February 17, 2023

There was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe.” John 4:46b-48

Jesus saw straight through to the heart of the matter: “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe.” By this time in His ministry, the Galilean territory was saturated with evidence that Jesus was the Messiah. But this Jewish nobleman had set up a “prerequisite” before he would accept Jesus as Messiah: the fulfillment of his personal request.

How it must have inflicted pain in the heart of Jesus that so many of the very people selected to receive the Sacred Oracles failed to hear God’s voice speaking directly to them by His Son. How could Jesus not see the contrast between the Jews’ questioning unbelief and the simple faith of Samaritans who asked for no miracle or sign! The response that Jesus gave this Jewish nobleman may, on the surface, seem harsh. But not a single word from the lips of the Savior has ever been spoken with malice or unconcern.

Jesus recognized that the nobleman had a small measure of faith. After all, he had approached Jesus to request what was to him the dearest possible blessing: the restoration of the life of his dying son. But he did not consider that the Messiah desired a much greater blessing to bestow: salvation for him and his entire household, in addition to healing the child! The initial response of Jesus accomplished a great purpose: it laid absolutely bare the nobleman’s heart. In a flash, he saw his true character: his weak, vacillating, conditional faith; he saw his own selfish motives for seeking after Jesus and snapped to the realization that such a doubtful faith could cost him the life of his son. In an instant he recognized his own spiritual disease, and his next cry rang out fully on behalf of his son in full faith that only Jesus holds all the power of life. The nobleman said to Him, “Sir, come down before my child dies!” (v.49)

The soul that clings to Jesus is irresistible to Him! When Jacob, the heel-grabbing supplanter, wrestled all night with God—refusing to let Him go—his heart was miraculously regenerated and God gave him a new name: Israel, meaning one who prevails with God (Genesis 32:24-28). Above all else, beloved, cling to Jesus! And as you do, your miraculously regenerated heart will be enabled to see exactly where your priorities lay.

Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your son lives.” So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way. And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, “Your son lives!” Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better. And they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, “Your son lives.” And he himself believed, and his whole household. John 4:50-53