The Twenty-First Sunday after Trinity

The Twenty-First Sunday after Trinity – October 20, 2024

Psalm 119; Isaiah 25:6-9; Ephesians 6:10-17

St. John 4:46-54

In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The nobleman in our text today went on a journey in three parts.[1] First was his trip from Capernaum to Cana to meet with our Lord. Second, he journeyed back to Capernaum after hearing of the promise that his son lives. Finally, there is the reunion in Capernaum. This three-fold journey will serve as the basis for our understanding of this text.

Although we don’t know for sure where Biblical Cana is located, Scripture indicates that it is about a day’s walk from Capernaum. The nobleman was desperate enough to leave his dying son behind and make a two-day trip to and from Cana to entreat Jesus. We know that this man had heard the Word of God sometime prior to making this trip. Perhaps he had been at the wedding in Cana and knew of Jesus from the miracle performed there. Perhaps he had even returned to Capernaum with Jesus after the wedding, hearing Him teach along the way.[2]

What we know for certain is that this nobleman had faith at the beginning of our text. If he didn’t, he would not have risked leaving his dying son in the care of servants. What kind of faith did he have? We can answer this in two ways.

The tiniest drop of faith is all sufficient for the salvation of man. The newly baptized child has the same faith as Elijah, the great prophet of God who was carried into heaven without experiencing death.[3] The young man newly converted to faith in Christ has the same faith as St. Paul, who endured scorn, beatings, prison, and martyrdom on behalf of Christ.[4] The lonely widow weeping over the death of her son has the same faith as Blessed Luther, risking his life to proclaim the purity of the Gospel against the Pope and his minions. This saving faith is one and the same. There is “one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”[5] It is not the work of man but the free gift of God, wrought in you by the Holy Spirit through the proclamation of the Gospel – the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.

At the same time, this faith necessarily needs to grow and be strengthened.[6] It is one thing to possess something. It is something entirely different to care for it, use it, and benefit from it. This faith is exercised in three ways – meditation on the Word of God, prayer, and affliction.[7]

Meditation on the Word of God is best illustrated by a cow chewing her cud. She eats of the grass, chews and swallows into her first stomach, but only a small portion of her nutrition is gained. The grass is brought back into her mouth to be chewed a second time and swallowed again. More nutrition is gained. This continues over and over again until the full measure of nutrition is gained from the mouthful of grass. In this way, we are to chew the cud of the Word of God. The first eating of the grass is hearing and reading the Word of God. Each subsequent chewing is revisiting this Word in contemplation – reading the Word again and again and filling your mind with it. For the cow, there is an end to this process. For the Christian, it is a life-long endeavor.

Prayer exercises faith in taking the spiritual nutrition gained from the Word of God and turning it into action, into words given back to God. The Word of God forms our own words, for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit of God gives form to our prayers.[8] Not only is prayer an act of turning our hearts and minds toward God and expecting all good things from Him, but it also trains our flesh to do the same. By turning to God in prayer, we train our flesh for all future times when we find ourselves needing Him. It trains us to turn to Him always; to expect all good things from Him always; and to trust whatever He delivers to us to be for our benefit.

Finally, there is affliction or suffering. Our Lord promised that all who follow Him would suffer in this world. In a sense, our suffering is doubled because we know that we deserve it. When we suffer in this world, we know that it is on account of our sin. We also know that we deserve this suffering because of our sin; even as the beloved children of God. In fact, because we are beloved children of God, we hate our sin and wish to be free from it. We desire that God would purge our bodies and souls of sin, of the love of sinning, and of sin’s effects. And we endure this suffering because we know that God chastens those whom He loves.[9] We know that the suffering of this present age is nothing compared to the joys of the world to come.[10] A wise man loves the rebuke of his Father because he knows by it, he will be wiser still.[11]

As the nobleman journeys to Cana, his faith is weak. He insists that Christ come to his son. He trusts enough to know that Christ’s presence is the one thing his son needs but his faith is weak because it believes that his son will not be healed without the physical presence of Jesus. This is why our Lord rebukes him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe.”[12] The nobleman wants a display of the power of God in signs and wonders. He is already suffering the sickness of his son and now he wants a great miracle of God in grand visible gestures.

But he will not receive it. Our Lord offers a second, albeit subtle, rebuke. “God your way; your son lives.”[13] It is as though Jesus is saying, “My Word is enough for you and for your son. Your weak faith needs to be nourished and to grow. Let it be nourished on My Word alone. Go in the promise of this Word and your soul shall be healed.”

The nobleman must now make the journey back to his son. This journey is fraught with more anxiety than the first. He now has a clear Word of God, but he does not necessarily know the meaning. He is like Martha after Jesus said to her, “You brother will rise again.” She answers, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”[14] The nobleman must be meditating over and over again on this Word of Jesus. “When I get home, will my son have breath in his body? Or will he live in the life eternal?”

It is not until the nobleman is almost home that he receives an answer. His servants meet him outside his home and announce the healing of his son. They even repeat the words of Jesus, “Your son lives!”[15] The father recognized that his son had been healed at the very Word of Jesus the night before. He receives confirmation of his joy, and his faith is now praised in the eternal Scriptures.

As we near the end of the Church year and the celebration of Advent, our minds begin to turn toward the last things, toward the time when Christ will reveal Himself to the world for the final time. The three-fold journey of the nobleman can be seen as an allegory for our journey in the church.

The journey from Capernaum to Cana signifies our faith in its infancy. It is complete unto salvation, but it is unformed by meditation, prayer, and affliction. When we encounter suffering, the only outcome we can imagine from God is according to our wishes. It does not occur to us that God’s ways are not our ways. We know what we want from God, and we demand that He give it to us in grand and splendid ways.

Then, as we mature in the Word of God and begin to be formed by meditation, prayer, and affliction, we join the man on his journey home. We know and hear the Words and promises of God, but we do not have visual confirmation of them. Faith has grown and it continues to grow. This is the majority of our life on this side of glory. This knowledge of the Word of God, while it exercises our faith and results in its strengthening, also leads to more frustration and anxiety. This is because Satan wants nothing more than to drive the Words and promises of God from your heart. I’d say the nobleman was in greater danger of losing his faith on the journey home than the journey to Cana. And yet the nobleman endures. He endures because he holds to the Word of God and continues to contemplate it in his heart.

The joyous reunion at Capernaum is the consummation of our faith. It is the glorious revelation of our Lord in glory. It is that day when faith will no longer be necessary because the promises of God will be manifest before your very eyes.[16] It is the reunion with all the faithful in heaven and the Marriage Feast of the Lamb.[17] In that day, there will be no tears, save tears of joy and rejoicing.[18] On that side of glory, you will look back at your time of affliction, your time of suffering, and realize that the joy and bliss of heaven was made yours at that very hour, before you ever set foot on the final leg of your journey home. It was in the Words and promises of God given to you from the very lips of Jesus. 

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] This outline of the text is loosely based on Fred H. Lindemann, The Sermon and The Propers, Volume 4 (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 1962), 111-112.

[2] St. John 2:1-12.

[3] 2 Kings 2:11.

[4] 2 Corinthians 11:22-33.

[5] Ephesians 4:5-6.

[6] Hebrews 5:13-14; Proverbs 9.

[7] This is a reference to Martin Luther’s oratio, meditatio, and tentatio.

[8] Romans 8:26-27.

[9] Hebrews 12:6.

[10] Romans 8:18-19.

[11] Proverbs 9:8-9.

[12] St. John 4:48.

[13] St. John 4:50.

[14] St. John 11:23-24.

[15] St. John 4:51.

[16] Job 19:27.

[17] Revelation 19:6-9.

[18] Revelation 21:4.