The Healing of a Royal Official’s Son John 4:43-54
Often skeptics and critics of the Bible say that there are contradictions in God’s Word and I believe the main reason they do this is to attempt to discredit Jesus Christ as Messiah and Lord. Last we saw that many Samaritans believed Jesus’ Word: some believed the testimony of the woman at the well, but MANY believed Jesus’ Words and they believed that He was the Savior of the World: That’s because it is only Jesus who saves.
One of those supposed examples are found in our scripture today as we look at John 4:43-54:
“After the two days he left for Galilee. 44 (Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.) 45 When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, for they also had been there. 46 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. 47 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. 48 "Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders," Jesus told him, "you will never believe."
49 The royal official said, "Sir, come down before my child dies." 50 Jesus replied, "You may go. Your son will live." The man took Jesus at his word and departed. 51 While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. 52 When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, "The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour." 53 Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, "Your son will live." So he and all his household believed. 54 This was the second miraculous sign that Jesus performed, having come from Judea to Galilee.”
Skeptics and supposed Biblical “Contradictions”
Like I said Often skeptics and critics of the Bible say that there are contradictions in God’s Word in order to discredit Jesus as Messiah and Lord. This of course is utter nonsense because God Himself, His Word, the Lord Jesus, His very own Spirit and the very universe in which we live, validates who He is. The overwhelming evidence proves that the God of the Bible IS the only true God and so His Word must be absolutely trusted. If we as mere finite broken and fallible human beings find what SEEMS to be a contradiction in God’s Holy Word, then we must be at fault in our understanding and interpretation, but IT IS NOT GOD”S WORD which is incorrect.
Some skeptics and critics use verses 43-44 as an example of a Biblical contradiction: Look at those verses again: John 4:43: “After the two days he left for Galilee.” {Remember that the Samaritans to whom the woman at the well testified came to Jesus and that MANY believed His Word and they asked Him to stay, and so He stayed and taught them for 2 days. What an absolutely beautiful thought: to be taught face to face by Jesus.} 44 “Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.
Some see a contradiction in these verses but there are NO Contradictions in God’s Word. Answering supposed Biblical contradictions correctly is difficult! In the contexts of Matthew, Mark and Luke, the saying about a prophet being without acceptance in his own country refers to Jesus and Nazareth, which was in Galilee. Jesus was NOT accepted in Galilee or Judea as the Messiah. Israel was His country, He belonged to the Jewish nation, and generally He wasn’t accepted there, and eventually who killed Him? The Jews did, so Jesus wasn’t accepted in Israel. He was born Bethlehem in Judea. (also part of Israel) but they rejected Him as Messiah and Savior, as did Israel generally.
Where did Jesus Grow up? Nazareth. Nazareth was his hometown; it is where He grew up, and IT was in Galilee, which was also part of Israel, BUT Verse 45 says “When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him.” When I read this I thought, “That sounds contradictory.” He was not accepted in “his own country” (this Greek word “patris”, is most often translated “country”, but could also mean “hometown” or a region within a country.)
You have to go to verse 48 to find clarity: "Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders," Jesus told him, "you will never believe." The people in Galilee and in Nazareth, and in Israel, in general DID NOT BELIEVE IN JESUS AS SAVIOR AND MESSIAH. Jesus was accepted as Messiah to many in Samaria to whom He spoke, but was sought for “signs and wonders” by those in Galilee…and we will examine more on that in a few minutes.
But in the meantime in verse 46: “Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. {the people really appreciated the best wine that Jesus miraculously provided, but they didn’t see Him as the One who would provide the wine of the new covenant, an abolishment of the old traditions of purification fulfilled in the shedding of Christ’s own perfect Blood sacrifice for SIN & SOUL cleansing, not the outward washing of the body, Jesus is connecting the first miracle with this next miracle} And there was a certain royal official {probably a high ranking nobleman directly connected with King Herod Antipas} whose son lay sick at Capernaum. {hometown of 5 of the disciples and Jesus’ base during His Galilean ministry}.
47 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.” {Now listen again to verse 48) "Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders," Jesus told him, "you will never believe." This is a firm warning and rebuke, not to the royal official alone but to the entire Galilean crowd. He is warning that this would be the persistent and prevailing attitude: They would be intrigued and highly entertained by Jesus’ miracles, and would demand more signs and wonders, and when the Lord Jesus STOPPED performing miracles, what did the general Jewish population and Roman Government do? They crucified Him!
Make no mistake that GOD’S VERY PLAN occurred precisely the way He ordained it: Rejection was no surprise to Jesus, it had always been part of God’s plan of redemption (we saw that in Rom.9-11)-Jesus would come to the Jews, to His own people, but they would reject Him and Crucify Him. In the book of John there will be increasing division in Israel over Jesus because they loved to see His signs and wonders, but they did not believe the WORDS OF JESUS that HE WAS the Great I Am, He was God in the Flesh come to earth as Redeemer for those in the World who would come to Him in faith BELIEVING. In the future, even as it is today, the Gospel, would go to the WHOLE WORLD, to the Gentiles, and be accepted by many of them.
Very, very few hearts were touched where they would believe that the Lord Jesus was indeed who He claimed to be, and that the evidence was overwhelming and still is today, but sinful people’s hearts are HARD and SELFISH and self-serving and without the very touch of God to repent and turn to Him and serve Him and Love Him, THEY WILL NOT! And no amount of signs, wonders, miracles will change their minds or their hearts.
MIRACLES: Signs, Works and Wonders
John uses 3 words to refer to what we would call “miracles”. The first is “Sign”: semeion, (say-mi'-on) which means “a sign, a mark, or a token,” When applied to a “miracle” it is convincing PROOF. A sign points beyond itself to the OBLIGATION OF THE OBSERVER TO SEE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE SIGN AND THE ACTION OF GOD. Signs by Jesus teach mean spiritual truth and specifically they point them to GOD. There are 17 times that John uses this word for “SIGN”, 11 of those times are direct references to the miracles of Jesus. Who is giving or accomplishing the sign? Jesus is the One. Jesus is the one performing with POWER the miracle we see in our text and Jesus always points to the Father because He has the power of God and Jesus is displaying that ONLY GOD COULD DO THIS and so what is the logical response? Jesus’ signs have to be implications that the ONE doing the signs is in some sense equal to God HIMSELF. We are called to strongly consider the evidence, too. And we better!
The second word John uses to refer to “miracle” is “ergon” and that is not used in our passage, but out of the 27 times it is used by John in His Gospel, 18 of those times it refers to the WORKS or marvelous deeds of JESUS. It is power that is absolutely effective and you have to ask yourself the question: Could anyone but God accomplish this? This is miraculous; it is out of the scope of Human ability.
A third example of what we might call a miracle is the word, “Wonder” (Teras), and John only uses this word one time in his Gospel and it is used here in our passage, and it is used as a WARNING TO PEOPLE concerning SIGNS and WONDERS, those things that are miraculous or difficult to explain HUMANLY. The warning is to those who may look for the signs, wonders and miracles and maybe even demand them. People cannot and must not demand signs because you are not trusting in or on “signs”. The highest kind of faith, true saving faith does not rest on “signs”, it may be better than having no faith at all, but in the end it will not save you. Being impressed by the miracle or the sign is not enough to save you from sin and hell. Only a second birth, only a birth from above, a new heart and life that comes from God will save you.
Faith and Believing
What is the main purpose of Jesus performing miracles? To Prove, Beyond any Doubt that Jesus is the Christ, sent from Heaven, and that He took on flesh to DIE in that body while taking YOUR SINS upon Himself and you KNOW AND BELIEVE and LIVE for Him because He has given you a new heart. The miracles, signs and wonders point to Jesus alone as the Savior, no one else, no other way, no other person or mode: There is ONLY God’s way with a spiritual washing and cleansing by the Spirit of God, and the Lord Jesus as the spotless lamb and Savior and to those who will believe in Him.
The Jewish crowds did not associate with Jesus because they loved Him or recognized Him as Messiah. They were sensationalized and entertained by Him; they were miracle seekers but they rejected Him as Savior and Lord, and it showed in their lives. Miracle seekers do not come to know the depth of true faith, the depths of God’s Grace and Greatness and love, and the Heart to truly believe, to humbly receive what He alone gives and to continue to Follow the Savior and love God with all their hearts. (Remember that we looked at the three components given in the New Testament concerning faith and belief? The three things were: 1. Knowledge of Christ, 2. Assent to God’s action in Christ, and 3. Trust in Christ. John sees the three aspects of coming to Christ as 1. Believe,{John1:12, 3:15-16} 2. Receive, {John 1:12, 12:48, and 17:8} and 3. Follow {John 1:43, 10:4-5 & 27, 21:19,37}.
The official is not deterred from his goal as a father, in having a deep love for His own son and desiring that he be well, and he thinks that Jesus can do something to heal his boy because he had heard of His awesome Power. (vs.49) Jesus pronounces the boy’s healing in verse 50 without going to see him, HE SPOKE A POWERFUL WORD OF HEALING and the official believed what Jesus said. HE TOOK JESUS AT HIS WORD. He did not believe in Jesus or into Jesus as John often says, but he BELIEVED THE WORD Jesus said to Him.
Let me read v. 51-53: While he (the official) was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. 52 When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, "The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour." 53 Then the father realized that this was the exact time (the work and the word of God works this way all the time) at which Jesus had said to him, "Your son will live." So he and all his household believed.” IT WAS AT THE COMMAND OF JESUS that healing came, even from afar. The result was that the Official HIMSELF came to a point of decision concerning Jesus, and then his entire household. The only object of his faith was Jesus, due to the miracle from afar: The sign convincingly pointed the official to the Power and Validity of Christ: He said: I believe Jesus’ Word.
“The nobleman enjoyed the tremendous benefit that he had received from Jesus, but in that act of mercy and compassion, the man understood who Jesus was, and he believed in Him. John’s words in this text point to something far beyond mere trust in Jesus for a miracle. This nobleman came to possess nothing less than saving faith.” John declared that he wrote his Gospel ‘that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His Name.’” (John 20:31) (“John”, RC Sproul, p. 74)
The only thing that we do not know is if the official and his household continued to follow Jesus, but I believe at least the official did and here is the reason why: He believed the word and command that Jesus spoke from afar before he saw any proof that He would bring life out of death. In Romans 4:3 and so many other places we hear that "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."
By God’s Grace, may that be the case for you: That you have believed in Jesus alone, you have received from God a new heart to love Him and to love and follow Him, that He has brought you from spiritual death to spiritual life, and that He has forgiven you of all of your sins in Christ alone and for His Eternal Glory alone. If that is the case then you are every bit as “justified” before God as Abraham, and every other saint who is in God’s Heaven today. We are still being sanctified and molded into the image of our Lord Jesus, and still struggle with sin, but I know that I stand today before God IN CHRIST and on account of Christ’s sacrifice for ME which I accepted by faith alone in the Son of God alone, God has declared me NOT GUILTY of my sins. To God alone be the Glory. Amen.
OUTLINE:
I. Skeptics and supposed Biblical “Contradictions”
A. It is only Jesus who saves.
B. Jesus was accepted as Messiah by many in Samaria to whom He spoke, but was sought for “signs and wonders” by those in Galilee.
II. MIRACLES, Signs, Works and Wonders
A.“SIGN” (semeion): a sign, a mark, a token, a proof: “The sign points beyond itself to the obligation of the observer to see the relationship between the sign and the action of God.” SIGNS of Jesus teach spiritual truth and point to God.
B.“WORK” (ergon): The marvelous deeds or works of Jesus; the power displayed is EFFECTIVE. (another word: dunamis, power)
B. “WONDER” (teras): leaves people astonished; Used once by John here as a WARNING.
III. Faith and Belief:
A. Knowledge of Christ/ BELIEVE (1:12, 3:15-16)
B. Assent to God’s action in Christ/ RECEIVE (1:12, 12:48, and 17:8)
C. Trust in Christ. / FOLLOW (1:43, 10:4-5 & 27, 21:19,37)
