CHRIST'S SEVEN SIGN MIRACLES OF HIS PERSON AND MISSION

II. Healing Of The Nobleman's Son: Manifesting The Power Of Jesus' Word

(John 4:46-54)

I. Introduction

A. John's Gospel presents only seven miracles of Jesus in His earthly ministry, each of them sign-miracles that reveal His Person and mission for readers to believe that He is the Messiah, the Son of God, and thus to receive eternal life, John 20:31; Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978, "Intro. to the Gospel Acc. to John," p. 1492.

B. Viewing these sign-miracles both strengthens our faith in Christ and offers us talking points in witnessing to the unsaved, so we view the second sign-miracle, Christ's healing of the nobleman's son, for our edification:

II. Healing Of The Nobleman's Son: Manifesting The Power Of Jesus' Word, John 4:46-54.

A. Jesus' miracle of healing the nobleman's son is introduced by John's reference to the false, artificial faith many of Christ's fellow Galilean countrymen were then exhibiting in Him, John 4:43-48:

1. Having ministered in Judaea and then in Samaria (John 3:22; 4:4), Jesus entered Galilee, John 4:43.

2. Jesus had clarified to His disciples that a prophet had no honor in his own country (John 4:44), so when He returned to Galilee after having performed miracles in Judaea where many of His fellow Galileans had witnessed those works, these fellow countrymen received Him, impressed by his miracles, John 4:45.

3. However, Jesus knew their faith was not in Him as their Messiah or the Son of God, but their faith was built on the fact that Jesus was a miracle-worker, their faith being a fickle, artificial one.

4. When Jesus then arrived at Cana where He had turned the water into wine (John 4:46a) and was met there by a nobleman whose son was close to death at Capernaum 20 miles away (John 4:46b; The MacMillan Bible Atlas, 1968, map 228), and this nobleman had come to Cana upon hearing that Jesus had returned from Judaea there, he approached Jesus, asking Him to come to Capernaum to heal his son, John 4:47.

5. Jesus did not immediately heal the man's son, but claimed that unless this man like so many Galileans saw signs and wonders, he would not believe, his faith being fickle and artificial, John 4:48.

B. Thus, Jesus' healing of the nobleman's son contrasts a true faith in His Word versus an artificial faith:

1. The nobleman was distressed at Jesus' restraint from traveling with the nobleman, so in desperation, he asked Jesus to come with him before his son died, John 4:49 ESV; Bible Know. Com., N. T., p. 288.

2. To elicit a true faith in His word, Jesus replied, "Go; your son will live," John 4:50a ESV. Christ desired to see a real faith in His spoken word in the man even though there was no visible miraculous sign or wonder from Jesus at that moment, to see if this man would rise above the false faith of fellow Galileans.

3. The nobleman decided to believe the word of Jesus though Christ had not given him a miraculous sign to that end, and he started to head back home from Cana to Capernaum 20 miles away, John 4:50.

4. We learn from John 4:52 that when Jesus told this man to return home, it was 7 o' clock at night (Ibid.), and the nobleman was still headed back to Capernaum the next day when his servants met him. If the nobleman had not decided to sleep in Cana before heading home, a likely fact since his son had been near death, he then left Jesus' presence and headed out into the darkness, journeying along the dark road with his battle of faith through the lonely hours of the night, a trip that doubtless sorely tested his faith!

5. The next day, his servants met the man as he was still traveling with the news that his son lived, John 4:51.

6. The nobleman asked them when the boy's health began to improve, and his servants said it was 7 o'clock the previous evening, the moment Jesus had told the nobleman that his son lived, John 4:52-53a.

7. The nobleman then truly believed in Jesus, and he led his household to trust in Christ, John 4:53b-54.

8. Importantly, this miracle signaled that Jesus' mere word had the power instantly to save even from a great distance where no one could humanly hear Him speak. Christ's word was powerful, able to work miracles and instantly so from a super-human distance and without any immediately visible miraculous sign. (Ibid.)

Lesson: When Jesus healed the nobleman's son, He manifested the power of His Word to perform a miracle instantly, from a super-human distance with no humanly discernible, miraculous sign that would produce only a superficial faith. Christ clearly taught that He expected people to believe His Word simply because He spoke it.

Application: (1) May we believe God's Word to be so true and authoritative that we entrust our earthly lives as well as our eternal destinies to its mere statements. (2) May we trust God's Word when the crises we face are so great that they keep us awake through the night or force us to make a difficult trip as the nobleman made. (3) When we see God keep His Word for us, may we like the nobleman testify of it to others that they might believe God's Word.