February 7, 2022

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.” The nobleman said to Him, “Sir, come down before my child dies!” John 4:46b-49

Jesus could see straight through to the heart of the matter. By this time in His ministry, the entire territory was saturated with evidence that Jesus was the Messiah. But this nobleman had set up a condition, a prerequisite before he would accept Him as the 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 those who asked for no miracle or sign: the Samaritans! The response that Jesus gave this Jewish nobleman may, on the surface, seem harsh. But never has even a single word from the lips of the Savior 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 weak, vacillating, conditional faith for its true character. 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 the power of life.

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 (prevailer with God). See Genesis 32:24-28.

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