John 4:46-54

JESUS HEALS THE SON OF THE ROYALIST

John 4:46-54. “Then Jesus again came into Cana of Galilee, where He turned the water into wine; there was a certain royalist, whose son was sick in Capernaum. He, hearing that Jesus has come out of Judea into Galilee, came unto Him, and asked Him that He may come down and heal his son; for he was about to die. Then Jesus said to him, Unless you may see miracles and wonders, you will not believe. The royalist says to Him, Lord, come down before my little child dies. Jesus says to him, Go, thy son liveth. The man believed the word which Jesus spoke to him, and departed. And he, already coming down, his servants met him, and announced to him, saying, Thy child is alive. Then he asked of them the hour at which he began to convalesce; and they said to him, That yesterday the fever left him at the seventh hour. Therefore the father knew that in that hour in which Jesus said to him, That thy son liveth; and he and all his house believed. Again, Jesus did this second miracle, having come out of Judea into Galilee.” I use the word royalist instead of nobleman, as E.V., because the Greek is basilikos, from basileus, “a king,” and means a kingly man. He was evidently a member of the Herodian family, who were the kings of that country. Some identify this case with that of the centurion. (Luke 7) This is a great mistake. The centurion was a Gentile; this man is a Jew, belonging to the royal family; i.e., a Herodian. The centurion is characterized by very strong faith, so that when Jesus proposed to go to his house, he refused to give Him that trouble, but said , “Speak the word only, and it is done.” This man had faith in Jesus, or he would not have come from Capernaum to Cana after Him. But the royalist's faith was weak, and for that reason he insisted hard that Jesus should go to Capernaum and heal his son. In order to strengthen his faith, Jesus does not go, but simply tells him that his son is healed. Capernaum stood on the northern shore of the sea of Galilee; Cana about forty miles southwest, near Nazareth. I visited both of these places last November. At that time traveling was generally on foot. Doubtless the man traveled as a pedestrian or equestrian; and receiving the message of Jesus at one o'clock, set out for home at once, traveling constantly through the afternoon and night, and arriving early the next morning, perhaps before day. His servants meet him, perhaps at the gate, and bring him the joyous news that his child is alive, the power of the disease being broken, and every symptom of recovery. He then asked them at what time he began to convalesce; they say, “At one o'clock yesterday the fever left him.” This produced a powerful effect on him and his whole family, wonderfully booming his faith and inspiring the faith of his household, so they had quite a hallelujah time, all believing in Jesus and sweeping into the kingdom. You see here the signal wisdom and mercy of our Savior in refusing to go, but simply giving the man His word, illustrating the fact the very opposite of popular opinion. We generally think the demonstrative sights, sounds, and excitement the measure of true faith and real efficiency. The very fact that Jesus saw that the man's faith was weak was a reason why He would not go, but leave the man simply to take Him at His word. The effect was to wonderfully increase his personal faith, and inspire that of his whole family. Strong faith sets but little store on signs and demonstrations, being perfectly satisfied with the simple Word of God.