(John 4:46-54)

John 4:46-54 (NASB) ⁴⁶Therefore He came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine. And there was a royal official whose son was sick at Capernaum. ⁴⁷When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and was imploring Him to come down and heal his son; for he was at the point of death. ⁴⁸So Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe." ⁴⁹The royal official said to Him, "Sir, come down before my child dies." ⁵⁰Jesus said to him, "Go; your son lives." The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started off. ⁵¹As he was now going down, his slaves met him, saying that his son was living. ⁵²So he inquired of them the hour when he began to get better. Then they said to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him." ⁵³So the father knew that it was at that hour in which Jesus said to him, "Your son lives"; and he himself believed and his whole household. ⁵⁴This is again a second sign that Jesus performed when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.

TEXT OUTLINE

I. THE PLACES (46) – The setting for this miracle, Jesus' second sign, is Cana of Galilee where He had turned the water into wine. The need resided in Capernaum, but the answer was visiting Cana of Galilee a distance of about 20 miles.

 

II. THE PROBLEM (47, 48)

A. A Sick Son (47) - A governmental official's son was at death's door and needed healing. Apparently he had heard about Jesus and the miracle that occurred at the wedding feast. This knowledge pressed him to make the 20-mile journey from Capernaum to Cana. The boy is very young and his nearness to death has torn the father's heart.

 

B. A Sign Based Faith (48) – Jesus' response to the man's initial request was, "Unless you (plural) see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe". Again, we are faced with a shallow faith that focuses on the miracle and fails to see the message it conveys. The sign points to something or someone beyond itself. It is revelatory. Sign based faith is shallow because it never comes to rest in a person, but in events. It is constantly dependent upon experiential evidence.

 

Many falsely believe that an outbreak of miracles and extraordinary healings would produce faith and bring a great ingathering. Jesus does not agree. When the rich man suggested that Lazarus be raised from the dead and sent to his brothers, he was told, "They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them" (Luke 16:29). To this the rich man objected saying, "If one went unto them from the dead, they will repent" (Luke 16:30). The crushing reply was, "if they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead" (Luke 16:31).

III. THE PLEA (47, 49) – The official's request is strong and borders on being a command—"Come down before my child dies." It is softened only by his use of the term "Sir" or "kurios".

IV. THE PROCLAMATION (50) – Jesus responds to the official's imperative with an imperative, "Go thy way" and the command is followed by a word of assurance, "your son lives" (Jn. 4:50).

V. THE PROOF (50-53a) – In verse 50, the reader is told, "the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him." There was no telephone call to confirm the word spoken by Jesus. This was not sign based faith, but word based faith. How do we know he believed? John tells us, "and he went his way" (4:50). Close examination of the text implies that he may have spent the night in Cana. On his way home he encounters one of his servants who informs him, "your son lives" (4:51, 50). The office inquires as to the time when his son began to get better. The servant informs his master that the boy experienced a complete recovery at 7 pm on the previous day. The man concludes that the boy's recovery occurred at the very same time that Jesus told him, "Your son lives."

VI. THE PRODUCT (53b-54) – We are told that the man and his whole house believed. The belief of verse 53 moves past the healing event to the Healer. Just as the disciples had come to "believe on Him," so this man and his house came to believe that Jesus was the Messiah, the Christ.

 

APPLICATION

 

I. GOD USES CIRCUMSTANCES – The nobleman would not have sought Jesus if it had not been for his dying son. The prodigal would not have returned home if he had not come to the end of his resources.

 

II. GOD DOES THINGS HIS WAY – As the sovereign Lord of glory He has the right to veto our "come down" and superimpose His "go thy way" over it.

 

III. GOD MOVES US FROM FAITH TO FAITH – God moves us to a faith that is beyond that which we are comfortable with. The nobleman's faith said, "If He comes home with me, my son will live." He demanded that Jesus act within the parameters of his faith, but Jesus called him to faith on a higher plain. "You believe that if I go with you everything will be alright. I say, go, everything is alright."

 

IV. FAITH PRODUCES ACTIONS – The ruler's actions didn't produce faith, rather his faith produced action. The apostle James declared, "Show me you faith without your works and I'll show you my faith by my works." The nobleman's actions were not an attempt at faith, but the product of faith. In his book, The Real Faith, Charles Price had this to say about faith.

 

"The thing above all else I want you to see is that you can not generate it; you can not work it up; you can not manufacture it. It is imparted and infused by God Himself. You can not sit in your homes and struggle to have faith, and affirm that something is; nor can you turn your hope and desire into faith by you own power." [Charles S. Price, The Real Faith, page 33.]

 

If the nobleman had authority over God, then he wouldn't have needed to make the trip to Cana. He could have taken authority over God from his home in Capernaum.