At the Point of Death

Beloved People of God,

“And the man took Jesus at His word and went on his way,” (John 4.50b). 

That has to be one of the most encouraging verses in the Bible if we slow down enough to read it. Seriously, how is this not one of the verses we tell our children to memorize?!

Let’s establish a little context. In John’s Gospel, before Jesus begins to support His teaching through signs of His Lordship, He modeled baptism for us. He demonstrated the way of the Messiah that passes through the waters of repentance. He then turned water to wine at a wedding in Cana, showing us the Father’s generosity that surpasses the limited best we could ever establish for ourselves. Jesus then goes to Jerusalem and, like His generosity at the wedding, He does what we cannot do for ourselves: He cleanses the Temple. He drives out our plans for or own provision, our commerce and greed, that we anointed and placed in the Temple courts. Naturally, frustrated and rebuked, we demand Jesus provide proof of authority to drive out our sacralized idols in His house, and His response is to point us to the cross. Would you stop for a second and ask the Lord to open your eyes to the idols in your life?

While Jesus was making His way slowly back to Capernaum, a royal official was desperately searching for Him. Jesus left Jerusalem and spent several days in Samaria (of all places!), falling off the grid, and this man—probably a member of the wicked Herodian rule—was looking for Him everywhere. We can understand this father’s urgency because his son was about to die. When Jesus popped up in Cana, the man ran to Him, begging Jesus, “Lord, come down before my child dies.” And the Lord’s response was “Go, your son will live.”

And here’s our memory verse for the week: “And the man took Jesus at His word and went on his way.” Friend, this can be the hardest part of faith: simply walking in what Jesus has told us to do, believing. Beloved, as we start walking, taking Jesus at His word is when the testimony comes (John 4.51-53). Where is Jesus telling you to take him at His word and start walking?

For Christ the King, 

Brett