The log cabin Democrat., 1908-02-13
Jesus Heals the Nobleman's Son Sunday School Less on for Feb. .l6, 1908
Specially Prepared for This Paper


 | the word that Jesus had spoken unto
 him. and he went his ay."-John 4:6o. | TIME.-December, A. D. 27, or possibly l early in January, A. D. 2S. A few days after the last lesson. Beginning of sec | ond year of Jesus ministry, known as the great Gallean ministry. John the Sap | list was still preaching in wilderness or Judea.
 | PLACE.-Cana of Galilee, few miles | from Nazareth and Capernaum, city | 20 or % miles to the northeast. on the | shore of the Sea of Galiee.
 SCRIPTURAL R E F F R F N C E s. - Miracles as an Aid to Faith.-Matt. 9:6; | liz Compare with Isa. 35:5, @; 1433; | 15:31; 2754; Mark 210, F; 7:37; Luke 6:4; | 7:16 1S43; John 2:11. 1923; 3:2; 4:45, 53; | 5:36 5:14; 7:31; 9:16, 30-33; 1O:21 9, 37, SS; l l2:9-11; 14:10, Il; 20:30, 3l; Acts 2:22. Comment and Suggestive Thought. " 45. The Galileans received | him." because they had "seen all the | things that he did at Jerusalem at the | feast John 2:14-17, 23; 3:2) Because the miracles were signs and proofs that Jesus came from God, and they | indorsed his message. The miracles were no breaking or changing of the laws of nature, but were the personal will of God acting directly upon the needs of men.
 A miracle is simply Gods doi lg with his infinite power the same qual- ity of action, though vastly greater in degree, that we do every hour when We exert our personal will amid the force of nature. I lift up a book, turn on the water from the water works, and make a shower on my parched lawn or garden. l stop part of the machinery in the factory and rescue a child caught in it's wheels. If Jesus was divine they were as | natural to him as any other act of his will. They were object-lessons in the spirit and the work of the Cos pei, the principles of which he had been teaching Every miracle is wis ible picture before men of the char acter of God, of the nature of the Gospel, of the lovingkindness of our Saviour, of his power to help, of the wonders of grace he can work in our hearts, of his power to deliver from | the diseases of sin.
 " AZ. When he had heard that
 
 must have heard about him, and espe- cially of the miracle at Cana. It was | the knowledge of what Jesus had al ready done that gave him faith to be- lieve that he might cure his son. Earnest Seeking.-The faith was so strong that he went unto him." from Capernaum to Cana, 25 miles away, long days journey. Jesus must help, or there was no hope. The fact that | he went to Jesus shows that he had some faith, and that his faith, that was theoretical from what he had | heard, had now come to be working, living force. "Besought him Ccontin- | ued to beseech0 that he would come down." Thinking that Jesus must go and see the boy in order to cure him. At the point of death" Showing the diff culty of the cure, and the urgency | of haste. Sickness and trouble are often one means of increasing faith. Like Jacob from his pillow of stones | In the night of sorrow, many have seen visions of heaven and of our Father, and have received the mes sages Gods angels have brought, Countless stars, invisible by day, shine | upon us in the night.
 V. 4S. Then said Jesus unto him" Jesus neither refused nor granted the | request at once, but uttered truth which tended to awake a fuller and more spiritual faith. Except ye see signs and wonders (miracles in two | aspects) ye will not believe" Perhaps Jesus was thinking of the form of | the request when he said this-the | feeling that Jesus must go to Caper-
 naum if he would cure the boy, that the father must see Jesus present to heal But chiefly he wished to lift the
 man beyond the outward form of mir
 acles, out of wondering, out of mere
 proofs of faith, to insight into the
 very nature and spirit of Jesus as the
 Son of God
 A Heart at Rest.-What interesting
 lesson can we learn incidentally from
 this part of the story?
 The cure took place at one o'clock
 in the afternoon, the seventh hour.
 The distance from Main to Caperna-
 um was 25 miles.
 The nobleman in haste could have
 reached home, riding down hill, some
 time that same night, perhaps, as Mac
 laren says, before dark
 But it was the next day, some dis
 tance before he reached Capernaum, | that he met his servants coming to
 report that his son was restored.
 The natural inference is that the
 father did not hasten home, himself
 and the beast he rode being weary by
 their swift and urgent journey in the
 morning. He had come weary and
 heavy laden and found rest. He that
 believeth shall not be in haste" He
 had a foretaste of the promise Jesus
 gave to his disciples more than two
 years later, Believe that ye have re-
 ceived and ye shall have" (Mark
 11:24 R. V).
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