John 4
46 So Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum. 47 When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judaea into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he would come down, and heal his son: for he was at the point of death.
48 Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe. 49 The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my child die.
50 Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way.
51 And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, Thy son liveth. 52 Then enquired he of them the hour when he began to amend. And they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.
53 So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth: and himself believed, and his whole house.
We read here that this man was a royal official. The country was ruled from Rome at this time, but Herod was over that area. He leaned in the direction of the Jewish religion and was regarded as a Jew. This official might have been a Jew too but we are not told.
He had a high position and was highly respected. The son of this official was very ill. They did everything to cure him but he only got worse. In the end he was at death’s doorf, and the father could do nothing for him. Here his son was dying before his eyes and he was helpless. He had heard of Jesus and His miracles and as a last resort decided to ask Him to heal his child. He should have gone to Jesus right at the beginning, but it is still commendable that he went to Jesus in the end.
It is not wrong to make use of physicians but your hope and trust must be in the Lord. Trust in the Lord and do not trust in an arm of flesh.
This official clearly had faith in the Lord Jesus for he travelled a very far way.
However, in verse 48 we read that Jesus says to him, “unless you see miracles you will never believe”. It sounds as if it were inappropriate in this case. This man did not need these words, we could reason.
What did Jesus see in him that he spoke such words to him? Jesus always hit the nail on the head. He never missed the mark. I believe that the Lord Jesus’ intention was to build this man up and to help him. This man wanted Jesus to come to his home and heal his son. He had his own preconceived ideas what the Lord Jesus would do. So Jesus spoke these sharp words and then told him that his son lives. The Lord Jesus worked in a totally different way to what this man expected. Jesus does not work according to our preconceived ideas. He works differently in people’s lives.
This man looked for some sign and the Lord Jesus rebuked him for that. At that moment he dropped his own preconceived ideas, believed His word and went home.
When the Lord Jesus comes to you you must accept His way of doing things.
Some, if the Lord Jesus would say to them, “go for your son lives”, would not believe but still ask Him to come down to heal their child. So too you might pray about a matter and because the Lord Jesus doesn’t answer the way you think, you cannot believe or see when He has answered.
These servants, when they saw that the son was better, immediately went to tell their master. It shows what good relationship they had with their master. That is where God commands His blessing, where we honour one another and respect one another. Where there is no longer black and white, each thinking themselves better than the next one.
This is so different to the master – servant relationship we see so many times nowadays where the employees strike and demand their rights.
There was also no resentment against their master so that they were happy that the son of their master was sick and that they felt it served him right for grudges they have against him. There was nothing of that. There was joy when they were together as a family again and they thanked God together. This household included everyone in the house, including the servants who were part of the household. They all believed on the Lord Jesus.
If a person who works for you doesn’t believe then there’s something wrong in your household. There’s still work to be done. We do read of the division that there will be in households because of Jesus – some believing and some not. It is no small mercy when all in your house believe in the Lord Jesus.
True faith is infectious and will spread to those around you, unless you are dead. So when this man got home, he believed with his whole household.