Jesus Cures The Son of a Royal Official

Jesus Cures The Son of a Royal Official

John 4:43-54

Jesus returned to Galilee. The people there had heard about his miracles in Jerusalem. They gave him a great welcome. Jesus went to Cana, where he had done another miracle. He had turned water into wine (John 2:1-11). A royal official was there. Probably this man worked for Herod Antipas. He heard that Jesus had returned. This official lived in Capernaum, which was 25 miles or 38 kilometres from Cana. He had a child who was sick. It seemed that the boy would soon die. His father went to Cana to ask Jesus to come to Capernaum. He wanted Jesus to cure his child. He thought that Jesus had to come to the child‘s house.

This man was desperate. He would do anything for his child. People might laugh at him because he was asking a preacher and miracle worker for help. Jesus knew the man‘s thoughts. He knew how the man felt. The people in Galilee wanted to see miracles. Perhaps the royal official thought about this as well.

Miracles

Jesus‘ reply seemed to be for the people and not for the official. He blamed them because they wanted to see a miracle. He spoke these words to all the people, and not only to the official himself. He said, ’You all will never believe, unless you see miracles‘.

Jesus did not want to do many miracles. The leaders of the Temple at Jerusalem asked to see a miracle. But Jesus refused (John 2:18-19). Later, Jesus was in court before Herod Antipas. Herod wanted very much to see a miracle (Luke 23:8). But Jesus would not even speak to him.

Sometimes, miracles did not help people to believe. Sometimes they made people oppose Jesus more (see John 11:45-50).

The royal official needed to trust Jesus

In John 4, the royal official was also trying to tell Jesus what to do. Jesus hesitated. He did not agree at once. Instead, he tested and encouraged the man. This is what Jesus said:

The man had to show that he believed Jesus. When Jesus said this, the man did not argue. He believed what Jesus had said. He started to go home. Before he arrived there, servants came to meet him. He heard that the child was well. He had become well at the same moment when Jesus spoke these words. Then the man and his whole family believed completely.

Notice this:

• The official first believed what Jesus told him about the child (verse 50).
• Verse 53 says for a second time that he believed. Probably this means that he now trusted Jesus completely.

Important lessons

The royal official learned a very important lesson. The Lord does not always answer requests in the way that we expect. Sometimes we even demand an answer. We might try to tell God what he should do. We might even try to give instructions to God!

The royal official also learned that distance is not a problem for God. The royal official simply needed to obey Jesus. This would show that he trusted Jesus. This is a lesson for us today. Jesus is not with us in a physical way. But distance is still not a problem for God. We cannot tell him what to do. We have to trust and obey. This is what this man did. When he obeyed, he trusted more.

Many people at the court of Herod Antipas seem to have heard about Jesus. The Bible mentions Joanna, who was the wife of Herod‘s chief servant. And the Bible also mentions Susanna, who gave money to help Jesus and his disciples (Luke 8:3). Later, we read about Manaen (Acts 13:1).