“Then He went again to Cana of Galilee, where He had turned the water into wine. There was a certain royal official whose son was ill at Capernaum. When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and pleaded with Him to come down and heal his son, for he was about to die.Jesus told him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.”
“Sir,” the official said to Him, “come down before my boy dies! ” “Go,” Jesus told him, “your son will live.” The man believed what Jesus said to him and departed. While he was still going down, his slaves met him saying that his boy was alive. He asked them at what time he got better. “Yesterday at seven in the morning the fever left him,” they answered. The father realized this was the very hour at which Jesus had told him, “Your son will live.” Then he himself believed, along with his whole household. This, therefore, was the second sign Jesus performed after He came from Judea to Galilee.”
John 4:46-54
So Jesus and His disciples had returned to Cana, where Jesus had performed His first miracle, turning water into wine.
While He was there, a royal official approched Jesus, begging that He heal his son, who was in Capernaum, some 16 miles away (as the crow flies). Now this wasn’t just any rich guy-he was royal, he was important and he was worried! We know nothing else of the man, but its safe to say that if he were a Roman official, he would have had to have been desperate to have sought out Jesus, since Rome didn’ believe in God and basically looked down on its subordinate citizens who did! If the man were of Hebrew royalty, he was most certainly a scribe or pharisee, neither of which were true Jesus fans either, so obviously, this man was desperate and feared for the life of his child!
What the man did have was faith! HE SOUGHT JESUS OUT, simply after hearing He was in town. He came for Capernaum to find Jesus, based on the miracle at the wedding there and based on Jesus’ reputaion of being able to heal!
Jesus affirms that the royal official’s 7 year old boy would be healed, while publically criticising most of the surronding people for their failure to believe in Jesus without seeing miricles (vss. 48-49) In other words, most people didn’t come to listen to Jesus teach or find their Messiah-they came to watch the show!
This royal official was the exception-he came with expectation and he came in humility!
Often, it takes a crisis for most of us to realize just how out-of-our-control our lives really are. Prior to his baby falling sick, this man probably relied on his own fame and fortune to solve his problems. Suddenly though, he realized that all the money or power in world couldn’t save his child from death, so he humbled himself and came seeking the Savior and Healer.
Jesus assured the man that his son would recover, so the man headed back to Capernaum. His servants met him on the way home and told him of his son’s miraculous recovery. He asked about what time it was that the boy had been healed and realized that it was at the same time that Jesus had said that he would recover. Consequently, he and his entire household belueved in Jesus as their Messiah!
John 4:54 points out that this was Jesus’ second miracle in Cana. I want to point out that even rich officials need Jesus! None of us can control everything in our lives and while we should live responsibly, making wise health choices and being faithful to be good stewards of what God has entrusted us with, at the end of the day, at some point in life, we’ll need God to intervene on our behalf!
The fact that the royal official laid down his pride and asked Jesus for help may have been as big a miricle as Jesus healing his son! Bottom line? By the end of the day, his WHOLE FAMILY BELIEVED!
What will it take for you to believe in Jesus? Think about it!
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