Come On Down Series

John 4: 43 – 54

Come On Down

43 Now after the two days He departed from there and went to Galilee. 44 For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country. 45 So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they also had gone to the feast. 46 So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum. 47 When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. 48 Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe.” 49 The nobleman said to Him, “Sir, come down before my child dies!” 50 Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your son lives.” So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way. 51 And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, “Your son lives!” 52 Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better. And they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” 53 So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, “Your son lives.” And he himself believed, and his whole household. 54 This again is the second sign Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.

As I mentioned a few studies ago in the Gospel of John that he lists 7 ‘signs’ or miracles of the Lord Jesus. Each of the ‘signs’ points either to Jesus’ being the Messiah or of His divinity.

The first one was the turning of water into wine in chapter 2. This sign has in mind the promise of full flowing wine in Isaiah 25.6-8 which is to take place when God takes away the veil that is over men’s eyes and when death is swallowed up, and consolation and joy is given to all who are His. “‘And in this mountain The LORD of hosts will make for all people a feast of choice pieces, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of well-refined wines on the lees. 7 And He will destroy on this mountain the surface of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations. 8 He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces; The rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; For the LORD has spoken.’

In this first extraordinary sign we are faced up with the creative power of God through Jesus. (‘All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made’ - 1.3). By ‘creating’ wine Jesus reveals Himself therefore as the One Who has come to bring joy to the world through His creative power. It revealed that He could do it by a word or even a thought for He made no movement towards the jars of water. He simply determined that they should hold wine, and they did.

The second which is the healing at a distance of the son of the high official at Herod’s court reveals Jesus’ control over nature from a distance by a word, and provides an example of what faith can accomplish. So, with this let’s take a look at today’s scripture.

43 Now after the two days He departed from there and went to Galilee. 44 For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country. 45 So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they also had gone to the feast.

The reference to ‘his own country’ here must be to Judea to make sense of the context for His birthplace was in Judea, although later it would also apply to Nazareth as well as we see in the Gospel of Luke 4.24. We have already been told that He had come to His own home (Jerusalem and Judea as the centers of the Jewish religion) and His own people had not received him back in chapter 1 verse 11).

‘No honor’ means from the Jewish authorities and influential people, for His ministry to the common people had been successful. It was the authorities who would not give Him His due. Thus for the time being He would concentrate on work in the North.