First Aired July 25
Jesus promised that if he were lifted up, he would draw people to himself. Join us as we explore the person of Jesus through the gospels. In exploring who Jesus is, we hope to encounter Him intimately and experience Him daily in our everyday.
Icebreaker
Last week we considered a relatively unimportant miracle – we have the opposite this week. Have you ever prayed for a really serious miracle?
Did it work out?
Praise
Sermon
Digging Deeper
Read John 4: 46-54 together in your group and reflect on the following questions.
If this is only Jesus’ second miracle, why would that make the official come all the way from Capernaum to Cana?
The distance between the two cities is 26.5 Kilometres, but that’s as the crow flies. Back then the roads may not have been so direct. Does the distance make a difference?
What does this story tell us about the royal official? Do you think it’s easy for the royal official to go ask Jesus for help? V47 – what characteristics is the royal official showing here?
Do you think that initially it might look like Jesus was just being lazy and didn’t want to go all the way to Cana?
Consider v48-49. Is Jesus saying that the royal official does not believe without seeing a miracle? Do you think the official is a man of faith at this point? When does the father start to believe? Does it matter than the miracle happened at the same time as Jesus said so?
Challenge
Jesus asks the official to believe without seeing. This is something that he also mentions again after his resurrection – blessed are those who believe who have not seen.
To what extent do you need to see God act in your life to believe in him? Or can you believe in God without seeing?