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Twenty-First Sunday
after Trinity
The Collect.
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RANT, we beseech thee, merciful Lord, to
thy faithful people pardon and peace, that they may be cleansed from all their
sins, and serve thee with a quiet mind; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Epistle
Ephesians vi. 10.
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brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the
whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the
devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities,
against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against
spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour
of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all,
to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having
on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of
the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall
be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of
salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: praying always
with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all
perseverance and supplication for all saints; and for me, that utterance may be
given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of
the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak
boldly, as I ought to speak.
If
we were to cringe and withdraw into our desert dugouts, we would need no armor.
A non –belligerent needs no armor. But we are soldiers of the cross locked in
mortal combat with the very enemy of the soul of man – the Devil and his
legions. Our battle must be more of offense than of defense since we bear the
advantage of the higher terrain and every resource of heaven. So our armor is
to protect ourselves, but also to inflict devastating blows to the enemy in the
field. He has attempted to misappropriate and corrupt the Creation of our Lord.
But the decisive victory has already been won by the Captain of our souls at
Calvary. We must now occupy the land and eliminate his pockets of resistance
and silence his vedettes and lines of pickets. Truth is our strength and
support. Our hearts are covered with the imputed righteousness of Him who has
commissioned us to His Army. The Gospel of Peace, having been instilled in our
hearts through study and preparation, is the liberty of movement and maneuver
which we enjoy on the field. Our main protection against the blows of the enemy
is our Faith. The helmet of our salvation is the strength of our
learning and belief. Our Sword of the Spirit is the Word of God which is a
Two-Edged Sword to either condemn, or convict of sin. Prayer is our
communications network whereby we are in constant supplication for the entire
army and for each other. This, and the Prayer of Collect, join together as a
hand to the glove the Imperative of Faith as our most treasured possession of
victory!
The Holy Gospel
John 4:46-54
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o Jesus came again
into Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine; And there
was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum. 47 When he heard
that Jesus was come out of Judaea into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought
him that he would come down, and heal his son: for he was at the point of
death. 48 Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye
will not believe. 49 The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my
child die. 50 Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the
man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way.
51 And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him,
saying, Thy son liveth. 52 Then enquired he of them the hour when he began
to amend. And they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left
him. 53 So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which
Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth: and himself believed, and his whole house.
54 This is again the second miracle that Jesus did, when he was come out
of Judaea into Galilee.
The
Gospel text provides an example of victorious faith over the curse of Eden.
Faith is the crown jewel of our religion and, without it, there can be no
reconciliation to God. Our souls would remain in the dark abyss and our bodies
wracked with every sore and boil without the Balm of the Faith of Gilead. The
Gospel is a fitting benediction to that overcoming faith described in both the
Collect and the epistle for today.
God
would have us, I believe, to learn::
1. Believing faith’ is a faith
that will draw down the miraculous powers of heaven;
2. Faith believes where evidence
does not appear. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the
evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report.
Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so
that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.”
(Heb 11:1-3);
3. Faith must have a vehicle
upon which to move – hearing;
4. Faith compels us, in our dire
need, to draw on the smallest morsel of faith to satisfy that need;
5. Our proper response to faith
is immediate and without delay or procrastination. Its urgency is compelled by
love.
Cana
has been blessed with the first miracle of Christ, and a land that lends
itself, by faith, to one miracle shall receive more. “So Jesus came
again into Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine.” This is
the city at which Jesus, in due regard for the high esteem in which He holds
the first institution of God at Eden, honored the same estate by turning six
large, stone vessels full of water into wine. It was a divine tribute to
Marriage as an institution. Now, Christ, in His second miracle, will pay
tribute to the blessed fruit of marriage – the child! The miracle would issue
from Christ at Cana, and find its fulfillment in Capernaum, in the healing of a
young boy.
There
was a nobleman with connections to the power of the ruler whose son was deathly
ill at the point of death. There was no earthly hope for the son so insidiously
had the fever possessed his small frame. “And there was a certain
nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum.” Capernaum was
some sixteen miles from Cana; however, that was a good day’s travel in the time
of Jesus. The nobleman had, without doubt, sought after every remedy,
treatment, and physician at close hand who might improve his son to no avail.
He had, most likely, expended every resort. When hope faded as a distant star
on the horizon, suddenly, there came news of the coming of the man called Jesus
coming out of Samaria into Cana of Galilee. He may have been present at the
first miracle of Jesus at Cana, but not likely in my thinking. Certainly, he
had heard of the miracle for it was voiced abroad in the area. Suddenly, that
fading star of hope became, to our nobleman and loving father, the Bright and
Morning Star! Hope often gives birth to the primitive germination of faith, and
so it was for this nobleman.
47 “When
he heard that Jesus was come out of Judaea into Galilee, he went unto him, and
besought him that he would come down, and heal his son: for he was at the point
of death.” He had not seen Jesus previously in all likelihood, yet,
when he heard that Jesus was coming, hope gave over to the early yearnings of
faith – there was Light breaking over the distant landscape! “So then
faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17) Perhaps the nobleman had heard at the lips of a single, or many,
witnesses. But SOMEONE had told him of Jesus and His coming. How sad that many
have not had the benefit of hearing that Jesus has come, and will come again! I
might add that ALL are at the very point of death without Christ. The need is
great to carry the Gospel into every dark corner.
It
was the elemental tug of faith that impelled action on the part of the
distraught nobleman and father. Such a faith crosses all lines of class and
stature – the poor as well as the rich and powerful. There comes a moment in the
lives of great men such as General Naaman of Assyria whose leprosy made
wreckage of his life, to the poor blind Bartemaeus whose hope hinged on the
miracle he besought from a man he could not see outside the gates of Jericho.
When all hope is abandoned, there remains only faith to rekindle its warm
light. So, desponding of all possibility of an earthly cure, the nobleman now
latched onto the Fountainhead of all Hope and Healing in that early touch of
faith that suddenly penetrated the fortress walls of his heart. Here we see a
man of great influence begging a favor of a poor itinerant carpenter! Does this
make sense? No, it doesn’t make a bit of worldly sense, but the actions of
heaven are not dictated by worldly intelligence. Life and death matters (which
are the concern of Heaven) breach all lines of royal propriety and academia. No
time for role-playing when his son is at the very point of death! So, he begs
mercy from an unlikely source, but the only Source of life and miracles. What
may seem unlikely to the world may make perfect sense with God.
How
would the itinerant Master receive the nobleman of stature? He makes a very
telling statement of fact. He is not questioning the nobleman’s faith, but
EXPOSING it as a contrast to the lack of faith that abounded among common
men. 48 Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and
wonders, ye will not believe.” This man had not seen signs
and wonders as many of the latter multitudes had seen, yet still did not
believe. This man had not seen, yet believed still! That is the faith that
begets miracles and the favor of God! This approach is very like a father
telling his precious little daughter, with tongue in cheek, “Surely you do not
want this candy treat – you are just pretending!” Jesus already knew the heart
of this nobleman. He would have those who listened to his pleas to know his
heart of faith as well. There is no discouragement or rebuff that will quench
the light of earnest faith.
The
gentle rebuff of Christ in no way diminishes either the faith, or its kindred,
perseverance, of the nobleman. His nobility of character comes to light in his
manner of responding to Christ. It is as if he knows that Christ will not deny
him. His faith has told him this. 49 “The nobleman saith unto
him, Sir, come down ere my child die.” “Please, Lord, let us not
mince words – my son will die if you do not come down!” He knows Jesus well
enough in his heart of faith that He will not slam the gates of mercy on a
child – and He never has done so! He spoke out of faith but not out of mature
spiritual knowledge. He believed that Jesus must personally come to where his
son was to heal him, but faith and divine power knows no distance.
Having
exposed the child-like faith of this nobleman to the multitude gathered, Jesus
speaks again, 50 “Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son
liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he
went his way.” If the man did not understand before that
Jesus need only say the Word, and not come personally to heal his son, he knew
it now form the lips of Jesus whom he believed explicitly. The nobleman had no
need of pressing his point further….mission accomplished! He immediately
believed the word of Jesus and went on the trip back to his son at
Capernaum. God will give this man CONFIRMATION of his faith is a
most delightful way. Faith of the believer is ALWAYS confirmed in due time. We
may be facing challenges that appear to have no end other than tragedy, but
clinging to that morsel of faith that has been planted in our hearts; we
believe the impossible….and the impossible comes to pass!
The
servants of the nobleman have been standing a sorrowful watch over the man’s
son whom they most likely loved more than even the nobleman himself. Suddenly,
they noted his perilous fever had broken and the boy was well – as well as he
had ever been! In amazement, they ran along the road to Cana to tell the
nobleman. 51 “And as he was now going down, his servants
met him, and told him, saying, Thy son liveth. Then enquired he of them the
hour when he began to amend. And they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh
hour the fever left him. So the father knew that it was at the same hour,
in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth: and himself believed, and his
whole house.” Note here, again, the direction the man was
traveling. He had experienced a mountain-top experience with the Savior. Any
direction we take after being with Christ in either presence or prayer is down
again to the valleys in which we must move and labor. When told that his son
lived, he inquired of the time of his improvement for the sake of confirmation
of his faith. The journey from Cana to Capernaum was at least a
day’s travel. When told that the son recovered the previous day at the 7th hours
(1 P.M.), the nobleman was not surprised but rejoiced in the confirmation of
that small kernel of faith that had brought him face-to-face with Jesus. I hope
you, too, have had that kernel of faith that has brought you face-to-face with
Jesus. After that encounter, that kernel will grow into a hundredfold, an even
untold harvests of souls.
We
must not dismiss the results of the faith of the fathers for the children.
Remember Zaccheus whose was saved with his whole household at his faith in
Christ. See here how the noblemen believed AND HID WHOLE HOUSE (including
servants). We have the promise of God that our children shall not depart in old
age from that righteous path wherein the fathers walked if they are trained up
in the nurture of the Word of God. One of the imperatives of baptism is to
raise the child according to the promises of God, and that child shall confirm
the faith of the parents in due time. What a glorious and loving Lord we have
in Christ!
