The Nobleman (4:43-54)
Our Lord continued His journey to Galilee (John 4:3) and came again to Cana. Galilee was known as “Galil ha goyim–Galilee of the Gentiles.” Apparently Jesus had detected in Judea (His own country) the increasing hostility of the religious leaders, though the real opposition would not yet appear for some months. Our Lord was really never identified with Judea even though He had been born in Bethlehem. He was known as the prophet from Galilee (Matt. 21:11; John 7:52). Jesus knew that the public response to His ministry in Jerusalem had been insincere and shallow (John 2:23-25) and that it was not honoring to Him at all.
Why did Jesus return to Cana? Perhaps He wanted to cultivate the “seed” He had planted there when He attended the wedding feast. Nathanael came from Cana, so perhaps there was a personal reason for this visit. Jesus was met at Cana by a nobleman from Capernaum, some twenty miles away. The man had heard about His miracles and came all that distance to intercede for his son, who was dying. The first miracle at Cana came at the request of His mother (John 2:1-5), and this second miracle at Cana at the request of a father (John 4:47).
Was this man a Jew or a Gentile? We do not know. Nor do we know his exact position in the government. He may have been a member of Herod’s court, but whatever his national or social standing, he was clearly at his wit’s end and desperately needed the help of the Savior. He “kept beseeching him” to travel to Capernaum to heal his son.
John 4:48 was not a rebuke of this nobleman. Rather, it was our Lord’s lament at the spiritual condition of the people in general, both in Judea and in Galilee. “Seeing is believing” has always been the “pragmatic” philosophy of the lost world, even the religious world. The nobleman believed that Jesus could heal his son, but he made two mistakes in his thinking: that Jesus had to go to Capernaum to save the lad and that if the boy died meanwhile, it was too late.
We must admire this man’s faith. Jesus simply said, “Go thy way; thy son liveth” (John 4:50). And the man believed Jesus and started to return home! Both the Samaritan woman and this anonymous nobleman must have rejoiced the heart of Jesus as they believed the Word and acted on it.
The boy was healed the instant Jesus spoke those words, so the man’s servants started out to find him so they could share the good news. (Again, it is the servants who know what is going on. See John 2:9; 15:15.) The boy had been healed at the seventh hour, which, in Roman time, would be seven o’clock in the evening. The father certainly would not have traveled at night, for that would have been dangerous; nor would the servants have taken that risk. The father’s faith was so strong that he was willing to delay going home, even though his heart yearned to see his beloved son.
When the father and the servants met the next day, their report confirmed his faith. Note that the father thought the healing would be gradual (“began to improve”), but the servants reported a complete, instant recovery.
This man began with crisis faith. He was about to lose his son, and he had no other recourse but the Lord Jesus Christ. Many people came to Jesus with their crises, and He did not turn them away. The nobleman’s crisis faith became confident faith: He believed the word and had peace in his heart. He was even able to delay his trip home, knowing that the boy was out of danger.
His confident faith became confirmed faith. Indeed, the boy had been completely healed! And the healing took place at the very time when Jesus spoke the word. It was this fact that made a believer out of the nobleman and his household. He believed that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God, and he shared this faith with his family. He had contagious faith and shared his experience with others.
This is one of several miracles that Jesus performed “at a distance.” He healed the centurion’s servant from a distance (Matt. 8:5-13, and note that he too lived in Capernaum), and He healed the daughter of the Canaanite woman in the same manner (Matt. 15:21-28). These two were Gentiles and, spiritually speaking, were “at a distance” (Eph. 2:12-13). Perhaps this nobleman was also a Gentile. We do not know.
John 4:54 does not state that this healing was the second miracle that Jesus ever performed, for that would contradict John 2:23 and 3:2. This was the second miracle He performed in Cana of Galilee (see John 2:1, 11). He certainly gave those people special privileges.
But we must note that both miracles were “private” rather than public. Mary, the disciples, and the servants knew where the excellent wine had come from, but the guests did not. (Of course, it is possible that the servants told the story to others.) The nobleman’s son was healed at Capernaum, not Cana, but news traveled rapidly in those days, and certainly the word got out.
Jesus’ first miracle at the wedding revealed His power over time. The Father is always making water into wine, but He takes a season or two to finish the work. Jesus made the wine instantly. In this sense, our Lord’s miracles were only instantaneous copies of what the Father is always doing. “My Father worketh hitherto, and I work” (John 5:17). The Father is constantly multiplying bread, season after season, but the Son multiplied it instantly.
In the second recorded miracle, Jesus showed His power over space. He was not limited simply because He was in Cana and the sick boy was in Capernaum. The fact that the father believed the word and did not know the results until the next day is evidence that he had confident faith. He trusted the word that Jesus spoke, and so should we.
Questions for Personal Reflection or Group Discussion
- What have you believed because of someone else’s testimony?
- Read verses 1-42. Jesus went through Samaria even though most Jewish people avoided it. What does this choice reveal about Him?
- Why did Jesus ask the Samaritan woman for a drink?
- How did she progress in her knowledge of who Jesus was?
- Why do you suppose Jesus didn’t tell her sooner that He was the Christ?
- What do you learn about Jesus from the way He interacted with this sinful woman?
- For her, faith led immediately to spreading the good news. Does faith have that effect on you? Why or why not?
- Do you think it would be easier for you to tell unbelievers about Jesus if He were available in the flesh as He was in this story? Explain.
- Read verses 43-54. How did the nobleman demonstrate his faith in Jesus?
- What does this miracle teach us about Jesus?
- How can you act on your faith as the Samaritan woman and the nobleman did?