John [4:46]-54
As a child I was enthralled with the original Star Wars trilogy. I had them in a boxed VHS special edition set. I wore them tapes out. I loved how Luke and Yoda could move things around and were just masters of the force. Being young (and stupid I suppose looking back) I thought there was a chance I might be a Jedi and that I could use the force.
One evening while watching my dad saw boards in the shop, I found an acorn and sat down on a milk crate and held it in my hand. I closed my eyes and focused hard on the acorn, trying to make it fly. I knew from Obi Wan I had to feel the force flowing through me. After no success I asked daddy if he thought I could do it. He came and stood by me said to try it again. I closed my eyes and thought hard and…. I felt the acorn rise from my hand! I opened my eyes and it was gone. Astonished I looked at my daddy to see him beaming. He said try to make it come back. I closed my eyes and concentrated and I felt it come back to my hand.
A few years passed and I grew to understand the force wasn’t real. It was a fictional power. I had believed I could do it from watching a work of fiction. Instead of putting my belief into something man made, I should have put my belief into something real, like the official in John [4:46].
The official (he was of Capernaum) found Christ in Cana. When he found Him he asked Him to go and heal his son in Capernaum. Christ gives him an unusual answer. “Unless you see signs and wonders, you will not believe.”
I must admit. I’m in that same boat sometimes. I need to have proof of something before I will admit to its authenticity. My dad has to have surgery on his ankle soon, and if you came up to me and said his ankle was healed without surgery I might not believe you. But the official approached him again, begging Him to come help his child. Christ gives him a little clearer answer this time, “Go on home, your son is ok.”
What did the man do? He believed. He believed the words that Jesus told him. After he believed he went on his way (there’s a lot there that can be covered another day). He got halfway home and he met his servants who told him the good news, your son is alive and well. We must do the like official from Capernaum. We must believe in what Jesus has told and taught us in His Word. We can’t put our faith in the force (Star Wars) or the things of this world. We must believe and trust in the sure foundation that is Christ.
Riley Lee