hour Jesus had said, "Thy son liveth," the fever left his child.
Jesus came to reveal the Father, not to obscure His character. If the miracles wrought by Jesus were not indicative of God's continual desire to help us, Christ's course in healing so many would simply draw a veil of mystery over His Father, and leave us in perplexing doubt as to what we might expect that He would do for us. When we realize that Christ was the expression of God's good-will to men, all the circumstances of this miracle are encouraging: the reception of the father's petition, the way in which he was led to believe and the immediate results that followed the healing word, speak to us of the possibilities that await us in the Word of God when we believe it simply, and thus allow it to work.
There is a word which God has spoken to us all, which has as much of personal application and a wonder-working power, also of instantaneous performance, for us as the word spoken to the nobleman had for him and his son. The Lord says to us, "Wash you, make you clean, put away the evil of your doings from before Mine eyes." (Isa. 1:16) There seems to be so little of encouragement in these words that few will question their application to themselves. It is clear that no one can be in worse condition than the people described in the first chapter of Isaiah to whom these words are addressed, so that they take in every sinner. What is the force of the command, "Put away the evil of your doings from before Mine eyes?" When Christ bade the lepers be clean it was He who supplied that which was needed. The lepers did not feel discouraged at His asking them to do an impossible thing. It was for Him to look after the impossibility. Similarly, when He bade the lame walk they rejoiced, for He found the needed power. So too when He says to us, "Put away the evil of your doings from before Mine eyes," the more impossible the thing sounds the more we are to rejoice at the great work which this word accomplishes in us. It needs Divine strength to accomplish such a task, but this strength is in the commandment. All that is needed is for us to hear and believe that the blessed command may be fulfilled in us just as the words "Come forth" were fulfilled in Lazarus.
Think how much is involved in this command. The Lord says, "Put away the evil of your doings from before Mine eyes." But there is nothing that is not naked and open to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. Therefore to put anything out of His sight is to put it out of existence. That is, our doings are to be sinless in the Lord's eyes. We cannot possibly do this ourselves, because we have secret sins that we have not yet discovered in their true character. But these are in the sight of the Lord, and are therefore included in the command. "Thou hast set our iniquities before Thee, our secret sins in the light of Thy countenance." (Ps. 90:8) These hidden springs of evil that make the heart so desperately wicked, and deceitful above all things so that none can know it, the Lord has commanded us to remove from His sight. Shall we sigh and say it is impossible, or believe the Word and in its strength obey? It is God who gives the command, and when we believe His word of power we may rejoice that it works effectually in us who believe. Of the people who thus by faith obey the Word of God, it is written, "the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found." (Jer. 50:20)
--January 26, 1899