Sermon: Trinity 21 - 2019

10 November 2019

Text: John 4:46-54 (Gen 1:1-2:3, Eph 6:10-17)

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

Our Lord Jesus returns to the city of Cana, where He performed His first miracle.  And while there, He performs another miracle – this one a healing.  A government official approaches Jesus to tell Him that his son was “at the point of death.”  This official was probably working for the administration of King Herod – the same phony royal family that tried to kill Jesus by slaughtering the baby boys at Bethlehem.  It’s also possible that this official was actually a Roman soldier serving in King Herod’s court – as Herod’s kingdom was puppet administration.

At any rate, he asks Jesus to come and heal his dying son.  Our Lord’s reply is interesting; He says “Unless you [and it’s the plural ‘you’ as in “y’all”] – “unless [you people] see signs and wonders y’all will not believe.”  However, the official is undeterred in his prayer to Jesus for healing.  “Sir,” he says – and the actual word used is the word “Lord,” – “come down before my child dies.”

As a government official, he certainly understands that if you want something done, you don’t waste your time asking someone for something if that person doesn’t have the power or the authority to grant your request.  The official comes to Jesus, asks Him as “Lord,” and then he requests a miracle.  

Indeed, it sounds like this official – who at very least works for the corrupt Herod, and may well also be a Gentile – somehow knows who Jesus is, and believes in Him.  For who other than God can do such “signs and wonders.”  And notice that unlike the others around him, the official actually doesn’t need a sign in order to believe – for he has come believing already, believing that Jesus has the power and the authority to heal his son.

“Jesus said to him, “Go, your son will live.”  And as confirmed later by the official, when Jesus said that it was so, it was so – at that very hour.

Of course, this healing of the son is a great miracle – far more wonderful and wondrous than turning water into wine.  For death was turned away on that day.  But even this isn’t the greatest miracle of our Gospel reading – for we are specifically told: “The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way.”

He believed.  In other words, He had faith in the Word of Jesus.  And that, dear friends, is the greater miracle!  Faith is a gift, and indeed, a miracle.  For on what basis does he believe that Jesus has the power and the authority – by means of His Word – to heal and save?  Maybe he heard about our Lord’s last visit to Cana, when the Word of Jesus changed the molecular structure of a substance.  At any rate, he believes; he has faith.  And through this faith in the Word of Him whom he called “Lord,” his son was saved from death.

It may seem strange that this reading was paired up with the creation account in Genesis as our Old Testament reading, but we see the Word bringing all things into being.  “And God said…”  God speaks the Word, and it is so.  God speaks, and the universe comes into being.  God speaks the word, “Your son will live,” and it is so.  The Lord Jesus, the Lord God, has both power and authority not only to create the universe, but to restore that which is broken in the universe – including mortal human beings who suffer their mortality on account of sin.  St. John, whose Gospel teaches us about this official in Cana, had previously described Jesus as “the Word” who “was God” and who was “with God” “in the beginning.”

Jesus is the Word who speaks the Word, and John records the Word, and we read and hear the Word.  St. Paul teaches us that “faith comes by hearing… the Word of Christ!”  And this Word is preached to you at this very hour, dear friends!

And so look at how magnificent this passage is, dear brothers and sisters: “The man believed the Word.”  He believed in the Lord, and He believed the Lord’s Word of promise applied to him.  Such faith!  Such saving faith!

And look what else happened – a third miracle: “all his household” believed.  For they witnessed the miraculous healing, and the official had discussed this healing with others.  The Word of God has this kind of power.  And you, dear friends, are hearing this Word, and you are hearing it by the Lord’s divine providence.  It is no accident that you heard this Word today – at this very hour.  And this Word of God – proclaimed from the Scriptures and preached as the Gospel, the Good News – creates faith in you – healing, saving, death-destroying faith.  

Our Epistle lesson also mentions the power of the Word.  For St. Paul compares various attributes of the Christian like the armor of a Roman soldier.  The apostle describes faith as a shield – a piece of armor necessary for survival.  Without a shield, a soldier was easily knocked off by an arrow or cut by a sword.  The shield, that is, faith, is our protection from the attacks of the evil one.  And faith comes by hearing: hearing the Word of Christ.  St. Paul describes the Word as the “sword of the Spirit.”  The Word is the only offensive weapon in this soldier’s armory.  And with a sword, he can counterattack an enemy.  He can parry with his shield of faith, and then strike back using the Word of God.  

For the Word creates, the Word redeems, and the Word repels the evil one.  And when we have faith in the Word – specifically in the Word Made Flesh and all that He promises us from the cross and the empty tomb – we are healed and rescued from death – eternal death – saved just like the official’s son.

Dear friends, we need the shield of faith, and our faith is given to us by means of the Word.  We desperately need the Word of God.  We need to hear it read aloud in this holy place.  We need to hear its Good News preached where the Word has authorized preaching in His name.  And we need to eat the body and drink the blood of the Word Made Flesh, whose Word makes it clear that His body and blood are given to us “for the forgiveness of sins.”  And when we hear this Word, when we believe, when we have faith, we are healed that very hour!

And the Word has the power to create in us faith – and not only us, but our entire household.  May the Eternal Word dwell in us, restore us to life, and sustain us in faith for all eternity! 

Amen.

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.