#29 Healing the Nobleman’s Son
Please first read: John 4:46-54; JST John 4:55-56
Jesus and
John the Baptist have both been preaching in the same general areas. John
is now in prison and has been telling his disciples and friends to follow Jesus. As
Jesus proceeds, the scriptures show a change in emphasis, from “repent and be
baptized,” to “repent, believe, believe the Gospel.”
It
appears that Jesus is now unattended by his first followers for a period of
time. He has now returned to his general home area of Galilee and things
are different. The first time he was received as the “carpenter’s son,”
accepted as untrained and unschooled in the finer points of the Law. Since
then there have been many witnesses and words about the miracle of wine at
Cana. Many Galileans also know of the marvelous works and miracles of
Jesus at the Feast in Jerusalem. He is now invited to preach in the
Synagogues and received with reverent attention.
The
nobleman’s father is obviously aware of Jesus and some of his
activities. We know the nobleman is a person with authority … possibly he
could be even a civil or military officer of Herod’s court, but that is
unknown. There may be a personal reason for him having faith that Jesus
could heal his son, or it may be a loving father reaching out as a last resort
to anything or anyone to save his son who is dying. We may reasonably
assume that other efforts to heal have been tried to no avail. From Cana
to Capernaum is about twenty miles, the father does not send a servant but
goes himself, he hopes to get Jesus to return with him immediately, which
would be a very strenuous journey of forty miles. His voice seems to
be one of faith as he pleads with the Lord to come with haste before the boy
dies.
Other
items of interest regarding this event:
There are
a number of recorded cases in Jewish history of seriously ill people being
healed by the faith and prayers of celebrated Rabbis. A devout Jew would
not be surprised at such an occurrence. The practice of laying on of hands
was practiced in Israel. The nobleman may have been aware of happenings such as
this and felt to exercise a bit of faith and seek help from such
source. What did he have to lose?
All who
saw this event take place witnessed the Lord’s authority … he did not have to
be geographically present to heal, or even speak about it; he merely said,
“go thy way.”
Jesus’
comment about seeking signs (John 4:48) would be lost on the nobleman. This was
the Lord again chastening the Jews for their demand for a sign before
believing. There is also a contrast here with the Samaritans who just
recently accepted him as the Messiah.
“Himself
believed, and his whole house.” (John 4: 53) The nobleman had slaves,
servants, and hirelings … in the society of that day, as the master believed
and decided so did the household.
Glenn R. McGettigan
November
2014
References:
“Our Lord
of the Gospels.” Clark
“Life and
Times of Jesus the Messiah.” Edersheim
“Doctrinal
New Testament Commentary.” McConkie
“Life and
Teachings of Jesus Christ.” Volume 1. Holzaphel
“Gospel
of John.” Volume 1. Brown
“Study of
the New Testament, the Four Gospels.” Ludlow
“Days of
the Living Christ.” Volume 1. Skousen
“Miracles
of Jesus the Messiah.” Howick
