Jesus: The Greater Elijah
John 4:43–54
Jesus is not who the Galileans thought He was; He is the greater Elijah who heals a Gentile official’s son from a distance (paralleling Elijah and the widow of Zarephath), showing that genuine faith rests on His word rather than signs, and that He is the Saviour of all who levels the ground for every person.
Outline
- Shattered expectations regarding the Messiah
- Contrast between believing Samaritans and sign-seeking Galileans
- The royal official’s request and Jesus’ response about signs
- Distant healing and faith in Jesus’ word
- Parallel to 1 Kings 17 and Luke 4: Jesus as the greater Elijah
- Conclusion: Saviour of all, not some
Themes: Greater Elijah · Signs and Wonders · Faith in the Word · Gentile Inclusion · Shattered Expectations · Saviour of All · Hometown Rejection · Mercy
Key Cross-References: 1 Kings 17:1-24 (esp. 17-24), Luke 4:22-30, John 2:23-25, John 4:43-54
MANUSCRIPT
Jesus is not who you think he is.
That may be a good summary of the overall takeaway from Jesus’ ministry so far as presented in the gospel of John.
Hundreds of years of expectation brought with them hundreds of years of distortion and assumption and projection, regarding who the Messiah would be and what would be the nature of his ministry.
Consequently, at every turn, Jesus’ character and mission seemed to confound the people of his day.
Jesus, for his part, taught, and spoke, and behaved in ways that brought people face-to-face with their spiritual blindness, religious hypocrisy, personal emptiness, racial prejudices, and their need for a saviour.
And spectacularly, he did this in such a way as completely leveled the playing field. The temple officials, and the lead teacher of the Jews, need to be saved. The sinful Samaritan woman, and the entire Samaritan town, can be saved. At every turn, Jesus shattered people’s conceptions of who the Messiah would be.
And so,
If you thought Jesus came to smile upon your empty religiosity, then Jesus is not who you think he is.
If you thought Jesus was coming to join the club of the religious good-old-boys, then Jesus is not who you think he is.
If you thought Jesus was coming to uphold the spiritual status-quo and go along to get along, then Jesus is not who you think he is.
If you thought Jesus would overlook your injustice and antipathy towards the poor and suffering because you check all the right religious boxes, then Jesus is not who you think he is.
If you thought Jesus would be impressed by your status in the religious community then Jesus is not who you think he is.
If you thought Jesus would fit neatly into one of your political parties, then Jesus is not who you think he is.
If you thought Jesus would fit neatly into one of your theological camps, then Jesus is not who you think he is.
If you thought Jesus would be the saviour of one group, one tribe, one race, or one region, then Jesus is not who you think he is.
On the other hand:
If you thought Jesus would come to punish the powerful and influential, without regard for their soul, then Jesus is not who you think he is.
If you thought Jesus would reject you because of your sin, then Jesus is not who you think he is.
If you thought Jesus belonged to others, and not to you, then Jesus is not who you think he is.
If you thought Jesus came with judgment instead of mercy, then Jesus is not who you think he is.
If you thought Jesus came to condemn you, instead of save you, then Jesus is not who you think he is.
HOW JESUS HAS ALREADY SHATTERED EXPECTATIONS
Thus far in the gospel of John, we have seen Jesus shatter many people’s expectations regarding what the Messiah would be.
By cleansing the temple he exposed the corrupt state of Judaism. While carrying out the formalities of worship, they had long forgotten the heart. While purporting to be religious examples, the Sadducees were victimizing worshippers as they got ripped off by the temple merchants. In cleansing the temple, he rejected religiosity which lacked mercy and compassion.
In his conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus exposed the spiritual ignorance of even those who claimed to be skilled in the Word and proclaimed their need to be born again by the Spirit of God. In doing so, he confronted ethnic entitlement, and religious pride.
In his conversation with the Samaritan woman, he revealed God’s heart towards those sinners which the religious class had disregarded. Consequently, through his actions he challenged the antipathy; callousness; and judgmentalism which existed among the religious of his day.
In his conversation with the Samaritan woman he emphasized that genuine worship is offered not in a particularly holy place, but by those who worship in Spirit and in truth.
By sparking a spiritual revival in a Samaritan town, Jesus crossed longstanding racial barriers and proclaimed absolute equality in the kingdom of God.
You can imagine that in shattering preconceptions and expectations, Jesus brought joy to many while evoking consternation from many others.
Consequently, throughout his earthly ministry we see a growing intrigue among the masses, and a growing hatred among the religious and political elites.
THE TEXT: JOHN 4:43-54
These themes continue in our passage this morning.
John 4:43-54 ¶ After the two days he departed for Galilee. 44 (For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.) 45 So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast. 46 So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine…
From his hometown of Galilee to Jerusalem, through Samaria and back to Galilee again. Jesus has come home.
Now notice verses 43-44, which has caused no shortage of confusion. John says, “After the two days he departed for Galilee. [the reason] 44 (For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.)
He returned to Galilee “for” or “because” he had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown? It certainly seems like that’s what is being said here, doesn’t it?
I think, when we understand the unfolding nature of Jesus’ ministry, the repeated themes arising in Jesus actions and teaching, and the emerging responses from the people, this makes sense.
Remember that Jesus has just seen an incredible spiritual revival in a Samaritan town. Men and women rushing out to meet him, spending days with him, and many receiving him as the Saviour of the World. This after having been rejected by the religious leadership in Jerusalem.
What Jesus is illustrating through his various encounters is that those whom the Jews would expect to receive the Messiah are rejecting him and those who seem out of his reach, are being saved.
Jesus was a strange Jewish traveler whom the Samaritans first met with skepticism, yet they believed his words, with genuine faith, and embraced him as the saviour of the world. Now he’s come to his hometown of Galilee where he is well known, where he grew up. And he is going to be welcomed, not with a genuine faith in his words, but with a shallow faith dependent upon miracles.
We are expected to see the contrast between the believing Samaritans and the dull Galileans. In fact, Jesus is going to drive this point home in a moment with actions which call to mind the acts of one of the greatest prophets of the Old Testament.
THE ROYAL OFFICIAL’S REQUEST
…And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. 47 When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.
While Jesus is in Galilee word spreads quickly that he’s come home. Some 20 miles away in Capernaum, word comes to the ears of an unnamed man who has a desperate need. One might surmise that word has spread so quickly because many know of this man’s need. His son is deathly ill.
This man was “an official.” He was a royal official. Although Herod was not technically King (he was tetrarch), he is commonly called “King Herod.” Thus, this man is most likely an officer in the service of Herod. Herod who was disliked by the Jews for a host of reasons including the fact that he built the city of Tiberias directly upon a Jewish cemetery; had a tendency to erect images of animals, thus violating the Jews prohibition against idols; and was blatantly immoral – even marrying his brother’s wife.
This was the Herod whom the royal official served. The official may have been a Gentile, we don’t know. I’m going to suggest, based upon the context, that he was a Gentile. That will become clear later.
So this royal official receives word that Jesus is now back in Galilee and he makes the 15 mile journey in order to plead with Jesus to heal his son, who is on the brink of death.
SIGNS AND WONDERS VERSUS FAITH IN THE WORD
48 So Jesus said to him, "Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe."
Now, from what we’ve learned about Jesus since the beginning of the gospel of John, this seems like an uncharacteristic response. Jesus is moved with compassion toward those who are suffering. Jesus’ miracles are miracles of mercy meant to relieve people from the curse of sin, giving them a foretaste of his ultimate victory over sin, death and Satan. Yet, here Jesus seems reticent in healing this man’s dying son. What’s going on here?
Well, Jesus responds “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” It is important to note that the “you” in both instances here is plural. Jesus is not only responding to this distraught Father, but to the Galileans in earshot. Actually, I’d suggest he is not responding primarily to this Father but primarily to the Galileans around him. Why do I say that? Look again at verse 45:
John 4:45 So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast.
That sounds like a warm welcome, doesn’t it? Well, what precipitated that welcome? Those who welcomed him had “seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast.” In that account, in chapter 2, and verse 23 we read that in addition to cleansing the temple, Jesus performed miracles or signs in Jerusalem. These Galileans were there to witness them and now they are happy to have Jesus back in their town, where they hope to see more miracles performed on their behalf.
What we find here is part of a repeated problem among those who claim to believe in Jesus. See, it is one thing to believe in Jesus, taking him at his word, regarding who he is and how to be saved, but it is an entirely different thing to merely believe that Jesus can do miracles. Jesus repeatedly denounces faith or a following which is only looking for self-serving signs and wonders.
To believe that Jesus can perform miracles is not the same as seeing his miracles as confirmation that he is the one sent by the Father to defeat sin, death, and Satan as the saviour of the world.
The Galileans were guilty of this kind of deficient faith. Whereas the Samaritans saw no miracle, simply believing Jesus at his word, these in Jesus’ hometown would not believe unless they saw miracles.
So, Jesus responds to this official this way because he is fully intending to perform a miracle and heal this man’s son, but wants it clearly understood that saving faith goes far beyond believing in signs and wonders.
This is important for us to notice because there are many who claim to believe in Jesus but who have an unhealthy fixation on signs and wonders. These are desperate to always see or experience “some new thing.” Jesus to them is a vending machine of miracles. And when they don’t see miracles, they simply invent them or see them where they are not. People like this have a faith like leaky tires. Imagine someone with a car with four leaky tires. She pumps up the tires, and drives as far as she can until they are deflated again. She then pumps them back up and continues on as far as she can until she comes up empty again. This cycle continues over and over again. Some new experience; some new “blessing”; something to pump up her faith so she can keep following Jesus. But there remains a continual risk of being caught empty. Some churches specialize in this, don’t they? Come on in every Sunday so we can pump you up! Get your fill and go about your week and hope you make it to next Sunday with some air left so that we can pump you up again! What a weak, fickle, shallow, faith.
A lasting faith is a faith firmly grounded in his word of Christ, and the testimony of the Father. A lasting faith is a faith fueled, not ultimately by miracles, but by the word of God. This is why we read in John 2:
John 2:23-25 ¶ Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. 24 But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people 25 and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.
Jesus was not about to commit himself to people whose faith springs from witnessing miracles alone. Why? Because he knows the nature of man and that such a faith is fleeting.
FAITH IN JESUS’ WORD
Now, I said that Jesus has fully intended to heal this man’s son. This is clear in that the man doesn’t respond directly to what Jesus says about signs. He doesn’t try to prove the sincerity of his faith. Like any desperate father in such a situation, he simply says:
49 The official said to him, "Sir, come down before my child dies."
And then, Jesus responds in verse 50:
50 Jesus said to him, "Go; your son will live."…
“Go, your son will live.” With that, Jesus healed the man’s son, 20 miles away. And he did it without a flashy miracle, without witnesses. Why? Because he would have this man and those around him understand that strong faith is faith in the words which Jesus speaks, not merely the miracles he performs. And look at the man’s response in verse 50:
… The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way.
This man took Jesus at his word. He didn’t witness a miracle; he didn’t see power go out from Jesus’ hands. He didn’t see anything. He heard Jesus words and trusted that he was who he claimed to be, and was capable of healing his son.
51 As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering. 52 So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him." 53 The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, "Your son will live." And he himself believed, and all his household. 54 This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee.
Evidently this royal official took his time going back home. It is now the next day and he hears confirmation that his son has been healed and that his fever broke the very hour that Jesus says “Go, your son will live.” His initial belief is multiplied and it says here “he himself believed” and his entire household believed as well.
THE GREATER ELIJAH
Now, I want to show you another very important thing happening here in this passage.
We started out by highlighting the fact that Jesus’ earthly ministry challenged, confounded and contradicted many. A lot of people had to come to the realization that Jesus was not the Messiah they thought he would be. He rejected those who thought they were a shoe-in to the kingdom, and loved those who were rejected from society. He overtly challenged the religious culture of the day, while breaking social barriers to show the love of God. He is doing this again in our passage in a way that might not be immediately obvious.
Look again at Jesus’ words in verse 50:
John 4:50 Jesus said to him, "Go; your son will live."
Why is this so interesting? Because I believe it invokes a situation in the Old Testament that we are meant to see as a parallel to this one. Turn if you will for a moment, to 1 Kings 17.
1 Kings 17:1-24 ¶ Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word." 2 And the word of the LORD came to him: 3 "Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. 4 You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there." 5 So he went and did according to the word of the LORD. He went and lived by the brook Cherith that is east of the Jordan. 6 And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. 7 And after a while the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land. 8 ¶ Then the word of the LORD came to him, 9 "Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you." 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, "Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink." 11 And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, "Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand." 12 And she said, "As the LORD your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die." 13 And Elijah said to her, "Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. 14 For thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the LORD sends rain upon the earth.'" 15 And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days. 16 The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke by Elijah.
The context is that Israel is at one of it’s lowest spiritual points. They are apostate idol worshippers being led by the most wicked of Israel’s Kings and his evil prophet-murdering wife. God’s people are rebellious and ripe for judgment.
At this time, the prophet Elijah, whom the Lord will use to perform mighty miracles, is at the Lord’s direction, being housed by a poor widow and her only son.
When Elijah meets this woman he says, "Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.", which certainly brings to mind Jesus’ words to the woman at the well. He then asks her for bread to which she replies that she has no food and she and her son are on the brink of starvation. God then does a miracle through Elijah for this woman, by multiplying her flour and oil enough to feed her throughout the famine. This of course calls to mind Jesus’ miracle of the multiplying fish and bread which fed thousands.
But then, God uses Elijah to do an even more amazing miracle.
17 ¶ After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill. And his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. 18 And she said to Elijah, "What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance and to cause the death of my son!" 19 And he said to her, "Give me your son." And he took him from her arms and carried him up into the upper chamber where he lodged, and laid him on his own bed. 20 And he cried to the LORD, "O LORD my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by killing her son?" 21 Then he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the LORD, "O LORD my God, let this child's life come into him again." 22 And the LORD listened to the voice of Elijah. And the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. 23 And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and delivered him to his mother. And Elijah said, "See, your son lives." 24 And the woman said to Elijah, "Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is truth."
This widow’s only son becomes severely ill to the point that he stops breathing. The woman cries out to Elijah, who then cries out to the Lord, pleading with the Lord to heal him. The Lord hears and answers and the boy is healed. Relieved, Elijah takes the child, brings him to the boys mother and says:
“See, your son lives.”
Now, although there are clear parallels between the ministry of Elijah and Jesus, you might think the connection here is a bit flimsy. Well, I want you to turn back to the New Testament and see how Jesus himself references this account. Turn to Luke 4:22.
After having read from the book of Isaiah, and claiming that he had come in fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy, the Bible says:
Luke 4:22 And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, "Is not this Joseph's son?"
Shocked! Isn’t this Jesus, Joseph’s son? How is it that he is so learned, so eloquent, and how can he be claiming so much authority? Look at Jesus response:
Luke 4:23-24 And he said to them, "Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, 'Physician, heal yourself.' What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well." 24 And he said, "Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown.
This took place in Nazareth where Jesus was raised as a child. Because of their familiarity with him, they rejected his authority. They rejected the possibility that he was the Messiah. Jesus says to them, surely you will say to me “What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.” That is, they will demand signs or miracles be done in Nazareth just as they heard they were done elsewhere. The implication being that they will not believe his words, but will demand signs.
Jesus then says “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown.” Just what he also said to the Galileans in John 4:44. The Jews in Nazareth, like the Jews in Galilee were disposed to reject Jesus and only had a shallow faith dependent upon seeing miracles.
But now, I want you to see what Jesus says next in Luke 4.
Luke 4:25-30 But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, 26 and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27 And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian." 28 When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. 29 And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. 30 But passing through their midst, he went away.
Immediately after saying “no prophet is acceptable in his hometown” Jesus cites the passage from 1 Kings 17 with the sick son and Elijah. His point is a devastating one.
While Elijah was rejected by his own people during the times of Ahab and Jezebel, God used him to perform a miracle. Not a miracle for the Jews, but a miracle for a Gentile! Was it that there weren’t poor widows with sick sons among the Jews? Yes, there were. Yet, God did not send Elijah to heal one of them, but instead he healed the son of a Gentile woman.
Israel was at such a point of moral corruption and religious apostasy that the Gentiles were more worthy of God’s mercy-giving miracles than his own people.
By citing this story, Jesus was likening the status of the Jews in his own day to the state of the Jews under Ahab! Wicked, idolatrous, immoral, and religiously apostate. The Gentiles are closer to the kingdom of God then they are.
This isn’t lost on his audience. They are enraged at the implications of this and try to kill him then and there.
Now back to John 4.
In a very similar context, Jesus comes to his hometown, not Nazareth where he was brought up, but Galilee where he lived as an adult. The Galileans responded to Jesus, not with genuine faith, but with a fickle, sign-dependent faith. In that context, Jesus doesn’t respond to them by quoting the story of Elijah (like he did in Nazareth), instead he does something even more dramatic. He performs the very same miracle as Elijah, for the very same type of person as Elijah.
In the midst of his own Jewish brethren who are desperate to see signs, he turns instead to an official from Herod’s court and performs a miracle for him instead. “Go, your son will live.”
A miracle without showmanship; which the Galileans could not see; which they would not benefit from, but which would instead benefit this man (whom I believe is a Gentile), and his family, leading them to place genuine trust in Jesus.
Jesus is the greater Elijah.
Whereas Elijah pled with the Lord in a panic, Jesus knew exactly what the Lord would do.
Whereas Elijah took the child, laid over him and repeatedly cried to the Lord, Jesus simply spoke a word, and healed the boy from a distance.
If Jesus in this instance is operating as the greater Elijah, and this official is serving as the representative Gentile, than what does that mean for the Galileans? They are like apostate, unbelieving Israel under the King Ahab and Jezebel!
In the midst of such Jewish unbelief, the only one for whom Jesus would do a miracle is a Gentile who was desperate to see his son brought back from the brink of death, just like the widow of Zarephath.
And so, the Galileans, thinking that Jesus was one who had something to prove to them; thinking that he was their hometown boy, in whose eyes they would certainly find favour; had to learn that Jesus wasn’t who they thought he was.
And we, as we see Jesus claiming the outcast, showing mercy on the forgotten, and bringing justice to the victimized, we may think that he has come against individuals who are rich and influential. But, just then, we see Jesus heal a boy from a rich, politically connected, and high-profile home.
When Jesus saw the royal official from Herod’s court, he didn’t see status, or notoriety, or influence. What he saw was the soul of a man who was desperate for the mercy of God. What he saw was a soul ripe to place its faith in Him.
And although it is rare for a rich man - an influential man, to come to Christ, this one did. Why? Because like the woman at the well, Jesus was seeking him.
And just like that, when we think we’ve got Jesus figured out, properly categorized, and placed firmly within our box, we realize that Jesus isn’t quite who we thought he was.
He’s not the saviour of some, but of all. He’s come to level the ground so that all men and women of every walk, every language, every race, and every status, must be saved – and can be saved.
