Hello, friends, and
welcome to "Books of the Book."
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My name is Deyvy Rodriguez
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and I'm so pleased
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that you're able to
join us in this Bible study.
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And I am with Dr. Jon
Paulien. He is a Bible scholar.
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He is the dean of Religion
at Loma Linda University
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in Loma Linda, California.
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And, Dr. Paulien, we're
talking about the Gospel of John
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and you've written
three books on John.
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Tell us about those three books?
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Well, almost 20 years ago,
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I was asked to participate
in a Bible commentary series,
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it was called the
"Bible Amplifier."
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And one of the
purposes of those series
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was kind of a study guides,
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you know, it
would have questions
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to get people
studying into the book
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and then at the end
reflection questions
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and then, you know, I
would say some of the things
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that I was seeing in there.
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That triggered interest
and about 10 years later
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I wrote an Adult
Bible Study Guide
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for the
Seventh-day Adventist Church
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and that was
distributed in 18 languages,
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about 15 million copies.
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So that was--
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Which is known as the
"The Sabbath Quarterly?"
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Yeah, "The
Sabbath School Lesson."
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"Sabbath School Lesson."
This way it's often refer to.
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And along with
that, I published a book
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that gave additional information
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and told some stories
to go with the lessons,
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so people could read
one chapter every week
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as they were studying the lesson
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and be more prepared to discuss.
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Right. And you've not
only written three books,
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but you've also
written more books as well,
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and we're just talking about
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those three in the
Gospel of John, right?
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Yeah. And well, what
are we talking about today?
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Well, we are going into
the last part of chapter 4
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and the first
part of the chapter 5.
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There's two stories here.
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And of course, in John,
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stories always have mean
a little bit more sometimes
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than what they
seemed on the surface.
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But the reason we're
packaging these two together
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is because they fit a
nice slot for a program
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and it lets us cover
the last part of chapter 5
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in a separate
program where which I think
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it really needs to happen.
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So otherwise we could have
separated these two stories.
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But in John, you have this dual
directional kind of thing going,
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so the last story in chapter
4 is connected with chapter 5,
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and also with what precedes.
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But the introduction to this,
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right after the
Samaritan woman is in 4:43-45.
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So if you're ready, why
don't we take a look at that?
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And well for those of us
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or for those who are watching,
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who would like to join
us in this Bible study,
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you can pick up
your Bible and open it,
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and again we are in chapter 4,
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and you said we
are reading verse--
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43-45. 43-45, and it says,
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"Now after the two
days he departed from there,
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and went to Galilee.
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For Jesus Himself testified
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that a prophet has no
honor in his own country.
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So when He came to Galilee,
the Galileans received Him,
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having seen all things
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He did in Jerusalem at the feast
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for they also had
gone to the feast."
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There is an interesting
contradiction it seems in this.
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First of all, He is in Samaria
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and then He goes to Galilee
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after He spent
that couple of days
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in the town of drunkenness,
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so He goes to
Galilee, and what is Galilee?
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That's His home.
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Nazareth is where He grew up.
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Capernaum is where He is living.
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So He is going home.
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And as He is
going home, He says,
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"A prophet has no
honor in his own country."
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And then it
says, when He arrives,
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the Galileans
welcomed Him gladly
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because they saw the things
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that He had done in Jerusalem.
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So what do you make of that?
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Why does Jesus say
it's a lousy welcome?
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And yet they
welcomed Him gladly.
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Because it
seems that they needed
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to see some
evidence or some miracles
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before they
accepted Him as a prophet.
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So the welcome that they
give is grounded in the miracles
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they saw in Jerusalem.
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Right. So they're kind of the
counterpart of Nicodemus again.
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These Galileans have this
inadequate faith in Jesus,
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it's based on the miracles
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He did in Jerusalem just
as Nicodemus based His faith
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on those miracles in Jerusalem.
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So here He makes a
statement about faith.
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The Galileans have faith.
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They believe in
Jesus, they welcomed Him,
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they receive Him gladly.
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And once again He
doesn't trust Himself to them.
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Now in the Gospel
of John, it seems like,
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whenever He makes a
statement like this,
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He'll follow with a story
that acts out that very thing.
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In the story that
follows, there is a Galilean
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who comes to Jesus and
who has imperfect faith.
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And let's see what
happens in that story.
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And we are in
verse? Verse 46-48.
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I think as far as we
want to go right now.
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"So Jesus came
to Cana of Galilee
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where he had
made the water wine.
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And there was a certain nobleman
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whose son was sick at Capernaum.
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When he heard that Jesus had
come out of Judaea into Galilee,
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he went to him, and
imploded him to come down,
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and heal his son for he
was at the point of death.
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Then said Jesus unto him,
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'Unless you people
see signs and wonders,
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you will by no means believe.'"
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So now Jesus reveals
clearly what His reluctance is.
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The excitement of the Galileans
is based on His miracles.
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They're based on the
mighty things that He has done.
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And that's never
in the Gospel of John,
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a strong basis
for genuine faith.
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If it were the key,
then the second generation
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would be in a trouble
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'cause the second
generation doesn't see Jesus,
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doesn't hear Him,
doesn't touch Him.
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And so, how's the second
generation gonna come to faith,
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if it's got to
depend on miracles.
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And so, Jesus
says, "You Galileans."
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He says, "Unless you
see signs and wonders,
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you will never believe."
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Now this man is from Capernaum.
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So that's Jesus' hometown.
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And I've been to Capernaum,
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and it's probably about the size
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of a par-three
hole in the golf course.
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I mean, it's not
a big town at all.
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Yeah, maybe it had at
the most a thousand people
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and may be just a few hundred.
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So the odds are, this
man knew Jesus pretty well.
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He was quite familiar with Him.
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Now this story is also
told in the Synoptic Gospels,
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Mathew, Mark, and Luke.
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And in the Synoptic
Gospels, He is a Gentile.
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So if this is a
Gentile nobleman,
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he kind of
completes this tri-factor.
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You have a Jew,
you have a Samaritan,
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and now you have a Gentile.
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And all of them
are engaging with Jesus
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in one way or another.
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So this man is hesitant
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to really believe in Jesus.
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He tries to hide it, but
Jesus sees right through him.
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And so once again Jesus knows.
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You know, in the Gospel of John,
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one of the great themes that's
always there is Jesus knows.
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You can't fool Him. He knows
what's inside a person's heart.
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You can come to Him and express
faith like Nicodemus did.
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You can express knowledge
like the Samaritan woman did.
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You can come to Him and say,
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"I know that you
can heal my son."
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Jesus sees right through it.
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No sense hiding
in front of Jesus.
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You only make a
fool of yourself,
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is what seems to
be going on here.
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So interestingly enough,
this man lived with Jesus.
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So what does that tell us?
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The physical presence of Jesus
is really no help to faith.
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Again, it comes back to this
overarching message of John.
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John has written to people
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who were losing all
connection with Jesus
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in any physical or direct sense.
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And instead they must rely on
the testimony of the disciples.
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They must rely
on the Holy Spirit.
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And John's message is,
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look when people had the
living presence of Jesus,
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they often didn't believe.
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So what we have
here is an acted parable.
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Jesus has no
honor in His hometown.
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Even though, the people are
honoring Him with their lips.
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They're not honoring Him
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with their genuine
inner faith and actions, so--
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So in verse 48, Jesus says,
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"Unless you see miracles,
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signs and wonders,
you will never believe--"
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The signs, you know,
are intended to faith.
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I mean, Jesus does
these spectacular things.
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Signs are supposed to
say, this is a prophet,
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this is truly a
man of God, okay.
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But in
practice, most of the time
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they produced this
shallow inadequate faith.
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Now, why would you say this
person doesn't have true faith,
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even though he expresses it?
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Because he is going
there to meet Jesus,
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to bring Jesus
back and heal his son.
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He believes that the only
way his son can be healed is,
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if Jesus walks down
that trail with him,
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goes all the way to his house,
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puts His hand on
him and raises him up.
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He doesn't believe that Jesus
can heal him at a distance.
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And he isn't believing enough,
you said, he believed. So--
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But there's three
times-- three kinds of faiths.
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There is this inadequate faith,
that's just based on miracles.
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There's an early immature faith,
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which is
genuine, but not complete.
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And then there's a lasting,
faith that cannot be shaken.
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So you've three
different types of faith.
00:10:41.98\00:10:44.12
And here you
have an acted parable
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of what that
inadequate faith is like,
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just as it was with Nicodemus.
00:10:49.20\00:10:51.24
So we have another poster
child for inadequate faith,
00:10:51.27\00:10:54.21
but here is a difference.
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Nicodemus is not
portrayed as changing his mind,
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at least in chapter 3,
maybe later on he does.
00:10:59.18\00:11:02.48
But in chapter 3,
the story ends with him
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still in that same
limbo kind of position.
00:11:05.36\00:11:09.11
But this royal official changes
and it's crucial to understand.
00:11:09.14\00:11:14.05
How far apart
are these two towns?
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Jesus is in Cana again
where the wedding took place.
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This other man
comes from Capernaum.
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Capernaum is on the
shore of Sea of Galilee.
00:11:23.20\00:11:26.00
Cana and Nazareth
are up on the mountains.
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It's 16 miles, 25
kilometers from Capernaum
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all the way up to Cana.
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It's about 1,700
feet, more than 500 meters
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from below sea level up
to this hill top over here.
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So he goes 16 miles,
he climbs all that way,
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he is going uphill,
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and he gets to Jesus at around
1 o'clock in the afternoon.
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It's just after--
after the noon hour.
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And he is hoping,
Jesus will come back
00:11:58.90\00:12:00.94
that day and heal his son.
00:12:00.97\00:12:05.07
So let's see, what goes
on here. Verses 49 and 50.
00:12:05.10\00:12:10.28
"The nobleman said to Him,
00:12:10.31\00:12:11.68
'Sir, comedown
before my child dies.'
00:12:11.71\00:12:14.85
Jesus said to him, 'Go
your way, your son lives.'
00:12:14.88\00:12:18.23
So the man believed the
word that Jesus spoke to him
00:12:18.26\00:12:22.28
and he went his way."
00:12:22.31\00:12:23.86
Ah, you see, the difference
00:12:23.89\00:12:26.71
is this man comes to
believe, to true belief.
00:12:26.74\00:12:31.47
Does he come to believe
00:12:31.50\00:12:32.87
because Jesus goes down
the hill and heals his son?
00:12:32.90\00:12:37.18
No. He comes to believe before
he can verify the miracle.
00:12:37.21\00:12:43.51
In other words,
it's not a miracle
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that changes his mind.
00:12:45.42\00:12:46.79
It's the word of Jesus.
00:12:46.82\00:12:49.10
And John is telling us
something very important.
00:12:49.13\00:12:51.56
You don't need the
physical presence of Jesus
00:12:51.59\00:12:54.11
to have
everything that He offers.
00:12:54.14\00:12:56.23
You don't need to see
miracles to have faith,
00:12:56.26\00:13:01.43
but instead the Holy Spirit
00:13:01.46\00:13:03.48
working with the
words of Jesus has the power
00:13:03.51\00:13:05.97
to build in you the
faith that really matters.
00:13:06.00\00:13:10.09
And this man in
order to believe,
00:13:10.12\00:13:12.07
it seems that he needed
the affirmation from Jesus
00:13:12.10\00:13:16.04
that his son would be healed,
00:13:16.07\00:13:18.57
but had he not
heard of Jesus' words,
00:13:18.60\00:13:23.62
"Go your way, your son lives."
00:13:23.65\00:13:26.40
Would he have
somehow believed anyway?
00:13:26.43\00:13:29.37
Maybe not. Maybe not.
00:13:29.40\00:13:31.79
Because in John,
faith is always generated
00:13:31.82\00:13:35.49
by the words of Jesus,
00:13:35.52\00:13:37.53
and when he hears
the words of Jesus,
00:13:37.56\00:13:39.41
the Holy Spirit ministers
those words to his heart
00:13:39.44\00:13:41.88
and he says, "Okay, I believe."
00:13:41.91\00:13:44.46
And then he starts heading
down the hill without Jesus.
00:13:44.49\00:13:49.96
And the very leaving of Jesus
00:13:49.99\00:13:52.92
is evidence of his
faith at this point.
00:13:52.95\00:13:56.20
So he is a representative
character just like,
00:13:56.23\00:14:00.98
Nicodemus represented the Jews
00:14:01.01\00:14:02.91
and this Samaritan
woman to Samaritans.
00:14:02.94\00:14:04.97
He represents
the second generation
00:14:05.00\00:14:07.61
as well as the Gentiles.
00:14:07.64\00:14:09.15
He is somebody who comes
to faith through the word,
00:14:09.18\00:14:13.23
not through the miracle
00:14:13.26\00:14:14.63
and not through the
physical presence of Jesus.
00:14:14.66\00:14:16.92
So the words of
Jesus are as great
00:14:16.95\00:14:21.91
or if not greater than
the miracles themselves.
00:14:21.94\00:14:25.76
Jesus' word is as
powerful as His presence.
00:14:25.79\00:14:29.26
In fact, in this
case it seems like
00:14:29.29\00:14:30.92
it's even more powerful
00:14:30.95\00:14:32.81
because His presence
the man didn't have faith.
00:14:32.84\00:14:35.95
It was only when he hears
the word that he has faith.
00:14:35.98\00:14:38.82
Now does he really
believe? Verses 51 to 53.
00:14:38.85\00:14:44.24
"While, he was
still in the way."
00:14:44.27\00:14:47.43
Right? 16 miles.
00:14:47.46\00:14:49.59
"If you came uphill 16 miles
and got there at 1 o'clock,
00:14:49.62\00:14:55.00
do you think you could
get home going downhill
00:14:55.03\00:14:57.49
if you're excited to find
out whether you son was healed?"
00:14:57.52\00:15:00.48
Probably. Yeah.
00:15:00.51\00:15:01.88
Okay, notice what happens.
00:15:01.91\00:15:03.32
"While he was still on the way,
00:15:03.35\00:15:06.11
his servants met
him with the news
00:15:06.14\00:15:07.60
that his boy was living.
00:15:07.63\00:15:09.48
When he inquired as to the
time when his son got better,
00:15:09.51\00:15:12.45
they said to him,
00:15:12.48\00:15:13.85
the fever left him
yesterday at the seventh hour."
00:15:13.88\00:15:18.17
Then the father
realized this was the exact time
00:15:18.20\00:15:21.02
which Jesus had said to him.
00:15:21.05\00:15:22.89
"Your son would live."
00:15:22.92\00:15:25.02
You see, sometime the next day,
00:15:25.05\00:15:27.02
he is still wandering out there.
00:15:27.05\00:15:29.28
He took the scenic route home.
00:15:29.31\00:15:31.27
He stopped and
smelled the flowers.
00:15:31.30\00:15:32.90
He helped somebody
change a wheel on his wagon.
00:15:32.93\00:15:36.13
He knew that Jesus' word
was as good as healing itself.
00:15:36.16\00:15:41.79
And he wasn't surprised
to come home and find out.
00:15:41.82\00:15:44.40
Yeah, his son was healed
00:15:44.43\00:15:45.80
at the very
moment that Jesus spoke.
00:15:45.83\00:15:47.73
Well, Dr.
Paulien, we're gonna be
00:15:47.76\00:15:49.23
talking more
about the words of Jesus
00:15:49.26\00:15:51.18
and how they are as
powerful as His miracles.
00:15:51.21\00:15:53.70
So stay with us, friends,
00:15:53.73\00:15:55.10
as we continue to
study the Gospel of John.
00:15:55.13\00:15:57.46