Jesus Heals the Nobleman’s Son
August 11, 2019
Commentary
After passing through Samaria, Jesus returns to Cana in Galilee (v. 46). Perhaps He wanted to follow up on the ones He had witnessed to during the wedding feast. While there, a nobleman (royal officer) from Capernaum, some twenty miles away, came to see if Jesus would come and heal his son who was dying (vv. 47-49). It was evident that his position and money could not solve his problem, so he was hoping that the healer would save his son from death.
Jesus was concerned that the man’s faith was based only on signs and wonders. He said, “You may go; your son will live” (v. 50). So this man took Jesus at His word and left. The time was 7 o’clock in the evening. The man believed Jesus and started to return home. He probably did not travel that night because it would have been too dangerous. When he met up with his servants the next day his faith was confirmed (vv. 51-52). They said the boy had been healed at 7 o’clock the night before which was at the exact moment Jesus made His promise (v. 53). The man shared what had happened with his family and as a result the entire family put their trust in Christ. This was the second miraculous sign Jesus did in Galilee after coming from Judea (v. 54). This showed how Jesus’s power was not limited to space because he was in Cana and the sick boy was in Capernaum.
Application
In which areas of my life have I truly put my complete trust and belief in Christ? Was there I time when I realized that there was nothing I could do to solve a problem on my own? What results did that have on the rest of my family?
John 4:46– 54 (NET)
46 Now he came again to Cana in Galilee where he had made the water wine. In Capernaum there was a certain royal official whose son was sick. 47 When he heard that Jesus had come back from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and begged him to come down and heal his son, who was about to die. 48 So Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders you will never believe!” 49 “Sir,” the official said to him, “come down before my child dies.” 50 Jesus told him, “Go home; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and set off for home.
51 While he was on his way down, his slaves met him and told him that his son was going to live. 52 So he asked them the time when his condition began to improve, and they told him, “Yesterday at one o’clock in the afternoon the fever left him.” 53 Then the father realized that it was the very time Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live,” and he himself believed along with his entire household. 54 Jesus did this as his second miraculous sign when he returned from Judea to Galilee.
Illustration: John Paton Leaning is Believing
When the great missionary John C. Paton was translating the Scriptures for his South Sea Islanders, apparently there was no word for “believe” in their native tongue. For a long while he was really baffled. One day a native came into his study and being tired out, flung himself down on a chair, rested his feet on another chair and lay back full length, saying as he did so something about how good it was to lean his whole weight on those chairs. Instantly Dr. Paton noted the word the man used for “lean his whole weight on.” The missionary had his word for “believe.” He used it at once and thereafter in translating the Scriptures. Try it for yourself and see, in any verse that uses the word “believe,” if this is not true. (Griffith Thomas).