JOHN 4:43-54 ”A WALK TO REMEMBER” Mark Kolbe

JOHN 4:43-46a JESUS GOES TO THOSE WHO WILL LISTEN

1. Jesus was travelling north from J________, through S_____________, and now into G____________.

2. The phrase, “a prophet has no honor in his own country” was a reference to Jesus’ hometown of N__________________ (Matthew 13:53-58, Mark 6:1-6, and Luke 4:14-30).

3. There are two views on w__________ Jesus made this statement.

View 1 – Jesus was rejected in Nazareth on t______ different occasions.

· Matthew and Mark place the visit and rejection of Jesus in Nazareth at a point sometime l_______ in Jesus’ ministry, after calling and giving authority to all twelve of His disciples.

· Luke places his account of Jesus being rejected in Nazareth immediately after Jesus having been b______________ by John and t____________ by Satan.

View 2 – Jesus made just o______ visit to Nazareth later in His ministry and was rejected there.

· Luke wasn’t intending to list all Jesus’ life events in c___________________ order.

· Jesus’ actions and the rapid, favorable response to Him that Luke describes is more in line with the kinds of activities Jesus would be doing sometime a________ John 4.

· If the people were on the verge of throwing Jesus off a cliff as Luke described, Jesus would have followed His own instruction by s_______________ the dust off His feet and would not have returned a second time (Matthew 10:5-15).

4. John’s main point is to let us know that Jesus decided to not spend much time and resources on people who were s________________ and hardened in their unbelief. Instead, Jesus focused His ministry where people were o________ to hearing more from Him.

JOHN 4:46b-50 A MAN GOES TO JESUS FOR A MIRACLE

5. A royal official held a place of p__________________ in society, was probably fairly wealthy, and had access to the best doctors of their time.

6. By going to Cana, he was taking a r________. He may have been employed by the Roman ruler, Herod Antipas, the same leader who will eventually be responsible for b________________ John the Baptist.

7. He has run out of human o_____________ for saving his son’s life.

8. The distance from Capernaum to Cana was approximately _______ miles. His somber situation was symbolized in the fact that it was a difficult walk, u___________ from the seaside city of Capernaum to Cana (2,000 feet in elevation change).

9. There is no evidence that at this time the man believed that Jesus was the one whom he needed to trust in to save him from his s________.

10. However, this man had come to believe in Jesus’ ability to p______________ heal people.

11. Two reasons Jesus said, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe.”

· Jesus is making a statement about people in general, in that it does often take something extraordinary to get our a______________ and change our minds and hearts. Even the disciples were proof of that.

· However, witnessing miracles does not g________________ a person will believe. The Pharisees were proof of that.

· Jesus was also attempting to make this man’s faith c________________, by taking Jesus at His w________ (see Genesis 15:6).

12. The greater hope that the man now has is symbolized in the fact that his walk home wasn’t as difficult, since he was now travelling d_______________ from Cana to Capernaum.

JOHN 4:51-54 A FAMILY IS IMPACTED BY A MAN’S FAITH AND JESUS’ POWER

13. By asking the exact time of his son’s healing, the man v_____________ and s________________his faith in Jesus even more.

14. Through this man’s faith, and Jesus’ healing power, his entire h______________ comes to believe in Jesus.

APPLICATION

1. There aren’t any places that are off-limits to bringing the message of Jesus. The opportunity to accept Jesus is open to everyone. So, we should plant spiritual seeds when we have the c____________. However, not everyone will believe. Sometimes people have a predetermined idea of what God is like, and they won’t move off that for any reason. When that occurs, we should focus m__________ of our time and effort in ministries and on people who are open to Jesus.

2. The most significant life changing moments occur in times and places when a person is recognizes they are r______________ to put their faith in God.

o Don’t w________ to get God involved in your life when it’s a matter of life and death. Go to Him regularly.

o Rely on the promises in God’s word that He has a___________ made, don’t wait for a s________ to do it.

3. We can help non-believers become convinced of the m_______________ of Jesus by being examples of the p___________ of Jesus. Don’t be someone who just speaks about Jesus and quotes scripture, but someone who also lives like him. When our belief in Jesus is combined with a____________, other people can more easily see the power of Jesus at work. In doing this we help move Jesus from being an abstract image in the minds of others into an actual living, tangible savior.