Before we look at the second miracle Jesus performed in the Gospel of John, let’s look at how Jesus communicated the Gospel to the people of His day. When Jesus started His ministry, He kept it low-key. He revealed Himself to His disciple and then in ever-increasing ways to more and more people. What is important to note is that the people Jesus personally impacted are the ones who became followers and then disciples. There was a one-to-one interaction between Jesus and the hearer. Another way to look at it is that experienced Jesus! There is something irresistible about Jesus to those who are seeking the way, the truth, and the life. Today we have the Holy Spirit to anoint our words and deeds to make that personal interaction with those who need to hear the Gospel. Remember, we don’t save; we are the messengers; it’s the Jesus encounter that saves through the work of the Holy Spirit. Show More
Jesus “preached” the “Good-news” gospel in one of two ways, with words and deeds. If those He met had doubts about the truthfulness of His words, which were words of wisdom, words of knowledge, and truth. Jesus would back up His words with the scriptures. The people would hear the anointing of His words and be convinced that Jesus was from God.
However, words were not Jesus’ only means of convincing people that He was sent from God. Jesus also used miracles as a sign that He was sent from God, and if the signs did not convince the people, the signs would at least cause people to wonder and then contemplate the possibility that only God could do these miraculous things. John 14:1, “Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.”
The same is true today. If we want to reach people with the Gospel, we must use all the tools God has made available to us. His Word and His Power! If it were by preaching alone, everyone should be saved now! So, there must be more than words alone. John 14:12, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.” Jesus promises that when we preach the Gospel of love and freedom, we will have the same authority and power as He did. When Jesus ascended to heaven, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, descended from heaven to live in the Believer.
- John 14:15, “If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.”
The First Miracle of Jesus
In the first miracle of Jesus, the turning of water into wine, He revealed Himself to His Mother, disciples, and the servants who filled the water pots with water. They witnessed the water turn into wine. The question I want you to consider is what did they think and what did they do afterward with what they heard and saw?
The Second Miracle of Jesus
The second miracle Jesus performed in the Gospel of John is healing the Nobleman’s son in John 4:46.
“46 So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum. 47 When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. 48 Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe.” 49 The nobleman said to Him, “Sir, come down before my child dies!” 50 Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your son lives.” So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way. 51 And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, “Your son lives! 52 Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better. And they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” 53 So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, “Your son lives.” And he himself believed, and his whole household.”
An important point we could easily miss is that everyone who knew about the dying son knew that the son’s father went to Jesus, and through a long-distance word, the son was healed by Jesus. How do you think those who knew what happened were impacted? I can assure you that many believed because of that healing miracle and that they told everyone about what they had seen and heard.
We can do the same as Jesus if we have faith to believe that healing is for today and that Jesus can use you as His instrument of healing. John 14:12 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.” Do you believe in Jesus? If so, then the promise of healing is in your hands.
Why Some Don’t Believe in Miracles for Today
The enemy of our soul is the devil, and he is described as the “father of lies (John 8:43-44)”, and we know that Jesus came to destroy the “works of the devil (1John 3:8),” through the “Spirit of truth! (John 14:17, 15:26, 16:13).” This means that we need to trust the Word of God, and not be influenced by our emotions, negative thinking, or philosophies of the world or culture. As the Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:3, “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.”
It is the devil’s job to steal, kill and destroy your faith in a loving God. Satan is the master of deception, and the idea of a veil is that it partially hides the truth; it hides the truth just enough to void the truth. Then the truth is replaced by the lie. You see, if you tell a lie often enough and long enough, many will believe the lie.
General Veils of Deception
The Apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 11:3, “But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” Paul was speaking to Believers who were being deceived away from the simplicity of the Gospel. The Gospel is simple; if one believes that Jesus came to die in our place, that we are forgiven of all our sins, past, present, and future, and that we are born-again, that is, a new creation. We get to start over again with our lives. However, we are not trying to rehabilitate our old life; trying to improve it; we get a new life! A new life that is filled with love, joy, peace, and the power of the Holy Spirit living inside us, if only we would believe.
I can think of three general areas where a veil is created to hide the truth of God.
The first and most common area where we can be deceived is relying on personal experience as a basis of our relationship with Jesus. This often happens when we don’t get what we expect from the Lord. You may have prayed or believed for a certain outcome, and it didn’t happen. A sick one didn’t get well. A personal relationship fell apart. A pending financial disaster came to pass.
When we don’t get what we want from God, our mind can become a fertile ground for the devil to come in and point his ugly finger at God. Then the lies begin, God doesn’t love you, God doesn’t care about your circumstances, God doesn’t exist! All lies become believable because of our experience. Yet the scriptures clearly tell us that it is through the trials and tribulations of life that our faith has an opportunity to grow. You see, as painful as it might be, faith in God in the hard times moves God. Hebrews 11:6, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
God is not moved because you think you deserve His help or you did something in God’s name to receive His favor. God is moved by faith. Believing that whatever the scriptures say will come to pass! The Lord is bound to fulfill His word even when the Lord doesn’t act in a way we want Him to!” Do we seek Him for who He is, or do we seek Him for what He can do? That is an important question that spells the difference between spiritual faith and human want!
The second area of deception is leaning on our own understanding or human logic. You must examine what you believe and why you believe it because most modern education creates skepticism for anything spiritual! (Proverbs 3:5, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;).
If you really believe that you are a new creation (2Corinthians 5:17), then you must accept that your mind or ways of thinking must change. Romans 12:2, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
You must determine in your heart to follow Jesus with all your mind, soul, and heart; then, you will see the goodness of the Lord poured out on your life.
The third area of misinformation is the incorrect teaching that the supernatural only applied to the 12 disciples, or as some put it, “Miracles petered away when Peter passed away! Many leaders are teaching that miracles don’t happen today. Yet, the New Testament is filled with miracles, signs, and wonders. The church also has a long history of miracles, signs, and wonders. Think about this; even your salvation is a miracle! Colossians 2: 8, “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; 10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.”
Conclusion
Jesus healed the Nobleman’s son. We don’t know what was wrong with the young man, but nevertheless, he was healed. Jesus purchased healing for us on the Cross of Calvary. If you have doubts about healing for today, I encourage you to pray for the sick when the Lord puts that on your heart, and in time you will see that miracles are still available today, and you can be God’s vessel for the supernatural.
In the words of Jesus to His disciples, “And as you go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give”, Matthew 10:7-8. If you are a disciple of Jesus, this command is for you too!
