The Samaritan Woman taught us to reach out to those around us with excitement, today we see a boy healed in John 4:46-54.
46 So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. 47 When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. 48 So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” 49 The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” 50 Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. 51 As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering. 52 So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” 53 The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” And he himself believed, and all his household. 54 This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee.
Jesus left the Samaritan town and is now in Cana, where he performed his first miracle (the water into wine).
So Sychar to Cana to Capernaum, and when he arrives there an official is waiting for him. We aren’t told who this official was, only that he had a son who was sick. He came specifically to ask Jesus to come with him to heal his son, for his son was close to dying.
Makes sense right? You hear of this fellow who turned water into wine, you know that odd things can happen with him around, and you think… I’ve gotta ask, I’ve gotta take the chance that he can help. So you wait, because it matters to you, and finally Jesus comes. You ask him to come and then he says this “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” Again you state your objective “Sir, come down before my child dies.” You are used to people listening to what you have to say, so it makes sense to make this request.
And Jesus, instead of coming tells him to “Go; your son will live.”
You believe him, you leave, and then your servants come running saying something along the lines of “Sir sir…you son is going to be okay!!!!” You discover that he started his recovery at the moment Jesus says “Go”.
I know what that would do to my faith. Do you know what it would do to yours?
For the official it deepened his faith. So much so that he believed, his household believed A huge change!
The scene eh? Could have played out anywhere. It was built upon scant knowledge. Jesus turned water into win at a wedding in Cana. Perhaps he might help his boy. The hope in that dad’s heart that must have been there. The I’ll ask, Jesus will help. The wine, it happened.
Jesus helped. Jesus healed.
He prodded the dad first. Prodding to see if his faith was real. The dad just said come, heal him. He believed. Just as he said it “Go”, the boy began to recover. Even before the official had turned for home his son’s recovery was underway.
He had faith indeed.
Some one reminded me… possibly in a blog comment is my vague recollection after a long busy day. That faith sometimes doesn’t want you to wait for things to be just so. Sometimes faith is simply the acting on what you hope for. This man hoped for his son’s recovery. He knew what Jesus had done. So he asked. He hoped. His faith was rewarded.
The result… a faith that was solidified. For him and his household.
This boys’ recovery was the second sign that Jesus did on his journey from Judea to Galilee.
Faith in action, just because of the hope you have within. I like that eh? To thinking it through, the hope generated, and then acting based on that hope. Isn’t that what living out our faith is based on?
Our hope is in the Lord, the one who died on the cross, rose from the dead, on our behalf. One day he will return. Until that day we live in hope, we live out our faith based on the hope. It’s what, those of us with faith, do! These few verses were an excellent reminder to me of that.
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