Joh 4:53-54 | KingComments | STEP | Again the Lord comes to Cana in Galilee. As a reminder, John adds that this is the place where He had made the water (for purification) wine (of joy). There is no more joy in that place, as death threatens to enter. There is a royal official in Capernaum, someone from the court of Herod, whose son is sick. It is a disease that will lead to death if no wonder of God happens. At this moment, the Lord visits Cana again. Again He is in time to show the glory of the Father. Besides purification and joy He also brings life and healing. The royal official shows faith in Christ from Whom he hears that He has come to Galilee. His fame has hastened ahead of Him. The royal official comes from Capernaum to Cana and goes to the Lord Jesus. He asks Him to come with him. He makes his need known to Him. It is about his son who is so sick, that he is about to die. Therefore his request is if He wants to heal him. While the royal official believes in the healing power of Christ, his faith is limited. He believes that the Lord should go to his son, as if He can only heal his son through His personal presence. But presence or absence is of no relevance to the Son of God. These are only circumstances and He, Who is God, is above them. He points out to the royal official the nature of his faith which requires signs and wonders. It is the typical characteristic of a Jewish faith that believes only when it sees proof. The faith of a heathen chief was greater ( ). Although the words of the Lord reveal the weakness of the royal official’s faith, his weak faith persists. He is not discouraged and implores Him to come with him before his child dies. A trial of faith by the Lord is aimed at making the wonder greater. Through his persevering faith, the royal official gets more than he asks and hopes for. He gets a direct hearing. Through his perseverance he shows the characteristics of real faith. He takes God at His Word, without signs, wonders and feelings. He no longer insists that the Lord must come with him, but he goes away in faith. The Lord is so oncoming that the man does not even have to wait until he is at home to see with his own eyes the result of the word of Christ and to see his faith confirmed in it. While he is on his way, his slaves meet him with the message that his child is alive. They use the same words as Christ by talking about ‘living’, without having heard Him say those words. They have seen the effect of Christ’s word at the moment He spoke it, when they saw that life flowed back into the mortally sick child. The slaves confirmed to the royal official what the Lord had said. The royal official wants to know at what time his son began to get better. In the absence of their lord, the slaves will have paid even more attention to the condition of the child, so that they can tell him the right moment of the beginning of the healing. It indicates a good relationship between the royal official and his slaves. The father also knows what time it was when the Lord spoke the words to him that his son lived. The words of the Lord are life. In Him is life and He reveals it on the basis of faith. The result is life not only for the child, but also for the royal official and his whole household, because all come to faith in the Son of God. This wonder is indicated by John as the second sign of the Lord Jesus. In the first sign joy is central. In this second sign life is central. Without life that He gives, there can be no joy.

‏ John 4:53-54

The Son of a Royal Official Healed

Again the Lord comes to Cana in Galilee. As a reminder, John adds that this is the place where He had made the water (for purification) wine (of joy). There is no more joy in that place, as death threatens to enter. There is a royal official in Capernaum, someone from the court of Herod, whose son is sick. It is a disease that will lead to death if no wonder of God happens.

At this moment, the Lord visits Cana again. Again He is in time to show the glory of the Father. Besides purification and joy He also brings life and healing. The royal official shows faith in Christ from Whom he hears that He has come to Galilee. His fame has hastened ahead of Him.

The royal official comes from Capernaum to Cana and goes to the Lord Jesus. He asks Him to come with him. He makes his need known to Him. It is about his son who is so sick, that he is about to die. Therefore his request is if He wants to heal him. While the royal official believes in the healing power of Christ, his faith is limited. He believes that the Lord should go to his son, as if He can only heal his son through His personal presence. But presence or absence is of no relevance to the Son of God. These are only circumstances and He, Who is God, is above them.

He points out to the royal official the nature of his faith which requires signs and wonders. It is the typical characteristic of a Jewish faith that believes only when it sees proof. The faith of a heathen chief was greater (Lk 7:7). Although the words of the Lord reveal the weakness of the royal official’s faith, his weak faith persists. He is not discouraged and implores Him to come with him before his child dies.

A trial of faith by the Lord is aimed at making the wonder greater. Through his persevering faith, the royal official gets more than he asks and hopes for. He gets a direct hearing. Through his perseverance he shows the characteristics of real faith. He takes God at His Word, without signs, wonders and feelings. He no longer insists that the Lord must come with him, but he goes away in faith.

The Lord is so oncoming that the man does not even have to wait until he is at home to see with his own eyes the result of the word of Christ and to see his faith confirmed in it. While he is on his way, his slaves meet him with the message that his child is alive. They use the same words as Christ by talking about ‘living’, without having heard Him say those words. They have seen the effect of Christ’s word at the moment He spoke it, when they saw that life flowed back into the mortally sick child.

The slaves confirmed to the royal official what the Lord had said. The royal official wants to know at what time his son began to get better. In the absence of their lord, the slaves will have paid even more attention to the condition of the child, so that they can tell him the right moment of the beginning of the healing. It indicates a good relationship between the royal official and his slaves. The father also knows what time it was when the Lord spoke the words to him that his son lived.

The words of the Lord are life. In Him is life and He reveals it on the basis of faith. The result is life not only for the child, but also for the royal official and his whole household, because all come to faith in the Son of God.

This wonder is indicated by John as the second sign of the Lord Jesus. In the first sign joy is central. In this second sign life is central. Without life that He gives, there can be no joy.