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.
In Galilee He was at first welcomed because of ‘all they had seen He had done in Jerusalem at the Feast’. They believed because of the signs, but He could not trust their belief for its foundation was insecure, and as far as we are aware He carried out no public ministry at this stage.
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.
So He arrived back in Cana where He had turned the water into wine where He did His first ‘sign’. Now be led back by the Holy Spirit’s guidance He was about to be at the right place and the right time to do His second ‘sign’. The side reference to the water turned to wine may indicate a similarity with what was about to happen. Here we have a miracle that displays the power of One Who has but to determine what shall be for it to happen.
It is important to do a little research as you study God’s word. You see as we read the statement – ‘And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.”
This town was not up the road a little from Cana, it was twenty five miles away. Remember you didn’t have much transportation then. In most cases you used the shoe letter express – you walked. So, you can see how this is important to this message. The verse reports that the man in Capernaum was a nobleman. In some transcripts it indicates that he was ‘a court official’, which meant that he probably served in the service of Herod Antipas, a not very nice person. This man’s son was very ill.
In the first ‘sign’ or miracle there wasn’t any faith needed to be done by anyone. The Lord was asked and He did it. But in this sign the Lord puts into affect the need for faith by the father. We see this faith kicked into play by the father realizing that Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit and had the power to heal his son. Second act of faith by this guy was that he went the 25 miles to see Jesus.
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.
We see that after this man arrived where Jesus was staying he was granted an audience to speak with Him. Please notice that the man is asking our Lord Jesus to go with him [come down] back the 25 miles to Capernaum. How far are you willing to go to find Jesus word taught correctly? Is it too inconvenient to have to get in your car and drive an hour or so to a good bible believing church?
48 Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe.”
At first doesn’t this remark of the Lord Jesus seem harsh? This man hadn’t done anything wrong in seeking the Lord’s help and power to heal his son. Yet the Lord responds like ‘all you people want in me is to do things for you
Jesus' reply shows how disappointed He was at the attitude that had been revealed in Jerusalem. There they had followed Him only in order to see signs and wonders. In Judea the common people had flocked to hear His words. In Samaria there had been a mini-revival and men and women had genuinely sought God. But these city dwellers, like those in Jerusalem, would only want signs and wonders.
He did not want the same thing repeated here. The people had only believed when signs were given, and it had not been a reliable faith. There had been nothing deep about it. Jesus was challenging the man’s faith. For without faith there is no pleasing God.
He linked this high official with Nicodemus who we learned about back in chapter 3 verse 2 and with the authorities in Caesarea. ‘Unless you (plural) see signs and wonders you will not believe’. The inference is that the man has only come because he had heard of the sign at Cana. He is not a man of deep faith in God, he is another wonder-seeker, as are they all. Such people wanted to see signs and wonders, either because they were looking for someone who would do such things and by them bring about deliverance from the Romans, or because they were cynical, or because by them they hoped to win the people to join their particular group. Thus the generality of men wanted someone who could do spectacular things and who would back up their viewpoint. They were not seeking God. It was the signs and wonders that had brought Nicodemus to Him, and he had come by night. And now was this high official here for the same reason? Jesus had just come from a place where revival had broken out. He did not now want to pander to the signs and wonders brigade.
Jesus had not come to feed wonder-seekers. Nor had He come to build up a particular group. Nor indeed had He come to heal, although in His compassion He healed all who came to Him. He did not want simply to do another work which would pander to men’s ideas. He was seeking those with genuine faith, given to them by the Father. The last thing He wanted was to feed expectations of lots of miracles. (He had not as yet done any healing miracles in Galilee that we know of). He was challenging this man as to where his real interests lay.
49 The nobleman said to Him, “Sir, come down before my child dies!”
So, how do you think this man responded? You are familiar with the centurion soldier who also had one of his young servants and considered as a son was dying. He recognized the power and authority the Lord Jesus had over spiritual and natural forces as One sent from God. In his humility, as you remember, he said to the Lord that he was unworthy to come to him but he knew all the Lord needed to do was speak and his young servant would be healed.
This man called our Lord Jesus ‘Sir’. In reality as an official of Herod’s court he need not lower himself below Jesus’ status. Yet he did so by admitting Jesus authority over him which was a good thing but not necessary the stretching of this man’s faith. Again the official pleaded with Him. ‘Come down before my child dies’. It was the cry of a father’s heart. He would not argue the point or excuse himself. He longed only that his son be healed, and he was confident that Jesus could do it. His simplicity confirmed his faith. He was not a wonder-seeker. He was a heartbroken father.
He again asks the Lord Jesus to ‘come down’ with him to Capernaum. So, our Lord goes forward in developing this man’s faith by telling him to go home alone for his son is healed.
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.
So Jesus put this man’s faith to the test. ‘Go your way, your son will live’. Many would have hesitated and wanted more assurance, or pressed Jesus to come in person, but crucially the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him. Here at least was one man who had believed in Jesus authority and His word. He went on his way back to Capernaum . I am sure that the 25 mile return trip had made the man think deeply about what and why he was seeking. The compassion in the Lord Jesus’ response had must have circulated back and forth for that long trip back while he waited anxiously to get back home and see his son.
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 he went on his way the man was met by his servants who told him that his son had recovered. Then he enquired as to what time his son had begun to mend and learned that it was at the very hour that Jesus had spoken His words of healing. We are not told of His immediate reaction but we can have little doubt that he worshipped God and praised Jesus. What kind of reaction would you have?
We miss out the exact nature of the man’s response because we read that all the members of this man’s household believed. So, we can deduce what happened. This man must have been smiling and talking with great enthusiasm about what happened with his meeting with the Lord Jesus. When he got home and hugged his son and family he again was greatly excited ant told them all of what happened with his time with the Lord. Can you imagine telling his family. ‘He just told me to go home. He didn’t need to come back home with me for our son to be healed. He just said so and it was so. No One else but the Messiah, the Son of God could do this.’
Up to this point His time in Galilee had revealed that Jesus had come to bring in the ‘good things’ of the age to come. The second sign revealed the power of His word to act instantaneously even at a distance, and the need to accept it and respond in full faith. Both revealed that He only had to think and it was done. It was then made clear by being followed by a word of power from the One Who is the Word. Jesus was being revealed as the Son of God.
