46 Jesus went again to visit Cana in Galilee where he had changed the water into wine. One of the king’s important officers lived in the city of Capernaum, and his son was sick. 47 When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to Jesus and begged him to come to Capernaum and heal his son, because his son was almost dead. 48 Jesus said to him, “You people must see signs and miracles before you will believe in me.”
49 The officer said, “Sir, come before my child dies.”
50 Jesus answered, “Go. Your son will live.”
The man believed what Jesus told him and went home. 51 On the way the man’s servants came and met him and told him, “Your son is alive.”
52 The man asked, “What time did my son begin to get well?”
They answered, “Yesterday at one o’clock the fever left him.”
53 The father knew that one o’clock was the exact time that Jesus had said, “Your son will live.” So the man and all the people who lived in his house believed in Jesus.
54 That was the second miracle Jesus did after coming from Judea to Galilee.
Read John 4:46-54 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
One thing I always find fascinating is how Jesus interacts with those He is about to help. In some ways, it is as though Jesus always has His “teacher” hat on even while He is healing. In this passage, we find another example of Jesus teaching while also healing, but it is unique from many other examples because Jesus decides to push back against a popular idea: He must be present to heal.
Since this miracle is one of the earlier ones, and one of the first included in John’s gospel, part of me wonders if all the previous miracles Jesus did to heal people were ones where He was present to speak directly to the situation, and perhaps to place His hands on the person being healed.
Perhaps Jesus knew what this official would do, but Jesus, while responding to this official also speaks to the crowd of people following Him when he says, “You people must see signs and miracles before you will believe in me.” (v. 48)
Not really being deterred in his request, the official asks again, “Sir, come before my child dies.” (v. 49)
While Jesus could have waited for the child to die before going to raise him back to life (He did this in Lazarus’ case), Jesus uses this as an opportunity to demonstrate the importance of believing based on the evidence: “Jesus answered, ‘Go. Your son will live.’” (v. 50a)
In this event, Jesus pushed back against the idea that seeing is believing. Jesus knows that belief cannot always be based on physically seeing, and so He takes this event and uses it as a teaching example for believing in the evidence. The official understands and believes Jesus because immediately after hearing Jesus’ response, “The man believed what Jesus told him and went home.” (v. 50b)
This is one of the first examples of individuals who believed Jesus’ words at face value, and this official’s belief was rewarded, because we learn that at about the very time Jesus was talking, his child’s fever broke and his son began the road to recovery.
In this event, Jesus wants us to trust Him based on His word and the evidence we have. In this regard, we can have the same level of incredible faith that this official had when He believed Jesus at His word, and left knowing that his son would live.
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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