John 4:46-50 46So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And there was an official whose son was ill in Capernaum. 47When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked in order that he might come down and heal his son, for he about to die. 48So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.”
The first place mentioned by name where Jesus went to in Galilee was Cana where he turned water into wine. The mention of the event from chapter 2 may not be arbitrary or accidental. The symbolism of the wedding feast and how the old water was replaced by the new wine provides the background for the theme of newness or renewal that appears in chapters 3 and 4. The theme challenges those who would not accept their “prophet” and Messiah as mentioned in verse 44. Jesus spent a lot of time in the area of Galilee. Capernaum was about 20 miles, or a day’s walk, from Cana. Word had spread around the area of Jesus’ healing ministry. John’s account of Jesus’ activities at that time is brief and only gives a few high points as signs or illustrations to help the reader come to believe in Jesus.
The next account is another dialogue Jesus had with someone who needed his healing touch. This story is similar to the one told in Matthew 8:5–13 and Luke 7:2–10 about the centurion’s servant. The man in John’s story was some type of official (basilikos), a term that can refer to someone working for a king. The king in that area was Herod Antipas. Not enough information is given to know what level of government or what position this man had, but he appears to have been someone of importance. When a child gets sick, it does not matter if you are king or slave, there will be concern and possibly desperation, like what this man had because his son was just about to die. Word about Jesus had gotten around enough that this official had heard about him and believed he could heal him.
Jesus’ response could be interpreted several ways. At first, it could be interpreted harshly and indifferently, as if Jesus was criticizing the man’s desperate plea. This interpretation is obviously wrong because that is out of character. Jesus always received those who came to him in faith. The second way to read this response is that Jesus was talking to the people of Galilee in a general way that echoes the earlier negative statement in verse 44. Not everyone believed in Jesus. Behind this statement also lies the fundamental choice John has given the reader between believing in Jesus and receiving life and healing or rejecting him and facing condemnation. Some of the people wanted to see obvious proof of Jesus’ divinity, but the proof was all around in the many miracles he had done. A third possibility is that this was a test of the man’s faith. Did he believe because of the miracles he heard about or what his faith in Jesus? Was he just coming to mock Jesus or was his faith genuine? People still respond to Jesus in the way of testing him: is he real, true, and everything the Bible claims him to be? Will we put our faith in him like this desperate father?
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