The Child

Study Notes

Signs: The Child

John 4:39-54

     The Interview:  As I begin my message today, I want to speak with Sandra Shepherd, who has been serving us wonderfully today as one of our worship leaders.  But, just over a year ago, we wondered whether Sandra would ever do this again.  Sandra, I call you one of our miracle-members because, last year, you were on the top of my prayer list.  Let’s talk about what happened.

     First, Sandra, tell us a bit about what happened to you just over a year ago.  (And Sandra will share that her condition was an extremely serious one that both of her parents had died from prematurely – and that fewer than 30% of those who have it ever recover.)

     Second, I know you had some wonderful doctors and experienced effective medical procedures.  But, did you sense that God was at work in all this?  If so, how did you experience the healing power of Jesus?  (She will share about how she believes that God healed both through natural and supernatural means to his glory.)

     The Challenges:  From our Scripture reading and from Sandra’s testimony, I imagine you know that we will be talking about faith and healing today.  So, at the outset, let me tell you that there are always challenges when a pastor speaks about faith and healing.  Let me tell you a few of them:

1. Jesus healed people – but he did not heal everyone. In last week’s sermon from John 5, Jesus went to a pool named Bethesda in Jerusalem next to which we are told that “a great number of disabled people” were lying.  But, Jesus healed only one of them.  Because of that, I think we should not be surprised when not everyone in church experiences a healing in church like Sandra did.  But, that fact often leads us to become angry when someone else gets healed and we do not.  So, that leads to my next point.
2. Healing miracles are wonderful – but all physical healings are temporary. As far as I know, none of the people Jesus healed over 2,000 years ago are still alive. Therefore, as Jesus said forcefully and clearly in our Bible text today, miracles of physical healing are only signs, i.e., temporary acts that point to something much better, i.e., to divine healing that will last eternally.  Therefore, in a church, we should be guard against signs becoming idols – as they seem to have been for many in Jesus’s day.
3. God sometimes heals through supernatural means – but other times through natural ones. In some situations, I believe God’s healing involves both -- as I believe was the case with Sandra.  But, if you hold to the Bible’s view of creation, i.e., that all the medicines that heal are made by God and all the knowledge that leads to medical procedures that heal are a part of God’s truth too, then you know that all healing ultimately comes from God and should lead to thanksgiving and praise.

     From all this, here at LAC, we pray for God’s miraculous healing when people are sick or infirm.  And, we have many stories of witnessing God’s supernatural healing power.  As we pray, we look to James 5:14ff that teaches us that God’s supernatural healing power is often evidenced within the context of a person’s local church.  In that passage, when a church person is sick, he or she should call the spiritual leadership of the church to anoint with oil, lay on hands, and pray for healing.  We do that here.  Indeed, we will give you an opportunity to come receive prayer at the end of my message today.

     And, at the same time, we thank God for good doctors and for good medical research leading to new healing processes and medicines.  When any person is gets well, we give praise to God.  Amen?

     With that in mind, let’s look at the story of Jesus healing a little child.

The Story

The Setting:  Genuine Faith among the Unexpected

     The healing episode we come to today takes place just after Jesus had just spent two days in Samaria, a place whose people had a different ethnicity and different religion from those of the Jewish people.  Jewish people and Samaritan people avoided one another at all costs.  But, not Jesus.  Jesus intentionally went through Samaria.  And, while there, Jesus led a Samaritan woman to faith.  Moreover, that woman was a person his culture would have said a man should not even speak to, a Samaritan woman who had been divorced 5 times and was currently living with her 6th man.  And, that woman’s life was turned around by faith in Jesus.

     Jesus’s encounter with her resulted in her giving witness about him to every person she saw.  See 4:39:  “Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in Jesus because of the woman’s testimony.”

     So, I want you to notice that Jesus personally stepped into the lives of people usually polarized from one another – He entered into lives of people different in 1) Gender: a man was not supposed to speak to a woman in their culture, especially a woman like this one; 2) Ethnicity: a Jew should avoid a Samaritan; and 3) Religion – a faithful Jew (and especially a rabbi) should not be dialoging with an adherent to the Samaritan religion. 

     But, what we see is that Jesus came to do a broader kind of healing in this world than most imagined Messiah would do. Through his presence and work, he brought together and healed all those divisions that were broken in this world he had made. Jesus invited people way, way out on the margins into the one kingdom of God.  It should always make us ask who those people would be in our world – people on the margins but still people Jesus would have gone to in order to bring good news of hope and salvation.

     After this remarkable work in Samaria, in v. 42, Jesus returned to his home in Galilee.  In Samaria, a whole town came to faith without any miracles.  The people there simply believed Jesus’s word.  See 4:42:  The new believers in Samaria said to the woman at the well, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”

    So, in 4:42, Jesus returned to being with his own people in Galilee.  Earlier, in 2:23, his own people had loved his miracles but, listen to what 2:24-25 reports, “Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people… he knew what was in each person.”

The Encounter: A Need Followed by a Shock Followed by a Promise

     So, Jesus was welcomed back by his Galilean homefolks, but only a certain kind of welcome. Sadly, their welcome came only because Jesus had been doing miracles – and they wanted more of them!  It was like the old P.T. Barnum shows portrayed in the movie, The Greatest Showman, a show that drew thrill seekers all over the world back in the 1800s.  When you read what happened in today’s passage, you see that the people didn’t want to follow Jesus. They only to have Jesus do some stupendous signs!

     But, another family, likely a non-Jewish family, had heard about Jesus’s miracles.  So, in v.47, the father of that family had come seeking Jesus’s help. He traveled 15-20 miles from Capernaum to Cana and, the Bible reports, “begged Jesus to come and heal his little boy, who was close to death.”  And, I imagine that Jesus’s response to this desperate father seems rather callous to you.  Jesus did not speak only to the man but, after hearing about this child who being close to death, Jesus spoke to the entire crowd assembled there and declared, “You people, unless you see signs and wonders, you will never believe (4:48)!”

     What do you think of that?  As you may know, Jesus often did this.  He made statements that were almost shocking.  No, they were shocking!  Why did the loving Jesus say something like this?

     This brings me back to the point I spoke of earlier, i.e., that it’s challenging to speak of healing and faith. In Jesus’s day and in ours as well, people intuitively think that the important things are temporary things, often physical and material things.  But, Jesus insisted that those things we often think are the most important are just signs.  A sign points to things much more important and much more enduring than the sign itself. 

     So, when we are in pain, or when those we love are hurting, we can hardly imagine that there is something more important than a healing.  What happens is this: We know we should put God first and love him with our whole beings.  But, knowing that Jesus can heal, we easily find ourselves putting the healing first and turning to Jesus only for what we think he should do for us. What we want him to do seems, at the time, to be more important than Jesus.  And, just as happened when Jesus lived in Galilee, when he doesn’t do what we think he should do, we grow angry and sometimes, turn away from him altogether.

     What we need is what Stephen Covey, in his 1989 book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, called a “paradigm shift”.  In it, he put this picture: Do you see an old woman or a young woman when you look at it?

Research shows that whatever you first see greatly affects whether you are able to adjust and see something more.  A paradigm shift is a fundamental change in perspective, approach or underlying assumptions.  When you suddenly see something more than you first saw, you experience a paradigm shift. 

     Maybe this picture will help you to see more than one woman:   

     Jesus knew that, in a world in which we so easily only see the material and temporary things as being truly real and truly important, out of his love for us Jesus speaks these shocking words to help us see what is most important. The fact that Jesus can heal physically is a sign pointing to what he ultimately will accomplish through his death, resurrection, sending of the Holy Spirit and establishment of the church.  He came to heal all that is broken.  To make right all that is wrong in his creation.  Do you see it?

The Faith in Jesus -- That Leads to Healing

     The father is not deterred by Jesus’s comment to the crowd.  I think it’s because this man knew he had not come seeking a thrill.  He was a man in desperate need.  Let me tell you about him.  He’s called a “royal official”, which meant that he was a high ranking official in King Herod’s service.  Neither King Herod nor most of his official were Jewish either ethnically or religiously.  The more devout Jewish people in Galilee did not like having the Herodians among them.  So, how would this Galilean rabbi deal with him?

     He didn’t say to Jesus, “Do you know who I am?  I’m in the court of the king, so you had better listen to me!”  No, this father simply said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.”

     Can you feel the emotion in his words?  Have you ever known a child who is seriously sick?  Have you ever had a sick child in your family?  I can think of no greater fear than parents knowing our child is near death.

     This is Mothers’ Day.  As a number of us were working on this passage last Tuesday, our Director of Counseling, Tsega Worku, said, “People in church will wonder where the mother was when this man traveled to seek Jesus’s help.”  And, we all agreed – Mom was home caring for her sick little boy. That, I declare to you, is a high calling!  And, probably, she told her husband in no uncertain terms, “That man who heals people is in Cana.  You go over there now and don’t come back until you get him!”  And, although he was the King’s official, he did what she said.  Can’t you imagine that?

     And, Jesus sees this man and his need.  He does not speak to him as a royal official but as a father.  Jesus did what I pray we will all learn to do, i.e., He did not just see the surface – the fact that this man was a king’s man, a Gentile, an outsider every bit as much as the Samaritan woman had been.  No, Jesus saw him -- his true heart, need,  and condition.  Jesus said, “Go, your son will live.”

     And, the man went.  In his going, I recognize a clear example what followers of Jesus have long said that genuine, rescuing faith includes.  We all know that, as James 2 says, even demons believe that Jesus is who he says he is, but they do not believe in a way that saves them.  What kind of faith do we see in this man?

1. Believers Know – This man had heard who Jesus was. You see, we cannot believe what we do not know.  That’s why Romans 10:14 says, “How can people believe in one about whom they have not heard?”  That’s why our witness to Jesus is so important.  The first step necessary in faith is to know.
2. Believers Assent – The man not only knew what people said about Jesus, but he also assented to it being true. Again, even demons assent to Jesus being the savior and not be saved.  But, one part of rescuing faith is saying, “I assent to the fact that Jesus is who he says he is.”
3. Believers Trust – Jesus said, “Go; your son will live,” and the man went. He trusted Jesus and went. He did not insist on seeing the miracle. He did not complain that Jesus would not come with him. He simply did what Jesus said. 50 -- The man took Jesus at his word and departed.

     It was a 16-20-mile journey.  He couldn’t call for an Uber or Lyft.  Can you imagine that trip?  I imagine a lot of us of wondering: Was that real?  Should I really trust that Galilean? What will my wife say if I come home without Jesus?  That father did not get home until the next day!  I’m sure that, as he traveled, he prayed the prayer found elsewhere in the Bible, a prayer I continue to pray often: “Lord, I believe.  Help my unbelief.”  But, whatever questions or doubts he may have wrestled with, he trusted Jesus and went home.”

     And, you already know the end of the story:  While he was still on the way home, his servants met him with the news that his little boy was living. When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, “Yesterday, at one in the afternoon, the fever left him.” Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he and his whole household believed (Jn 4:51-53).

     Knowledge – assent – trust.  The three elements of genuine, rescuing faith.  V. 54 adds: This was the second sign Jesus performed after coming from Judea to Galilee.  It was a sign that Jesus had come to heal – in the broadest sense of that word.  This sign points to when Jesus has finished the work he came to do. Then, there will be no more sickness and no more pain.  But, did you see it? Jesus came also to heal all the brokenness in his creation: physical, mental, racial, gender, political, relational…  It’s all in this story. 

     Jesus has come to make right all that is ailing and broken.  So, when there is painful as a child being near death, you should come to Jesus.  He may want to do something more than a mere sign – a temporary healing.  But, you and I should ask him to heal.  And, when Christian ask, we ask as Jesus asked when he prayed:  Jesus prayed specifically: “Father, take this cup from me.” But, we also pray knowing that God may be doing more than a mere sign will accomplish.  As Jesus prayed: “Your will, Father.  Not mine.” 

     So, here at LAC, we should, and we do pray for healing.  We pray specifically for healing.  And, when we do, we know we don’t have to beg God to care or to do what’s best. No, we already know that he loves us more than we ever could love ourselves.   

     So, even though complete healing will not come until Jesus returns, I want to tell you that Jesus still does heal in the here and now. And, God’s Word says that sometimes we have not because we ask not.  According to James 5, when it comes to healing, our asking often comes in the context of our local church.

     Because of that, I’ll give you a chance to have your church pray with and for you right now.  Have you come to church with longing for some kind of healing like this man? It may be for yourself, for a family member or a friend.  It may be for someone far away!  Remember that the little boy was 16-20 miles away from Jesus when Jesus healed him. He could have been 15,000 miles away. It would not have mattered. When Jesus speaks with authority, there are no spatial limitations to his power.

     The need that you have burning in your heart may be for physical healing – or emotional, relational, or spiritual healing.  This sign points to all those.   Jesus cares.  And, he may be doing something in your situation that you cannot fully see right now.  You may have to stay on that journey of faith with him for a while as the father did.  A part of genuine faith is learning to trust God and wait for him.  But, learn to ask him too. 

     So, what I want you to do is to step out and come for prayer.  Our spiritual leadership will be taking places all around the Worship Center and will be ready to pray with and for you as the music plays.  Step up to one of them, mention briefly what your request is – as the father did in John 4.  And, they will anoint you with oil as James 5 speaks of.  They will pray for you briefly.  May we all experience, in a new way in these moments, the presence and power of our Lord Jesus.

Chinese Study Notes

預表系列: 病孩

約翰福音 4:39-54

訪談:  在開始今天的講道之前，我想訪談桑得拉，她一直在領導敬拜方面有美好的服事。但一年前，我曾懷疑她是否還能繼續如此。桑得拉，我稱你為一個奇跡般人物，是因為去年你在我的首要禱告名單上，讓我們說說發生了什麼吧。

      首先，桑得拉，告訴我們一年前在你身上發生了什麼（桑得拉將分享她特別難的處境，她的父母都因為一種特別的疾病去世，她也得了那種病，其痊癒率不到30%）

     其次，我知道你有一些特別好的醫生，也經歷了有效的治療，但你經歷了神在其中的工作嗎？你又是如何經歷耶穌大能醫治的？（她將分享神是如何使用超自然和正常的方式醫治她的，榮耀歸神！）

     挑戰：從我們的讀經和桑得拉的見證，我猜你們知道了今天我們要講醫治與信心。我首先要告訴你們，當牧師談論這個話題時常常會遇到的一些挑戰：

1. 耶穌醫治人-但不是所有人。 從上周約翰福音第5章的經文我們看見，耶穌去了耶路撒冷中一個叫貝示大的池子，那裡“躺著一群患病的，有瞎眼的、瘸腿的、癱瘓的。”耶穌只治癒了其中一人。因此我想，如果神沒有像醫治桑得拉那樣醫治教會所有人，我們不應該以為奇怪。但這樣的事常讓人憤怒，為什麼別人被醫治而不是我！請看我第二點。
2. 醫治的神跡太贊了-但所有的醫治都是暫時的。據我所知，耶穌治癒的人沒有一個經歷了2000年活到今天。正如耶穌清楚所說，身體得醫治的神跡只是預表，以暫時的方式指向更美好的事，即神聖的醫治將存到永遠。因此在教會，我們要防備將神跡當作偶像，而神跡好像在耶穌時代特別多。
3. 神有時以超自然的方式醫治-但更多用正常的方式。在一些情形下，比如桑得拉的例子，神既使用超自然也使用正常的方式。但從聖經創造的角度，所有醫藥都是神所造，所有醫治的知識都是神真理的一部分。因此，所有的醫治都最終來自神，你應該向神獻上感恩和讚美。

基於以上幾點，當會友有軟弱、疾病時，我們也求神大能的醫治；我們有許多故事來見證神超自然的醫治，根據雅各書5：14節，這些神大能的醫治常常在地方教會發生。在那段經文中，當教會中有人患病時，應該叫屬靈領袖用油來膏抹，按手禱告求醫治。我們在教會就這樣做：一會兒講道完，我要給你們機會來接受屬靈領袖為你們的禱告。

     同時，我們要為出色的醫生和醫學研究帶來的新醫治方法感謝神，任何人痊癒時，我們都要頌贊神，對麼？

     記住這些後，讓我們看看耶穌醫治小孩的故事。

故事

場景:  外邦人中的真實信心

      今天的醫治緊接著耶穌在撒瑪利亞的二天行程，撒瑪利亞人與猶太人有著不同的種族宗教背景，二者竭力不相往來。但耶穌則有意經過撒瑪利亞，並在那裡帶給了撒瑪利亞婦人真的信仰。按當時的文化，一個猶太男人不應該和撒瑪利亞婦人交談，何況她離過5次婚，正與第6個男人同居。然而，她的生命卻因信耶穌得到了完全改變。
      耶穌與她相遇，導致了她生命改變，去向一切見到的人作見證，4：39節說：“那城裡有許多撒馬利亞人信了耶穌。這是因為那婦人的見證”。

      我要你注意到，耶穌常常個人性介入到兩極分化的人中，不論是1）性別：按當時的文化，一個猶太男人不應該和撒瑪利亞婦人交談，何況這樣的女人；2）種族：猶太人應該避開撒瑪利亞人；3）宗教：虔誠的猶太信徒（特別是拉比）要避嫌沾染撒瑪利亞宗教。

     但我們所看見的是，耶穌來，施行了更廣義的醫治，超越了大多數人以為彌賽亞要做的事。藉著他的同在和工作，他在自己創造的世界上使所有的破碎和分隔得到恢復和醫治。耶穌邀請了遠不著邊際的人進入了神的同一國度。這讓我們要問，我們世界上誰是那樣的人---他們是邊緣人，但耶穌還是要去，帶給他們盼望和拯救。

     在撒瑪利亞這一標誌性的事件後，耶穌回到了家鄉加利利。在撒瑪利亞，全城信主並不是因為什麼神跡，只是相信耶穌的話。4：42節記載了那些撒瑪利亞的新信徒對那井邊女人說：“現在我們信，不再是因為你的話，而是因為我們親耳聽到了，並且知道這一位真是世界的救主”。
      之後，耶穌回到了他自己人的地方加利利。在2：23節說，他的家鄉人喜歡他的神跡，但在24-25節卻說：“但耶穌自己卻信不過他們，因為他瞭解所有的人……他知道人裡面是什麼。”

相遇: 需求帶來震驚帶來應許

         耶穌受到他的加利利鄉親歡迎，但只是某種歡迎，那是因為耶穌不斷行神跡，而他們還想要更多的！就像電影“最偉大的演員”中描繪的1800年前後世界上最受歡迎的演員巴納姆https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/10/The_Greatest_Showman_poster.png  。當你讀了今天這段經文，你看見人們並不想跟隨耶穌，只是想要他行一些吸睛的神跡而已。

      但另一個家庭，一個非猶太人家庭聽到了耶穌的神跡。47節說，父親就從加百農走了15-20英里到迦拿“請求他下去治癒他的兒子，因為他的兒子快要死了”，我可以想像你會覺得耶穌的回應不近人情，他聽了孩子的事沒有針對那個絕望的父親，而是對那裡的眾人說：“你們如果沒有看見神跡和奇事，你們就絕不會信 (4:48)”。

     你會怎麼想？耶穌好像常常這樣做，出口驚人，讓人震驚，他為什麼要這樣呢？

     這就回到我早先說的那一點，談論醫治和信仰並不容易，耶穌時代如此，今天亦然。人們常常把暫時的東西當作最重要的，比如身體上或物質上的事情。但耶穌認為我們看為最重要的事不過是一些預表，指向更重要、更持久的事物。

     當我們感受疼痛或我們所愛的人受傷時，再沒有什麼比醫治更重要的了。有沒有這樣的時候：我們知道應該把神放在首位，全心愛他；但在需要耶穌醫治的時候，我們很容易把醫治放在首位，我們轉向耶穌只是我們想他應該為我們做什麼。我們要他做事似乎比要他自己更重要。就像耶穌在加利利時那樣，當他沒有按我們的想法做時，我們就會憤怒甚至轉離他。

     史蒂夫寇維在他1989年出版的“高效率者的7個習慣”一書中講了“超越定式”，他畫了圖: https://www.achieve-goal-setting-success.com/images/combinedwoman.gif  你看到了一個老女人還是一個年輕女人？研究表明，你第一眼所見極大程度決定了你能否調整而看到更多。“超越定式”是一個在觀念、行為或思維假設下的根本性轉變，當你比第一眼所見看到更多時，你就經歷了“超越定式”。

     也可能這張圖可以幫助你不只看見一個女人:    https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-068a2278e32ef151c506c465ba412dc2

      耶穌知道我們在世界上把最容易看見的物質和暫時的事當作真實和重要的，於是他基於愛，語出驚人，幫助我們看見最重要的。耶穌醫治身體是一個表徵，指向了終極，即藉著他的死、復活、聖靈降臨和教會建立必將成就的事。他來是要醫治一切的破碎，糾正一切所造之物的錯誤，你看到了嗎？

相信耶穌 – 就會帶來醫治
       這個父親並沒有因為耶穌對眾人所講的而退縮，他知道自己不是來找刺激的，而是有著迫不及待的需要，我告訴你們，他是一個“大臣”，在希律王手下有著很高的官階。其實不管是希律王還是他的群臣都不是猶太人，不相信猶太教，所以加利利的猶太人都不喜歡他們。那這位加利利的拉比該如何對待他呢？

     他沒有對耶穌說：“你知道我是誰嗎？我可是朝廷的人，你最好乖乖地聽話！”這個父親只是說：“先生，求你在我的孩子還沒有死之前下來吧！”。

     你能感受到他言辭懇切嗎？你有沒有見過一個垂危的孩子？你家中有沒有一個病兒？我想對父母來說，沒有什麼比孩子垂危更害怕的事了。

     今天是母親節。上週二，我們一些人查考這一段經文時，關懷主任慈戈沃庫說：“會眾也許想知道當父親來尋求耶穌幫助時，母親在哪裡？”我們其實都同意她一定在照顧病兒。我想說，可能是因為母親的大聲疾呼，也許她用不容置疑的語氣對丈夫說：“那個人在迦拿醫病，你馬上去見他，不把他請來就別回來！”儘管他是大臣，他也只能遵命，你不能想像嗎？

     耶穌看見了這個人和他的需要，他不是在對一個大臣說話，而是對一個父親說。我禱告我們可以學習耶穌所做的，他沒有只看見表像，即他是一個朝廷的官，一個外邦人，一個與撒瑪利亞婦人一樣的局外人；不，耶穌看見他真誠的心，真實的需要和真實的情況，於是他說：“你回去吧，你的兒子活了！”。

     那個人回去了，我從他的離去看見了耶穌信徒的清楚樣板，即懷著真實和得救的信心。雅各書2章說，就是鬼魔也信耶穌是自己所說的那一位，但他們不信拯救之道。那我們從這個人身上看見了怎樣的信呢？

1. 信徒的知道 –這個人聽說過耶穌是誰，因為我們不可能信我們不知道的，故羅馬書10：14說：“沒有聽說過他，怎麼能相信他呢？”所以我們見證耶穌是非常重要的。信仰的第一步就是知道。
2. 信徒的認同 –這個人不僅聽說了耶穌，而且認同關於耶穌的都是真的。同樣，就是鬼魔也認同耶穌是拯救者，但它們卻不能得救。所以得救的信心說：“我認同這個事實，耶穌就是他自己所說的那一位”。
3. 信徒的確信 –耶穌說：“你回去吧，你的兒子活了！”那個人就回去了，他信耶穌才走的，他並沒有堅持要看神跡，也沒有抱怨耶穌不跟他走，他只是照耶穌的話做。50節說：那人相信耶穌的話，就回去了。 這可是15-20英里的路啊，沒有Uber可叫，你能想像他怎麼走嗎？我們中也許有人會設身處地替大臣想：這是真的麼? 我是否應該相信那個加利利人？若我沒有把耶穌帶回家，我太太會怎麼辦？這個父親當天肯定沒能回到家。我想他一定在旅途中像聖經另一處記的那個父親一樣地禱告說：“主啊，我信，但求主幫助我的不信之處。”但不管他有多糾結和懷疑，他信耶穌並回去了。

      你已經知道了這故事的結尾：他正下去的時候，他的奴僕迎著他來，告訴他孩子活了。他就問孩子好轉的時間，他們說：“昨天下午一點，燒就退了。”這位父親就知道，那正是耶穌說“你的兒子活了”的時間。於是他自己和全家人都信了（約4：51-53）。

     知道-認同-確信，這是真實、得救之信的三部曲，54節補充說：這是耶穌從猶太回到加利利以後所行的第二件神跡。這是耶穌來行的醫治神跡，最廣義的醫治，預表了耶穌即將做成他要做的工。那時，再沒有疾病和痛苦。你看到了嗎？耶穌來也醫治了被造物的一切破碎：身心靈、種族間、性別上的、政治上的，關係上的……這才是完整的故事。

     耶穌來要醫治一切疾苦和破碎，所以當你好像有垂危病兒那樣痛不欲生時，你當尋求耶穌，他要做的遠超過一個神跡。雖然是短暫的痊癒，但你我還是要求醫治，我們可以像耶穌那樣求：“父啊，請把這杯撤去吧”；同時，我們也在禱告中知道神要做的不是一個簡單的神跡，所以更要像耶穌那樣祈禱說：“但是照著你的意思，不是我的意思”。

      所以在我們教會，我們應該禱告求醫治，而且要特別恒切地求，但不是乞求神看顧或做我們以為最好的；不，我們已經知道他比我們自己更愛我們。

      儘管耶穌再來之前沒有完全的醫治，但耶穌依然在此時此地醫治。聖經說，我們有時得不著是因為我們沒有求。雅各書5章說，醫治常常是在地方教會的處境中發生的。

     所以，我要給你們一個機會，讓你們的教會現在就為你禱告。你來到教會有沒有像這個人一樣尋求某種醫治？也許為自己，或為家人、朋友，或遠方的什麼人？請你們記住，當耶穌醫治這個小孩時，他距離耶穌有15-20英里；其實就算是15，000英里又有何妨？耶穌的話就是權柄，他的能力不受任何限制。

     你心急火燎的需要可能是身體得醫治，或情緒、關係或靈裡的醫治。今天講的這個神跡預表了這一切。耶穌必看顧，他所做的也許是你的處境中不能完全看到的，你需要像那個父親一樣在信心的道路上持守著。真信心的一部分就是學習信靠神、等候神，但是要先學會尋求他。

      我要你們為禱告的事站出來，當音樂響起來時，我們的屬靈領袖會在敬拜中心的四處準備好，與你一起禱告，為你禱告。去找他們中的一個，簡要表達你的需要，就像今天的那個父親；他們會像雅各書第5章所說為你們膏油，為你們簡短禱告。願我們在這時刻以一個新的方式經歷我們主耶穌的同在和能力。

榮耀歸給神！

Greg Waybright 博士

主任牧師