9.03.17 ~ John 4:43-54, Jesus’ Second Miracle in Galilee.

Read John 4:43-45... Jesus stayed 2 days with the Samaritans at Sychar,

because they wanted to hear Him speak. Remember last week (verses 39-42), many came out to Him from town because of what the woman (from the well) had said, but after hearing Jesus, they remarked that they believed no longer because of what the woman had said, but because they had heard for themselves and now believed He was the Savior of the world.

Although the Jews were Jesus’s primary focus in bringing the gospel, He went out of His way to bring the gospel to these Samaritans, in preparation for when the gospel would go out to them, as Jesus told His disciples prior to His ascension back into heaven (Acts 1:8), “you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Notice the proverbial statement that “a prophet has no honor in his own country.” As Jesus prepares to return to Galilee, the contrast is clear - the half- breed Samaritans received Him by faith as the Savior, but the Jews would continue to reject Him (John 1:11).

The Galileans now were not welcoming the Savior, but a miracle worker; only receiving Jesus because they wanted something from Him. They didn't care who Jesus really was or why He had come to the earth. However, Jesus knew that their faith was not sincere and He did not entrust Himself to them.

Matthew 13:57, “And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, "Only in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without honor."

Notice (John 4:45), it says that the Galileans welcomed [received] Him; but it was because of what He had done in Jerusalem. They had heard about the miracles, maybe even had seen some of them, and they now wanted Him to do miracles for them. Their welcoming Him was very shallow and superficial.

Read John 4:46-49... Jesus had now returned to the very place where He had done His first miracle, Cana in Galilee, where He had turned water into wine at a wedding, which was also attended by the disciples, Jesus’ mother and His brothers.

We are told about a royal official from Capernaum, a town in Galilee (about 16 miles from Cana). This official was probably serving as the governor of Galilee, under Herod Antipas (he was the one who had John the Baptist beheaded). Antipas was a son of Herod the Great (who had tried to have baby Jesus killed).

This official had come to find Jesus, (verse 47) he begged Him too come with him to Capernaum, in order to heal his dying son.

Jesus’ response about signs seems to be to all those who are listening, for He says to the official in verse 48, “Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders, you will never believe.” The plural form of “you” is used here, i.e., the official is most likely a Jew, but unlike the others, he is not interested in having Jesus do just any miracle, he desires Jesus to come and heal his son.

Israel’s unbelief and constant demand for more miracles is recorded throughout the gospels, as is Jesus’ rebuke to them (Matthew 12:39-40), “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (cf Luke 16:19-31).

Back to John 4:49... Although this official, by the rights of his position in the Roman government, could have legally commanded Jesus to come with him; he instead addresses Jesus (verse 49) as “Sir,” showing respect to Jesus. It is also worth noting here, that the official isn’t expressing an interest in salvation for himself, but instead he is desperate to save his son from whatever ailment has befallen him, and he believes Jesus can heal him, “[please] come down before my child dies.”

Read John 4:50-52... Notice Jesus’ doesn’t say to the man, “okay, I’ll go with you,” but His response is simply, “Go, your son will live [lit. your son lives, i.e., he is healed]. The man evidently believed what Jesus said to him, and he went on his way to Capernaum. This man expressed real faith, i.e., he believed in Jesus before seeing the miracle happen.

The NIV doesn’t say it (verse 50), but the man was going “down” from Cana to Capernaum (which is about 700 feet below sea level). Verse 51 tells us the servants [bondslaves] of the official were on their way from Capernaum to find him, as he meets them on the road and is told that his son has recovered [he was healed].

The official asks them what time his son began to feel better and they said that at about the 7th hour [1 pm] yesterday, the fever left the child. The official knew that was the same time he had been talking with Jesus, not that people had watches or carried sun dials, but it was an hour or more past high noon.

It is likely we are talking about a time frame of from 1-3 pm, when Jesus had told the man his son would live; and now it was after midnight [verse 52, yesterday, the seventh hour].
Read John 4:53... Wow! When the man realized that when Jesus said to him “your son lives,” he genuinely believed that Jesus was the Messiah; and notice the influence of his testimony of belief upon his whole household [servants and family members]; this is representative of what happen to the people in the village of the Samaritan woman we studied last week. The official’s household also believed in Christ.

We find the salvation of whole families throughout the book of Acts: A prominent Gentile in Caesarea told Peter of an angel’s message (Acts 11:14), “He [Peter] will bring you a message through which you and all your household will be saved.” Paul and Silas as prisoners set free by God’s angel, said to the jailer (Acts 16:31-34),

"Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved--you and your household. Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God-- he and his whole family.

Read John 4:54... This was the second miracle Jesus had performed in Galilee (the first at the wedding in Cana); and this is the second of the eight major signs that John records in his gospel, as proof that Jesus Christ is the Messiah.

This was not Jesus’ second miracle, for in John 2:23 we are told, “Now while He Jesus] was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs He was doing and believed in His name” (see John 4:45).

Do you remember what Nicodemus [the Teacher of Israel] said about Jesus’ miracles?

John 3:2, “He came to Jesus at night and said, ‘Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs You are doing if God were not with him.’”

John 20:30-31, “Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.”

Jesus’ first miracle, in Galilee, didn’t seem to cause anyone to come to faith in Him as the Messiah; but His second miracle in Galilee, where a royal official came to Him seeking to save his own son from death, ended with the official and his whole household being saved from eternal death, by believing in Christ.

How wonderful is Jesus the Lord, God our Savior (1Timothy 2:4), “who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth,” (2Peter 3:9), “not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance,” (Romans 6:23), “for the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord,” (Romans 3:21-24), “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus,” meaning (Acts 2:21), “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Pastor Mike <‘(((><