We know from our previous lesson that Jesus was on His way back to the area of Galilee in northern Israel to begin His Galilean ministry. To get there, He had to travel through Samaria. He had stayed two nights in a town called Sychar which is near Jacob’s Well in Shechem, ministering to the Samaritan people there (John 4:40). Read today’s text.
We see here, in today’s text, one place of several in the Bible where Jesus is quoted as saying that a prophet has no honor in his own country (Mark 6:4, Luke 4:24). Jesus was now back in Galilee and was welcomed home by the Galileans. Many of the folks here had also gone to the Passover festival in Jerusalem and had seen Jesus there and witnessed His teachings and miracles first-hand. Verses 43-45 are a statement about the spiritual state of the people of Israel, loving and cheering Jesus for His miracles and yet, totally missing the point that He was the long-promised Messiah.
We are then told, in verse 46, that Jesus once again went to visit the town of Cana in Galilee. Cana was located 4 miles northeast of Nazareth, Jesus’ boyhood home. It would have been a familiar place to our Lord. A year earlier, Jesus had done His first miracle here in Cana at a wedding feast where He had turned the water into wine (John 2:1-11).
While in Cana, a certain nobleman came to Jesus. He was actually one of King Herod’s royal officials in Capernaum. Capernaum was another town which lay 15 miles northeast of Cana. The official had traveled all this way to see Jesus while his son lay sick in bed, close to death, 15 miles away in Capernaum. The nobleman had heard that Jesus was back in Galilee, returned from Judea, and had come to beg Jesus that He would come and heal his son. This man had faith in the healing power of Jesus. Being one of Herod’s noblemen, I think it unlikely that he would have been a Jew, yet he believed in the healing power of Jesus. Do we have this kind of belief in the power of Jesus?
Jesus then made a strong generic comment to the nobleman concerning how people tend not to believe unless they see signs and miracles. Jesus wanted people to see beyond the signs and miracles to the actual work of redemption that God was doing among them.
The nobleman was feeling a sense of urgency, and he asked Jesus to please come before his child died. Jesus answered him and told him to go… his son will live. Jesus did not go with the man as he had asked. Jesus healed his son orally from 15 miles away. And we see in the very same verse that the man took Jesus at His word. He believed what Jesus told him and went on back home.
While the nobleman was still on his way back to Capernaum, he ran into his servants who were on their way to Cana to find him and tell him the good news that his son was alive. He had not died but rather had been healed. When the father inquired as to when his son had improved, he was told that the fever had left him yesterday at a specific time. The man then realized that it was the same exact time that Jesus had told him his son would live. Can you imagine the joy in that man’s household? The Bible tells us that because of what happened, the man and his whole household became believers.
Verse 54 tells us that this is the second sign that Jesus performed. Now we know from John 2:23 that Jesus had been doing signs and wonders when He was in Jerusalem for the Passover. What the verse is telling us here is that this was Jesus’ second miracle in Galilee (in Cana of Galilee, to be specific), not necessarily just His second miracle.
As we go further in our studies, we will begin to see Jesus healing various people. What I want you to notice is that He never does it in the same way. Jesus responds to each person in the way that each one needs. In this case, Jesus did not need to travel to Capernaum. He had only to tell the man his son was healed and the man believed. Jesus never saw the son or touched him. The nobleman had received from Jesus exactly what he needed… assurance that his son would live. As you study God’s Word, notice how Jesus always provides healing in the manner that the person needs. Sometimes He goes to where they are, sometimes He touches them, and sometimes He just speaks. Sometimes He even gives them instructions which they must follow in order to be healed. Jesus knows our needs and He meets them in a very loving and personal way. Lay your burdens at His feet. He can meet your needs.
Responding to God: Praise God for His great power and ability to heal and minister to our needs. Ask for more faith to believe in His power and abilities and to understand His redemptive work here on earth. Make a commitment to become God’s instrument on earth, doing what you can to help meet the needs of others. Pour out your heart to God, laying all your burdens and cares at His feet, trusting that He is willing and able to handle it.
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