Jesus was timed and then believed

JESUS WAS TIMED AND THEN BELIEVED
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
John 4:53 53Thenthe father realized that this was the
exact time at which Jesus had saidto him, "Your son
will live."So he and his whole householdbelieved.''
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(53) So the father knew.—He was not mistaken, then. The power he had felt
when these words were spokento him was real. The hours that had passed
since, as he hastened to know all, had prepared him to read the sign. “Thy son
liveth!” “The seventh hour yesterday!” There is more than one miracle here.
A new life passesinto his own spirit, and he, too, bound in the death-grasp of a
formal religion, liveth! A Father’s love has yearned for him. Christ has come
down ere the child died.
Himself believed.—This is a yet higher faith. He believed the report before he
went to Cana. He believed personallywhen he pleaded, “Lord, come down.”
He believed the word that Jesus spake whentold to go his way, and every step
of that road going away from the power to the sufferer was an act of faith; but
still there is place for a fuller faith, and he and his household became
believers. St. John traces here, as before, in the case ofthe Samaritans (John

4:41-42), and of the disciples themselves (John 2:11), the successive
development of faith.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
4:43-54 The father was a nobleman, yet the son was sick. Honours and titles
are no security from sicknessand death. The greatestmenmust go themselves
to God, must become beggars. The nobleman did not stop from his request till
he prevailed. But at first he discoveredthe weakness ofhis faith in the power
of Christ. It is hard to persuade ourselves that distance of time and place, are
no hinderance to the knowledge, mercy, and power of our Lord Jesus. Christ
gave an answerof peace. Christ's saying that the soul lives, makes it alive. The
father went his way, which showedthe sincerity of his faith. Being satisfied, he
did not hurry home that night, but returned as one easyin his own mind. His
servants met him with the news of the child's recovery. Goodnews will meet
those that hope in God's word. Diligentcomparing the works ofJesus with his
word, will confirm our faith. And the bringing the cure to the family brought
salvationto it. Thus an experience of the power of one word of Christ, may
settle the authority of Christ in the soul. The whole family believed likewise.
The miracle made Jesus dearto them. The knowledge ofChrist still spreads
through families, and men find health and salvation to their souls.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
Himself believed - This miracle removed all his doubts, and he became a real
disciple and friend of Jesus.
His whole house - His whole family. We may learn from this,
1. That sicknessorany deep affliction is often the means of greatgood. Here
the sicknessofthe son resulted in the faith of all the family. God often takes
awayearthly blessings that he may impart rich spiritual mercies.

2. The father of a family may be the means of the salvationof his children.
Here the effort of a parent resulted in their conversionto Christ.
3. There is greatbeauty and propriety when sickness thus results in piety. For
that it is sent. Goddoes not willingly grieve or afflict the children of men; and
when afflictions thus terminate, it will be cause ofeternal joy, of ceaseless
praise.
4. There is a specialcharm when piety thus comes into the families of the rich.
and the noble. It is so unusual: their example and influence go so far; it
overcomes so many temptations, and affords opportunities of doing so much
good, that there is no wonder that the evangelistselectedthis instance as one
of the effects ofthe power and of the preaching of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
50. Go thy way; thy sonliveth—Both effects instantaneouslyfollowed:—"The
man believed the word," and the cure, shooting quicker than lightning from
Cana to Capernaum, was felt by the dying youth. In tokenof faith, the father
takes his leave of Christ—in the circumstances this evidencedfull faith. The
servants hasten to conveythe joyful tidings to the anxious parents, whose faith
now only wants one confirmation. "When beganhe to amend? … Yesterday,
at the seventh hour, the fever left him"—the very hour in which was uttered
that greatword, "Thy son liveth!" So "himself believed and his whole house."
He had believed before this, first very imperfectly; then with assured
confidence of Christ's word; but now with a faith crownedby "sight." And
the wave rolled from the head to the members of his household. "To-dayis
salvationcome to this house" (Lu 19:9); and no mean house this!
secondmiracle Jesus did—that is, in Cana; done "afterHe came out of
Judea," as the former before.

Matthew Poole's Commentary
The circumstance ofthe time when his sonrecoveredagreeing with the very
hour when Christ had saidunto him,
Thy son liveth, was a mighty confirmation to him, that he was beholden to
Christ for his cure, and consequentlythat Christ was no ordinary man, more
than a prophet, even the Son of God. This works upon his faith to a higher
degree:he first believed the report of him, then he gave credit to the word
that he spake, now he believeth savingly, and not he alone, but his whole
family became Christians. Such instances we have concerning Lydia, Acts
16:14,15, the jailer, Acts 4:34, and Crispus, Acts 18:8.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
So the father knew that it was at the same hour,.... Precisely;
in that which Jesus said to him, thy son liveth: he had observedwhat time of
day it was, in which he conversedwith Jesus;and particularly, when he told
him his son was alive and well, and when he took his leave of him; and by
comparing the accountof his servants, with that, found that things entirely
agreed, and that the cure was wrought exactly at the time, that Jesus spoke
the words:
and himself believed, and his whole house;when he came home, he related the
whole affair to his family, and he and they all believed, that Jesus was the
Messiah, andbecame his disciples and followers:if this nobleman was Chuza,
Herod's steward, we have an accountof his wife, whose name was Joanna,
that she followed Christ, and ministered to him of her substance, with other
women, Luke 8:3. There is a story, told by the Jews, andwhich seems
somewhatlike to this (d);

"it is reported concerning R. Chanina ben Dosa, that when he prayed for the
sick, he used to say, , "this liveth", and this dies; it was saidto him, whence
knowestthou this? he replied, if my prayer be ready in my mouth, I know that
he is accepted(of God, i.e. the sick man for whom he prayed); but if not, I
know that he will be snatchedaway(by the disease):''
upon which the Gemarists give the following relation (e);
"it happened that the son of Rabban Gamaliel (the Apostle Paul's master)was
sick, he sent two disciples to R. Chanina ben Dosa, to ask mercy for him;
when he saw them, he went up to a chamber, and soughtmercy for him; and
when he came down, he said unto them, , "go your way, for the fever has left
him"; they said unto him, art thou a prophet? he replied, I am not a prophet,
nor the son of a prophet; but so I have received, that if my prayer is ready in
my mouth, I know that he is accepted;and if not, I know that he shall be
snatchedaway; and they sat and wrote and observed"the very hour"; and
when they came to Rabban Gamaliel, he said unto them, this service ye have
not been wanting in, nor abounded in; but so the thing was, that in that hour
the fever left him, and he askedofus waterto drink.''
Which story perhaps is told, to vie with this miracle of Christ, and to obscure
the glory of it.
(d) Misn. Beracot, c. 5. sect. 5. (e) T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 34. 2.
Geneva Study Bible
So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus saidunto
him, Thy son liveth: and himself believed, and his whole house.

EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges
53. himself believed] This is the laststage in the growth of the man’s faith, a
growth which S. John sketchesfor us here as in the case ofthe Samaritan
woman. In both casesthe spiritual development is thoroughly natural, as also
is the incidental way in which S. John places it before us.
and his whole house]The first convertedfamily.
Pulpit Commentary
Verse 53. - The father then knew (came to know, by putting the facts together)
that his son beganto amend in the same hour in which Jesus saidto him, Try
son liveth. The word was mighty, none other than that very voice of the Lord
"which healeth all our diseases,"and"redeemethour lives from destruction."
No mere coincidence, no common accident. And himself believed and his
whole household; believed in the Divine claims of Jesus. This is the earliest
mention of "householdfaith" (cf. Acts 10:44;Acts 16:15, 34). In this case a
whole picture rises before our eye. The mother, the sisters, the servants, the
entire family, had shared in the anxiety, had sympathized in the journey to
Cana, and now acceptedthe exalted claims of Jesus. Faithis graciously
contagious. The nearness ofthe unseen world often reveals the features of the
God-Man. The suggestionhas frequently been hazarded that this βασιλικός
was Chuza, the house stewardof Herod, whose wife, Joanna, ministered to
Jesus (Luke 8:3 and Luke 24:10).
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John 4:53 Interlinear
John 4:53 ParallelTexts

STUDYLIGHTRESOURCES
Adam Clarke Commentary
So the father knew - He had the fullest proof that his son's cure was
supernatural, and that it was wrought by the Lord Jesus.
Himself believed, and his whole house - He and his whole family became true
converts to the doctrine of the manifested Messiah. The whole family,
impressed with the greatkindness of God in sending health to the child, were
the more easilyled to believe in the Lord Jesus. The sicknessofthe child
became the mean of salvationto all the household. They, no doubt, thought at
first that God was dealing hardly with them, when threatening to remove the
child; but now they see that in very faithfulness God had afflicted them. Let us
learn never to murmur againstGod, or think that he does not act kindly
towards us. His wisdom cannotpermit him to err; his goodness willnot suffer
him to do any thing to his creatures but what may be subservient to their best
interests. By providential occurrences,apparently the most adverse, he may
be securing our eternal salvation.
There is an accountin Beracoth, fol. 34, very similar to this of the evangelist,
and very possibly stolenfrom this holy source. "Whenthe son of Rab.
Gamalielfell sick, he senttwo of his disciples to R. Chanina, that he would
pray to God for him. When he had seenthem, he went on the roof of his house
and prayed for him. He then came down and said to them, His fever has
departed from him. They said unto him, Art thou a prophet? He answered, I
am neither a prophet, nor the son of a prophet; but when I can recite my
prayers readily, I know I shall be heard. They then wrote down the hour; and,

when they returned to R. Gamaliel, he said to them, Ye have fulfilled your
ministry - in respectto my son, all is complete. In that hour the fever (‫המח‬
chomah, ὁ πυρετος ) left him, and he desired waterto drink." Schoettgenvery
properly remarks, Ovum ovo non magis simile est, atque haec fabula
narrationi evangelicae. "One eggis not more like to another, than this fable to
the evangelicalnarration."
Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Bibliography
Clarke, Adam. "Commentary on John 4:53". "The Adam Clarke
Commentary". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/acc/john-
4.html. 1832.
Return to Jump List return to 'Jump List'
Albert Barnes'Notes onthe Whole Bible
Himself believed - This miracle removed all his doubts, and he became a real
disciple and friend of Jesus.
His whole house - His whole family. We may learn from this,
1. That sicknessorany deep affliction is often the means of greatgood. Here
the sicknessofthe son resulted in the faith of all the family. God often takes
awayearthly blessings that he may impart rich spiritual mercies.

2. The father of a family may be the means of the salvationof his children.
Here the effort of a parent resulted in their conversionto Christ.
3. There is greatbeauty and propriety when sickness thus results in piety. For
that it is sent. Goddoes not willingly grieve or afflict the children of men; and
when afflictions thus terminate, it will be cause ofeternal joy, of ceaseless
praise.
4. There is a specialcharm when piety thus comes into the families of the rich.
and the noble. It is so unusual: their example and influence go so far; it
overcomes so many temptations, and affords opportunities of doing so much
good, that there is no wonder that the evangelistselectedthis instance as one
of the effects ofthe power and of the preaching of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Barnes, Albert. "Commentaryon John 4:53". "Barnes'Notes onthe Whole
Bible". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bnb/john-4.html.
1870.
Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible
So the father knew that it was at that hour in which Jesus saidunto him, Thy
son liveth: and himself believed and his whole house.

And himself believed ... But was he not already a believer? In a sense, he was;
but far more is intended here. Far more than merely believing that the Lord
had healedhis son, he now believed in the Lord as the Saviour of the world.
And his whole house ... What a weight of responsibility rests upon every
father. From the time of Adam who, as the federal head of the whole human
race, plunged mankind into ruin, it has been a solemn and undeniable fact
that whole families, cities, and even nations, partake of the consequencesofa
single decisionfor right or wrong by a single individual. The decisionof this
father brought redemption to an entire household.
Copyright Statement
James Burton Coffman Commentaries reproduced by permission of Abilene
Christian University Press, Abilene, Texas, USA. All other rights reserved.
Bibliography
Coffman, James Burton. "Commentary on John 4:53". "Coffman
Commentaries on the Old and New Testament".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bcc/john-4.html. Abilene
Christian University Press, Abilene, Texas, USA. 1983-1999.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible
So the father knew that it was at the same hour,.... Precisely;
in that which Jesus said to him, thy son liveth: he had observedwhat time of
day it was, in which he conversedwith Jesus;and particularly, when he told

him his son was alive and well, and when he took his leave of him; and by
comparing the accountof his servants, with that, found that things entirely
agreed, and that the cure was wrought exactly at the time, that Jesus spoke
the words:
and himself believed, and his whole house;when he came home, he related the
whole affair to his family, and he and they all believed, that Jesus was the
Messiah, andbecame his disciples and followers:if this nobleman was Chuza,
Herod's steward, we have an accountof his wife, whose name was Joanna,
that she followed Christ, and ministered to him of her substance, with other
women, Luke 8:3. There is a story, told by the Jews, andwhich seems
somewhatlike to thisF4;
"it is reported concerning R. Chanina ben Dosa, that when he prayed for the
sick, he used to say, ‫חז‬ ‫,יה‬ "this liveth", and this dies; it was said to him,
whence knowestthou this? he replied, if my prayer be ready in my mouth, I
know that he is accepted(ofGod, i.e. the sick man for whom he prayed); but if
not, I know that he will be snatchedaway(by the disease):'
upon which the Gemarists give the following relationF5;
"it happened that the son of Rabban Gamaliel (the Apostle Paul's master)was
sick, he sent two disciples to R. Chanina ben Dosa, to ask mercy for him;
when he saw them, he went up to a chamber, and soughtmercy for him; and
when he came down, he said unto them, ‫וכל‬ ‫ותצלהש‬ ‫,חמה‬ "go your way, for the
fever has left him"; they saidunto him, art thou a prophet? he replied, I am
not a prophet, nor the son of a prophet; but so I have received, that if my
prayer is ready in my mouth, I know that he is accepted;and if not, I know
that he shall be snatchedaway;and they satand wrote and observed"the
very hour"; and when they came to Rabban Gamaliel, he said unto them, this

service ye have not been wanting in, nor abounded in; but so the thing was,
that in that hour the fever left him, and he askedofus waterto drink.'
Which story perhaps is told, to vie with this miracle of Christ, and to obscure
the glory of it.
Copyright Statement
The New John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible Modernisedand adapted
for the computer by Larry Pierce of Online Bible. All Rightes Reserved,
Larry Pierce, Winterbourne, Ontario.
A printed copy of this work can be ordered from: The Baptist Standard
Bearer, 1 Iron Oaks Dr, Paris, AR, 72855
Bibliography
Gill, John. "Commentary on John 4:53". "The New John Gill Exposition of
the Entire Bible". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/geb/john-
4.html. 1999.
Robertson's WordPictures in the New Testament
So the father knew (εγνω ουν ο πατηρ — egnō oun ho patēr). Secondaorist
active indicative of γινωσκω — ginōskō Inferentialuse of ουν — oun
Himself believed (επιστευσεν αυτος — episteusenautos). Notjust the word of
Jesus (John 4:50), but complete faith in Jesus himself as the Messiah, absolute
use of πιστευω — pisteuō as in John 1:7.

And his whole house (και η οικια αυτου — kai hē oikia autou). All his family,
the first example of a whole family believing in Jesus like the later case of
Crispus (Acts 18:8).
Copyright Statement
The Robertson's WordPictures of the New Testament. Copyright �
Broadman Press 1932,33,Renewal1960. All rights reserved. Used by
permission of Broadman Press (Southern BaptistSunday SchoolBoard)
Bibliography
Robertson, A.T. "Commentary on John 4:53". "Robertson'sWordPictures of
the New Testament".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/rwp/john-4.html. Broadman
Press 1932,33. Renewal1960.
The Fourfold Gospel
So the father knew that [it was]at that hour in which Jesus said unto him,
Thy son liveth: and himself believed, and his whole house2.
So the father . . . himself believed. We note here a growth in the faith of the
nobleman. He first believed in the power of Jesus'"presence",then in the
powerof Jesus'"Word", and finally he believed generallyin Jesus, and his
household sharedhis belief.
And his whole house. This is the first mention of a believing household; for
others see Acts 16:14,15,34;Acts 18:8.
Copyright Statement
These files are public domain and are a derivative of an electronic edition that
is available on the Christian ClassicsEtherealLibrary Website. These files

were made available by Mr. Ernie Stefanik. First published online in 1996 at
The RestorationMovementPages.
Bibliography
J. W. McGarveyand Philip Y. Pendleton. "Commentaryon John 4:53". "The
Fourfold Gospel". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/tfg/john-
4.html. Standard Publishing Company, Cincinnati, Ohio. 1914.
Calvin's Commentary on the Bible
53.And he believed, and his whole house. It may appear absurd that the
Evangelistshould mention this as the commencementof faith in that man,
whose faith he has already commended. Nor can it be supposedthat the
wordbelieve — at leastin this passage — relates to the progress of faith. But it
must be understood that this man, being a Jew and educated in the doctrine of
the Law, had already obtained some taste of faith when he came to Christ;
and that he afterwards believed in the saying of Christ was a particular faith,
which extended no farther than to expectthe life of his son. But now he began
to believe in a different manner; that is, because, embracing the doctrine of
Christ, he openly professedto be one of his disciples. Thus not only does he
now believe that his son will be cured through the kindness of Christ, but he
acknowledgesChristto be the Son of God, and makes a professionof faith in
his Gospel. His whole family joins him, which was an evidence of the miracle;
nor canit be doubted that he did his utmost to bring others along with him to
embrace the Christian religion.
Copyright Statement

Bibliography
Calvin, John. "Commentary on John 4:53". "Calvin's Commentary on the
Bible". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/cal/john-4.html. 1840-
57.
John Trapp Complete Commentary
53 So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said
unto him, Thy son liveth: and himself believed, and his whole house.
Ver. 53. And he himself believed] With a justifying faith, introduced at first
by a common faith.
Copyright Statement
Text Courtesyof BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliography
Trapp, John. "Commentary on John 4:53". John Trapp Complete
Commentary. https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/jtc/john-4.html.
1865-1868.
Matthew Poole's EnglishAnnotations on the Holy Bible

The circumstance ofthe time when his sonrecoveredagreeing with the very
hour when Christ had saidunto him,
Thy son liveth, was a mighty confirmation to him, that he was beholden to
Christ for his cure, and consequentlythat Christ was no ordinary man, more
than a prophet, even the Son of God. This works upon his faith to a higher
degree:he first believed the report of him, then he gave credit to the word
that he spake, now he believeth savingly, and not he alone, but his whole
family became Christians. Such instances we have concerning Lydia, Acts
16:14,15, the jailer, Acts 4:34, and Crispus, Acts 18:8.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Poole, Matthew, "Commentaryon John 4:53". Matthew Poole's English
Annotations on the Holy Bible.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/mpc/john-4.html. 1685.
Cambridge Greek Testamentfor Schools andColleges
53. ἔγνω. Recognised, perceived.
ἐπίστευσεν. Εἰς αὐτόν, i.e. as the Messiah:comp. John 4:42, John 1:7; John
1:51, John 6:36, John 11:15, where, as here, πιστεύω is used absolutely. The
growth of this official’s faith is sketchedfor us in the same natural and

incidental wayas in the cases ofthe Samaritan woman (John 4:19), the man
born blind (John 9:11), and Martha (John 11:21).
ἡ οἰκία αὐ. ὅλη. The first converted family. Comp. Cornelius, Lydia, and the
Philippian gaoler(Acts 10:24; Acts 16:15;Acts 16:34).
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
"Commentary on John 4:53". "Cambridge Greek Testamentfor Schools and
Colleges".https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/cgt/john-4.html.
1896.
PeterPett's Commentary on the Bible
‘So the father knew that it was at that hour in which Jesus saidto him, “Your
son lives”, and he himself believed, and all his house’.
There is a contrasthere betweendiffering forms of belief. Previously his faith
had been that of those who saw signs and wonders, but gradually it had
grown. Now it was a deep faith of commitment (expressedby the inceptive
aoristof the verb) that responded to Jesus and His words. That was what was
lacking in others.

‘He himself believed, and all his house.’That is, those who were of an age to
believe. The whole household responded to what had happened on hearing the
father’s testimony. Like the Samaritans the family of the court official
responded with full heart.
It is quite clearthat this is a very different story from that of the centurion’s
son in Luke 7:2-10 and Matthew 8:5-13, the only thing in common being the
healing at a distance which was something that Jesus must have done a
number of times. These particular stories were recountedbecause they
carried a specific messagein a context. In the accountof the centurion’s son
the centurion did not ask Him to his home, was confident that Jesus could heal
at a distance without being told, and askedHim to speak only the healing
word, whereas in this accountthe man’s faith was not as great, although it
was growing. Forthe centurion there was no rebuke, only praise, whereas for
this officialrebuke precededaction. The end result, however, was the same.
They both finally come to a full faith.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Pett, Peter. "Commentary on John 4:53". "PeterPett's Commentary on the
Bible ". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/pet/john-4.html. 2013.
Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

53. Himself believed, and his whole house—He becomes a believer; and his is a
Christian family! What joy was theirs; a son spared from death, a whole
house converted to Jesus!We can easilybelieve that the wife of that
nobleman, the mother of that son, should be numbered among the noble
women who ministered of their substance to Jesus’s wants. Luke 8:3.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Whedon, Daniel. "Commentary on John 4:53". "Whedon's Commentary on
the Bible". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/whe/john-4.html.
1874-1909.
Schaff's Popular Commentary on the New Testament
John 4:53. So the father perceivedthat it was at the same hour in the which
Jesus saidunto him, Thy son liveth: and himself believed, and his whole
house. Believed—thatis, with a faith increasedand confirmed: true faith he
had manifested before.
Many have supposed that this king’s officermay have been Chuza, ‘Herod’s
steward(Luke 8:3), whose wife Joanna was amongstthose women who
ministered of their substance to the wants of Jesus and His disciples.
Copyright Statement

Bibliography
Schaff, Philip. "Commentary on John 4:53". "Schaff's PopularCommentary
on the New Testament".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/scn/john-4.html. 1879-90.
George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary
Thy son liveth; i.e. thy son is recovered, atthis very moment. (Witham)
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Haydock, George Leo. "Commentaryon John 4:53". "George Haydock's
Catholic Bible Commentary".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/hcc/john-4.html. 1859.
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Unabridged

So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus saidunto
him, Thy son liveth: and himself believed, and his whole house.
So the father knew that it was at the same hour in the which Jesus said unto
him, Thy son liveth; and himself believed, and his whole house. He had
believed before this-first very imperfectly, then with assuredconfidence in
Christ's word; but now with a faith crownedby "sight." And the wave rolled
from the head to the members of his household. "Todayis salvationcome to
this house" (Luke 19:9); and no mean house this.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Jamieson, Robert, D.D.;Fausset,A. R.; Brown, David. "Commentary on John
4:53". "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -
Unabridged". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/jfu/john-
4.html. 1871-8.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(53) So the father knew.—He was not mistaken, then. The power he had felt
when these words were spokento him was real. The hours that had passed
since, as he hastened to know all, had prepared him to read the sign. “Thy son
liveth!” “The seventh hour yesterday!” There is more than one miracle here.
A new life passesinto his own spirit, and he, too, bound in the death-grasp of a

formal religion, liveth! A Father’s love has yearned for him. Christ has come
down ere the child died.
Himself believed.—This is a yet higher faith. He believed the report before he
went to Cana. He believed personallywhen he pleaded, “Lord, come down.”
He believed the word that Jesus spake whentold to go his way, and every step
of that road going away from the power to the sufferer was an act of faith; but
still there is place for a fuller faith, and he and his household became
believers. St. John traces here, as before, in the case ofthe Samaritans (John
4:41-42), and of the disciples themselves (John 2:11), the successive
development of faith.
PRECEPTAUSTIN RESOURCES
STEVEN COLE
From Foxhole Faith to Saving Faith (John 4:43-54)
RelatedMedia
September 1, 2013
We’ve all heard stories of men who had “foxhole” conversions. The man was
on the front lines in battle. Bullets were flying and mortars were exploding all
around him. He fearedthat he would die. Suddenly, his partner was hit and
killed right next to him. In his panic, he flashed back to the Sunday school

upbringing from which he has strayed. He thought about his godly mother,
who prays for him every day. He cried out, “God, getme out of here safely
and I will follow You the rest of my life!” The Lord answeredhis prayer and
brought him safelythrough the battle.
The real testof that man’s faith, however, is not how sincere he may have
been in crying out to God in the heat of the battle. The real testof his faith is
rather measured by what he does when the pressure is off. Will he forget God
and go back to his old ways? Or, will he go deeperand develop genuine faith
in the personof Christ that is not just a response to his immediate need? Will
he repent of his sins, trust in Christ as his Savior, and follow Him as Lord
after his crisis is over?
This also applies to everyone who has cried out to God in an emergency.
Maybe you or a loved one was facing a serious health problem. You cried out
to God and promised that if He brought healing, you would follow Him.
Maybe it was a financial crisis or the need for a job. Perhaps you were lonely
and praying for a wife or husband. The Lord does not want us to seek Him
merely for deliverance from some crisis, and then to put Him back on the
shelf until we need Him in the next crisis. Rather, He wants us to go deeper in
our faith and to trust and follow Him because ofwho He is, not just because of
what He cando for us.
This is the centralpoint in John 4:43-54, where Jesus heals the sonof a royal
official who is near death. The lessonis:
The Lord wants you to move from the foxhole faith that solves your crisis to
the mature, saving faith of eternallife.

The Lord often graciouslymeets us at our point of crisis, but that’s just the
beginning. He wants us to believe in and follow Him not only because He
delivered us from our crisis, but also because He is the only Saviorand Lord.
He is worthy of our trust because ofwho He is.
Background(4:43-45): It’s possible to receive Jesus withouttruly believing in
Him.
Verses 43-45 form the background to the narrative that follows. After two
days of fruitful ministry in the Samaritan village of Sychar, Jesus and the
disciples headed north into Galilee. Johnadds (4:44), “For Jesus Himself
testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.” This statement
occurs in the other gospels in connectionwith Jesus’visit to Nazareth(Matt.
13:57;Mark 6:4; Luke 4:24), to explain His rejectionthere. But here John
does not mention Nazareth, but only Galilee. And, why does he introduce the
verse with “for”? It’s not easyto see how verse 44 explains verse 43.
Perhaps the sense is that after His unexpectedly warm reception in Samaria,
Jesus wentinto Galilee to show that His ownpeople did not receive Him,
illustrating John 1:11, “He came to His own, and those who were His own did
not receive Him.” Leon Morris (The GospelAccording to John [Eerdmans], p.
285)explains,
He had come unto His own, not under a delusion that He would be welcomed,
but knowing full well that He must expecta rejection. This would not take
Him by surprise, for it was in the divine plan. So, to fulfil all this implies, He
went to Galilee.
John wants us to understand that Jesus wentto Galilee because He was
following God’s will. In spite of knowing that He would not be honored in his
own country, He went. But then we would expect verse 45 to say that when

Jesus came to Galilee, He was rejected. But instead, John adds (4:45), “So
when He came to Galilee, the Galileans receivedHim, having seenall the
things that He did in Jerusalematthe feast;for they themselves also wentto
the feast.” Why does he say this?
There are two clues to interpreting verse 45. The first is the phrase, “having
seenall the things that He did in Jerusalemat the feast.” This takes us back to
2:23-25, where many of the Jews atthe feastwere believing in Jesus because
they saw the signs (miracles) that He did. But Jesus was not entrusting
Himself to them, because He could see that their faith was shallow. ThenJohn
tells the story of Nicodemus, who was impressedwith the signs that Jesus was
doing (3:2), but who did not understand his need for the new birth through
faith in Jesus as his sin-bearer (3:3-14).
The secondclue is Jesus’rebuke in 4:48, “Unless you people see signs and
wonders, you simply will not believe.” “You” is plural in this verse. Jesus was
not just rebuking the man who was asking Him to healhis son. He was
rebuking the Jewishpeople because oftheir superficial reasons forseeking
Him. They soughtHim for the miracles He did, but they didn’t understand
that they should seek Him because He is their Messiahand Lord.
So in verse 45, John is using irony. He doesn’tstop here to explain that the
Galileans’receptionof Jesus was superficial, but that’s his point. Neither they
nor the royal official recognize and honor Jesus as the Saviorof the world, as
the Samaritans did. They believed in Jesus without any miracles, exceptfor
His words to the woman unmasking her past and present immorality. They
believed in Him because of His word (4:41-42). But the Galileans only sought
Him because ofthe signs which He performed. John wants us to go beyond the
shallow Galilean“faith,” which receives Christbecause ofthe miraculous. He
wants the signs that Jesus did to lead us to believe in Him for who He is, the
Christ, the Son of God, so that we might have eternal life in His name (20:31).

That backgroundbrings us to the story in 4:46-54, which illustrates the point
of 4:43-45. This royal officialcomes to Jesus with Galilean“faith,” looking for
a miraculous sign, but ends up going deeperto believe in Jesus as the Christ.
Note the emphasis on “life” in the story: In 4:50, Jesus tells the man, “Go;
your son lives.” In 4:51, as the man was returning home, his slaves met him,
“saying that his son was living.” In 4:53, the father came to know that his son
had been healedin the same hour when Jesus had saidto him, “Your son
lives.” As a result, both he and his whole household believed. Thus they serve
as an illustration of John’s purpose for writing this gospel(20:31), “these
[signs] have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the
Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.”
1. Foxhole faith: Often we don’t cry out to the Lord until we’re desperate
(4:46-49).
John notes (4:46) that Jesus came againto Cana of Galilee, where He had
done His first miracle of turning the waterinto wine at the wedding feast.
Then he concludes the story by linking this secondmiracle or sign to the first
(4:54). Why does he make these connections here?
A. W. Pink (Exposition of John, on monergism.com)says that John wants us
to compare the two miracles. He draws seven comparisons, whichI can’t
mention for sake oftime. But the most significantcomparisonis that the
result of the first sign was that the disciples believed in Jesus (2:11); the result
of this secondsignwas that the royal officialand his householdbelieved
(4:53). That’s the response that John wants all of his readers to make:These
signs are written so that you will believe in Jesus as the Christ, the Sonof
God, and thus have life in His name (20:31).

But as James Boice (The Gospelof John [Zondervan, 1-vol. ed.], p. 293)points
out, there is also a greatcontrast betweenthe two stories. The first is a scene
of joy and happiness;but the secondis a scene of sickness, desperation,
anxiety, and the shadow of death. Boice says that by comparing the two
stories, we are to see that life is filled with both kinds of situations and that
Jesus is the One that we need to trust in all the joys and sorrows oflife.
John describes the man as a royal official. We don’t know whether he was a
Jew or a Gentile, but he probably had some post in Herod’s court. He could
have been Manaen, who is mentioned in Acts 13:1 as having been brought up
with Herod the tetrarch. Or, he may have been Chuza, Herod’s steward,
whose wife Joanna contributed to Jesus’support (Luke 8:3). But we don’t
know. We canbe sure that betweenJohn the Baptist’s witness and the report
of this miracle on his official’s son, Herod had more than adequate witness
about Christ. And yet he refused to believe. This officialprobably had heard
of Jesus’first miracle in Cana and also of the miracles that He had done in
Jerusalemat the feast.
But he probably never would have come to Jesus if it hadn’t been for this
personalcrisis: His son was sick and at the point of death (4:47). He probably
had soughtall of the physicians in Capernaum, but they had not been able to
help. So in desperation, the man makes the 15-20-mile walk from the north
shore of the Sea of Galilee up to Cana to find Jesus. The verb tense that John
uses indicates that he was repeatedly imploring Jesus to come down and heal
his son. Every parent who has had a very sick child knows the anxiety that
this father was feeling.
God often uses the crises in our lives to getus to seek Him in ways that we
never would have done if the crisis had not occurred. But we need to
understand that seeking the Lord in a crisis is not automatic. Many curse God

and grow bitter when trials hit. We should follow this man’s example by
seeking the Lord when trouble strikes.
Probably the man was fairly well-off, but his positionand his money could not
save the life of his son. All of us, whether rich or poor, will face afflictions and
eventually death. Being young does not guarantee many more years of life.
This young boy was dying. The story shows our helplessnesswithout God. The
time to seek Him is now, when you have the opportunity, not later.
Jesus’reply to this man’s desperate cry for help seems harsh (4:48): “Unless
you people see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe.” But Jesus
knew that the man was not seeking Him because he wanted to worship Him or
follow Him for who He is. He wasn’tcoming as a sinner seeking forgiveness
and eternallife. Rather, he was like the soldier in the foxhole. He desperately
needed immediate help. And so Jesus’rebuke, which as I saidwas directed
both at the man and at the Galileans who were there, was a gracious rebuke
intended to help the man see his greaterneed. Jesus wantedhim to move from
his foxhole faith to genuine saving faith. We should learn that the Lord never
rebukes us to hurt us, but always for our good, so that we might grow in faith
and holiness.
Note also that the man’s faith at this point was quite limited. He thought that
Jesus had to make the journey to Capernaum in order to heal his son. And it
never occurredto him that even if his son died, Jesus could raise him from the
dead. But it was sincere faith, even though limited. He didn’t try to convince
Jesus that he was worthy of this miracle because he was a royal officialor a
man of means. He didn’t take offense at Jesus’rebuke. He just pathetically
cried out (4:49), “Sir, come down before my child dies.”

Before we leave this point, even those of us who have believed in Christ as
Savior need to look in the mirror. All too often, we’re just like this royal
official. We don’t pray unless we’re in a crisis. We keepJesus onthe shelf, like
Aladdin’s lamp. When we need Him, we pull Him off the shelf, try to rub Him
the right way, and ask for His help. But after the difficulty passes,we put Him
back on the shelf and geton with life virtually without Him.
But Christ wants to be worshiped as Lord, not used as Aladdin’s lamp. He
wants us to believe in Him for who He is and to fellowshipwith Him at all
times. He doesn’t just want us to seek Him when we need something or we’re
in a jam. Any father can identify with this. What if your son only talkedto
you when he needed money or wanted to borrow your car? Well, that’s better
than no communication at all. But it would be far better to hear, “Dad, I love
you because you’re such a wonderful father.” And it would be nice if he
wanted to talk to you at times when he didn’t need anything, just because he
liked being with you.
The story moves from foxhole faith to the next stage:
2. Initial faith in Christ’s promise: When we cry out to Him in our desperate
need, we either must take Him at His word or not (4:50).
As I said, the man had it fixed in his mind that Jesus had to accompanyhim
back to Capernaum to heal his son. Often, we have a preconceivedidea of how
the Lord must work to solve our crisis. Jesus couldhave gone with the man
and healedthe boy in his presence. He did this with Jairus’ daughter when He
raisedher from the dead (Luke 8:41-56). That would have been more
dramatic, but it wouldn’t have developed the man’s faith.
So, instead, Jesus puts the man in a curious dilemma: The man said, “Come!”
but Jesus said, “Go;your sonlives.” By doing this, Jesus forcedthe man to

believe without a sign. Either he had to doubt the word of the One in whom he
had placedall of his hopes for his son’s recovery, or he had to believe Him and
go. So Jesus very skillfully drew this man into a deeper level of faith: Faith in
Christ’s promise or word.
Here, the man has nothing but Jesus’“bare word” to go on, but John reports
(4:50), “The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started off.”
Note that the Lord answeredthe man’s desire (to heal his son), but not his
request (to come down to his house). So the man had to put aside his
expectations ofhow Jesus would work and just take Him at His word.
This story reminds us of the story of the Syrian army captain, Naaman, who
had leprosy (2 Kings 5:1-19). His servant girl, a Jewishslave, told him about
Elisha the prophet, who could cure him of his leprosy. He was desperate, so he
put togethera nice rewardand went to the prophet. He expectedElisha to
come out to him, stand and call on the name of the Lord, wave his hand over
him, and heal him. But instead, Elisha didn’t even come out of the house. He
sent his servant out to tell this important man to go and washin the Jordan
River seven times and his leprosy would be cured. Naamanwas furious. This
wasn’t what he expected. Besides, the rivers in Syria were better than the
lousy Jordan. So he went away in a rage.
But then his servants appealed to him and said (2 Kings 5:13), “My father,
had the prophet told you to do some greatthing, would you not have done it?
How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” So
Naamanwent and dipped himself seven times in the JordanRiver and was
cured of his leprosy. He believed the word of the prophet, obeyed, and was
healed.

J. C. Ryle points out that Christ’s word is as goodas His presence. He says
(Expository Thoughts on the Gospels [Baker], 4:254-255):
What Christ has said, He is able to do; and what He has undertaken, He will
never fail to make good. The sinner who has really reposedhis soulon the
word of the Lord Jesus, is safe to all eternity…. In the things of this world, we
say that seeing is believing. But in the things of the Gospel, believing is as good
as seeing.
So this royal official believes Christ’s word that his son was healedand he
demonstrates his faith by starting off for home. This leads to the third level of
faith:
3. Saving faith: When we come to understand who Jesus is, we trust Him
apart from His solving our crisis (4:51-54).
The official probably had to spend the night somewhere onhis return journey.
The following day, as he was on the way home, his slaves met him with the
wonderful news that his son was living. The man was no doubt overjoyed, but
he wanted to make sure that this wasn’t just a coincidence. So he askedthem
at what hour “he beganto getbetter.” They replied (4:52), “Yesterdayat the
seventh hour the fever left him.” Left is the same word used when the
Samaritan womanleft her waterpot. It wasn’tjust a slow, natural recovery. It
happened instantly. The man then knew that it was the same hour when Jesus
had spokenthe word, “Your son lives.” As a result, the man and his entire
household believed in Jesus.
At this point, he entered into a deeper faith in Christ’s person. C. H. Spurgeon
calls it the “full assuranceoffaith” (MetropolitanTabernacle Pulpit [Pilgrim
Publications], 6:249). His faith has grownfrom the initial foxhole faith when
he sought Christ to gethim out of a crisis, to the stronger faith of taking

Christ at His word, to this mature faith in Jesus for who He is, the Christ, the
Son of God. He and his family recognize that Jesus is no ordinary prophet,
but one who can speak the word and heal at a distance. He is God in human
flesh.
John Calvin (Calvin’s Commentaries [Baker], pp. 182-183)realistically
acknowledgesthatGod doesn’t often give us immediate answers to our
requests, as Jesus did to this man. But even then, we must trust that He has a
goodreasonfor His delays and that He waits for our good. Calvin applies this
by saying that while we wait, we should “considerhow much of concealed
distrust there is in us, or at leasthow small and limited our faith is.” Ouch!
But Calvin’s point is on target. How often I expectGod to answerin my way
and my timing; but when He doesn’t, I doubt His love or His care. I need to
trust that in His way and His timing, He will work all things together for my
good, even if I don’t see it in my lifetime.
Conclusion
I conclude with two other applications. First, if you have believed in Christ,
entreat the Lord for the salvation of your entire household. Throughout the
Book ofActs, as here, there is a sequence of entire households coming to
saving faith (Acts 11:14;16:15, 31; 18:8). It may not happen instantly with
your family, as in these cases. Butif the Lord has done wonders in saving your
soul, begin to pray for your family. Live a gospel-transformedlife in front of
them every day. Let them see the love of Christ in you. Ask the Lord to save
your family from their sins.
Second, if you have never believed in Jesus Christas your Saviorand Lord,
then you’re under the sentence of death—eternalseparationfrom God. But
just as Christ instantly granted life to this dying boy, so He will instantly give
you eternallife, if you will call on His name. You cannotdo anything to save
yourself, but Christ can and will save you if you cry out in faith to Him. This

sign was “written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Sonof
God; and that believing you may have life in His name” (20:31).
Application Questions
Is “foxhole faith” enoughto save a personor does he need to repent of his sins
and believe in Jesus as his sin-bearer?
Can we biblically promise miraculous healing to a personif he has enough
faith? If the person isn’t healed, is it due to a lack of faith?
What are some reasons that the Lord delays answers to our prayers? Are His
promises still goodwhen a sick child or loved one dies? How would you
counsela personin this situation?
Why is it crucial to come to believe in Jesus for who He is, rather than for
what He cando for us in life’s crises?
Copyright, Steven J. Cole, 2013,All Rights Reserved.
THOMAS CONSTABLE
Verses 51-53
His servants met him on his way back to Capernaum with goodnews. Jesus
had made His promise about1:00 p.m. the day before the officialmet his
servants. When he met them, he learned that his son"s conditionhad
improved significantly, not just begun to improve as he had expected, when
Jesus gave His promise. His recoverywas no accident. This resulted in his
believing in Jesus to an even deeper level, though he may not have understood
that He was the Sonof God. The members of his household believed in Jesus
too (cf. John 2:11; Acts 10:2; Acts 11:14;Acts 16:15; Acts 16:31;Acts 18:8).
He learned that Jesus" wordis powerful to save evenat a distance. His faith

grew from "crisis faith" ( John 4:47), to "confident faith" ( John 4:50), to
"confirmed faith" ( John 4:53), to "contagious faith" ( John 4:53). [Note:
Wiersbe, 1:303.]
Dr. S. Lewis Johnson
And finally we read in verse 53, when he found out that the son was healedat
the very hour that Jesus said, “Thy son liveth,” he believed and then he gave
testimony to the whole of his house and they believed too. That I suggestis not
faith in his power, not faith simply in his word, but faith in him and thus faith
in his powerand faith in his word is comprehended in that. He did the only
honest thing that a personcan do, he surrendered himself to him and faith
became a very personalthing to him.
Now pondering this I wonder if we canmake these further suggestions?Faith
in the powerof the Lord Jesus Christ does bring safety. The very fact that he
came to the Lord Jesus Christ and urged him to heal his son was a sufficient
for that healing to take place. Faith in the power of our Lord brought safety
for him. There’s an old story about Mr. Wesleythat I think is very interesting.
I’m not sure it’s true, but it is a documented story. One day when Mr. Wesley
had been having some difficulties, he had been discouraged, he was suffering
from some rather severe trials and feeling the need for a refuge in his own
time from his troubles, he was sitting by an open window. As he was looking
out over the beautiful fields in the springtime, presently he noticeda little bird
that was flitting about in the sunshine. It attracted his attention and he was
looking but just about that time a hawk swoopeddowntoward the little bird,
and the poor thing was very much frightened it was plain. He flew here and
there trying to escape the hawk and finally just flew right in through the open
window and lodgedup againstMr. Wesley’s bosomquivering from the fearof

the hawk, and it is said that he took up his pen and he wrote that sweethymn,
“Jesus loverof my soul let me to Thy bosom fly. That was the occasion.
Well, faith in our Lord’s power brings safety and we canbe sure that when we
appeal to him he does answerthat. But he would like for us to move beyond
faith in his powerto a faith in his word that brings assurance.Now I think this
man reachedassurance before he came home. Because we readin verse 51,
“as he was going down his servants met him and told him saying your son’s
living.” Now like any goodinterestedfellow who now has receivedthe benefits
of our Lord’s work he said, “When?” He wanted some more evidence of our
Lord’s work. “Whendid he get well?” Why they said to him “it was yesterday
at the seventh hour that the fever left him.” Now that is very interesting. Of
course he goes onto say that he knew that that was the very hour in which our
Lord had said to him, “thy son liveth,” and so that evokedthe final stage of
faith, the faith that brings total satisfaction.
But is it not strange that that man waited until the next day to go back to
Capernaum to see about his child? Would you not think if the Lord spoke to
him in the afternoonaround one o’clock andit would appearthat John
normally gives time according to Hebrew reckoning of time so the seventh
hour would be about one in the afternoon? Would it not be the normal thing
for an individual to geton his chariot or horse or whateverhe had or even
walk and go the twenty or twenty-four miles back to find out how his son was
if he was at the point of death? But this man evidently stayedover in the town
where he was.
Now of course, we don’t know, there may have been some things that
happened that made it impossible for him to go. He may have gone out, gotten
in his chariotand a wheel fallen off. Becausethey didn’t have five year
warranties in those days and they didn’t give any rebates, and so naturally the
wheels, wellthey were very much like American models I’m sure in those

days, but anyway something may have happened of course. Butso far as the
accountis concerned, evidently he stayedwhere he was and in a very leisurely
way went back because he must have been so confident that what our Lord
had happened had really happened, that he could feel safe and free to spend
the night before he made his way back to Capernaum. I suggestto you that
that suggeststhat this man had faith in his word that brought assurance.But
when he gotback and he found out that it had happened at the very hour that
Jesus had said, “Your son lives,” wellthen he went out having his faith to
reachits climax he went out and told his whole house and others no doubt
about what our Lord had done and how he had healedwith a word something
he had never anticipated before, he had actually healedwith a word. And he
himself was brought to a satisfiedfaith in the personof our Lord and he
carried his whole house with him into the new kingdom of God and of Christ.
He’s still a nobleman, he’s the son and companion of the King of kings and
Lord of lords, but oh what a nobleman he is now. What a magnificent story,
and what a call it is to us to exercise faithnot simply in the power of our Lord,
but in his word a faith that rises to confidence in him sufficient for all of the
experiences oflife. If you’ve never believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, we invite
you to come to trust in him. He has the mighty power to heal with a word, he
not only heals with a word, but he may heal at a distance, he may heal in your
life, he may bring you to the experiences oflife that glorify his name and that
magnify his name in your own personallife. Mostof all, he has offeredhimself
as a sacrifice for sin and by coming to him who offered the atoning sacrifice,
you may come to life in him and faith in him that brings a total and complete
satisfactionamid all the struggles and trials of life, even to have a son at the
point of death. May God help you to come, come to Christ, don’t leave this
meeting without faith in him.
[Prayer] Father we are so grateful to Thee for these wonderful incidents in the
life of our Lord in which we are brought face to face with the issues oflife,
trust in Thee and in Jesus Christ who thou hast sent. Deliver us Lord from

faithlessness to a faith in his power, in his word and ultimately in him. If there
are some here who have never believed, give them no rest or peace until they
rest in Christ. May they Lord like that little bird flee …
JOHN MACARTHUR
Saving Faith in a Herodian Household
Sermons John 4:46–54 43-24 Jun9, 2013
A + A - RESET
We come now to the Word of God and it is a privilege for us to hear the very
voice of God through His Word. Let’s open to the fourth chapter of John’s
gospel. We are wrapping up this fourth chapter, looking at the final segment,
the final story in chapter 4 from verses 46 to 54. It is a miracle story about
healing. It is designedas would be consistentwith John’s purpose, to
demonstrate the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ through His supernatural
power. But it is also a story about believing. It is a story particularly about
believing and what it means to believe.
Let me remind you of the story by reading it, starting in verse 46. Speaking of
our Lord Jesus, it says, “Therefore He came againto Cana of Galilee where
He had made the waterwine. And there was a royal official whose sonwas
sick at Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into
Galilee, he went to Him and was imploring Him to come down and heal his
son, for he was at the point of death. So Jesus saidto him, ‘Unless you people
see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe.’The royal official said to
Him, ‘Sir, come down before my child dies.’Jesus saidto him, ‘Go, your son
lives.’ The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and startedoff. As
he was now going down, his slaves met him saying that his son was living. So

he inquired of them the hour when he beganto getbetter. Then they said to
him, ‘Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.’ So the father knew
that it was at that hour in which Jesus said to him, ‘Your sonlives.’ And he
himself believed and his whole household. This is againa secondsign that
Jesus performed when He had come out of Judea into Galilee." The first sign:
the wedding at Cana, the miracle of making water into wine. This is the
second, the first recordedin John chapter 2.
This is a miracle story. Notunusual in the gospels. Matthew, Mark, Luke and
John are full of miracle stories. Jesus’ministry began in the south, in Judea,
the southern part of the nation Israel, and He did many miracles in Judea. In
fact, verse 45 says that when He came to Galilee, the Galileans receivedHim,
having seenall the things that He did in Jerusalemat the feast, for they
themselves also went to the feast. So around the Passover, downin the area
surrounding Jerusalem, Jesus had done many miracles. And, of course, atthe
Passoverseasonand the subsequent festival after the Passover, the Galileans
were there as they always were at this greatevent in the calendar year of
Israel, and so they saw the miracles of Jesus. He did them in Judea in the
beginning of His ministry. He did them in Judea at the end of His ministry.
And in the middle of that three-year period of ministry, for about sixteen
months or so, He was in Galilee and that’s where we find Him in verse 46. He
is in Galilee, verse 45 says, He came to Galilee, the Galileans receivedHim,
they receivedHim in the same way that the people of JerusalemreceivedHim,
as it says in chapter 2:23, they believed in Him as a miracle worker. They
receivedHim as a miracle workerbut you remember in John 2:23 to 25 it
said, “Jesusdidn’t commit Himself to them because He knew their hearts and
He knew that that kind of faith was a superficial faith. They believed in Him
as a miracle worker. And I want to establishthat that was universal. There is
nowhere in Matthew, Mark, Luke or John where the leadership who rejected
Him as Savior and MessiaheverquestionedHis miracle power.
No one ever questioned that. It was impossible to question that. The miracles
were too common, and too complete, and too unmistakably divine and there
were far too many of them to deny. And so it was that kind of receptionthat
we saw in chapter 2:23, the kind that Nicodemus gave Him. Nicodemus is an
illustration of someone who saw in Him a miracle workerand Nicodemus

said, “Nobodycando what you do unless Godis with him.” So that was the
same kind of attitude, the same level of belief that you find in Galilee. They
believed in Him as a miracle worker.
And I would just suggestto you that that’s a rather common wayto believe in
Jesus, to believe that He is a miracle worker. And there’s plenty of evidence,
of course, for that. He came and essentiallybanished disease from Palestine
for the duration of His ministry. The recordis contained in the gospels,the
four gospels, foranyone to read. There’s never been a successfuldetraction
from the testimony of the gospelwriters. There has never been an effective
assaulton the miracles of Jesus that has somehow beenable to debunk them
in any way because it’s just too obvious, too many eyewitnesses,too many
places, too many times, too many unique and differing events.
In fact, the miracles of Jesus were so ubiquitous that at the end of the gospel
of John, the very final statement, 21:25 says, “And there are also many other
things which Jesus did which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even
the world itself would not contain the books that would be written.”
So what you have is a very extensive recordof the miracles of Jesus in the
gospels, but that’s a drop in the bucket comparedto with what could have
been written and the details of which would have literally filled the world with
books. So here is one of those accounts ofone of those many, many miracles
that Jesus did. But this one specificallysuits John’s purpose because this is a
miracle about believing, about believing. In fact, that comes up in verse 48
where Jesus says, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you simply will
not believe.” Comes up in verse 50, “The man believed the Word that Jesus
spoke to him.” It reappears in verse 53 at the end, “He himself believed and
his whole household.” It is a story of a miracle but it is more than that, it is
about believing. And I simply remind you that the purpose for the writing of
the gospelofJohn, according to chapter 20 verse 31, is that you might believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that believing you might have life
in His name. So John’s gospelis the gospelof believing…the Greek word
believe, pisteuo is used about a hundred times in the gospel, and almostall of
those times it has to do with believing for salvation. John’s messageis against
the backgroundof Judaism which is a systemof religion like every other

system of religion in the world, that believes you gain heaven by something
you do. Oh faith is a part of it, but not all of it. These are work systems. They
had to do with ceremonies and rituals and routines and forms of morality and
obedience and kindness and gooddeeds. And the accumulatedeffectof the
goodness ofa personis what gains heaven. This is contrary to all of that, and
that, by the way, is inimitable to every false religious system on the planet.
There are only two kinds of religion that exist. One is the religion of human
achievement, and the other is the religion of faith, and that’s the true gospel.
Everything else is some mixture of believing and doing and that kind of
religion fills hell, populates hell. The only religionthat populates heavenis
that which is connectedto faith and faith alone, for by grace are you saved
through faith is Paul’s summation of that in Ephesians 2.
And we’ve already learned this in the gospelof John, chapter 1 verse 12, “As
many as receivedHim, to them He gave the right to become children of God.”
How do you become a child of God? By receiving Christ. What does that
mean? “Evento those who believe in His name.” Believing is receiving, fully
believing in His name. What do you mean His name? All that He is,
everything that is true about Him. That’s the idea of the use of name in the
language ofScripture. When God says, “Myname is I AM that I AM,” He
means My name is who I AM. And when you sayyou believe in the name of
Jesus Christ, that means to say that you believe in everything that He is and
does. You believe fully in all the gospel.
So, to become a child of God is simply a matter of believing in His name. In
the third chapter we saw it againin that familiar sixteenth verse, “ForGod so
loved the world He gave His only begottenSon that whoeverbelieves in Him
shall not perish but have eternallife.” It’s not connectedto works, rituals,
ceremonies, accomplishment, morality, goodness…it’s believing, believing. He
who believes…verse18…inHim is not judged. He who does not believe has
been judged already because he has not believe in the name of the monogenes,
the primary one, the supreme one who is the Son of God. John 3:36 ends the
chapter, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life. He who does not obey
the Sonwill not see life.” You believe, you have life; you fail to believe which is
an act of obedience because you’re commanded to believe, and you perish.

We find this emphasis all through the gospelofJohn, just a couple of other
illustrations. In the eighth chapter and verse 21, He said to them, Jesus did, “I
go away and you will seek Me and you will die in your sin. Where I’m going
you can’t come.” You’re not going to getto heaven. You’re going to die in
your sin, you’re going to perish.
Why is that the case?How is it that that will happen? That’s the question.
Verse 24, “Therefore I said to you, you will die in your sins for unless you
believe that I AM.” In other words, believe in who I AM, “You will die in your
sins.”
In the tenth chapter and the twenty-secondverse, this is so very foundational
to everything that is true about the Christian gospel. Chapter10 verse 22,
“The Feastof Dedicationtook place at Jerusalemin the winter. Jesus is
walking in the Temple in the portico of Solomon,” one of the porches inside
the Temple. “The Jews gatheraround Him,” these would be the leaders of
Israel, were saying, “How long will You keep us in suspense? IfYou’re the
Christ, tell us plainly.”
“Jesus answeredthem, ‘I told you and you do not believe. The works that I do
in My Father’s name, these testify of Me.’” What else canI do? I’ve done all
these works, eliminating disease, casting out demons, doing natural miracles,
raising dead people. You will not believe, that’s the problem. Verse 26, “You
do not believe because youare not of My sheep. My sheephear My voice, I
know them. They follow Me and I give eternallife to them and they will never
perish, and no one will snatchthem out of My hand.”
You don’t believe. My sheephear Me and they believe. You refuse to believe.
You will die in your sins, you will perish. This is repeatedlythe messageofthe
gospelof John, believe and die, and perish, forever in hell. Disbelieve and die
and perish forever in hell. Believe in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and
spend forever in the glory of heaven. Eternal salvationcomes to those and
only those who believe in the full true person and work of Christ, the true
gospel, not a truncated gospel, not a superficial gospel, nota shallow gospel,
not an inadequate gospel, not a false gospel, but the true gospel…the true
gospel.

A very instructive text on this, just to look at for a moment, would be the
eleventh chapter of Hebrews. Turn to that chapter because the eleventh
chapter of Hebrews is the faith chapter in the Bible and we have here an
important definition of what it means to believe. You know, it’s very popular
to say today I’m a believer, I believe, I have strong beliefs, I’m a person of
faith. Sometimes people say, “I’m very spiritual,” meaning they believe in
certain things. And when we talk about believing in something, we canbe
talking in very nebulous sort of intuitive self-designedand devised kind of
notions. But that is not how the Bible describes saving faith.
First of all, verse 38, the end of chapter 10, quotes that greatOld Testament
principle of Habakkuk 2:4, “The just shall live by faith. It’s always been that
way. Salvationwas always by faith, never by works in the Old Testamentor
the New…the just shall live by faith. And here it is repeatedin verse 38 by the
writer of Hebrews. “My righteous ones shall live by faith.” Verse 39, “We’re
not of those who shrink back to destruction but of those who have faith to the
persevering of the soul.” You come to the truth, you either have faith in it to
the salvationof your soul, or you walk awayfrom it and you literally shrink
back to destruction.
What kind of faith are we talking about here? Well it’s defined for us in the
next verse, chapter 11 verse 1. “Now faith is…now faith is,” here’s the
definition, okay? “It is the assurance ofthings hoped for, the conviction of
things not seen.” So we know right awayfaith involves something we don’t
have and faith involves something we can’t see. You remember when I read 1
Peter1 it says that we love Christ but we’ve not seenHim. We don’t see Him
now. “But having not seenHim, we love Him.” Faith involves something not
yet attained, something not seen. That’s faith.
If you just took that, you could be misled because there are lots of things in
life for which we exercise faith, things that we can’t see, things that we hope
for, things that we aren’t sure about. I just went through a surgery on my
hand, they put me to sleep. That’s the last thing I know. I do know the doctor
wrote a big happy face on my right hand and put “yes” so he didn’t do
something to my left hand. I trusted he could find the happy face in the OR.
We all know the story about the people who had the wrong leg cut off. Human

faith…look, human faith has two components. One is, it’s basedon
experience…it’s basedon experience. In other words, you know that that
usually goes right. It’s like when you go to a restaurant, you look at the menu
and you eatwhat they give you, you have no idea who’s in the kitchen or what
they’re doing. You assume that this is what you ordered and it’s safe.
Why? Because people do it all the time and it generallyis. But it isn’t always
safe. We’ve all had food poisoning and we’ve all seenthose terrible reports on
the news about what people in the kitchen are doing to the food before they
serve it. But experience tells us that it…you can trust this but sometimes it’s
wrong…sometimesit’s wrong. And sometimes it’s fatally wrong. Some people
go into surgery and they never come out. Some people are taking in things to
their body that they think would be okayfor them and it kills them. We
understand that.
We’re not talking about that kind of faith. We’re not kind of talking about a
human kind of faith basedupon a repeated experience. We’re talking about
something for which you have had no experience. You are putting your
eternal destiny in the hands of the Lord Jesus Christand you have never done
that before. You don’t have that experience to build on.
So why do you do that? Why would you say no to your sin, no to your own
ambition, no to your ownwill, no to everything that you cherish and
everything you want to do? No to all the things that delight your fallen nature
and embrace Christ fully? Why? Well, because that’s the only wayto getto
heaven. You haven’t seenheaven. You don’t know anything about heaven
other than what’s revealedin the Scripture. You…contrary to what you read
in silly books, people don’t go to heaven and come back. You’re…you’re
taking a stepthat is the most serious stepyou’ve ever takenin your life and it
literally is your life now and forever and you have no experience. So you
better be sure this is a move that you really want to make. You need to know
that it’s not going to go wrong. And that’s what verse 1 is saying…faithis the
assurance, faithis the conviction…Iwant to talk about those two
words…faithis assurance, and faith is conviction.

What do you mean assurance?The Greek wordhupostasis literally to stand
under, foundation, it speaks ofa foundation. You’re sitting on a concrete
foundation. It’s not subject to whim. It’s not subjective. It’s objective. It’s
concrete, it’s full of rebar. So we believe in something that is absolutely firmly
establishedand concrete. Whatis that? The Word of God, right? The Word of
God. We believe in the promises of God. We believe in the commands of God.
We believe in the truth of God as revealedin Holy Scripture. So when we talk
here about the assurance ofsomething hoped for, it’s not assurance in a
subjective sense. It’s not some personalfeeling or intuition. Faith is the
foundation, the concrete certaintyabout truth which comes down then to the
truth of the Word of Godwhich then focuses onthe reliability of the
gospel…the reliability of the gospel, the truth of the gospelcontainedin
Scripture. We’re talking about a certainty.
And although we haven’t been to heavenand back, the One who dwells in
heaven has sent us full and complete and accurate information about it.
Everything we need to know is revealedon the pages of the reliable Word of
the living God. And so it is a firm, certain, concrete assurance in which we
believe, and that then leads us to the secondword, conviction…conviction.
Conviction goes right alongside assurance, conviction. Thatmeans something
that we hold to with absolute commitment.
So when we talk about believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, this is not pie in the
sky, this is not some kind of esoteric feeling, this isn’t some Jesus ofour own
imagination. This is to we believe in the absolute veracity and reliability of
Holy Scripture and the gospelcontainedin that Scripture, to the point that we
will bank our everlasting life on the truth of Holy Scripture and it becomes for
us the dominating conviction that drives our living and informs our hope.
That’s the kind of faith we’re talking about, a real faith in truth as revealedin
Scripture that focuses onthe person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now we are all called to believe that gospeltruth, basedon that firm
foundation producing that strong conviction. Not to do so is the ultimate
human tragedy and it is an eternal tragedy at that because everyone willlive
forever in consciousness, conscious joyor conscioustorment. John then takes
up the issue of believing as the issue of all issues, believing in the name of the

Lord Jesus Christ and all that He is, building your life in time and eternity on
the firm foundation, on the conviction that Holy Scripture containing the
gospelis absolutelytrue…absolutely true.
Earlier in the book of Hebrews, and this might be instructive for us for just a
moment, people are warned by the writer of Hebrews about the danger of
coming to the edge of believing and walking back. Look at chapter 2 verse 2,
we read, “If the Word is spokenthrough angels,” that refers to the Law of
Moses,“the Word spokenthrough angels proved unalterable and every
transgressionand disobedience receiveda just penalty,” and that was the
nature of the Mosaic Law, you break it and you’re punished. If that, if
violating the Law of Moses hadthat kind of consequence, how will we escape
if we neglectso greata foundation. If they didn’t escape who broke the Law of
Moses,how will we escape if we ignore the gospelof salvation. It was first
spokenthrough the Lord, and confirmed to us by those who heard. What does
that mean? The Apostles. And how was it confirmed? God testifiedby signs
and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit according to
His own will.
So the gospelcame, Jesus spokeit, the Apostles spoke it, and it was attested
and confirmed by miracles. Jesus wasn’tthe only one who did the miracles.
Do you remember? He delegatedthe powerto the Apostles who healedthe
sick and raisedthe dead as well. How will you escape the judgment of God if
you neglectsucha salvation which was confirmed to us through signs and
miracles. That’s why the gospelrecords are full of those signs. It just puts you
on notice of the dangeryou live in if you rejectwhat has been confirmed.
Chapter 4 and verse 1 and 2 warns about failing to enter in to that salvation
rest, coming short of salvationrest. And then verse 2 describes why, “For
indeed we have had goodnews preachedto us, just as they also. But the Word
they heard did not profit them because it was not united by faith in those who
heard, for we who have believed enter that rest…enterthat rest.” It’s a matter
of believing and so they are warned. You have heard the Old Testament, he’s
telling these Hebrews, you have heard concerning Christ the fulfillment of the
Old Testament. You have heard of all the miracles proclaimed by those who
were there. You know the apostolic testimony. If you walk awayfrom this,

you enter into the severestjudgment. Chapter 6 repeats it againin verse 4. If
you’ve been enlightened, tasted the heavenly gift, made a partakerof the Holy
Spirit, tastedthe goodWord of God, the powers of the age to come, all of that
describes the ministry of Jesus and the Apostles. If you’ve been exposedto all
of that and then fallen away, turned your back and walkedaway, it’s
impossible to renew you againto repentance because ifyou rejectedwith that
full revelation, you’re now guilty of crucifying the Son of God and putting
Him to open shame. Don’t walk away, don’t come all the way to the full
revelation in Christ, turn your back and walk away. That is deadly dangerous.
One more, chapter 10 verse 26, “If you go on, or if we go on sinning willfully,
that’s unbelief, the ultimate and damning sin, if we go on sinning willfully
after receiving the knowledge ofthe truth, there no longerremains a sacrifice
for sins.” All that remains is an expectation, a terrifying expectationof
judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. And then
he goes back to the comparisonwith the Law. “Anyone who set aside the Law
of Moses, dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How
much severerpunishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled
underfoot the Son of God and has regarded as unclean the blood of the
Covenantby which He was sanctifiedand has insulted the Spirit of grace. For
we know Him who said, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.’” And verse 31,
“It’s a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of a living God.” You don’t want
to know the truth, be brought all the way to the truth, turn your back and
walk away. You will receive the most severe punishment.
Now let’s take that concept, go back to John 4 and think about it in
connectionto the nation Israel: Judah, Judea and Galilee. Theyhad the Old
Testamentso they had the revelation of God speaking ofthe coming Messiah.
They not only had the revelation, what the prophets wrote, what I read you
from Peterwhat the prophets wrote and searchedto see aboutthe sufferings
and glories of the Messiahto come, they had that revelation. They also had the
fulfillment of that revelation. John said, “Beholdthe Lamb of God who takes
awaythe sin of the world.” The Messiahcomes. There’s a…there’sa
completion of all the Old Testamentprophecies in Christ. So they have the
Old Testamentand they have the completion in the New Testament

concerning Christ. In addition, they have all the miracles, all the miracles
attesting to His deity. That is the complete revelation.
Let me give you a way to look at that that takes youback through John. In
chapter 1, Jesus metsome of the disciples of John the Baptist. John had said,
“There’s the Lamb of God, go follow Him,” so they did. He never did a
miracle for them, and they believed in Him as their Messiah. Why? They had
the Old Testamentknowledge. Theyhad a complete Old Testament
knowledge. All they were waiting for was the fulfillment. And when the
Messiahcame, they believed in Him. No miracles…no miracles.
Then you come to the woman at the well and the village of Sychar, all of those
Samaritans. No miracles, they had some knowledge ofthe Old Testament, the
Pentateuch. They had some idea of Messiah. Jesus gave them more. He spent
two days with them explaining more about the Old Testament, more about it
and they believed…againno miracles. Yes He demonstrated divine
knowledge, but there were no miracles. It was enoughfor the first disciples to
see that Jesus was the fulfillment of the Old Testament. It was enoughfor the
Samaritans to have the full understanding of the Old Testamentfilled out and
then see that Jesus was the fulfillment of the Old Testamentand they were
redeemed, they were believers. They believed.
But when it came to the rest of Israel…Judahand Galilee…theyfit in to verse
48. “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe.”
You’re so stubborn that even though it is clearthat I am the fulfillment of the
Old Testament, that I am the only one who could fulfill the Old Testament
detail by detail, and He manifested that all the way through to His
resurrection, you demand more and more signs and wonders. Thatis the
deepestkind of unbelief. And by the way, when unbelief rejects the light, the
darkness deepens. Now everyheart, Romans 1, every heart, every human
being has the light of the knowledge ofGod. His Law is written in the heart,
Romans 2. Conscienceactivatesthat knowledge ofthe Law and convicts the
sinner, the Law of God written in the heart, Romans 2. Romans 1, “That
which may be knownof Godis manifest in them, God has placed it in them.
That’s the light of the knowledge ofGod that every paganin every cornerof
the planet has. But when you rejectthe light, the darkness deepens and

deepens and deepens and deepens and deepens. When you come all the way to
the full light and turn around and walk away, you cannot be renewedto
repentance because yourejectedwith full revelation. That’s where Israelwas.
So here in this little passagethat I read you in John, we have an illustration of
what was very unusual. Someone actually being saved. Look at the end of the
ministry of Jesus in Judea, there were 120 gatheredin the Upper Room. At
the end of the ministry of Jesus in Galilee, according to 1 Corinthians 15:6,
there were five hundred. That’s all out of the multiple tens of thousands,
hundreds of thousands that lived in the land of Israel and Jesus crisscrossed
every aspectof that land. They had the Old Testament. Theyhad the
fulfillment. They had the signs and He said, “You still will not believe. It
comes down to believing. But here is an illustration of belief and how one man
believed and the process involved in that faith.
Let’s look at him and meet him in verse 46. This will take just a few minutes
to buzz through. “He came againto Cana of Galilee where He had made the
waterwine,” back in chapter2. “There was a royal officialwhose son was sick
at Capernaum.” Royal officialBasilikos, This was somebodywho was an
official of the king. There was only one king in that part of the world and that
was the king of Galilee and Perea, anIdumaean Herod Antipas who was the
son of Herod the Great, who was the Idumaean non-Jewishruler of that part
of the world. The Jews didn’t like him. He was a vassalking that servedthe
purposes of Rome and ruled as a petty tyrant. He was a very evil bad man.
You remember John the Baptist denounced him for marrying his brother’s
wife and getting involved in incest. And then you remember in a drunken orgy
one night this daughter of his wife did a dance and he said, “I’ll give you
anything you want.” And she wantedthe head of John the Baptist on a
platter. He’s a bad man…Herod. He’s afraid of Jesus. He was afraid of John
the Baptist. In fact, when Jesus startedministering, he thought John the
Baptist that he beheadedcame back from the dead to get him. And by the
way, in the entire ministry of Jesus, there was one town in Galilee Jesus never
went to, Tiberius…never…one time, the home of Herod. Herod wanted Him
dead. Herod was afraid of Him. Bad man.

Here’s a royal officialconnectedto Herod…Herod Antipas, the ruler of
Galilee and Perea. He has a sonwho is sick at Capernaum. Capernaum is the
lake town at the north end of the lake, the Sea of Galilee as it’s called. He has
a son. He believes this. He believes Jesus is a miracle worker. He believes what
the restof the people in Galilee believe. And what do they believe? Verse 45,
“He came to Galilee, the Galileans receivedHim, having seenall the things
that He did in Jerusalemat the feastfor they themselves also went to the
feast.” WhenHe was at the feast, He did miracles. John 2:23, “Now whenHe
was in Jerusalemat the Passoverduring the feast, many believed in His name,
observing His signs which He was doing.” They believed but superficially.
Remember that? He didn’t trust Himself to them for He knew all men. And
because He didn’t need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself
knew what was in man.
In other words, they had a superficial faith. What did they believe? They
believed He could do miracles, period, paragraph. Nicodemus was one of
them. Nicodemus said, “Nobodycan do what You do unless God is with him.”
Nobody can do these signs that You do unless God is with Him. That’s what
they believed. So that was the popular idea. They believed Jesus was a miracle
worker. That’s true and that’s a starting place, but that better not be the
ending place. And here’s a man who like Nicodemus believed Jesus was a
miracle worker. Here is a man who caught the wind and look, Capernaum
was the headquarters of Jesus’miracle ministry in Galilee. You read
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, you’re only going to find a couple of
miracles in John done in Galilee, but myriads of them are recordedby the
other writers. Massive miracles going onin Galilee and centeredat
Capernaum.
So here’s where the royal official was. In fact, Capernaum had so many
miracles that in Matthew 11:24, Jesus saidabout that city that if Sodom had
seenwhat Capernaum seen, it would still be around…it would still be around.
It will be worse for Capernaum in the time of judgment then for the wretched
homosexualcity of Sodom. Hell will be hotter for the Capernaum people than
the Sodomites becauseofwhat they saw of the miracles of Jesus. So this is His
town. So He knows there’s a miracle workernamed Jesus. Whenhe heard
that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee and He had a sixteen-month or

so ministry in Galilee, he sent to Him…we don’t know exactly when this
happened during His Galileanministry, but after He had done enough
miracles at Capernaum for him to know He was a miracle worker, he comes
to Him. Okay, that’s going from Galilee up to Cana of Galilee from
Capernaum, the Sea of Galilee in the low country and lake side, all the way on
the back side of Nazareth, that’s got to be sixteen-seventeen-eighteenmiles
uphill walking. He comes a long distance and when he arrives at Jesus, he is
imploring, steadfastlypleading with Him to come down…down the hill all the
way back to Capernaum and heal his son because his sonis at the point of
death.
Now this is very often what moves someone from this rather philosophical
view of Jesus that says, “Look, I’m not denying He’s a miracle worker, I’m
not denying His power, His supernatural power, everybody saw it, nobody
denied it, nobody tried to deny it. But what moves a man from having a sort of
detachedview of Jesus as a miracle worker, to moving a much more closelyto
the reality of who He is is desperation. And that’s still true…that’s still true.
You know, Jesus put it this wayin Matthew 9 when He said, “The people who
aren’t sick aren’t looking for a doctor. It’s desperationthat drives people and
it drove this man…it drove this man, this royal officialunder hated Herod to
come to Jesus and to beg Him to give life to his son. The royal officialsaid to
Him…again in verse 49…’Sir, come down before my child dies.’” So he
believed that He could healpeople. He didn’t necessarilybelieve He could
raise dead people. He has a belief in Jesus as a miracle worker. We could call
it a sort of fearing faith, a kind of faint faith. He’s like the man, you
remember, who said in Mark 9, “Lord I believe, help my unbelief.” It’s a
partial faith. He believes that He’s a miracle workerbecause there’s plenty of
evidence of that. And it was Jesus, youknow, who said, “Unless you people see
signs and wonders, you simply will not believe.” So this is what that is.
You…you believe, you believe I’m a miracle worker. That’s fine, that’s true.
That’s not enough.
But Jesus acceptedthat faith because He did miracles to bring people to that
initial step. That’s a place to start. Somebody might suggest, “Wellwhy would
Jesus accommodate that kind of superficial faith?” Because allfaith has to
start somewhere, doesn’tit? Why do you think He did the miracles? So the

people would draw this conclusionthat He was a miracle workerand make
the necessaryconnectionthat this is supernatural which they also made and
then go from there to the next steps.
Jesus then responded to the man’s plea. Said to him, “Go, your son lives.” At
that very moment that son’s body was instantaneously, miraculously healed.
And something also happened to the father. Verse 50, “The man believed the
Word that Jesus spoke to him and startedoff.” At first he believed Jesus was
a miracle worker, he believed in His works. Now he believes in His words.
Many times in the gospelof John you’re going to hear that, “Believe Me for
the works, believe Me for the words.” Jesus was notonly a miracle worker, He
was truth teller. Everything He said pointed to His deity. “Nevera man spoke
like this man,” they said about Him. So this man is moved from believing in
the powerof Jesus to believing in the truth of Jesus, in the words of Jesus, the
trustworthiness of what He said. This is essential. It’s wonderful to read the
gospelaccountand see Jesus as a miracle worker. But you’ve gotto get
beyond the works to the words, right? Becausethe works have no saving
power, the words have the saving power and the man believed the word that
Jesus spoke to him. And he startedoff.
As he was now going down, his slaves met him saying that his son was living. I
mean, full of life. So he inquired of them the hour when he began to get better.
And they said to him, “Yesterdayat the seventh hour the fever left him, the
seventh hour.” There’s a big discussionabout whether that’s Jewishtime
which starts at 6 A.M. and makes it one o’clock, orwhether it’s Roman time
at noon and makes it seveno’clock.
But that’s not the point. The point is now what time was it. The point was
what time was it when the healing happened so he could connectthat with the
words of Jesus. And they said the seventh hour, so the father knew that it was
at that hour in which Jesus saidto him, “Your son lives.”
Now it says, “He himself believed.” Well wait a minute. He already believed,
what do you mean he himself believed? Well this is a very emphatic statement
that it’s got an emphatic pronoun in there, so his faith has gone to another
level. And not only that, he himself believed and his whole household. Well

you’ve heard that biblical language before, haven’t you? Remember the
Philippian jailor, he believed and his whole household. Now we’re talking
about not believing Jesus is a miracle worker, and not believing in His works
and then believing in His words, but believing in His person…believing in the
name of Christ. I think somewhere in the encounter with this man, Jesus filled
in the blanks of who He was, of His person. It simply says, “He himself
believed.” But he already believed? Yeah, he believed He was a miracle
worker. That’s not enough. Yeah he believed His words were true, that that’s
not enough. Now he believed in His person…in His name, in the fullness of
who He is along with His whole household. So you had a village saved in
chapter 4, in the beginning of the chapter. Now you have a household saved.
That could mean kids, wife, in-laws and even servants. Salvationcomes to the
house of a Herodian. Rememberthe Herodian court, one of those called
Herodians in Matthew 22:16, hated by the Jews. So Samaritanvillage and a
Herodian house. And this is to remind us of verse 42 that He is the Savior of
the world. He’s the Savior of the world. Not just different nations, like Jews
and Gentiles, Samaritans illustrating the Gentiles. Notjust different races but
different ranks. He savedsome fishermen in chapter 1. He savedan immoral
woman who was a half-breed in chapter 4. Eventually he saveda high level
erudite JewishPharisee,Nicodemus, andhere He saves the householdof some
Herodians. This again reminds us that the gospelis to the world. Whoever
believes will not perish but have everlasting life.
What are we talking about when we say, “Put your faith in Christ. Believe in
the Lord Jesus Christand you’ll be saved?” Believe in Him as a miracle
worker. Believe His works to be the very works of God. No one cando what
He did except God is with him. Believe His words to be the very words of God.
When He spoke, Godspoke. More than that, believe in His full personas the
Son of God. And that’s the purpose of John, “These things are written that
you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that believing
you might have life in His name. That day, that little family and household
had life in His name. And not long after this, of course, months…He carried
the full weight of their punishment on the cross and died for all their sins,
providing a full atonement.

Where are you on that line? Pretty hard to deny Jesus was a miracle worker,
really impossible, really contrary to history. Impossible to deny that His
words were divine, supernaturally. No one ever heard anyone speak like He
spoke. That’s one of the things you find when you study the gospels andyou
study the words of Jesus. They’re just obviously transcendentand divine.
But that’s not enougheither. You can call Him the greatestworkerthat ever
lived. You cansay He’s the greatestteacherthat ever lived. That’s not
enough. You have to believe in His person as a Son of God and the Savior of
the world, believing in Him in that full sense ofwho He is and what He came
to do is the only way to have eternal life. It’s a gift God gives to those who
believe in His Son.
Father, we againcome before You at the end of this wonderful time together
in service, ministry, worship, fellowship. Thankful for the simple
straightforwardmessage ofthe gospelthat we don’t have to achieve
something to have eternal life. It is a gift, it comes to those who simply believe.
But we also have been warned againof the tremendous horrific danger of
knowing the truth and not believing. How will we escape who neglects so great
a salvation? How much severerpunishment shall he be thought worthy who
tramples underfoot the blood of the covenant, does despite to the Spirit of
grace? It’s a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
So, Lord, I just pray that there would be those who have been brought to
understand the truth concerning Christ and the fullness of who He is, and that
they would come to believe that You would grant them the gift of faith. We
know it is a divine gift and yet we know the sinner is commanded to believe.
So, Lord, awakenthe dead sinner, scatterand shatter the darkness and bring
faith, saving faith, for Your praise and Your glory we pray. Amen.
ALEXANDER MACLAREN

Verse 54
John
THE SECOND MIRACLE
John 4:54.
The Evangelistevidently intends us to connecttogetherthe two miracles in
Cana. His objectmay, possibly, be mainly chronological, andto mark the
epochs in our Lord’s ministry. But we cannot fail to see how remarkably these
two miracles are contrasted. The one takes place at a wedding, a homely scene
of rural festivity and gladness. But life has deeperthings in it than gladness,
and a Saviour who preferred the house of feasting to the house of mourning
would be no Saviour for us. The secondmiracle, then, turns to the darker side
of human experience. The happiest home has its saddenedhours; the truest
marriage joy has associatedwith it many a care and many an anxiety.
Therefore, He who beganby breathing blessing over wedded joy goes onto
answerthe piteous pleading of parental anxiety. It was fitting that the first
miracle should deal with gladness, for that is God’s purpose for His creatures,
and that the secondshould deal with sicknessesand sorrows, whichare
additions to that purpose made needful by sin.
Again, the first miracle was wrought without intercession, as the outcome of
Christ’s own determination that His hour for working it was come. The
secondmiracle was drawn from Him by the imperfect faith and the agonising
pleading of the father.
But the greatpeculiarity of this secondmiracle in Cana is that it is moulded
throughout so as to develop and perfect a weak faith. Notice how there are

three words in the narrative, eachof which indicates a stage in the history.
‘Except ye see signs and wonders ye will not believe.’ . . . ‘The man believed
the word that Jesus had spokenunto him, and he went his way.’ . . . ‘Himself
believed and his whole house.’
We have here, then, Christ manifested as the Discerner, the Rebuker, the
Answerer, and therefore the Strengthener, of a very insufficient and ignorant
faith. It is a lovely example of the truth of that ancient prophecy, ‘He will not
quench the smoking flax.’ So these three stages,as it seems to me, are the
three points to observe. We have, first of all, Christ lamenting over an
imperfect faith. Then we have Him testing, and so strengthening, a growing
faith. And then we have the absentChrist rewarding and crowning a tested
faith. I think if we look at these three stages inthe story we shall getthe main
points which the Evangelistintends us to observe.
I. First, then, we have here our Lord lamenting over an ignorant and sensuous
faith.
At first sight His words, in response to the hurried, eagerappealof the father,
seemto be strangelyunfeeling, far away from the matter in hand. Think of
how breathlessly, feeling that not an instant is to be lost, the poor man casts
himself at the Master’s feet, and pleads that his boy is ‘at the point of death.’
And just think how, like a dash of cold water upon this hot impatience, must
have come these strange words that seemto overleaphis case altogether, and
to be gazing beyond him-’Except ye see signs and wonders ye will not believe.’
‘What has that to do with me and my dying boy, and my impatient agonyof
petition?’ ‘It has everything to do with you.’
It is the revelation, first of all, of Christ’s singular calmness and majestic
leisure, which befitted Him who needed not to hurry, because He was

Jesus was timed and then believed

Jesus was timed and then believed

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