John 4:46-54 says...

We will finish chapter 4 of the Gospel According To John this morning.  John chapter 4 and verses 46 through 54 which read,

v.46 - Therefore 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.

Jesus is back in Cana where the water was turned into wine at the wedding.  This was the Apostle John's first sign recorded that Jesus was the Messiah.  Jesus is approached by a royal official, most likely in service to King Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee from 4 B.C. to A.D. 39.  The distance between Cana and Capernaum is about 16 miles.  So this royal official has traveled a distance to put himself in front of the miracle worker Jesus.

v.47 - When 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.

The royal official is begging Jesus to heal his son.  He had heard that Jesus had come north and He was his last hope for his son who was on his death bed.  Would Jesus go with this royal official the 16 miles from Cana to Capernuam?

v.48 - So Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe."  

Jesus addresses the whole crowd when He uses the plural form of you.  He is not dismissing the plea of the royal official but He is addressing how the Galileans were looking at Jesus as just a miracle worker.  This is very different than the response of the Samaritans early in this chapter.  No physical miracle was done there at the well but a spiritual one of salvation and many of the Samaritans believed Jesus to be the Savior of the world.

v.49, 50  - The royal official said to Him, "Sir, come down before my child dies."  Jesus said to him, "Go; your son lives."  The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started off.

So Jesus doesn't travel to Caperaum with the royal official.  He doesn't satisfy the crowd with seeing another miracle but gives just His word that the boy lives and something of faith would have to be shown to experience it.  The royal official shows this faith by setting off alone back to his home in Caperaum.  It was enough for him that Jesus said it.

v.51-53 - As he was now going down, his slaves met him, saying that his son was living.  So 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."  So the father knew that it was of that hour in which Jesus said to him, "Your son lives"; and he himself believed and his whole household.

There are many things to pull from these 3 verses.  The first is the time it took to travel this 16 miles.  It is now the next day and you get the picture of royal official coming from Cana and his slaves coming from Capernaum and meeting at the middle point.  The second is that the slaves and the royal official were very attentive to the time of day it was.  The slaves were watching the son very closely and knew exactly when the fever broke.  It was the seventh hour so 7 hours from sunrise at 6 a.m. which would make it about 1 p.m.  The royal official father gives the information that it was at that moment that Jesus said, "Your son lives."  The royal official believed Jesus' words and acted upon them.  The result was now a whole household who would also believe in Jesus as he did.  

v.54 - This is again a second sign that Jesus performed when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.

Just a little note before going into chapter 5 that now two miraculous signs have been done by Jesus in this region.  They are different in the fact that one was turning a physical object into something else and the other was healing a physical being back to health.  They are the same in the fact that the servants had to follow the instruction of Jesus' words to fill the water jars and take it to the master of ceremonies of the wedding and the royal official father had to follow the instruction of Jesus' words and return home in faith.  

Jesus has spoken.  We have the Bible recorded that gives us His words.  Do we walk away from those words in faith?  Do we walk away with His words in our minds, on the tips our tongues, and acting in faith that they are so?  It doesn't have to be a miracle event for us to walk in obedience to His words but it does influence others when we do.  What will you do with Jesus' words today?  Let us pray.

"Heavenly Father, may we have the faith of the royal official father who was pleading for the life of his son.  May we hear Your words and walk in them.  May others around us see our faith in You and be impacted by our witness of who You are.  Amen."

Pastor Adam