The news of the first miracle of Jesus, namely turning water into wine, must have spread, because when Jesus returned to the town of Cana, a nobleman approached Him for help, John 4. 46. The nobleman was an important official, a member of court, yet with a grave problem – his son at Capernaum was sick.
Presumably this was no ordinary sickness, being described as ‘a fever’, 4. 52, and incurable by any local physician. Child mortality was high in those days, due to poor water quality and the lack of true sanitation. Parents are always troubled when their children are ill, especially when that illness is serious, and for this nobleman his son was ‘at the point of death’, 4. 47.
This man took his problem to Jesus and requested that He would go to his house and heal the boy. Jesus gave a most startling reply; ‘Except you see signs and wonders, you will not believe’, 4. 48. The Lord seems to be making it clear that faith is the vital ingredient, and that this man was only interested in an outward sign, namely the healing of his son – he was not seeking the true spiritual response which the Lord came to engender. The nobleman had as much need for healing as his son – while he looked for physical healing for the boy, his own need was spiritual.
The man’s response was to make a further request for his son’s healing and the Lord in mercy granted it, by saying, ‘Go your way, your son lives’. Now here was the test for the man. Would he accept the word of the Lord or would he insist that the actual bodily presence of Jesus was needed for the healing of his son? Was he going to act in faith or on the evidence of his eyes?
Remarkably the man took Jesus at His word. He believed and obeyed the Lord by returning home in the assurance that He would be true to His word. What a joyful reunion he must have had with his family, especially when he realized that at the very moment Jesus said, ‘Your son lives’, the boy had made a complete recovery. The man’s faith was contagious for his whole household became one of faith.
Jesus had absolute power over all disease but that was never the main goal of His ministry. He was much more concerned about souls and the response of faith.
