Psalm 61, 62; Jer. 2:1-13; Rom. 1:16-25; John 4:43-54
The Lord presents his case through Jeremiah concerning Israel. They have forsaken Him, the fountain of living waters and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water. It wasn’t enough that they forsook the one who loved them, brought them out of Egypt, and gave them this land, they also chased after other gods who are no gods at all. The Lord encourages them to search among other nations to see if there is any precedent for their unfaithfulness. The other nations at least remain steadfast in their devotion to these false gods even though they are nothing at all. His people, though, after all He has done on their behalf, have left Him and gone after other gods. We absolutely have a problem with faithfulness.
Seeing isn’t always believing but sometimes believing leads to seeing. Here, Jesus seems to question the official’s faith as being based in signs and wonders. The official isn’t interested in debating, his faith is clear, "Sir, come down before my child dies." His faith in Jesus is already strong and Jesus sends him away with the promise that the child will live. The man takes Jesus at His word and is rewarded for that faith. Do we take Jesus at His word? He made many promises to those who believe that have to do with greater things than these will we do and also that we will experience persecution and yet there are those who do not believe that the promise of greater things continues to us and that a commitment to Him means we will experience worldly blessing and prosperity. The life of a Christian is to be characterized by a faith such as this official’s, walking in faith in the promises of Christ and trusting in Him for all things. We have a benefit this man did not, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, by which to walk.
Paul’s claim here is that creation testifies to God. In the past hundred plus years we have seen a movement to deny that “God” had anything to do with creation as we know it. In some ways creation created itself. That would leave us without a purpose to human life other than the will to be, but where did that will to be come from and how can it be explained in terms of the reality that eventually it will no longer be at all? Religion, then, is nothing more than a wish dream that extends the will to be into a spiritual existence beyond the grave. Paul says that when we exchange the truth of God for a lie and begin to worship creation, mother earth, Gaia, any of the earth religions, or even materialism, the desire to accumulate and control the things of earth, we are led into all manner of sin and degradation of our nobility as creation in the image of God. Faith is believing in a good creator of all things who intentionally created us in His image.
When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end of all my sin.
Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free.
For God the just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me.
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