His son was dying. Was there anything more urgent than getting help?
Likely the official was in Cana of Galilee because he had heard of the miracle of Jesus turning water to wine. The miracle man Jesus was his last hope.
When he heard that Jesus was in town, he went to him and “begged” him to heal his son. Instead of running to the aid of his son who was in Caprnaum some 20 miles away, Jesus started talking to the crowd.
The father, desperate, asks him directly.
“The royal official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies” (John 4:49).
Basically he was telling Jesus to stop teaching and talking and come right away. His son was dying.
The irony is that he was a royal official, so very likely a Roman. He could have ordered Jesus to do anything as he had the legal power to do so. But he knew that wouldn’t go over well.
Still, his son was dying.
What was Jesus talking about anyway?
The Scriptures point that Jesus had just said that a prophet had no honor in his own town. And then when the official asked to heal his son, he said, “Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders, you will never believe” (v. 48).
It sounds harsh in English. But what the translator of the Bible was doing was showing that the “you” here was not directed to the official, but to all the people. That’s hard to distinguish in English where “you” can mean one person or everyone. Greek is more clear.
Anyway, a prophet has no honor in his hometown. And even though the people welcomed him, they didn’t believe. They wanted another sign.
They had already experienced a sign. Jesus had turned water into wine. But they still did not believe. After all, this was the guy from Galilee. Basically their home town area.
Jesus was not referring to the official at this point. He was setting it up to make a contrast between this official the people of the town.
When the father asked him to come, Jesus told him his son would live.
“Go,” Jesus replied, “your son will live.” (John 4:50).
The official was used to giving orders. And he has kindly asked Jesus to come. And now the tables were flipped in authority. Jesus basically said he would not come. But that the man was to be the one to go. His son was healed.
And you know what?
The official took Jesus at his word and left. On the way, a servant met him and gave him the good news that the boy was healed. The fever had left him.
When the official acquired as to when, he said it was the previous day at the 7th hour, the same time Jesus had said his boy was healed.
This likely was the Roman 7th hour. Jews started the day’s clock at 6 am which would have meant the healing took place at 1 pm if it was Jewish time. But the Roman time started the day at noon, which meant that the healing likely took place at 7 pm. This would make sense as to why Jesus did not come.
It wasn’t just that it was night and he didn’t want to talk in the night. It’s that oftentimes his teaching times happened in the evenings. Not always but it was common (Mark 1:32-34). It was the time when people finished the day’s work and came out of their houses to talk. Staying would give him more time for teaching. Plus, he had the authority to heal from a distance.
Unlike the townspeople who wanted more and more signs, the royal official believed Jesus. He was the one with faith. This is often the contrast in the stories. The least likely people seem to have some of the greatest moments of faith. Like here.
“The man took Jesus at his word and departed” (v. 50).
Now here’s the thing. It’s not just an easy story in the Bible to read and move on. The question is, do we have faith? Do we take Jesus at his word like this man, even when we don’t see? Do we believe God’s love even when we don’t see our prayers answered? Do we truly believe he will “never leave us, nor forsake us” as the Scriptures say? Do we really believe and have faith?
John 4:34-54
After the two days he left for Galilee. 44 (Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.) 45 When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, for they also had been there.
46 Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. 47 When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death.
48 “Unless you people see signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.”
49 The royal official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.”
50 “Go,” Jesus replied, “your son will live.”
The man took Jesus at his word and departed. 51 While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. 52 When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, “Yesterday, at one in the afternoon, the fever left him.”
53 Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he and his whole household believed.
54This was the second sign Jesus performed after coming from Judea to Galilee.