The Nobleman's Faith Journey Through Contemporary Eyes

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Stepping off the stage this weekend, a lingering question refused to leave my thoughts. As I mulled over the powerful narrative of the nobleman's son from John chapter four, there were several thoughts i couldn't get away from. Join us in a profound exploration of faith, skepticism, and the very nature of belief as we dissect a story that challenges our contemporary understanding of miracles and trust. 

This episode unravels the intricate layers of the nobleman's unwavering faith when confronted with Jesus's simple yet profound assurance, "Your son will live." We discuss what it means to take Jesus at his word, contrasted with our modern-day craving for signs to buttress our beliefs. As you tune in, you're invited to introspect alongside us, to ask yourself what hurdles you're erecting against faith. Are we all, like the nobleman, capable of embracing Jesus's words without evidence, or are our hearts ensnared by the need for tangible signs? 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
We are continuing our series through the Gospel of
John.
We're in John, chapter fourthis past weekend.
Honestly, when I walked offstage, I thought of a question,
and so earlier this week I satdown with Pastor Scott and I
asked him hey, if you could, ifyou could experience or have
witnessed any of Jesus'smiracles besides the
resurrection, what would youhave picked?
Now, honestly, he had a betteranswer than I did.

(00:24):
My first thought was Lazarus.
For a lot of reasons.
One that's one of my favoritestories in scripture and I'll
tell that reason another day.
But I thought, man, it'd becool to see that happen.
And Scott said I think it wouldhave been Jesus walking on
water.
And I thought, oh man, why didyou?
You had a better answer than me, because you would get to see
Jesus do it and then also get tosee Peter do it, which is a big

(00:48):
deal and it's something prettycrazy to experience.
But back to the story.
We're in John, chapter fourthis past weekend and we're
talking about the nobleman's son.
And after preaching threeservices on a Sunday, I almost
always walk off stage withsomething rattling in my mind
whether it's something I wish Ihad said, maybe it's something I

(01:09):
should have explored more, ormaybe it's something I shouldn't
have said, but sometimes, likethis past weekend, it was
something that hit me harderthan I thought it would.
I'd studied all week, readcommentaries, listen to other
sermons, spent some time withGod, read this passage over and
over again, and so I would havethought this would have jumped
out of me at some other point,but it wasn't until I was on

(01:30):
stage.
I'm preaching and I'm sharingthe story from the gospel that
this hits me.
You see, if you don't know thestory, there's this nobleman
that works for Herod and his sonis dying and he comes to
another city to find Jesus andbegs, begs, begs Jesus to come
help, and at first it kind ofseems a little dismissive.

(01:53):
Jesus actually turns to him andhe's talking to both him and
the crowd and says unless yousee signs and wonders, you
people will never believe.
And I thought, man, I feel likethat's so true of our
generation and myself as well.
And then, as I'm preaching thisstory, I didn't say this from
stage, I talked to some peopleafterwards about it, but I

(02:14):
started thinking, man, that'sactually how I read the
scriptures.
When I get to a story like this, I'm speeding past the details
of what city it's in and who themajor players are.
I wanna witness the miracle, Iwanna see what's happening, and
so I, even in today's world, I'malways looking for the signs
and miracles.

(02:34):
Now the rest of the story goes.
If you don't know it, jesussaid to him your son will live.
It wasn't a promise of how hewill get better, what his life
will look like, it just was ablanket statement your son will
live, basically go away.
And one of my favorite passagesin scripture, one of my
favorite responses, if you will,was this moment where the

(02:56):
scriptures say the nobleman.
He took Jesus at his word andhe departed.
He just walked away.
He believed Jesus.
He didn't have a relationshipwith Jesus, he didn't know Jesus
intimately, he wasn't even abeliever at this point.
He just believed what Jesussaid and went back home, and

(03:17):
again, not down the street, backhome, like hours away back home
.
And so my kind of partingquestions for you today, things
to kind of let rattle in yourmind as they are in mind.
First, what are you allowing tostop you from truly believing?
What are you waiting to see?

(03:37):
What sign or miracle is on yourradar that you think, man, if I
see this, then I'll believe.
If I see this, then I'll have alittle bit more faith.
If I experience this, then I'lltrust Jesus a little bit more.
What are you allowing to standin the way of you actually
having faith in Jesus?
And maybe not the faith tobelieve maybe you're already
there but the faith to actuallybe obedient because you're

(04:00):
waiting for God to do somethingto prove himself to you, as if
he hasn't already proved enough.
The second thing I would say isdo you have a faith like this
nobleman and I guess these twoquestions kind of play hand in
hand, because the faith wasbelief, just pure trust, and who

(04:22):
God is, what Jesus said wouldbe true enough faith to put that
faith into action and walk away, believing, going back home.
Do you have that kind of faith?
And if not, what's stopping you?
What's keeping you from livingout that faith?
So here's the challenge for theweek Live it out.
Live out your faith fully,immerse yourself in trusting God

(04:48):
, trusting his promises for you,trusting that he has a plan for
you, trusting that hisintentions are best for you and
maybe that doesn't always playout in our life, but it plays
out in his bigger story.
So, trusting that what you'reliving through right now is a

(05:11):
part of God's greater plan topoint more people to Jesus.