Source and Strength of Faith

Trinity 21

John 4:46-54

Pastor James Preus

Trinity Lutheran Church

October 20, 2024

Jesus returned to Cana in Galilee. You know that town from the story of Jesus’ first miracle of turning water into wine. When a nobleman from Capernaum heard that Jesus was in Galilee, he went to Cana to ask Jesus to come to Capernaum with him to heal his child, who was dying. Cana and Capernaum were both near the Sea of Galilee. Capernaum had become Jesus’ adopted hometown after he was rejected in Nazareth. So, this nobleman knew of Jesus. He had heard of Jesus’ miracle of turning water into wine. And so, he believed that Jesus could also heal his son. Yet, when he asks Jesus to come down and heal his son before he died, Jesus gives him a harsh rebuke, “Unless you see signs and wonders, you will never believe.”

Why does Jesus give such a harsh reply? Does not the man already believe? Why else would he ask Jesus to come and heal his son? And did not Jesus’ disciples believe in Him after they saw the miraculous sign of Him turning water into wine? There are two reasons for Jesus’ harsh rebuke. First, faith does not come by miraculous signs. Faith comes from hearing the Word of Christ, as St. Paul writes in Romans 10, “[Saving] faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the Word of Christ.” This maxim must be learned by all Christians. Saving faith comes through hearing the Word of Christ.

Now, you might counter and say that the disciples believed Christ when they saw the miracle of turning water into wine. That’s true. Christ uses that miracle to confirm their faith. Yet, they already had faith in Him. That’s why they were called His disciples. They heard His preaching and followed Him. But miracles are not the ordinary way that a person is brought to faith or kept in the true faith. The divinely ordained means by which an unbeliever is made a believer and a weak Christian is made into a strong Christian, is through hearing the Word of Christ.

Jesus shows this with His story of the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man languishing in hell, begs Abraham to send Lazarus, who is in heaven, to his five brothers, so that they would repent. Abraham says, “They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.” Moses and the Prophets means the Holy Scriptures. And when the rich man protests further, Abraham says, “If they will not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if a man should rise from the dead.” And these words proved true at Jesus’ resurrection. Jesus appeared to those who had believed in Him before His crucifixion, and they believed in Him again. Yet, the chief priests who refused to listen and believe Jesus’ Word bribed the guards to be quiet, when they reported that Jesus had risen from the dead.

Signs and wonders do not produce saving faith. The Holy Spirit produces saving faith through the message of Christ. Jesus shows this again, when He rebukes Thomas for his unbelief before seeing the risen Christ, saying, ‘Do you believe because you have seen Me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” In other words, the vast majority of Christians will not see the risen Christ before they die. Instead, they will be brought to faith and kept in the faith through the Word of Christ.

This is the constant example of faith in Scripture. Abraham, whom Scripture calls the father of our faith, was called by God when he was seventy-five years old. God promised to make him into a great nation and to give him an offspring through whom all families of the earth would be blessed. Yet, his promised son Isaac was not born until Abraham was one-hundred years old! For twenty-five years, Abraham walked by faith and not by sight, holding on to God’s promise. And through that faith, he was accounted righteous by God (Gen. 15:6).

And this is a warning to our generation today, which seeks salvation outside of Christ’s Word. We will not find saving faith in wonders and signs. We will only find faith in Christ through humbly listening to His Word. St. Paul writes to the Corinthians, “For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:22-24) and again, “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:18)

People find the Word of Christ insufficient. Perhaps, you find the Word of Christ lacking. Maybe there is something else that will be more effective in making you a better Christian or bringing your children or grandchildren back to Church. But there isn’t. “Unless you see signs and wonders, you will never believe,” says Jesus in rebuke of the man. And so, He rebukes everyone who seeks Him apart from His Word. If anyone is to have saving faith, He must listen to the message of the cross. You must see your sins cause Jesus’ pain and torment and death upon the cross, and see how He alone pays your ransom. You must learn from the Godman, from His own words, how to repent, how to trust, how to endure trials and temptations, how to recognize God’s love. Speaking in tongues, miraculous healings, emotional manipulation, eloquent wisdom, social science, none of these things can grant saving faith. Only the Word of Christ.

The second reason Jesus rebuked this poor nobleman, who begged Him to heal his son, is because the man needed his faith to be strengthened. And so, Jesus teaches us that we are always in need of stronger faith. The man had faith. At least, enough faith to take a day’s journey to another town and ask Jesus to come down and heal his son. And most people would think that is enough faith. I do believe most people think they have enough faith. And it is true, that even faith like a mustard seed can move mountains and even a smoldering wick He will not snuff out. So, a weak faith is still a saving faith, if what you have faith in is true. If you have a weak faith in Christ Jesus, then you still possess all of Christ’s righteousness, forgiveness, and kingdom, because it is not the act of believing which saves, but the content of the faith which saves. So, if you have a million dollars in a wet paper bag, you have just as much money as a person with a million dollars in a steel safe. Yet, whose million dollars is more secure?

And so, everyone thinks he has a strong enough faith until that faith is put to the test! Peter thought he had faith to walk on water, until he was frightened by the wind and the waves. The twelve disciples thought they had great faith until they cried in terror on the stormy sea and Jesus rebuked them for their little faith. Yet, when Jesus rebuked His disciples for their little faith, He did so out of love for them, so that they would see their need for a strengthened faith. And when Jesus rebuked this father for asking for a sign, He was showing him kindness, by training his faith to grow.

You may think that your lungs are fine and you are in decent shape, until you are forced to run and realize you’re not in as good of shape as you used to be. You may breathe easy sitting on the recliner, but that doesn’t prepare your muscles, heart, and lungs to do what is hard. Your faith holds your most precious treasure: Christ Jesus, and eternal life with Him. If your faith cannot withstand the test, you may lose that treasure when you need it most. So, Jesus teaches us to get training. To strengthen that faith, so that we hold onto Him more securely.

This man was hardly ready for this test. He begged Jesus to come down before his son died after Jesus rebuked him. What strengthened his faith in this trial? It was the Word of Christ, “Go, your son lives.” Although the nobleman had not seen it to be true, although Jesus did not do what he asked Him to by going down with him, the man believed Jesus’ words and went home in peace. And so, it is with us. Do you see the forgiveness of sins? Can you see the guilt for your many sins washed clean from your conscience? Can you see the robe of Christ’s righteousness covering all your imperfections? Do you see Christ’s body and blood before you? Can you see the gates of heaven open before you with angels and saints rejoicing at your repentance? No. But Jesus says, “Blessed are those who have not seen, yet have believed.” As Abraham journeyed from his home for twenty-five years, believing a promise without seeing it fulfilled, so this man walked a day’s journey home confident that what he heard from Christ was true. And so, we believe the words of Christ, “Your sins are forgiven,” “This is my body given for you; this is my blood shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” “Whoever comes to me, I will never cast out.” “Depart in peace.”

Your faith will be put through the test by temptation, by falling into sin, by suffering, and by the hatred of this world. You don’t need a wet paper bag faith, which will do when times are easy. You need a full armor of God faith, which can withstand every flaming arrow of the devil. So, when times are good and easy, take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. When times are hard, listen to the word of Christ. Never assume that you do not need stronger faith, because it will not be worth it when you find out that you overestimated yourself.

Finally, the Gospel lesson teaches us not only to listen to Jesus’ Word, but to continue to learn it. When the man heard from his servants that his son had recovered, he inquired of them, that is, he learned from them what hour his son got better. And when he heard that it was the same hour that Jesus said, “Your son lives,” he believed again, and his entire household. This teaches us that we should learn God’s Word. We should inquire of God’s Word. We should test our faith by asking questions and searching for their answer in the Words of Christ. We should read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest Holy Scripture, so that we may believe again and again and know that Christ’s Words are true. And we should speak of what we have learned in our household, so that our entire house may believe and be saved.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us take Jesus’ rebuke to heart, so that we diligently listen to His Word and find the source of our faith there. In this way, we may be strong in faith to endure every temptation, trial, and flaming dart of Satan until finally our eyes see what our faith has believed. Amen.