In this sermon, Pastor Dave Capoccia examines the second sign-miracle of John’s Gospel in John 4:43-54. John presents Jesus’ healing of a royal official’s sick son so that you will not merely look for temporal deliverance but instead believe in Jesus.
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Summary
This passage from John 4:43-54 teaches us that believing in Jesus only for temporal deliverance—healing, provision, rescue from crisis—falls tragically short of true saving faith. The story of a royal official who seeks healing for his dying son reveals how Jesus intentionally moves people beyond shallow belief in his power toward genuine belief in his person. We are reminded that the Galileans welcomed Jesus not because they recognized him as the Son of God, but because they were dazzled by his miracles—and this superficial reception grieved Jesus rather than honored him.
Key Lessons:
- Seeking Jesus only as a problem-solver or miracle worker is not true faith—it falls dangerously short of saving belief in who he actually is as God and Messiah.
- True saving faith does not require a continuous supply of miracles or deliverances; it trusts in what God has already revealed, especially through his Word.
- Jesus is not indifferent to our suffering, but he loves us too much to let us settle for temporal comfort when eternal life with God is available.
- The progression of the royal official’s faith—from believing in Jesus’ power, to trusting Jesus’ word, to believing in Jesus’ person—models the journey every believer must take.
Application: We are called to examine whether our faith goes beyond seeking Jesus for what he can do for us, and instead embraces him as our life, Lord, and greatest treasure. When trials come, we must not treat God as merely a crisis-responder but trust him as the God who is himself our eternal reward.
Discussion Questions:
- When you reflect on your own prayer life, do you tend to seek God most urgently only during crises? What does that reveal about your understanding of who Jesus is?
- How does the Prosperity Gospel’s promise of health, wealth, and comfort differ from what Jesus actually offers—and why is confusing the two spiritually dangerous?
- The royal official had to trust Jesus’ word over his own reasoning and fears for 25 miles. What areas of your life require you to take a similar step of faith, trusting God’s word over your circumstances?
Scripture Focus: John 4:43-54 records Jesus’ second sign miracle at Cana, healing a royal official’s son from afar. John 3:2-12 is referenced to show how even Nicodemus’s recognition of Jesus as a teacher from God fell short of true belief. Psalm 18:30 is alluded to in affirming that the word of the Lord proves true.
Outline
- Introduction
- The Passage and Its Context
- Jesus Arrives in Galilee with Low Expectations
- An Official Seeks Healing for His Son
- Jesus Pronounces Healing and the Man Believes
- Signs and Wonders Are Not Enough
- The Danger of Seeking Only Temporal Deliverance
- What You Truly Need from God
- The Man’s Crisis-Focused Response
- Jesus Chooses Option C
- Trusting Jesus’ Word Over Fear
- A Whole Household Truly Believes in Jesus
- Closing Prayer
Introduction
Let’s pray. Lord God, we want to know you and to know you more, and the primary way we do that is by studying your word. This is how you show yourself to us.
But you must open our eyes. You must open our hearts to understand and to put it into practice. I pray that you do that. I did that this morning. Use me as your instrument. Bring glory to yourself in Jesus’ name. Amen.
When Do We Pray the Most?
Preparation from the message today, I’ve been thinking about a basic question having to do with prayer. And that question is: when in your life have you found yourself praying the most? In all your years and all your experiences, when do you find that you pray the most to God?
Surely the most common answer to that question is: I prayed most when someone I love, or I myself, was in serious trouble. Problems indeed have a tendency to drive us to our knees in prayer.
And this isn’t just the reality for Christians. Most people around the world, no matter their religion or their irreligion, pray. Even if they do not pray often, they do feel driven to pray in moments of danger, times of crisis.
“Problems indeed have a tendency to drive us to our knees in prayer.”
Seeking God Only in Crisis
And why is that? Well, it’s pretty obvious. People become afraid. People feel desperate. They realize their fundamental lack of power, their inability to change their situation. And so they reach out to God, or to some other supernatural being, who may have the power and the will to do for those persons what they cannot do for themselves.
So they ask very basic requests. In those times of danger, in crisis, they ask for help. They ask for deliverance. They ask for provision. They ask for temporal salvation. God, please help me to do well on this exam. God, please give me success in this important job interview. God, please allow us to get home safely through this bad weather. God, please heal me of this serious illness. God, please grant a breakthrough in my failing marriage. God, please save my life as I enter the battlefield. God, please don’t let my child die.
Now, is it wrong for people to pray more fervently amid troubles and to ask God for deliverance? No, not at all. We see similar kinds of prayer responses in the Bible. And God answers such prayers. Furthermore, these kinds of prayers can be true expressions of dependence and worship to God.
However, if you find yourself only praying to God when you are in serious trouble, or if you see temporal salvation—the fixing of your problems, even the preservation of your loved ones—if you see those things as the greatest good you can receive from God, well then, not only are you missing out on the truly abundant life that belongs to those in Jesus, but you likely do not really know God at all. And thus you’re in danger of perishing forever, away from his love and under his wrath.
“If you see temporal salvation as the greatest good from God, you likely do not really know God at all.”
In our next passage in the Gospel of John, we’re going to see a man come to Jesus seeking healing for that man’s dying son. Though Jesus has the power and the compassion to heal, he does not simply grant the man’s request the way the man asks it.
Rather, Jesus speaks and acts in such a way that, even as the man’s son is healed, the man and his whole household realize that there is something—or rather, someone—much more precious than physical healing or any kind of temporal deliverance.
The Passage and Its Context
A holy spirit has put this passage before us today so that we also might come to that realization. Take your Bibles, please, and turn to John 4:43-54.
Our sermon title is: Jesus Heals the Sick Son from Afar. John 4:43-54. Few Bible, page 1063, if you’re using the Bibles we’ve provided. Let’s read our passage starting from verse 43.
“Jesus Heals the Sick Son from Afar. John 4, verses 43 to 54.”
After the two days, he—as Jesus—went forth from there into Galilee. For Jesus himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country. So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans received him, having seen all the things that he did in Jerusalem at the feast. For they themselves also went to the feast.
Therefore, he came again to Cana of Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And there was a royal official whose son was sick at Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to him and was imploring him to come down and heal his son. For he was at the point of death.
So Jesus said to him: Unless you people see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe. The royal official said to him: Sir, come down before my child dies. Jesus said to him: Go. Your son lives.
The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started off. As he was now going down, his slaves met him, saying that his son was living. So he inquired of them the hour when he began to get better. And they said to him: Yesterday, at the seventh hour, the fever left him.
So the father knew that it was at that hour in which Jesus said to him: Your son lives. And he himself believed, and his whole household. This is again a second sign that Jesus performed when he came out of Judea into Galilee.
The Presentation of the Son of God
With this final part of John 4, we come to the end of the first large narrative arc in this gospel. Recall the outline I presented to you at the end of my book introduction sermon. I know that may have been a while ago, so maybe you don’t remember.
The Book of John begins with this marvelous, provocative prologue in John 1:1-18. But then it is quickly followed in John 1:19 to the end of John 4:54—here—and what can be summarized as the presentation of the Son of God.
The presentation of the Son of God. Because that’s really what we’ve seen up to this point. Jesus is presented to the Jewish people and to the reader as the world’s long-awaited savior, Messiah, so that they might believe in him and find eternal life in him.
“Jesus is presented to the Jewish people as the world’s long-awaited savior, so that they might believe and find eternal life.”
First, Jesus was presented by way of John the Baptist’s testimony in John 1:19-34. Then by the testimony of Jesus’ first disciples in John 1:35-51. Then by Jesus’ first sign miracle in Galilee—turning water into wine at Cana—in John 2:1-11.
Then by the dramatic trip to Jerusalem during Passover, in which Jesus confronted corrupted worship and did many sign miracles in John 2:12-25.
Jesus was further presented by his conversation with Nicodemus in John 3:1-21. Then by another final testimony of John the Baptist in John 3:22-36. And then by the unexpected testimony of the Samaritans at Sikar in John 4:1-42.
Now, as we arrive in John 4:43-54, Jesus has literally come full circle in his first presentation phase of his ministry. He has unveiled himself both in Galilee and in Jerusalem. And now he returns to Galilee.
But what have been the results of Jesus’ presentation to the people of Israel as their Messiah, as the Son of God?
The Fundamental Problem of the Jews with Jesus
And Messiah, Jesus certainly has generated much excitement, and many people we have been told have believed. Yet we’ve seen along the way that there’s something off about the way the Jews characteristically believe in Jesus. In Jesus’ arrival back to Galilee and in a second sign miracle there, our author John is about to underline for us the fundamental problem of the Jews with Jesus. And it’s the same soul-damning heart problem that many religious people today have with Jesus.
What’s that heart problem? It’s believing in Jesus only as a temporal deliverer, a fixer of your problems, and a bringer of prosperity, rather than as the God who is eternal life in himself for his people.
“Believing in Jesus only as a temporal deliverer rather than as the God who is eternal life in himself.”
In John 4:43-54, John presents Jesus’ healing of a royal official’s sick son so that you will not merely look for temporal deliverance, but instead believe in Jesus himself and thereby find eternal life.
Our passage divides structurally into four parts. We’ll move through this passage under four headings. Our first heading covers verses 43 to 45.
Jesus Arrives in Galilee with Low Expectations
Number one of our sermon outline, then, is: Jesus Arrives in Galilee with Low Expectations. Work our way through the text starting in verse 43.
After the two days, he went forth from there into Galilee. This verse is pretty straightforward. It explains the connection of our new passage with the previous one.
Where was Jesus previously spending two days of time? He was with the Samaritans at Sikar, who invited him to stay. After that short but wonderful time of salvation harvest, Jesus resumes his originally intended plans of going forth from Judea north to Galilee.
Now, we saw previously in John 4:1 that Jesus wanted to make this move due to the increased attention he was getting from the Pharisees, as Jesus’ ministry was beginning to supersede the ministry of John the Baptist. But in verse 44, our author now reveals another reason that Jesus wanted to complete the journey to Galilee.
Look at verse 44.
A Prophet Has No Honor
For Jesus himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his home, in his own country. The phrase in the second half of this verse—a prophet has no honor in his own country—appears to be another proverb or common saying of Jesus’ day. We capture much of the same idea in our phrase: familiarity breeds contempt.
The idea in Jesus’ phrase is that a prophet or teacher often doesn’t seem all that special to you if you know him well, or think you do, if you see or hear him all the time, or if you grew up with him. I think of how we Americans often subconsciously attribute more authority and credibility to a pastor, professor, or expert if he speaks with a British accent. He’s got to be smarter and more special than the American teacher. Listen to the way he talks.
A similar concept of familiarity explains why many times the family members of a teacher—maybe even a great teacher—don’t take his words as seriously as other people do. Hey, you may be special to your students, but I grew up with you. I changed your diapers. Don’t tell me you have something significant and authoritative to say.
Unfortunately, that’s often the way the world works. Jesus here testifies of the truthfulness of such a proverb in his own case. Though Jesus is the most special teacher the world has ever seen—he is, as we learned in John 1, the eternal Word made flesh; he is the Son of God; he is the only one who has descended from heaven; he is the Christ—to those who thought they knew Jesus best, he wasn’t that special. He’s not worthy of particular honor.
“Though Jesus is the most special teacher the world has ever seen, to those who thought they knew him best, he wasn’t that special.”
Which people does Jesus have in mind? The people of his own country. That is, the people of his hometown or home region. Where was Jesus’ hometown? Where did he grow up? Nazareth. Nazareth in Galilee.
We heard earlier in the service, as we read from Luke 4:24, that Jesus actually quotes the same proverb he does here in Nazareth, in his hometown. You knew he didn’t have honor in his hometown. But the reality surely extended from the strict boundaries of Nazareth town to really the whole home region for Jesus of Galilee. Which is why we see the proverb appear here.
John tells us, as Jesus travels back to Galilee, Jesus mentions this proverb. But now notice the word “for” at the beginning of verse 44.
“For” is a transition word indicating reason or purpose. In context, verse 44 is giving a reason. It must be giving a reason why Jesus completes his journey to Galilee. And the reason supplied is this proverb about a prophet not having honor in his home region.
So what is our author John telling us in verse 44? That one of the main reasons why Jesus returned to Galilee was to demonstrate the tragic truthfulness of this particular proverb in Jesus’ own case. In Galilee, in the very region in which people should have known Jesus best, should have given him the honor of which he was worthy as Messiah and Son of God, Jesus not only did not find that honor, but was treated worse there than he was elsewhere—like in Samaria, as we’ve already learned.
Jesus knows all things. So he knows the hearts of the people of Galilee. He travels to Galilee knowing full well his reception there will be disappointing. In fact, he goes to demonstrate how even his home region won’t honor him the way that he deserves.
“He goes to demonstrate how even his home region won’t honor him the way he deserves.”
But then verse 45.
The Galileans’ Shallow Welcome
Look at the first part of it: “When he came to Galilee, the Galileans received him.” That might surprise you, because that sounds like the opposite of what was just proclaimed in verse 44.
Far from rejecting or mocking Jesus, verse 45 says the Galileans received him, or we could translate that the Galileans welcomed him. Isn’t that an act that honors Jesus? But also, the transition word at the start of this verse—”and”—in some manuscripts says “so,” or we could also use the word “therefore.”
Now, this kind of transition word indicates cause and effect, the results of something that was stated just before. Therefore, because of the reality that was just stated in verse 44, Jesus, our author tells us, encounters a glad welcome in Galilee. What? That doesn’t seem to follow. You’re not going to be honored in your home region, so they received you? How does that follow?
Some theologically liberal Bible interpreters see in these two verses such a great contradiction that this represents an error in the Bible, even that a later writer added something silly in verse 45 that just didn’t fit with what came before. And they couldn’t make these two textual traditions mix, so they just left it there, and it’s a big mess. But that’s not the answer. That’s not the answer.
Rather, the answer is here in the text. Look again at verse 45.
Why did the Galileans receive or welcome Jesus? The rest of the verse tells us: “having seen all the things that he did in Jerusalem at the feast. For they themselves also went to the feast.”
Why specifically did the Galileans welcome Jesus? It was because of the dramatic acts and the wondrous miracles that they saw Jesus do recently at the Passover feast in Jerusalem. In other words, they welcomed him as a religious reformer, as a skillful teacher, as a miracle worker—even one who has been sent from God. And that’s good, right? Aren’t those the kind of things that Jesus is looking for?
Absolutely not. Why not? Because those kind of conclusions fall far short of who Jesus actually is.
“They welcomed him as a miracle worker sent from God. But those conclusions fall far short of who Jesus actually is.”
Do you remember Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus and how Nicodemus opened that conversation with Jesus? John 3:2.
“Rabbi, we know—we Jews know—that you have come from God as a teacher. For no one can do these miraculous signs that you do unless God is with him.” That’s a great confession, right?
But just 10 verses later, Jesus says to Nicodemus, John 3:11-12: “Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen. And you—you Jews—do not accept our testimony. If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?”
Do you see? As Jesus proves in this conversation with Nicodemus, to receive Jesus merely as a good teacher and a miracle worker—even one sent from God—is not good enough. That is essentially not receiving Jesus at all. Nicodemus wouldn’t accept what Jesus taught, nor would he believe in Jesus as the Son of God and Messiah. And Nicodemus is just like the rest of the Jews, even the Jews in Galilee.
Falling Short of Who Jesus Is
And brethren, this same kind of falling short tragically is still happening everywhere today. There are many religious people, many professing Christians, who have great things to say about Jesus.
Jesus was a good teacher? Oh yes. He was a prophet? Oh yes. He was a great miracle worker. He is our supreme example. He is our savior. They may even sing songs to Jesus. They may pray to Jesus. They may do good works for Jesus. They may identify themselves as Jesus followers.
But if those same people do not actually believe Jesus’ words and what Jesus said and demonstrated about himself, if they only believe in what Jesus can do for them rather than who Jesus is to them as God, and despite the honor they think they give Jesus, they haven’t honored him at all. They have fallen far short. They haven’t believed in him. Not really.
They do not know him. And therefore they do not know God. They are still lost, and they will still die in their sins.
“If they do not actually believe Jesus’ words about himself, despite the honor they think they give, they haven’t honored him at all.”
His brethren, one of the reasons I bring this up is because it’s something that we need to ask about ourselves. Is that you? You cannot let it be. You cannot afford to fall short of who Jesus really is.
You must turn to him in true faith for who he actually is. Do not merely look for temporal deliverance from Jesus, but believe in him as your life and treasure.
Now, you might ask: What do these first verses have to do with what follows in our passage, this healing miracle? Well, the man who comes to Jesus for healing help is just like the rest of the Jews—a man whose belief in Jesus does not yet go far enough. He does believe, but he does not really believe.
So Jesus, in perfect wisdom and gracious compassion, is going to move this man. He is going to eventually move this man to embrace Jesus for real.
Come now to our second heading, covering verses 46 to 47.
An Official Seeks Healing for His Son
Number two: An Official Seeks Healing for His Son. Look at verse 46.
Therefore, he came again to Cana of Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And there was a royal official whose son was sick at Capernaum.
Here we have another scene change. Sometime after Jesus is welcomed back into the Galilee region, he chooses to go to a town that we’ve seen before. He goes to Cana, that small, out-of-the-way town in the hills of Galilee north of Nazareth.
Notice the description of the town in this verse: to Cana of Galilee, where he had made the water wine. This town only appeared two chapters ago in John’s gospel. John gives us a full reminder about this place to emphasize that Jesus is about to do a miracle in the very same place he did one before.
But this new miracle involves someone who’s not from Cana. Notice in the second half of the verse that we’re introduced to a royal official—literally, royal one—in the Greek. Most likely, this refers to someone who serves in the court of the ruler of Galilee, who is Herod Antipas.
This Herod technically was not a king, but he was often referred to in that way and kind of acted like a king. Thus, Herod’s officials could be called royal ones. It’s probably who he is.
So somebody with some position, probably some wealth too. At the end of verse 46, we learned that this royal official has a son who is sick at Capernaum. We’ve heard of Capernaum already in this gospel. Capernaum is that bustling town on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee, and the town in which Jesus stopped on his way to the Passover feast in Jerusalem in John 2.
“This refers to someone who serves in the court of the ruler of Galilee—somebody with position and probably wealth.”
Capernaum became like a second home to Jesus, and it served as his main base of operations for his ministry in Galilee. He also did many miracles in Capernaum. This official has a son who is sick in Capernaum, which probably means that the man himself lived at Capernaum with his son and with the rest of his family. Maybe the man travels around, but his family lives in Capernaum.
This information in verse 46 helps set the stage for what we see take place in verse 47. So go there now.
A Desperate Father’s Journey
When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to him and was imploring him to come down and heal his son. For he was at the point of death.
Do you see what’s happening here? This official with a sick son hears that Jesus—the miracle worker—has come back into the area from Judea. That’s great news, because this official needs a miracle.
We’ll learn at the end of verse 47 that his son is so sick that the son is about to die. Any sick child is a source of sorrow and concern for his parents. I don’t like to see their child suffer like that. But when a child is severely sick or dying, the anguish of the parents must be overwhelming.
There’s much we don’t know about the child, his deadly sickness, the rest of the child’s family. We can infer that this official is probably wealthy. He’s already tried a number of ways to cure his boy, and they haven’t been successful. But one thing we surely know about this man is that he is desperate to see his son’s life saved.
Hearing that Jesus—the miracle worker—is in the area, he knows what he’s going to do. He gets up first thing in the morning and travels the approximately 25 miles uphill from Capernaum at the Sea of Galilee to Cana in the Galilean hill country. He finds Jesus, and it says he was imploring him.
Notice the verb tense there: continual action. He was asking him. He was begging him again and again to come down to Capernaum and heal the boy before he dies.
Does this official believe that Jesus has the power to heal and save his son? Clearly. Or else the man wouldn’t be asking so humbly and insistently. And such a belief is good. It is a good start in coming to Jesus.
Brethren, if you are in crisis, it is good that you go to help. For the only one who really has the power to rescue you from your difficulties, you’ve got to go to God. You’ve got to go to Jesus. You’ve got to go to the Lord of all heaven and earth. He’s the one who can really make things happen, and he has a compassionate heart. Go to God in crisis.
“If you are in crisis, go to the Lord of all heaven and earth—he’s the one who can really make things happen.”
But even in those moments, is temporal salvation the thing that you need most from God? Is it what this desperate father needs most from Jesus?
Come now to our third heading, where we find Jesus’ surprising response to the royal official. Please, this is verses 48 to 50.
Jesus Pronounces Healing and the Man Believes
Where we see number three: Jesus Pronounces Healing and the Man Believes. Look at verse 48.
Jesus said to him: “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe.” At first, this response from Jesus may seem harsh, a little unfeeling. Seriously, Jesus? This father’s heart is in pieces, and he chides him for seeking a miracle?
Let’s look more closely at Jesus’ statement. Notice that Jesus’ reply is a negative conditional sentence. If there is not this, then there won’t be this. Notice also the pronouns in Jesus’ statement. Jesus is not speaking to you singular, even though he addresses the man. But he is speaking to the you plural, which is what we see indicated in our New American Standard 95 translation with the addition of the word “people.” “People” is not there literally in the Greek text, but that’s the sense: you all, you people.
Which people is Jesus addressing? Well, considering where he is, the answer must be the Jews. In other words, Jesus sees in this one man’s approach an opportunity to address the problem of the Jews—even the Jews in Galilee—that they have when it comes to Jesus. And this is a serious problem.
“Jesus sees in this one man’s approach an opportunity to address the problem the Jews have with him.”
If Jesus really loves his people and really loves this man, he needs to address this problem. Notice the word “see” comes next in this phrase. It’s a simple word we all know what it means to see. But in this case, notice it’s in the present tense. This indicates that the verb is to be taken in the sense of a continuous or a characteristic action.
This man and the Jews generally must see something continually in order to avoid the second half of what Jesus says in this conditional statement. Unless you see—we’re not going to see the second part. Now, what is it that the Jews must continually see? It says signs and wonders. Signs and wonders.
Now, this is the only place the word “wonders” appears in the Gospel of John, though it does appear elsewhere in the New Testament. And it’s always paired with the word “signs.” What are signs and wonders? Well, they’re miraculous works. They’re miracles. The word “wonders,” though, is added, and it emphasizes the awesomeness and the amazingness of the miraculous works accomplished. It’s truly wondrous. It makes you wonder.
So up to this point, what we hear Jesus saying is: without a continual, never-ending supply of dazzling miracles, the Jews will not do something. What won’t the Jews do? Now we see the second half: they won’t believe.
New American Standard 95 says: “you simply will not believe.” NIV here says: “you will never believe.” Those are both good translations of the emphatic double negative in the Greek.
Remember, we talked about this a few weeks ago. We saw the double negative in the Greek in John 4:14. When Jesus said that those who drink of his living water will be not-not thirsty forever. Remember, the double negative doesn’t work in Greek like it does in English. It doesn’t cancel each other out. This is for extra emphasis. So Jesus was saying: you absolutely won’t be thirsty with my water. You will never be thirsty.
It’s the same idea here. But as you can see, the meaning is much more depressing. Jesus says: Unless you Jews see continually wondrous signs, you will not-not believe. You absolutely won’t believe. You will never believe. What? Believe in whom? Believe in Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of God.
Signs and Wonders Are Not Enough
But wait, someone will say: I thought Jesus’ signed miracles were given so that people would believe. Isn’t that the whole point of the miracles? Why is Jesus rebuking people now for believing based on those provided miracles?
Well, I’ll answer in two parts. First: signs and wonders should not be necessary for people to believe in Jesus. They’re a bonus. They shouldn’t be necessary.
Notably, up to this point in this gospel, we have seen both Jesus’ first disciples and the Samaritans at Sychar believe in Jesus truly without any miracles. No signs and wonders for them. Now, yes, both groups heard Jesus speak and even display his supernatural knowledge. But there were no miracles. No signs and wonders. Yet these people believed. They believed in a true and full way, a transforming way.
So that shows us the dazzling miracles aren’t necessary. That’s the first part of the answer.
But second: signs and wonders should not have to be continuous for someone to believe in Jesus really. Jesus doing just one miracle for just one person should be more than enough for all the Jews to believe. I mean, really. Because if he can do one miracle, that’s impossible unless he has the power of God and he is exactly who he proclaims himself to be: the Son of God and Messiah. Just one miracle should be enough. More than enough.
“Jesus doing just one miracle should be more than enough for all the Jews to believe—because it’s impossible unless he has the power of God.”
The Danger of Seeking Only Temporal Deliverance
But it’s not enough. Not for the Jews. In fact, no amount of miracles satisfies. We’ve already seen this a little bit, but we’re going to see this more. Every time Jesus heals one disease or delivers one person out of crisis, someone gets sick again. And now there’s a new crisis. So Jesus, what are you going to do now? Aren’t you going to deliver me again? If you won’t miraculously deliver me every time I call upon you, what good is it in believing in you?
It was a parallel attitude today. How many people approach God and Jesus? A person calls upon God in crisis. God graciously delivers that person from the crisis. But does this cause that person to repent and believe, committing the rest of his life to follow and trust Jesus? Most of the time, no. The person forgets about God until the next crisis.
I once knew a man who survived three near-death experiences. You should have died three times. But God providentially, maybe even miraculously—I don’t know—he spared this man’s life each time. People told him that God had spared him. He himself acknowledged that there was no way he could be alive if it wasn’t for the intervention of God.
But even after these three instances of merciful rescue, did the man repent and believe in Jesus? He tried. But no. It didn’t stick. He loved himself and he loved his sin too much.
So to this day, despite receiving these three wondrous miracles in his life, this man tragically is still on his way to hell.
You see, brethren, this is the problem with seeking God and Jesus for miracles or for your temporal deliverance. God, heal my family member. God, bring back my wayward spouse. God, please make this next work or ministry project successful. Don’t let me be ruined.
If God gives you what you want, it won’t be enough to make you believe in him. And if God doesn’t give you what you want, you’ll use that as an excuse to reject him. I tried. God didn’t work. God didn’t hear my prayers.
“If God gives you what you want, it won’t be enough to make you believe. If he doesn’t, you’ll use it as an excuse to reject him.”
What You Truly Need from God
The truth of the Bible is: God is a God who can deliver you from your pain and problems. But that’s not ultimately what you need. What do you need? Jesus has been telling us, and he’s going to tell us more. You need to know and have a relationship with the God of the universe. You need to believe in Jesus Christ. You need to be saved from the wrath of God that is due your sin. And you need to inherit eternal life.
This is why biblical Christianity does not teach the Prosperity Gospel. The Bible does not teach that Jesus came to make you happy, healthy, and wealthy and deliver you from all your problems. No. Jesus came to give you God, which is the greatest and most loving gift that God could give you. And that gift enables you to endure with joy and peace, no matter whether you are delivered from your problems in your life or not.
“Jesus came to give you God, which is the greatest and most loving gift God could give you.”
Sure, I want this thing to change. This is so hard. But I have God. So I can endure. I can endure as long as it takes.
Make no mistake, brethren. True faith, saving faith, doesn’t need more miracles to believe and doesn’t need more deliverances to believe. It believes based on what God has already provided, especially in his word, because that is way more than enough.
And this is the truth that Jesus needed to show his people, his hard-hearted people. So Jesus says what he does. But what about the royal official? Does he get what Jesus is saying?
The Man’s Crisis-Focused Response
Look at verse 49.
The royal official said to him: “Sir, come down before my child dies.” The man still can’t see beyond his current crisis. Despite what Jesus just said, the man goes right back to asking Jesus for immediate temporal deliverance. “Sir, please come down and heal my little child.”
“The man still can’t see beyond his current crisis—he goes right back to asking for immediate temporal deliverance.”
So what will Jesus do? Would Jesus give in out of compassion, go with the desperate official to heal a child, and risk this man never coming to real faith? Or will Jesus coldly refuse to go with the man in order to reinforce what’s truly important to the man?
You need God more than you need your son healed.
Jesus Chooses Option C
But we find out what Jesus does in the first part of verse 50.
Jesus said to him: “Go. Your son lives.” And you have to love this. This is so typical of our Lord Jesus. When given a choice between A and B, Jesus chooses C.
Jesus is not calloused toward this man. Rather, Jesus abounds in steadfast love and mercy, because Jesus is God. Nevertheless, Jesus is intent on moving this man away from his shallow faith to a faith that saves. So Jesus tests the man’s faith by doing a miracle from a distance.
“When given a choice between A and B, Jesus chooses C. Jesus abounds in steadfast love and mercy because Jesus is God.”
“Your son lives,” Jesus proclaims. Note that this is not a prophecy. This is not: “I predict that your son will live so that you can go.” This is a pronouncement. By my word, by my command, your son is now better.
Now, this isn’t very flashy, is it? No bright lights. No having the boy jump up with a start at Jesus’ touch. And to those present, the miracle is completely invisible.
Yet this mode of healing is dramatic—a dramatic demonstration of the power and authority of Jesus. Because who heals with a word from afar?
Trusting Jesus’ Word Over Fear
But will this official trust in Jesus’ word 25 miles back to Capernaum? And if a man gets back to Capernaum without Jesus, and the child isn’t better, well, what then? Will there be time to come back and get Jesus before the child dies? That’s 50 more miles. How much more time is that going to take? The boy’s already at the point of death.
Believing Jesus’ word means putting the boy’s life on the line. What will the royal official do?
“Believing Jesus’ word means putting the boy’s life on the line.”
Well, we learn in the rest of verse 15.
The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started off. This man has just taken a big step of faith. He has chosen to trust Jesus’ word over his own reasoning and his own fears.
The man is not yet at saving faith, but he’s already progressed far beyond most of the other Jews of his day.
Will the man’s faith be vindicated? We come to our final heading that covers verses 51 to 54.
A Whole Household Truly Believes in Jesus
Number four: A Whole Household Truly Believes in Jesus.
Look at verses 51-53, well, the first part of 53.
He was now going down. His slaves met him, saying that his son was living. So he inquired of them the hour when he began to get better. And then they said to him: “Yesterday, at the seventh hour, the fever left him.”
So the father knew that it was at that hour in which Jesus said to him: “Your son lives.” Psalm 18:30 says: “The word of the Lord proves true, doesn’t it? It is tried and tested.”
Psalm 18:30: “The word of the Lord proves true. It is tried and tested.”
Notice the significant but surprising timeline here. From these three verses, we learned that Jesus and the official spoke together the day before at the seventh hour. That would be at the seventh hour after sunrise.
Sun rises at about 6 a.m. That’s what they considered. So seven hours after that would be about 1 p.m.
But that raises the question: If Jesus and the royal official spoke at only 1 p.m., why didn’t the official return to Capernaum that same day? Or why didn’t the slaves come to meet him that same day with the good news?
Well, we don’t know for sure. But probably the answer is there wasn’t enough time to make the trip before sunset. So the royal official sets out for home the next morning. And the slaves, operating under the same limitations, they set out the next morning to tell their master that their son was better.
Thus, the master and his slaves end up meeting somewhere in the middle between Cana and Capernaum.
Notice the significance of the royal official’s question to his slaves. Without telling the slaves about his conversation with Jesus, the official asks his slaves at what hour his dying son suddenly got better. And their answer coincided with what only the official already knew: that the son got better at the very hour that Jesus pronounced to the official that the boy lives.
The man thus knew that the boy’s sudden recovery was no coincidence. It was an incredible healing of a sick son from afar by someone with unique power, authority, and compassion from God.
And this realization produced a profound response in the man, which is what we hear about at the end of verse 53.
From Believing in Power to Believing in the Person
And he himself believed, and his whole household. Now, what’s this? I thought the man already believed. That’s what we read, right? And wasn’t his belief already vindicated by the confirmed healing? What is there to believe in now?
Well, as one pastor put it: the man first came to Jesus believing in Jesus’ power. And the man then left Jesus believing in Jesus’ word. But now, with the healing confirmed, the man believes in Jesus’ person—even that Jesus is the Christ and there is eternal life in his name.
We can tell there’s something different, something full about the man’s belief now as compared to previously. Notice the emphatic pronoun at the end of verse 53: he himself believed. Why is that? Is this meant to contrast him with someone else who’s not believing? They didn’t believe, but he himself believed? And that’s not the idea. There’s no one else really to contrast with here. This is to emphasize the completeness, the full entrusting of the man’s whole self now to Jesus.
As wonderful as it was that the young boy was healed, reality is that boy was still going to die someday. And so was his father, the royal official. He was going to die. They both needed a savior from sin and from death. This man found that savior. Or rather, the Savior found him and revealed himself to this unnamed royal official.
We don’t know what his name was. But the Savior revealed himself to this man so that this man would know God and be saved.
“The man first believed in Jesus’ power, then in Jesus’ word, but now believes in Jesus’ person—that Jesus is the Christ.”
And it wasn’t just that man. It says his whole household believed. That is, they believed in Jesus. Obviously, that didn’t happen instantly. The man isn’t even with his whole household at this precise moment. But sometime later, probably soon after, the man returned home to his son. He told the others in his household about this wondrous man who is somehow more than just a man.
This one must be the Messiah. This Jesus must be the Savior that we’ve been waiting for. And it turns out that the man’s wife, man’s children, man’s slaves, or whoever else were in the household, they believed. They believed in a saving way.
What an unexpected and glorious harvest! And it only came after Jesus showed that he himself is more important, more precious than any temporal deliverance, any of this world kind of rescue.
The Ponderous Conclusion
But what about the rest of the Jews in Galilee? Verse 54 ends the passage with a ponderous statement.
Verse 54.
This is again a second time that Jesus—a second sign that Jesus performed when he had come out of Judea into Galilee. Why is this verse here organizationally? Yes, this verse closes the arc begun in John 1:19. And it emphasizes the symmetry between Jesus’ first miracle at Cana and Jesus’ second miracle back at Cana.
But is that the only reason—stylistic, organizational device? Curious that none of the other sign miracles in this gospel are numbered. There are special sign miracles that the author gives us, probably seven if you don’t count Jesus’ own resurrection. But why only number the first two? Why only number the first two signs that are done in Cana in Galilee?
And what’s with the word “again”? This is again a second sign. Isn’t that a little redundant? Why is that there? What does that emphasize?
The answer is: this verse should cause us to reflect on how few people have responded to Jesus and the true kind of faith that this man displays. Up to this point, especially in Galilee, how few people have responded to Jesus with saving faith?
Here’s another incredible miracle—two in the same town and not too far apart. Not to mention all the miracles that Jesus did in Jerusalem. All those things have taken place. But who has believed? Who’s really believed?
Well, up to this point, a few of John the Baptist’s disciples, most of the town of Samaritans at Sikar, and this royal official’s household. That’s it. How can the Messiah’s own people—even those in his home region—fail to believe in him? They knew him best. They saw him most. How can they fail to believe in him?
That’s the question John, our author, wants us to ask. And the answer is that there’s nothing wrong with Jesus. There’s nothing wrong with Jesus’ presentation to Israel. But there was something very wrong with the people who refused to receive him.
Astoundingly, the Jews didn’t want their Messiah. Not really. They wanted the temporal deliverance and the prosperity that the Messiah seemed to represent for them. But they didn’t really want him. Thus, they missed out on abundant life. They missed out on God. And they remain doomed—doomed in sin.
“The Jews wanted temporal deliverance the Messiah seemed to represent, but they didn’t really want him.”
Yet it wasn’t all the Jews, and it wasn’t all the non-Jews. A remnant believed. Outsiders believed. And they got to receive God. And they beheld his glory.
The Call to Full Faith
John is essentially saying to his original readers and to us today, by the Holy Spirit: What about you? Having seen and heard Jesus presented to you, do you believe in his name? Do you believe in all that he is? Do you entrust yourself to him—your whole self? Do you love him? Do you follow him? Do you worship him as the truth, the life?
Now, does your belief only go so far? Do you only seek him for the temporal blessing and deliverance that he seems to offer you? The former attitude—believing in him—it honors Jesus the way he ought to be honored as God. But the latter attitude—believing in Jesus only for what he can do to make your life comfortable—that is disgusting to Jesus. And it will not lead to life. It leads to death.
So the takeaway is: don’t stop short. Don’t hold to Jesus as just a good teacher, a good example, a miracle worker, a life helper. He’s much more than that. Believe in him as your life, your Lord, your God. Not only the one who can save you from sin, but the one who gives you God and the eternal life that is in God.
Jesus knows how to take care of your temporal life. The Father knows how to take care of your temporal life. He says: you don’t have to worry. You can trust him. But God wants you to focus on what is the true treasure: him.
So don’t stop. Don’t stop until you have God. Don’t stop until you have Jesus to yourself, like this man. You yourself believe in Jesus. Once you’ve done that, keep treasuring him. Keep following him. And become his faithful witness so that the world too—others in the world—that remnant, whoever it is that God has chosen, they also may know and love Jesus.
“Believe in him as your life, your Lord, your God—not only the one who saves from sin, but the one who gives you God.”
Well, John 1 to 4 was really Jesus’ honeymoon period with the Jews in Israel. In John 5 to 12, things are going to change. Opposition to Jesus is going to gradually increase. We’re going to see more and more debates. We’re going to see anger. We’re going to see people try to kill Jesus until eventually Jesus is lifted up on the cross.
So we’re entering a second phase of this book, a second phase of Jesus’ ministry—the period of opposition. Many lessons to learn along the way about what it means to truly believe in Jesus and to be his disciple. And we’ll begin looking at those in John 5 next time.
Closing Prayer
That’s closing prayer. Lord Jesus, how amazing again is your word and your truth compared to all the lies that are offered by the religions of the world. It is, as we have seen and discussed previously, all the other world religions—even those that masquerade as Christianity—they’re really about the worshiper. It’s really about what God can do for you to make your life go the way that you want and secure the afterlife that would be most comfortable for you.
It’s not really about you. It is a man-centered kind of religion, not a God-centered one, certainly not a Christ-centered one.
But that just makes the truth stand out all the more clearly. It could not be any other way if you are the only true God—and you are—and if all life and joy is found in you, then salvation, the Christian religion, it must be about knowing you. It must be about believing in you—you as the life, not merely what you can do for us in our earthly lives.
Father, Son, Holy Spirit, you are so good to us in our earthly lives. You do deliver us. You do provide for us. You show us mercies beyond what we could ever ask, hope, or think. And yet, that is not where our treasure is, or at least ought not to be.
You are our treasure. Eternal life with you in your kingdom is our treasure. Not so much because there will be good things in your kingdom, but because that’s where you will be. Jesus, you are our life. You are our joy.
So, Lord, forgive us for where we do make it about something else, especially when we make it about ourselves. Forgive us where we doubt you, we aren’t willing to come to you in trouble, or when you do things that are not according to our thinking, our way, we resent you or we doubt you even further.
No, God, we can trust you. But you are intent. Just as you were intent to show this man—this man who didn’t desire something bad, to see his son healed—you were intent to show him, as your intent to show us, there’s something much more important and precious.
I pray that that would be the experience of the people who’ve heard your word today. They’d say: Yes, Jesus is the truly precious one. Other things can go well or not go well. I’d like them to go well. But if they don’t, I have Jesus. Jesus is the precious one. The Son of God is the precious one.
And I am forever secure in him. He walks with me. He’s never going to leave me. He’s always going to help me. And I can always drink from him as the source of my living water.
Pray that’s true for everyone here. If it’s not true yet, that it would become true because those people repent and believe. Thank you for this time. Amen.