The Twenty-First Sunday after Trinity – October 24, 2021
Psalm 119; Genesis 1-2:3; Ephesians 6:10-17
St.
John 4:46-54
In
the name of the Father, and of the T Son, and of the Holy
Spirit. Amen.
The account of the healing of the
nobleman’s son is all about faith. The word “faith” is repeated three times, as
is the consequence of faith – life. While we are accustomed to focusing on the
object of faith, this portion of Scripture is focused on the development of
faith. The nobleman approaches Christ in faith. He hears Jesus has come down
from Judea into Galilee and so he quickly travels from Capernaum to Galilee to
implore the Lord to heal his son who is on the brink of death.
The nobleman approaches in faith but it
is undeveloped faith. He comes with the faith of an adult, not the faith of a
child. He trusts that Christ can heal his son. He trusts that Christ desires to
heal his son. He is also insistent that Christ travel to Capernaum to perform
the healing. This reveals the weakness of his faith. He insists Christ follow
his commands in the manner and timing of the miracle.
We might compare this nobleman to the
Canaanite woman, who likewise was insistent that Christ answer her prayer.[1] Jesus seemed to ignore her pleas, but
the woman was insistent that he exorcise the demons from her daughter. Although
both the Canaanite woman and the nobleman approach Christ in faith, the woman did
not dictate the time or place in which she expected the blessing to occur. She
only expected her Lord to be faithful to his promise to care for her daughter
in body and soul. The nobleman expects the Lord to fulfill his promises, but he
is insistent that it be done on his own terms – “Come down to my house
and heal my son before he dies!” Thus, Christ commends the great faith
of the Canaanite woman and rebukes the nobleman.
That is not to say the nobleman is
without faith. He certainly looks to Christ for the salvation of his son in
body and soul. Yet his is an undeveloped faith. How then is his faith
developed? How does he go from the milk-faith of a stubborn adult to the meat-faith
of a newborn child?
This development does not come from praying
harder. It does not come from introspection. It does not come from additional
time in nature with God nor from intellectual pursuits of Scripture. It does
not come from singing louder or mission trips. The faith of the nobleman is
developed through suffering.
Perhaps faith was born in the nobleman at the wedding at Cana, where our Lord turned water into wine. Perhaps he heard Christ preach or witnessed the teaching of John the Baptist and the Baptism of our Lord. Sometime after faith was born within him, the son of the nobleman fell ill. His beloved son was thrown down by an invisible disease and brought to the point of death. When the Beloved Son of the Heavenly Father returned to the region, the nobleman sought him out and expected the Son of God to obey his demands for the sake of life. Then Jesus rebukes him.
“Unless you see signs and wonders, you
will absolutely never believe!”[2] Of all the rebukes of our Lord, none
is perhaps as complex as this one. One the one hand, he is rebuking the
nobleman for demanding something of God which has not been promised, namely the
temporal healing of his son.
At the same time, this rebuke is
intended to teach the nobleman. There is a temptation within the flesh of man
to think faith is an internal matter, as though it exists entirely apart from
the physical, external world. This is the origin of that terrible phrase, “I’m
spiritual but not religious.” Those who hold to this creed believe their faith
is a private matter between themselves and an ambiguous god. Such enthusiasts
raise their own thoughts and desires above the external Word of God. They deny
the Sacraments or treat them as magic rituals in which blessings of their own
imagination are imparted.
The weak faith of the nobleman fits
this creed. He has faith in Christ but has not submitted himself to the
external Word of God. Through this rebuke, Christ is pointing him outside of
himself. It is as though our Lord is saying, “Where were you when I created the
heavens and the earth? Where were you when I formed your son in your wife’s
womb? Do you presume to tell me how I am to love you and your son? Do you
presume to know better the salvation of man than I, the Son of God, who has
taken on flesh for this exact purpose? Do not look inside your own thoughts,
desires, or imagination for a sign of the love of God. Look to me. Look for the
sign of Jonah, the three days in the earth and the coming of the Dawn on the
third day. Look for the sign and wonder of your salvation found when I come
into my own kingdom, enthroned on a cross and crowned with thorns. Look to the
sign of your salvation in me – my blood, my flesh, my washing, and my Word.”
The nobleman’s response shows a growth
in his faith. The Word of God has worked on his heart and developed his faith.
“Lord, come down before my son dies.”[3] While it is unclear if the nobleman
understands the fullness of the Incarnation, the Holy Ghost is certainly
teaching us through these words how it is the Lord saves us all from death. The
Son of God came down from heaven, was incarnate by the Holy Spirit, born
of the Blessed Virgin, and was made man. The Second Person of the Holy Trinity descended
from the Father so that he would be raised up in the sacrifice of the Cross in
our place. The Incarnation is the beginning of the work of salvation of our
Lord.
The nobleman likely doesn’t understand what he is saying and yet he is confessing that by coming down from the Father into our flesh, Jesus will save his son from death, eternal death. By coming down from the Father into our flesh, Jesus will raise the nobleman’s son on the last day in the very flesh which was thrown down by illness. By coming down from the Father, the Son of God will cause the son of this man to live life eternal.
It is at this time that Jesus tells the
man his son lives, and the man believes the word of Jesus. He has not yet seen
the sign and wonder and yet he believes. His faith has developed. His faith is
strengthened. How did this happen? By the Word of God. By suffering. By crying
out to the Lord for salvation and then trusting that the Lord is good and will
answer. Jesus pressed the nobleman into a corner to force him to rely on the
Word of God and trust that the Lord would hear his prayer.
When the servants of the nobleman report
that the son was healed at the very hour in which Jesus said, ‘he lives,’ the
nobleman’s faith is again strengthened. This is the sign and wonder which he
sought, but it is not the sign or wonder which confirmed his faith. How else
could his entire household believe if the nobleman had not preached to them the
Word of God? He must’ve returned home with the psalms on his lips and cried out
to them that the Son of God has come down that we all may live. The milk-faith
by which the nobleman was barely clinging to life and now become a feast of
meat-faith by which he is able to provide for his family, his man-servants and
maid-servants.
The Son of God comes to you today in
the same way. The Lord sends you affliction. You have children who have left
the faith. You have sinned and are ashamed. You look around and see “perfect
people” in the church and believe you don’t belong. You beloved faces
life-threatening surgery. You face illness unto death and worry for the sake of
your loved ones. These afflictions are sent to you for the strengthening of
your faith. Repent of your little faith, “Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.”[4]
Like the nobleman, demand that the Lord
come down to be with you and then look for the sign. Not the sign of miraculous
healing of a tumor or a bird suddenly appearing in your window. “What profit is
it to a man if he gains the whole world, [perfect health, wealth, children, and
home,] and loses his own soul?”[5] Look to the sign of the cross. Look to
the Body of Jesus, exalted on high for your sake. See the miracle of your
salvation in the chalice. Hear the Word of God as it enters your ears and
strengthens faith. “God is superabundantly generous in His grace: First,
through the spoken Word, by which the forgiveness of sins is preached in the
whole world. Second, through Baptism. Third, through the holy Sacrament of the
Altar. Fourth, through the Power of the Keys. Also through the mutual
conversation and consolation of brethren, ‘Where two or three are gathered…’”[6]
These are the signs and wonders given by God for the strengthening of your faith. Faith is not an ephemeral, intellectual, or strictly “spiritual” possession. It is given and strengthened by things external to you, objectively present in the world. Faith is then displayed externally. First by driving you to continually seek the Lord. Faith desires to see the signs and wonders given by God. Faith drives you to the Church where you receive the things of God and gather for the mutual conversation and consolation of the brethren in the flesh. Our God is not virtual. Faith is not virtual. Faith never drives you to be alone. Faith gathers you into the bosom of Abraham, to be gathered with all the saints around and within the Body of Christ.
Faith then springs forth in external
works, just as the nobleman preached to his family. If you have seen and tasted
that the Lord is good; if you know salvation is in his flesh; if you know the
Son of God lives and by his life you have life; you will desire this same grace
for all whom you love.
In T Jesus’ name. Amen.
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