The Official's Son - John 4

So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering. So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” And he himself believed, and all his household. This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee. (John 4:46-54 ESV)

How far is it from Capernaum to Cana?  About twenty miles. 

What does this distance tell us?  

The official was very worried and very faithful.  If you have a dying kid, way will you do to make him well?  Pretty much anything, right.  You would spend any amount of money, hire any doctor at any price.  He pretty much runs a marathon to go see Jesus.  

The hospital in Kenya comes to mind when I read this story. . .families traveling days and days from as far away as Sudan and Somalia to seek healing for their sick child.  The lines outside the payment office, people holding land deeds to offer as payment because they have no other worldly possessions they can sell.  They come from great distance at great cost, seeking a child's healing.  

What is the official risking by coming to see Jesus?  

He is leaving his son's deathbed.  He is risking his last moments and goodbyes with a beloved child.  He will not say goodbye, he will only hear the news.  

Why does Jesus give the strange answer, "unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe?"  

Physical healing is not the ultimate goal, faith/belief/trust is Jesus's ultimate goal.  

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 10:28 ESV)

The official wants his son to live, but Jesus wants the official, the son, the servants, their village, the countryside, the nation, even the entire world to live.  He has come not to make the sick temporarily well, but to make the dead live forever!  

Remember Lazarus, the guy Jesus raised from the dead?  Pretty awesome miracle right?  But 40 or 50 years later, what happened?  Lazarus died again!  The miracles, if the point is to do a miracle, are fruitless.  Water is turned into wine, but the people will be thirsty again.  The sick are healed, but they will one day fall sick again, for this is the curse of humanity.  

Don't believe in the miracle, believe in me, Jesus is saying.  

What does the official do that is amazing?  

Jesus says go, your son will live, and the official walks away.  Just like that, he believes.  Why?  

There is a similar story in Luke 7 where the centurion with a sick servant says to Jesus: 

Say the word, and let my servant be healed. For I too am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” (Luke 7:7, 8 ESV)

Maybe this official was a man of prominence just as the leader of the soldiers was, used to giving and taking orders.  

But Jesus isn't amazed by this man like he was with the centurion's faith. He just chastised him about the need to believe.  

There is great power in Jesus's voice.  If Jesus says "be still," the storms stop.  If Jesus says, "stand up, take your mat, and walk," a paralyzed man will instantly be moonwalking down the street.  If Jesus says, "Lazarus, come out," a mummy comes walking out of a tomb like nothin' had ever happened.  

Of course the miraculous voice is hereditary.  God the father speaks the universe into existence.  Let there be. . .and there was.  So whatever this man thought or believed five minutes ago, Jesus says Go, your son will live, and the man believes and does it.  

The journey is long and he doesn't approach home until the next day.  His servants meet him and inform him of what he already knows, that the exact minute when Jesus spoke, the son was healed.  

What does this mean for us?  

If Jesus's words have power, it means that all the promises Jesus makes in scripture are coming true for us.  For the thief on the cross, "today you will be with me in paradise," was an immediate and true promise.   The man is being executed for a crime he committed and begged for mercy, and Jesus promises him heaven that very day.  That's how God's promises work, and how real the words of scripture are!