Jesus Heals a Royal Official's Dying Son John 4:46-54

Yesterday we read about Jesus healing a young man whom He did not see or touch. Jesus was perhaps several hundred yards away from the centurion's young servant when He spoke His healing word. But today's story even tops yesterday's, because Jesus was about ten miles away from the governmental official's son when He healed him! Distance does not limit God's healing power. He can heal people from as far away as heaven!

This governmental official received the blessing he desired because he "believed Jesus' word" (John 4:50). Notice that he believed his son was healed before he had any evidence of it, other than Jesus' promise. It wasn't until the next day that he learned from his servants that his son had recovered. The Bible says that "faith...is the evidence of things we cannot yet see " (Hebrews 11:1, emphasis added). When we have a promise from God, that's all the evidence we need, because it's impossible for God to lie. We don't need to see something to believe it.

For example, although we can't see, feel, or hear them, we can be certain that there are TV waves in the air all around us, otherwise our TV sets wouldn't work. We can also be sure that there are angels all around us even though we've never seen them, because God's Word says, "The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and rescues them" (Psalm 34:7, NASB).

When we read this story closely, the faith of this governmental official becomes even more evident. His son was dying in Capernaum, but hearing that Jesus was back in Judea, he had to travel about ten miles to track Him down in Cana. Jesus pronounced his son healed around one o'clock in the afternoon (see John 4:52-53), so the man could have journeyed the ten miles back to Capernaum that same day. But it wasn't until the next day, before he arrived home, that he met some of his own servants who told him the good news about his son. So obviously, the governmental official trusted Jesus enough that he didn't rush home to see if His promise had actually come to pass! Resting in Jesus' promise, he apparently stayed overnight in Cana, and departed the next day for his home in Capernaum.

This is a good lesson for us to learn as well. People who trust God don't worry. They know the outcome of their present problems in advance, so they can rest in God's promises. God doesn't want us to be worrywarts!

Q. Is there anything you are worried about? If so, is there a promise in the Bible that you can believe so you can stop your worrying?

Q. Yesterday we read about Jesus healing a servant who belonged to a man who had several servants (see Matthew 8:9; Luke 7:8), which tells us that the man was wealthy enough to have servants. Today we read about Jesus healing the son of a man who was also wealthy enough to have several servants (see John 4:51). Why do you think Jesus helped people who had so much money?

A. Because God loves everyone, rich and poor. Additionally, we shouldn't assume that God is holding something against a person just because he's rich. There are many rich people in the Bible of whom God approved. They obeyed God with their money by blessing others. The centurion we read about yesterday apparently used some of his money to help the Jews build a synagogue.

Application: The final outcome of this healing miracle was that the official "and his entire household believed in Jesus" (John 4:53). Naturally, all of them were convinced that Jesus was the Son of God after witnessing the official's son being suddenly healed at the exact time when Jesus, ten miles away, said he would live. That ought to be enough to convince anyone!