Do you trust anyone?

It’s a hard question to answer, isn’t it?

We live in a culture of radical mistrust. How do we know what is real and what is fake? Is it even possible to know the answer to that any longer?

Every day it seems like I see something on the Internet and think, “Man, that is so cool. I wonder if it’s real?”

A few months ago a friend of mine sent me a trailer for a new Star Wars film entitled, Vader. I was blown away, it looked amazing. I think I watched the trailer like four or five times. I noticed that all the scenes were ones that I had seen before. So I did some online research and discovered it was a fan-made trailer and not a real project. The disappointment was real.

Trust is a tricky thing. It’s hard to earn and it is easy to lose.

The next conversation that we bump into in the Gospel of John is one that Jesus has with a father. Check it out…

After the two days he left for Galilee. (Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.) When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, for they also had been there.

Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death.

“Unless you people see signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.” The royal official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.”

“Go,” Jesus replied, “your son will live.”

The man took Jesus at his word and departed. While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, “Yesterday, at one in the afternoon, the fever left him.”

Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he and his whole household believed.

This was the second sign Jesus performed after coming from Judea to Galilee. John 4:43-54, NIV

The man, a Royal official, did exactly what any dad would do. His son was close to death, so he went to Jesus. He had heard that Jesus was in town and that he was a healer. Out of desperation he comes to this peasant healer.

Jesus called out the crowd and the man, saying, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will never believe.” This highlights two things. First, the reality that the Royal Official came not by faith but from desperation and the reason for the crowds welcome of Jesus as being based on their desire to see “wonders.” This is why John points out that the prophet has no honor in his own home town, this story is supposed to demonstrate this.

But, something interesting happens.

“The man took Jesus at his word and departed.”

He may not have come by faith but from desperation. Yet, he somehow implicitly trusted Jesus' word. Later, we discover that faith didn’t blossom in the man until he discovered the connection between Jesus' word and the healing of his son; yet, in that moment, he still took Jesus at his word.

He trusted Jesus.

This moment of trust lead to faith and not just his but the whole of his household.

I have been thinking to myself this morning if I were in the same position would I have taken Jesus at his word?

The Royal Official really wanted Jesus to come to his home and see his sone for healing. Jesus did not offer that to him or respond in that way. He simply declared that the boy would live.

In my mind’s eye I imagine this scene with the Royal Official, a man who likely was not used to being rebuffed, staring at Jesus and Jesus staring at him right back. I imagine for the man it was one of those moments where time stood still. Would he argue? Would he push harder? Would he beg more?

No, he took Jesus at his word.

I can’t shake the feeling that I would not have taken Jesus at his word. I mean, goodness, do I take Jesus at his word in my own life even today? I have the advantage of knowing of the resurrection. I have the advantage of two thousand years of church history. I have the advantage of family stories displaying the goodness of God through Christ.

Yet, would I take Jesus at his word?

I just don’t know.

I wonder, am I too cynical? Too untrusting? Too afraid of being thought naïve?

How can I even figure out if I would take Jesus at his word? I have been using the beatitudes from Matthew 5 as my evaluation. Jesus states certain means that mark out the “blessed” or “happy” life. I will leave them with you. Do you take Jesus at his word when he says this is the way to the “blessed” life?

He said: “Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn,

for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek,

for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful,

for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart,

for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers,

for they will be called children of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Matthew 5:3-12, NIV