Learning to Trust in Jesus

By: Rev. Sam Harris; ©2001

Do you find it hard to trust Jesus and His Word? Rev. Harris tackles this question using the example of the nobleman in John 4:46-54.

Learning to Trust in Jesus

Question:

As a fairly new Christian, I must admit that I struggle, at times,”always trusting Jesus and His Word. Recently, I have been reading through the Gospel of John and read about the healing of the Nobleman’s son in John 4:46-54. Verse 50 really hit me hard in my question of trust. Here is a royal official who believed that his son, who had been at the point of death, was healed. The verse reads “Jesus said to him, ‘Go your way; your son lives.’ The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he started off.” I wish I had that kind of trust! Can you help me?

Answer:

You are certainly not the only person who struggles, at times, with trust. We all do. A question that we often deal with is: How can I believe Jesus can help me when there seems no tangible evidence to believe?

The biblical truth that I want to convey to you is this: Faith is believing Jesus can help when there seems to be no tangible evidence to believe. Lots of people struggle with the feeling that God either doesn’t care about them or is not able to help them. Some struggle with the feeling that God is distant, and this distance is assumed to limit His ability to help.

It’s important that we understand the word: believe. Look at both the dictionary and Greek understanding of this word.

Believe: (pisteuo) accept as true or convey a truth; a firm opinion; have faith in the existence of; to have confidence in; to have trust in the advisability of.

Bible: Belief is more than accepting certain facts to be true. Biblical faith includes such belief; however, it is basically faith, trust, and commitment to a personal God and Savior. In this passage, we see that this nobleman had three stages of belief:

1. He came a long way to find Jesus because he had heard about the miracles Jesus did and he had a desperate need.
2. When Jesus told him that his son was living, he believed the word of Jesus and headed home.
3. After the man learned that his son was healed at the same time as Jesus had spoken, he and all his household believed.

Let’s look at each one of these individually.

I. Vs. 47-49: “Nobleman” from the Greek, he was a royal official connected with a king—probably, Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee. He came because his son was sick. “Requesting” (KJV: besought: begged Jesus to come and heal him. He refused to give up until Jesus went with him.

In our passage, we learn three things about faith and trust:

1. It is not a blind leap in the dark; unbelievers accuse us of a gullible faith. Our faith is a response to the words and deeds of Jesus in the past. The nobleman would not have gone to Cana if he had not heard of the miracles that Jesus had already performed.
2. Faith perseveres in trusting Jesus in the face of what seems to be delays on the part of Jesus. The man kept asking in spite of what Jesus said in verse 48. One reason faith perseveres is that faith is motivated by needs that only Jesus can meet.
3. Initial faith is often imperfect and immature, but it is real. He believed that Jesus needed to be present with the dying son to heal him.

II. Vs. 50-52: Jesus did not go with the nobleman. Instead, He said to the anxious father: “Go your way, your son lives.”

Jesus presents the father with a dilemma. Here is that growth in faith. He thought Jesus had to be present to heal his son. If the man continued to ask Jesus to come, that would show lack of faith. On the other hand, if he went back and found that his son was not healed, Jesus would not be there to help. The nobleman did not argue with Jesus. Instead, he “believed the word that Jesus had spoken to him.” He took Jesus at his word! His faith is seen because he acted on it—”he started off.”

Faith is based on believing God’s Word.

III. 53-54: When the nobleman asked the question about the time of his son’s healing, it led him to a deeper level of faith. He believed. That is to say, it added to what he already believed. His faith increased. This shows that faith grows! Earlier, his faith was based on what he had heard of miracles from others. Now, he had personally experienced the Lord’s healing power.

Real faith is not static, but dynamic. Faith and trust involve a personal relationship with Jesus that is experienced over and over again. As our faith is expressed and renewed, our awareness of God’s grace and power grows.

The disciples once said to Jesus, “Increase our faith.” (Luke 17:5) Faith grows in pro­portion as we believe, commit to, and trust in the greatness of God.

Notice finally, that “his whole house” joined in the faith. He must have shared his testi­mony and they all believed (that would have included his servants.)

Trust, like faith, is a growing process as our relationship with Jesus grows. Hope this is helpful.
[{Category:Rev. Sam Harris|Trust]]