John 4:43-54:

Jesus and the Healing of the Royal Official's Son

By Dr. Hal Harless

Foundation Fellowship of Greenville, TX

August 16, 2009

 

I.  Introduction

A.  Please turn to John 4:43. 

B.  While you are turning....  The famous evangelist, D. L. Moody, said:

Some say that faith is the gift of God.  So is the air, but you have to breathe it; so is bread, but you have to eat it.  Some are wanting some miraculous kind of feeling.  That is not faith.

            "Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God" (Rom. 10:17).  That is whence faith comes.  It is not for me to sit down and wait for faith to come stealing over me with a strong sensation, but is for me to take God at His Word.[1]

 

II.  Exposition

A.  Background

1.  We are in the section concerning Jesus' public ministry (John 2:1-12:36a).

2.  Last week, we had the account of the Samaritan woman at the well and the great response of the Samaritans in Sychar.

3.  This week, we will look at the second of Jesus' signs in John's gospel.

4.  Jesus and His disciples have left Samaria and returned to Galilee.

B.  Exposition: Galilee (John 4:43-54)

1.  Jesus leaves for Galilee (John 4:43-45).

                ^4:43 After the two days He went forth from there into Galilee.  ⁴⁴ For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.  ⁴⁵ 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 (John 4:43-45).

 

a.  "After the two days He went forth from there into Galilee."

1)   After Jesus had stayed two days teaching the Samaritans (John 4:40), He continued on His way to Galilee. 

2)  There is more to Jesus' Galilean ministry that we find in Matt 4:17-9:17; Mark 1:14-2:22; and Luke 4:14-5:39. 

3)  John was aware of these other gospels and wrote to supplement them, not repeat them.

b.  "For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country."

1)  This was a favorite proverb of Jesus (Matt 13:57; Mark 6:4; Luke 4:24). 

a)  This is a parenthetical remark as the ESV and the NET punctuate it. 

b)  Our Lord is a prophet in that He spoke God's revelation, but He is so much more:

God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.  And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power (Heb 1:1-3).

 

c)  The Gk. word translated "honor" means "the worth ascribed to a person ... respect."[2] 

d)  Wuest translates this, "is not correctly evaluated, and is therefore not treated with the respect and deference which is his due" (NTET). 

e)  Jesus did have an unfriendly reception right after this in Nazareth (Luke 4:16-30). 

2)  Jesus had left Judea because He was too popular (John 4:1-3); going to Galilee was a way to keep a low profile.

c.  "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."

1)  However, the Galileans welcomed Jesus enthusiastically. 

a)  The Gk. word translated "received" means "to be receptive of someone ... welcome."[3] 

b)  Therefore, several translations have translated this as "welcomed" (CJB, ESV, GW, HCSB, NAB, NET, NIV, NLT, NRSV, RSV). 

2)  The Galileans were impressed with the miraculous works that Jesus had done at the Passover feast. 

a)  They were still talking about them although six or seven months had passed. 

b)  They were hoping to see more miracles.

2.  The second sign: the healing of the royal official's son in Capernaum from Cana (John 4:46-54)

a.  The official's desperate demand (John 4:46-47)

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.  ⁴⁷ 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 (John 4:46-47).

 

1)  "Therefore He came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine."

a)  John casts a backward glance to the first sign, the changing of water into wine at Cana.  He will mention it again at the end of the section forming an inclusio or bookend like structure to the account.

b)  Then he introduced a royal official who had a desperately ill son at Capernaum. 

2)  "And there was a royal official whose son was sick at Capernaum."

a)  This royal official "could be a relative of the royal (Herodian) family ... but more prob[ably] the ref[erence] is to a royal official."[4] 

i)  The king in question would have been Herod Antipas, the tetrarch (r. 4 BC-AD 39). 

ii)  This royal official could have been Chuza, Herod Antipas' steward (Luke 8:3).

iii)  It could have been Manaen (Heb. Menachem) who had been brought up with Herod Antipas and his brother Archelaus (Acts 13:1).[5] 

b)  The Gk. verb translated "was sick" is in the imperfect tense denoting continuous past action. 

i)  This has been translated "was sick with a chronic ailment" (NTET), or "lay sick" (NIV).[6] 

ii)  We do not know exactly what the disease was, but it involved a fever in its end stage (John 4:52).

3)  "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."

a)  The royal official heard that Jesus had returned and saw an opportunity for his son's healing. 

i)  He believed that Jesus could heal his son, but assumed that healing would require Jesus' physical presence. 

ii)  Therefore, he begged Jesus to "come down" to Capernaum.

(a)  Cana of Galilee (the ruin Khirbet Qana elevation 1160 feet) is on Jebel Qana (modern Mt. Shekhanya) about 328 feet above the valley of Asochis (modern Beth Netofa valley) about 9 miles North of Nazareth.

(b)  Capernaum (modern Tell Hum) is on the Northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee (686 feet below sea level) about 14.5 miles distant.[7] 

(c)  Due to the difference in elevation, one would literally "come down" from Cana to Capernaum. 

(d)  It would take more than a day to walk the distance.[8] 

b)  Although the child had been sick for a long time, the situation had become critical and the son was near death.

b.  Jesus' response (John 4:48-50a)

⁴⁸ So Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe."  ⁴⁹ The royal official said to Him, "Sir, come down before my child dies."  ^50a Jesus said to him, "Go; your son lives" (John 4:48-50a).

 

1)  "So Jesus said to him, 'Unless you people see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe.'"

a)  Jesus seems to be a little disappointed that he is regarded as a mere wonder-worker.[9] 

i)  The Gk. verbs for "you see" and "you will believe" are plural.  Therefore, we have the translation "you people" (CJB, HCSB, NAB, NASB, NET, NIV, NKJV), or "people" (GW). 

ii)  The Gk. word translated "signs" means "an event that is an indication or confirmation of intervention by transcendent powers."[10] 

iii)  The Gk. word translated "wonders" means "someth[ing] that astounds because of transcendent association."[11]  "Unless you see visible and astonishing displays of the power of God in action" (Barclay). 

iv)  The Gk. words translated "simply will not" are a double negative in Gk., a strong negation.[12] 

(a)  "Unless you see attesting miracles and miracles that excite wonder, you will positively not believe" (NTET). 

(b)  Phillips, "I suppose you will never believe unless you see signs and wonders!" (NTME). 

b)  The Samaritans had believed without any signs and wonders.[13] 

i)  John presents signs as pointing to faith in Christ. 

ii)  However, he is clear that the better faith is the one that does not require signs. 

iii)  Jesus told Thomas, "Have you believed because you have seen me?  Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe" (John 20:29). 

iv)  Jesus made this remark to clarify the royal official's motives.

2)  "The royal official said to Him, 'Sir, come down before my child dies.'"

a)  He is interested, not in miracles for their own sake, but in a healing for his son.[14] 

b)  The father's pleading had reached a desperate level. 

i)  The Gk. verb translated "come down" is an aorist imperative. 

ii)  Williams captures the urgency with his translation, "Sir, come down at once before my child is dead!" (NTLP). 

iii)  The Gk. word translated "my child" is the tender term "[paidion] ... diminutive of [pais, child]."[15]  The translation "little boy" (GW, NLT) is due to verse 47 referring to a son. 

c)  The royal official had faith that Jesus could even defeat death, if He were there before death occurred, much like Mary and Martha (John 11:21, 32).[16] 

i)  Later, a Roman centurion would grasp that Jesus could heal at a distance (Matt 8:8), but this Israeli does not.[17] 

ii)  Time was of the essence to his frantic mind.

3)  "Jesus said to him, 'Go; your son lives'"

a)  Jesus calmly told this frantic father to go because his son would live. 

b)  This created a faith dilemma for the royal official: If he refused to leave without Jesus, he would be doubting Jesus' word. 

c)  On the other hand, if he left, he left without securing any visible help from Jesus.[18]

c.  The official's faith (John 4:50b-53)

^50b The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started off.  ⁵¹ As he was now going down, his slaves met him, saying that his son was living.  ⁵² So he inquired of them the hour when he began to get better. Then they said to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him."  ⁵³ 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 (John 4:50b-53).

 

1)  "The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started off."

a)  Because the royal official believed what Jesus said, he acted on his faith by starting home.  Now, he believed that Jesus could heal at a distance. 

b)  Taking Jesus at His word is also the way of salvation as well as healing.[19]  Jesus said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life " (John 5:24).

2)  "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. Then they said to him, 'Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.'"

a)  While he was still traveling, his slaves came to meet him with the good news that his son was better.

b)  When he inquired as to the time of his son's recovery, the slaves informed him that it was at the seventh hour. 

i)  That is the seventh hour past sunrise or "one o'clock" (NTLP), or "one o'clock in the afternoon" (Barclay). 

ii)  We do not know the details of the child's disease, but it did involve a fever. 

iii)  That fever had broken at precisely one o'clock.

3)  "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."

a)  The timing convinced the royal official that it was no mere coincidence.  His son's healing and Jesus' word were at precisely the same time. 

b)  Ironside commented on the progress of the man's faith, "First, he believed if Jesus could get there He could heal the lad.  Second, he believed the word of Jesus, and now he believes in Jesus."[20] 

c)  The royal official believed along with his entire household.  The household consisted of not just relatives, but also slaves. 

i)  This also happened in Caesarea with Cornelius' household (Acts 10).

ii)  In Corinth with the synagogue ruler, Crispus (Acts 18:8), and Stephanas (1 Cor 1:16; 16:15).

iii)  At Philippi with Lydia (Acts 16:15); and the Philippian jailer (Acts 16:30-34).

d.  Epilogue: the second sign (John 4:54)

⁵⁴ This is again a second sign that Jesus performed when He had come out of Judea into Galilee (John 4:54).

 

1)  This then is John's second "attesting miracle" (NTET) in his gospel. 

a)  The first was turning water into wine (John 2:1-11). 

b)  So far, both signs have been at Cana, and have been private in nature. 

2)  While these signs met a legitimate human need, both of these signs were intended to point people to faith in Jesus. 

a)  There were, of course, other miracles, and John said as much (John 2:23; 3:2; 4:45). 

b)  The nature of a sign is that it points to something or, in this case, Someone; it does not exist for its own sake.

II.  Applications

A.  Jesus

1.  Jesus Christ is not merely a wonder-worker performing tricks for our amusement and amazement. 

2.  His signs point to Himself. 

3.  He wants us to take Him at His word. 

B.  Us

1.  We can take Jesus Christ at His word when we are in a crisis, "casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you" (1 Pet 5:7). 

2.  Moreover, we can take Him at His word in life's ultimate issues, "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life" (John 5:24). 

3.  However, if we will not take Him at His word, let us remember whose word we are doubting.