The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way.

In John 4:46-54 Jesus heals an official’s son from a distance and reveals one of the sweetest realities about the power of His word: Christ’s word is as good as Christ’s presence.

Jesus merely said, “Go, your son will live,” and the cure was done. Good Bishop Ryle said, “Christ only commanded, and the deadly disease stood fast.” Do you feel the comfort from this truth? What value it gives to every promise that ever came from Christ. If you have laid hold of some word of Christ, you have set your feet on the solid rock. What Christ spoken, He is able to do. What He has undertaken, He will accomplish. You can trust in this Christ. Luther says it well, “Faith is a living, daring confidence in God’s grace, so sure and certain that a man could stake his life on it a thousand times.” Oh, see how faith in Christ’s word can be the source of faith for every circumstance you find yourself in . . .

• If you are fearful. Remember Isaiah 43:2, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.”
• If you are struggling with temptation. Remember 1 Corinthians 10:13, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability . . . he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”
• If you are fighting sin. Remember Micah 7:9, “He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.”
• If you are without Christ. Remember Romans 10:9-13, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved . . . For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Faith receives and rests on the word of Christ; a word that is His powerful presence in our lives.