Jesus and the Nobleman’s Son in Cana

By Paul Earnhart

As Jesus went about preaching in Galilee, he came to Cana where he had made the water into wine.  That was the only previous miracle Jesus had wrought in Galilee, but it had left its impression on the people there. (See John 4:46-54)

A nobleman, who lived several miles away in Capernaum, had a son who was at the point of death.  He came to Jesus, begging Him to come and heal his son.  Jesus did not immediately perform the miracle.  Miracles were secondary to teaching.  Their purpose was to encourage belief.  Jesus gently chided the man for requesting a sign.  Jesus said, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe.” (John 4:47).  But when the man persisted, Jesus said, “Go your way, your son lives.”

The man had enough faith to leave the presence of Jesus to make the journey back to Capernaum.  And he found that Jesus had indeed healed the boy, even from a distance, for the fever left the boy at the very time when Jesus had spoken the words.

There are several levels of faith revealed in this story: First, the man had faith enough to come to Jesus to ask for the healing.  Then his faith increased to the point that he was willing to return to Capernaum in the belief that Jesus had healed the boy.  Finally, we are told that after the miracle, the man himself believed and his whole house (John 4:53).

If Jesus felt that this man should believe without a miracle, how much more should we!  We have the account of numerous miracles that Jesus and the apostles did.  John said, “These are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that believing you might have life through His name.” (John 20:31).  We can believe today through the study of the scriptures.  And just as the faith of this man grew as he saw the works of Jesus, ours can grow as we read about them in God’s word.  So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17).

Repent, For the Kingdom of Heaven Is at Hand

By Paul Earnhart

After Jesus made the journey to Judea where he met Nicodemus and preached and baptized with great success, He returned to Galilee where He had grown up.  And Matthew 4:17 reports that “From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”  This was precisely what John the Baptist had been preaching in the wilderness, Matthew 3:1-2.

This message of Jesus (and of John) gives us a clue as to the kind of kingdom that was to be established.  The Jews were expecting an earthly political kingdom.  At the time, they were under the domination of Rome.  They hoped that the Messiah would overthrow the Roman government and establish Jerusalem as the capital of the world.  If this had been the kind of kingdom to be established, Jesus and John would have said, “Arm yourselves, learn to use your weapons, get yourselves into condition, for the battle will soon begin to establish the kingdom of God among men.”  But this was not what Jesus said.

Rather, Jesus and John said REPENT.  The kingdom was to be a kingdom of righteousness.  It was to be made up of individuals who had left the service of Satan to yield themselves completely to the authority of God.  This required a change of heart, and that’s what repentance is.  This was the reason Jesus told Nicodemus that he would have to be born again to enter the kingdom, John 3:3-5.  He would have to be changed within and without.

Many people today express an interest in the kingdom of God.  Their attention, however, is riveted on the Near East and the political and military events that take place there.  That’s the wrong place for our concerns to be centered.  Our concern must be with our own hearts—getting them right with God through repentance.  We must be born again.  That is the condition of our acceptance into the kingdom.  That is where the kingdom must exist—within us!

Preaching in Samaria

By Paul Earnhart

Jesus had a powerful influence on the Samaritan woman whom He met at a well-side.  We read of this in John chapter 4 (John 4:5-42).  When He first began talking to her, she was so concerned with her task of drawing the water from the well that she was not interested at all in the spiritual water He offered her.  But after Jesus had talked to her for a few minutes, after He had demonstrated His supernatural knowledge of her life and had revealed Himself to her as the Messiah, she forgot all about her water pots and went running into the city, saying to her friends: "Come, see a man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" (John 4:29)

One of the greatest hindrances to true faith in Christ is our preoccupation with material things.  We are so busy making a living, providing for our families, looking for a bigger house, trading cars, attending concerts, going to ball games, hunting and fishing, and on and on.  And the result is that we just don't have time for Bible study and prayer and Christian service and attendance to worship.  We are just too busy.

It is altogether to the credit of this woman that even after Jesus had reminded her of her sinful life, she allowed Him to talk to her.  She considered the evidence that He was the Messiah and once she had come to believe in Him, she undertook to share that faith with others.  Like Andrew and Philip (John 1:40-46), she did not try to convince them herself; she brought them to Jesus that they might reach their own conclusions.

And the result was remarkable.  After they had spent time with Jesus, "They said to the woman, 'Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world'" (John 4:42).  Jesus is His own best witness.  Let us take the time to know Him ourselves; then let us take others to the Scriptures that they may see Him for themselves and know that He is the Christ.
 

The Woman At The Well

By Paul Earnhart

We read in John chapter 4 beginning at verse 5 that as Jesus was passing through Samaria, He sat down wearily by a well while His disciples went to buy food (Jn. 4:5-6).  A Samaritan woman came to draw water and was surprised when Jesus asked for a drink.  Jesus told her that if she had asked, He would have given her living water (Jn. 4:10).  He was speaking of the spiritual refreshment which He could provide.  But her mind was so much on the water and the well that she could not think of spiritual water at all.

So, Jesus changed his approach.  He asked her to go and call her husband (Jn. 4:16).  This was His way of getting her to examine her own spiritual condition.  Jesus knew that she had had five husbands, and at that time she was living with a man who was not her husband (Jn. 4:17-18).  It is interesting that she immediately changed the subject.  She did not want to talk about her sins; so, she brought up an old question about the proper place to worship (Jn. 4:19-20).

Many people today are happy to talk about religion so long as it does not get into their personal lives.  They like to talk about such things as where Cain got his wife, or about Jonah and the whale.  They might even be willing to discuss their own religious experience and tell you about their church preference.  But if we should meet Jesus today as that woman met him, I am sure He would ask about our personal lives... how we are living before God.

What would you say if Jesus asked you about your husband, or your wife?  Are you living with someone who is not your spouse?  What would you say if He asked you how you make and spend your money?  What would you say if He asked about your favorite recreation and entertainment?  Would you feel comfortable talking to Jesus about these things?  Whether you talked to Him about them or not, He knows.  He knew that Samaritan woman's condition without her telling Him.  And before He can save you, you must face up to your condition and repent of your sins.  No amount of religion can save you without a complete change of life to bring it into harmony with God's will (Lk 13:1-5; Acts 2:37-38)).

Jesus in Samaria

By Paul Earnhart

In John the 4th chapter, we have the first record of an encounter between Jesus and a Samaritan (Jn. 4:3-42).

The land in which Jesus lived was divided into three parts.  The northern part was known as Galilee.  Jesus was a Galilean.  The southern part of the country was called Judea.  Jerusalem was in Judea.  The population of both Galilee and Judea was Jewish.  But in between Galilee and Judea was Samaria.  The people there were called Samaritans.  The Jews and Samaritans did not get along well at all.  As a rule, they despised each other.  The Jews especially looked down on the Samaritans.  The Samaritans rejected much of the Old Testament, and revised the books they did accept.  They had built a rival temple in their own territory and insisted that it was there that people should worship, not in Jerusalem.  The Jews considered the Samaritans wretchedly immoral and spiritually unclean.  They had as little dealing with them as possible.

When Jesus and His disciples were traveling through Samaria, passing from Judea to Galilee, they arrived in a city of Samaria about noon.  They were tired and hungry.  Jesus sat down by a well, while the disciples went to buy food.  While they were gone, a Samaritan woman came to draw water.  She said, “How is it that you, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” (Jn. 4:9)  What she did not know at that point was that Jesus was different.  Jesus was not prejudiced as other Jews were.  Jesus was much more concerned about the heart of an individual than He was about race or color.

People today who are truly Christlike, regardless of nationality or race, can associate together in peace and harmony.  They do not share the prejudice and bitterness so often found among people of the world.  Each of us should ask ourselves, “Am I like Jesus in my attitude toward other races and nationalities?”