Jesus: Creator, Savior, Lord and King #22: Jesus and the Three Fathers - John 4, Mark 9, Luke 23

 

Jesus: Creator, Savior, Lord and King #22: Jesus and the Three Fathers  

Introduction

Father sends son to Sunday School instead of going fishing. There's not enough bait for both of us."

This is what the world’s goal and purpose when it comes to your children,

“By the year 2000 we will, I hope, raise our children to believe in human potential, not God…” (Gloria Steinam, editor of MS. Magazine, Saturday Review of Education, March 1973)

As for divorce, Dr. Bane said she sees it as a “safety valve” for families. “It makes for better family life,” she said. “There’s no merit in holding families together just for the sake of it. For this reason, divorce improves the quality of marriages.”    -- Tulsa World, August 21, 1977, AP.

What happens to children depends not only on what happens in the homes, but what happens in the outside world. We really don’t know how to raise children. If we want to talk about equality of opportunity for children, then the fact that children are raised in families means there’s no equality.    It’s a dilemma. In order to raise children with equality, we must take them away from families and communally raise them.    – Dr. Mary Jo Bane, Tulsa World, August 21, 1977, AP.

“It takes a village to raise a child.” Hillary Clinton 1988. What she meant was the government is the village that will take and shape your child.

The Father Who Found Faith

John 4:46-54 So Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum. 47 When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judaea into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he would come down, and heal his son: for he was at the point of death.

A Father’s Faith, A Dying Son

A little bit of a timeline here since we are doing a message on Father’s day and not staying completely chronological. The ministry of Jesus began with the preaching of John the Baptist. On day Jesus came and was baptized by John, (Matthew 3:13-17, Mark 1:9-11, Luke 3:21-23) Jesus is then driven by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of Satan for 40 days. After he overcomes the temptations of Satan. He gathers his first disciples from John the Baptist. (John 1:19-34) With them He travels to Cana and performs His first miracle, water into wine in the city of Cana (John 2:1-11) Now we see Jesus and his early followers travel to back to Capernaum, the city that becomes his headquarters. (John 2:12) Next Jesus travels to Jerusalem and cleanses the temple for the first time. (John 2:13-25) While there He receives Nicodemus and tells him, Ye must be born again. (John 3:1-21) He works in Judea for a time. (John 3:22-24) When the opposition of the Pharisees begins to threaten the Lord’s timetable, He Jesus travels through Samaria and meets the woman at the well of Sychar (Matthew 4:12b, Mark 1:14b, Luke 4:14a, John 4:1-44)

After this Jesus begins the first tour of Galilee (Matthew 4:17, Mark 1:14c-15, Luke 4:14b-15, John 4:45) Now at this time in the life of Christ we come to our first sermon text in John 4 and our first of three fathers. Here in Cana again Jesus will heal the son of a nobleman. (John 4:46-54)

He has returned to Capernaum, where he probably lived in Peter and Andrew’s house, they travel to Cana, and while there just a few miles from Capernaum, Jesus is searched for and found by this nobleman. The word in Greek is basilikos, it indicates a royal figure or one in royal service.

The father must have heard of all the miracles that were taking place throughout Galilee wherever Jesus and His disciple preached and taught. He travels from Capernaum to Cana, and John 4:47 he went unto him, and besought him that he would come down, and heal his son: for he was at the point of death. The word beseech is ērōta and it means to repeatedly and urgently request. It wasn’t just one asking, this father’s love would not allow him to ask once and then walk away. He continually asks, “Lord, come back to Capernaum and heal my son.”

Here is Jesus first direct answer to this father, “John 4:48 Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.”

What does the father do when he hears this seeming rebuke from the One he knows can heal his son? John 4:48 Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe. Jesus is expressing the problem with seeking miracles. Jesus knew the greatest impact of his ministry wasn’t who or how many would be healed, but would they believe in Him as Savior even without the miracles. Later in his ministry He tells those who came and dared Him to prove by a miracle that he was the Messiah, Matthew 16:4 4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas.” There are many today who instead of seeking salvation they are seeking signs and Jesus is clear, it marks them as wicked.

Notice how our father’s responds, “John 4:49 The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my child die!”.  That statement was a testimony of both desperation and faith. Lord, it all depends on you. It is you and your power that will heal my child or my child will die. We know Jesus heard and saw faith because He then tells the father, John 4:50 Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way

He quit asking for Jesus to come because He believed, he had faith that what Jesus said was true and His word were words of life for his son. John adds this epilogue to the story, John 4:51-53 And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, Thy son liveth. 52 Then enquired he of them the hour when he began to amend. And they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. 53 So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth: and himself believed, and his whole house.

What we gather from this is that the man had to wait until the next day to leave and go home, you didn’t travel at night in these lands and the 7th hour makes it about 7 o’clock in the evening so he must travel back the next day. He is intercepted by his servant who tells him, “your son is alive and when he asks when they say the boy get better, it was exactly when Jesus said, “Go your way your son lives”

 Striving to Be a Father of Faith

In this first case study of Fathers on Father’s day we see a man that is driven by love of his family, in this case his son, to seek the help his son so desperately needs. He puts his faith in Jesus and his son lives. Not only did his son live but John 4:53 himself believed, and his whole house.

Fathers in this world you are responsible for the complete welfare of your family. You are under God’s authority to be not just be the bread winner but also the bread of life winner for your family. And just like this father there will be many things that you can’t provide for your family just by being steadfast and hardworking at a job. Yes, they need food that you can provide but they also need that manna from heaven which is salvation through faith. That you cannot provide them. So you must go to the only one who can. This father knew he couldn’t save his son, but he had faith in Jesus who could.

Fathers have faith for your family. Daily place them by prayer in the hands of Jesus Christ. Pray for them fervently, never ceasing, never giving up, just as the Capernaum father would not give up. Keep going to the Lord believing and trusting in His word for the sake of your family.

This father walked the 20 miles from Capernaum to Cana just to find Jesus. Fathers here today, you better be willing to come to Jesus as well. Come to Him in scripture and listen for his words of salvation. Come and find Him in His house that you may learn of him and praise him. Come and walk with Him continually in prayer.

Believe this, Fathers, your children must see you seeking the Lord. If your children don’t see you seeking the Lord in His word, His church or in prayer they will not be led to salvation by you in your God appointed role as Head of your own house. Not only will thy not be eternally saved they will be stolen from you and your love by this wicked, deceitful world. What they don’t see in you, Dads, they will think they see in the god of this world and his disciples.

Lets go now to Mark 9:14 and find another example of a father that Jesus interacted with. He certainly has faith but his confession of that faith on behalf of his demon possessed son in truly soul revealing.

The Father Who Fought

Mark 9:14-27 14 And when he came to his disciples, he saw a great multitude about them, and the scribes questioning with them. 15 And straightway all the people, when they beheld him, were greatly amazed, and running to him saluted him. 16 And he asked the scribes, What question ye with them? 17 And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit; 18 And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not. 19 He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me

A Father’s Fight, A Possessed Son

Now we have moved about a year further into the ministry of Jesus. He has gone from being an obscure, rumor to a prophet and the Messiah who the people want to crown as their King. This was due to the miracles but comes to a climax when Jesus fed the five thousand (Matthew 14:13-21, Mark 6:30-44, Luke 9:10-17, John 6:1-15) He avoids their calls for a coronation, goes apart to pray and sends the disciples in two boats across the Sea of Galilee. In the midst of the storm, He rescues them by walking to them on the water (Matthew 14:22-33, Mark 6:45-52, Luke 6:16-21) When the crowd finds him again, He tells them you don’t come because you believe but so that your bellies can be filled again and he preaches the Bread of Life discourse (John 6:22-71) He goes from thousands following Him back to only His disciples.

After several more healings and sessions of teaching, Jesus removes Himself and his disciples out of Judea to Caesarea Phillipi to refresh and regroup with his disciples. He tells of them of His coming death and resurrection (Matthew 16:21-28, Mark 8:31-9:1, Luke 9:21-27)

Then Peter, James and John go up with Jesus to a mountain top and there they seen Him transfigured into a glorious shining body (Matthew 17:1-8, Mark 9:2-8, Luke 9:28-36) When they come down from that mountain top experience they are confronted by the terrible power of a sinful world seen in the life of a father’s child. (Mark 9:14-29, Luke 9:37-43a)

So, after the miracle of the transfiguration and God’s powerful testimony of His only begotten Son, comes the miracle of another father’s love for his demon possessed son.

Jesus and the three disciples come down to find a group of people and among them the skeptical scribe and this faithful father who is also desperate not because his son is dying but because his son is demon possessed. The disciples who stayed in the valley had tried to cast out this demon, a power that Jesus had given to them at this time. Then in their failure, the scribes seem to be trying to either take over or use the failure of the disciples to say Jesus has failed. Jesus confronts them as they argue but before there is an answer from them the father cries out from the crowd, “Master I have brought to you my son.”

Listen to the description of what the demon is doing to his son and to his father’s heart,  Mark 9:17-22 which hath a dumb spirit; 18 And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not. 19 He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me. 20 And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming. 21 And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child. 22 And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.

Some hearing this description make two very bad mistakes. First some say that all they Jesus never cast out a demon he only cured the mentally ill, or in this case a child with epilepsy. The second mistake and it is probably worse, is to that all sickness, mental illness and physical affliction like epilepsy are caused by demons. Both are wrong. The first because it denies the direct word of scripture and the second because the Bible never equate all illness with demon. Not ever, not once. They are two separate thing that are the result of living in this sinful, fallen world. Yes there is and always will be sickness, disease and death, That was not God plan it was the result of Adam’s sin. And also yes there are demons and they can afflict and possess the lost of this world, especially the lost in cultures where Christianity is nonexistent and demons are actually worshipped and sought out. And just as Jesus is the only one who can read heart, He was the only one who could tell the difference between illness and possession. We are not called or qualified to do that.

What we are called to do, especially as Father’s is to do what this man is doing. Take your child to Jesus and fight for his deliverance. We’ve already talked about how we do that but here I want you to notice the interaction between Jesus and this loving father. Mark 9:22-24 (the father pleads with Jesus) if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us. 23 – (then) Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. 24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.

What a confession and it shows the unwillingness to of this father to give up. He has struggled since this boy was a young child. He has watched as his boy is taken and thrown down, the demon within him seeming to try and down the child or burn him alive. Perhaps some would have given up, but not this father. He just keeps fighting for his son. When the Lord tells him, “If you believe all things are possible.” The father doesn’t give up at what sounds like a criticism of his faith, or the Lord refusing to help his son. Instead of seeing defeat, he sees an opportunity to make a declaration of his faith to the One he is putting his faith in. Lord I do believe. I believe you can heal, you can cast out demons, you can save. I believe in you Lord but I need your help in the areas of my unbelief, my fears, doubts, weaknesses and failure. I need you to help my unbelief as much as my as I have faith in you for my son’s deliverance.”

“I believe help thou my unbelief” is the heartfelt cry of a father unto the Lord, who will not quit fighting for his son and his family.

Fighting to Be a Father of Fortitude

I can remember the first time I read, “Lord, I believe, help thou my my unbelief.” The first time I read it and the Holy Spirit registered it in my mind as a father and as a child of God, I said, “Lord that is me. I believe but I’m struggling in my faith. Dear Lord, help me in those areas of my life where there is still such obvious unbelief.)

Too many times in my life, I’m not the father who refused to surrender to this demon filled, demon influenced world. No he is the hero of this story, next to Jesus. But many times I am not like the father who fought but I am closer to the disciples who tried and failed. My unbelief is clear and apparent to anyone who knows me and certainly it can be seen by my Lord.

As a child of God, as a God called pastor, as a father, there are God given roles and articles of faith that I have been given to carry out in those roles. And too many times I am like the disciples, Mark 9:28-29 And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could not we cast him out?

I think they heard the confession of the father and knew that it was theirs as well. Listen to Jesus answer as to why they failed. Mark 9:29 And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.

If we as fathers, children of God or as preachers, missionaries and pastor are to be able to do the hard things, difficult, near impossible things in the service of our Lord then it will take “prayer and fasting.” I have come to appreciate the power of fasting in the latter years of my life, and the power of prayer is unlimited. But we need to understand we fast as a way of concentrating and consecrating ourselves to God for a specific, God given task. To fast it to focus so intently that everything else is set aside. And in that intense concentration of our time and energy on the Lord we pray, and we pray and we pray. We shut out the world and we shut ourselves up to the Lord.

In this world fathers and all who know they are called by God to fulfill a role in your family, church or mission field, fast and pray. In every facet of what that means fast and pray.

Fast and pray for your children, fast and pray for you wife, fast and prayer for you church, fast and pray for the lost. Fast and pray for this world is truly under the power and influence and influence of Satan the prince of demons and He cannot be defeated except we fast and pray.

Fast and pray and like this loving father, never give up on your children. Keep bringing them before the Lord in your prayers, your church, your family devotions, your quiet times and your teachable moments, which is most every minute you spend with them.

 A Wasted Day

Gordon McDonald wrote a book entitled, “The Effective Father”  In it he wrote “It is said of Boswell, the famous biographer of Samuel Johnson, that he often referred to a special day in his childhood when his father took him fishing.  The day was fixed in his mind, and he often reflected upon many things his father had taught him in the course of their fishing experience together. It was a day that changed and shaped the young son’s life.

“After having heard of that particular excursion so often, it occurred to someone much later to check the journal that Boswell’s father kept and determine what had been said about the fishing trip from the parental perspective.  Turning to that date, the reader found only one sentence entered, “Gone fishing today with my son; a day wasted.”  

CS Lewis reflecting on the life of another famous Christian author Geroge McDonald, wrote this “An almost perfect relationship with his father was the earthly root of all his wisdom. From his own father, He said, he first learned that fatherhood must be at the core of the universe.”- Ken R. Canfield, Fourteen Keys to Successful Fathering (Moody, 1993), p. 29.

Father’s fast and pray because there is no such thing as a wasted day spent with your family and children and remember you are the core of the universe to them. God the heavenly father designed the family to be just that way.

Finally, Lets look to on last father, the father of Jesus Christ.

The Father Who Forgives

Luke 23:34 Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.

Luke 23:46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.

A Son’s Sacrifice, A Father’s Forgiveness

I won’t add much to this last father’s story. What could I add. Jesus the Son of God came to earth at the plan of God the Father. He gave his life as a sacrifice for our sin on the cross of Calvary and in those agonizing hours of pain, Jesus called out to the Father and asked forgiveness for us.

You know this story, this is the Gospel, this is the plan of salvation, this is the eternal and only hope for our souls. No I can’t add anything to it, no one can. I will simply encourage the fathers and parents her today to make sure you have accepted the forgiveness offered to us in Jesus death. If you do not then all your best efforts and plans to be a good father or parent will fail, in this world and so much worse in the world to come. Eternity is a terrible place to realize I rejected the mercy of God and now I and possibly my family will suffer for all eternity.

Conclusion

In eternity it will not matter what car I drove, what house I lived in, how much money I had nor what my clothes cost. In eternity the only thing that will matter is if my family and friends are there with me. – Pastor Kris Minefee

 “Fathers Gift” by Merrill Tenney

To you, O son of mine, I cannot give

A vast estate of wide and fertile lands;

But I can keep for you, the whilst I live,

Unstained hands.

 

I have no blazoned scutcheon that insures

Your path to eminence and worldly fame;

But longer than empty heraldry endures

A blameless name.

 

I have no treasure chest of gold refined,

No hoarded wealth of clinking, glittering pelf;

I give to you my hand, and heart, and mind-

all of myself.

 

I can exert no mighty influence

To make a place for you in men’s affairs;

But lift to God in secret audience

Unceasing prayers.

 

I cannot, though I would, be always near

To guard your steps with the parental rod;

I trust your soul to Him who holds you dear,

Your father’s God. 

- Merrill Tenney.