The Miracle In Capernaum Was Faith

The Bible teaches that we are to move from faith to faith The official had started out with a crisis of faith. He was about to lose his son and he had no one to go to but Jesus.

His crisis of faith became confident faith when he decided to take Jesus at His word. He believed Jesus and experienced peace in his heart. He was even able to delay his trip home rather than rush off in an anxious panic, because of his confidence in Jesu' word.

Then his confident faith became confirmed faith when he found out that his son had been completely healed, and at that very moment when Jesus had spoken the word.

The official shared first with his servants, and then with the rest of his family, resulting in the conversion of his entire household. The official moved his faith from Jesus' specific power to heal a sick boy, to a deeper faith of Jesus as a person, the Messiah.

Read how John put it all together,

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. This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee. (John 4:53-54)

This miracle of faith in the official and his entire household, confirmed by the healing of his son, was Jesus' second sign.

Meeting the spiritual need is always Jesus' priority

* In what ways is the Lord moving you from faith to faith?

* Are you in a crisis of faith? Then what word of Jesus do you need to believe this week?

* Have you moved to confident faith? Then what do you need to do this week to show your trust in Jesus?

* Are you experiencing confirmation of your faith? Then who around you needs to hear you say so, this week, telling them the glorious things Jesus is doing right now?

True satisfaction is not found in having our needs met in the way we think they should be met. Relief may feel like satisfaction for a while. But true satisfaction, the deep and lasting kind, can only come through faith in Jesus, personally relating to Jesus and doing His will.

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Jesus Healed the Capernaum Official's Son From Afar

Jesus, because He is God, could easily restore life at a distance. The word of His power spans distance, time, life and even death. The healing power of Jesus is not limited by geography. He is never so far away that He cannot answer your prayers.

Jesus said to him, "Go; your son will live." (John 4:50a)

Doesn't it seem like Jesus wanted this miracle to seem as unmiraculous as possible? "You don't have to see to believe. First believe -- then you will see," Jesus seemed to say.

John called this Jesus' second sign, but possibly the real miracle is what happened in the official's heart,

The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. (John 4:50b)

Here is an illustration of true faith. The official decided to believe, and the servants, twenty miles away, saw the immediate healing.

It was a real miracle, a stunning one. The man believed the witness of Jesus and acted upon it. He simply trusted what Jesus said to be true and went about his business, He believed without the evidence of a sign or miracle. This is what Jesus consideered to be a strong and more appropriate faith.

For whatever reason, the man did not return to Capernaum the day his son was healed, but instead found a place to spend the night. It's possible that it was too late in the day to start the twenty mile trip home. In any case, the official waited until the next day to start home, and met his servants along the way. The father thought his son would gradually improve,

So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, (John 4:52a)

But above and beyong his expectations, the servants replied,

"Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him." (John 4:52b)

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The Official's Need For Stronger Faith

After His two-day retreat with the Samaritans it was time for Jesus and His disciples to continue on to Galilee. Here, John wrote, in parentheses,

(For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.) (John 4:44)

And yet the very next verse says that the Galileans welcomed Him. What was John trying to say, then? The Samaritans had put their faith in Jesus as the prophet Moses had prophesied, as the Savior of the world. They didn't need any signs to believe.

Now look at why the Galileans welcomed the Lord: because they had

...seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast. (John 4:45b)

They didn't know Jesus for His teaching, or for Who He was. They were just glad to have the miracle worker in town.

Jesus and His disciples made their way to Cana, which was Nathanael's home town, very likely to revisit friends and family,

...where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. 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. (John 4:46-47)

This man was likely an official of Herod Antipas, the tetrarch of Galilee.

It's possible this is the same person we read about in Luke 8, Herod's steward Chuza, whose wife Joanna helped provide for Jesus' ministry. Or, he might have been Herod's foster brother Manaen, from Acts 13, who was one of the early leaders in the church. In either case, this is how the Lord became connected with his life.

Capernaum was twenty miles away, so this official had spent all day getting to Jesus. He was worried about his little boy, and he had come to Jesus for a miracle. It was his last-ditch chance to save his child's life.

Imagine the scene.

Jesus was probably at Nathanael's house with His disciples around Him. Others were there because of Jesus' fame for performing these signs. Now a royal official had arrived and wanted to take Jesus all the way back to Capernaum to heal his son. Imagine Jesus looking at the crowd around Him, then saying,

"Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe."

That seems like a harsh answer to a father who's on the verge of losing his son!

You know the saying, "seeing is believing." The official took it for granted that Jesus would have to go to Capernaum to heal his son. He was convinced that Jesus' power did not extend beyond His immediate surroundings. He also thought that all would be lost if his little boy died. So whatever faith this official had, it was not in the person of the Lord Jesus, Messiah, God the Son. It was the kind of faith you might put into a miracle worker.

A faith based on miracles is a weak faith. A faith based on what that sign points to is biblical faith. Miracles should never be a substitute for the person from Whom that power comes: the Lord Jesus, Messiah, God the Son. Miracles are secondary and they should have a secondary place in our lives to trust.

Jesus' purpose for this official was not just for his little boy to be healed. After all, that little boy would one day grow up and die of something else. We all eventually die of something. When God doesn't seem to meet your urgent need, there there is a spiritual need that is even more urgent. Jesus' purpose for this man, and his household, was to have eternal life.

So the Lord challenged the official to a stronger faith, to take Jesus at His word, even without any visible change or sign. "Don't just believe in what I can do for your little boy," Jesus was saying, "Believe in Who I AM!"

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Blended Gospels: The Healing of a Capernaum Official's Son

So [Jesus] came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill.

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. So Jesus said to him, "Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe."

The official said to him, "Sir, come down before my child dies."

Jesus said to him, "Go; your son will live."

The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering. 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."

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.

This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee.

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