Trinity 21
Dear friends in Christ. The Epistle readings these past few Sundays teach us our lives as Christians are not ones of fun and games. Last week we heard St. Paul telling us: Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. In today’s Epistle we hear St. Paul telling us: Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil… Take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
The point is this: our lives as Christians are lives of struggle. We are constantly fighting against sin and the devil and his allies all trying to lead us away from Jesus and faith in Him. We always have to be on guard and vigilant. We need that spiritual armor St. Paul talks about in our Epistle. What makes our struggles so difficult is that We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places… We are reminded that we have to fight for our faith—for the very moment God had worked faith in Him in our hearts in holy baptism, the devil and his allies have marked us for destruction: first that our faith in Jesus be destroyed and then, finally, that we be condemned soul and body in hell eternally. Our Christians lives are one of great struggle under the cross.
But how does that square with what we hear from St. Peter, for example, who writes about Christians [1 Pt. 2.9]: But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people? On the one hand, we are suffering the attacks of the devil and his allies; but on the other hand, we Christians are a royal priesthood.
The simple fact of the matter is that both are true. Although we are priests of a king, God’s own special people, we are right now called upon to spiritual battle against the devil and his allies.
So what does this mean? Simply this—that by virtue of our baptism we become that chosen generation, royal priesthood, holy nation, [God’s] own special people. God blesses us with every heavenly and spiritual treasure; we are His dear children and He our dear, loving heavenly Father. We have a great dignity as Christians—a great dignity before God—but this dignity is not visible to the eyes of the world as we now have to stand against the schemes of the devil and suffer what we do. Our true dignity as Christians, though, will first become visible on the Last Day, as St. John writes [1 Jn 3.2]: Beloved, now we are children of God; but it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him...
But, dear Christian, even in the midst of our earthly life where we suffer attacks from the devil and his allies—the world and our own sinful nature—we still have a great dignity now. Our dignity is that through faith in Jesus, we have all that He has. That is, through faith we grab ahold to Jesus and His righteousness is ours, our sins are forgiven us; in Jesus we are God’s dear children and heirs of heaven; in Jesus God sees us holy, perfect and righteous; in baptism He has claimed us as His own; in the word and Sacrament He gives us His greatest gifts and treasures.
Even when it may not seem like it, we are still that chosen generation, royal priesthood, holy nation, [God’s] own special people.
This is why the royal official we hear about in today’s Gospel is such a good picture of us Christians. So [Jesus] came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. Based on his title, it seems that he was an official of the king, Herod Antipas, the son of King Herod who had tried to have the Baby Jesus killed. This royal official had a son who was deathly ill and he made the 16 mile trek from Capernaum to Cana to see Jesus.
Here we see that this man’s great position as some sort of official of King Herod Antipas didn’t spare him any earthly sorrow and trial—his son was at the point of death. What else do we see? This official had faith in Jesus as the one who could heal his son. He obviously had heard that Jesus had done other miracles; obviously he had heard that some people were saying that Jesus is the Messiah; maybe he himself had even heard Jesus preach. In any case, there was that spark of faith in Jesus. Even that faith that this official had in Jesus that drove him to Jesus to ask Him to heal his son—even that didn’t keep him from this trial of watching his son die of sickness. Again, long story short—just because a person is a Christian, has faith in Jesus, this does not spare them from earthly trial. Neither earthly position—royal official—nor one’s Christian faith prevent sorrow.
The vital thing is that this royal official of King Herod had faith in Jesus. He was of that chosen generation, royal priesthood, holy nation, [God’s] own special people. What does our text tell us? When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. Again, somehow/ some way the Holy Spirit had worked faith in Jesus in this man’s heart. Either first hand or from others what this official had heard about Jesus, the Holy Spirit used to create faith. And that faith prompted this official into action: he went to him. That was faith in Jesus and His power and goodness.
That’s how it is with each of us. The Lord works faith in Him in our hearts. For most of us, it was at the moment of baptism; for others it was later in life as some told us the Good News about Jesus. In any case, it is a real faith. Like with this royal official, faith may be weak, or it may be strong—but faith saves because whether it is a strong faith or a weak faith, faith grabs ahold of Jesus, His work, word and promise and receives His righteousness, His forgiveness, and all His gifts. That royal official is also a picture of the Christian—God did not leave him alone, but worked to strengthen and deepen faith—so also with us: in our various trials the Lord is working to strengthen and deepen our faith by leading us back to His word and promise to us in Jesus—that very word through which He strengthens faith.
In faith, perhaps a weak spark, that royal official went to Jesus and asked Him to come and heal his son. So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” This sounds rather harsh, but what was Jesus doing here? He was trying to get this official to examine himself/ examine his faith. Why was he coming to Jesus? What was his faith based on—miracles or the word? This is an important point. This official’s faith was real; he truly trusted in Jesus as the One who could heal his son. But the foundation of his faith, what his faith was built, grounded upon were the signs and wonders. Because this official had heard or maybe even himself had seen what Jesus had done, he believed. But that’s backwards—the word of Jesus is the basis of faith; the signs and wonders are merely to confirm that Jesus is who He says He is—the Son of God and Savior of the world. Faith is to be grounded on the firm and certain word.
That’s why Jesus wants this royal official to examine his faith. That’s why we do well to follow his example to examine our faith: is it firmly based on the word and work of Jesus? Or is my faith based on my works or my feelings, etc.? When things are going really well for us, it’s easy to be bold and strong and think our Christian faith is solid and secure. But that’s like basing faith on signs and wonders. A solid, rightly grounded faith, is based on Jesus’ word and work—no matter what the outward circumstance may be; it is this faith that allows us to stand firm. And that’s why we do well to heed, examine our heart, and apply Jesus’ statement to the people to ourselves: Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe. Satan is very happy to let us feel strong in faith but only so that in time of trial and hardship he can get us to doubt and despair all the more of God’s love for us in Jesus. But where that faith is firmly grounded on the word and work of Jesus, the devil cannot succeed. Dear Christian, always look outside of yourself for the foundation of your faith—to Jesus, His word and work. His word and work stand.
Jesus then exercised the faith of the royal official: The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. He had true faith; it was bold, leading him to Jesus praying/ saying: Sir, come down before my child dies; but it was an imperfect faith. Here we see the mercy of the Lord, Jesus doesn’t scold him or reject him for that imperfect faith. Instead, just like Jesus tried to get the man to examine himself and his faith to build his faith not on signs and wonders but on His word, so also now He tries to get him to exercise his faith. Notice, in his imperfect faith, the official thought Jesus had to physically be there in order to heal his son. But Jesus tells him: “Go; your son lives.” Jesus exercises and tests that faith. And what do we see? The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. Did you catch that? The man believed the word. By Jesus’ almighty working through His word dealing with this official, He strengthened and purified his faith so that his faith was based on the word that Jesus spoke. The man believed the word.
What we have here in our text are two miracles of healing. First, the miracle of health as Jesus healed the man’s son. And the second miracle, is that Jesus turned the father’s weak, imperfect faith into a strong faith, one with a solid foundation: The man believed the word.
This is so vital for us, dear Christian. Very often in our lives we will not feel, taste, see, the help and grace of the Lord. It will seem like the Lord has abandoned us. It will be some of the darkest times when it seems that our whole world is collapsing around us, like it certainly was for this official whose son was dying. But let us not despair but instead let faith be faith believing the word for the sake of the word. Let us hold to Jesus, His work, His word, His promise. There, in spite of how it all looks; in spite of what havoc the devil is trying to wreak; faith has the solid foundation. And in grace upon grace, Jesus comes to us—precisely in those times—to strengthen our faith. He comes to us as we make use of His holy word, hearing it here in church, reading/ studying it at home, receiving the holy absolution, and especially as we receive into our mouths Jesus’ very body and blood in the Blessed Sacrament.
This official’s faith was not in vain; our faith is never in vain. Here he received exactly what he prayed for: The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering. So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” And he himself believed, and all his household.
His faith was confirmed and increased. Not only did Jesus heal his son but this man all the more believed that Jesus is the Son of God and Savior of the world.
Just like He did with this royal official, we can be assured that our gracious Lord will always be working on us to purify, strengthen and confirm us in our faith. INJ