Say the Word

John 4:46-53 English Standard Version

Three Keys to Believing for a Miracle:

1. Faith comes by hearing(John 4:46-47).

a. John 4:46 So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill.

i. This term translated “official” (Gk. basilikos) connotes royalty—the man may have been a member of the Herodian royal family or perhaps was a Roman royal official or adviser.[1]

b. John 4:47 When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.

i. Romans 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

2. Faith is strengthened by testing(John 4:48-49).

a. John 4:48 So Jesus said to him, “Unless you [plural] see signs and wonders you [plural] will not believe.”

i. Matthew 11:23 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.

b. John 4:49 The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.”

3. Faith takes Jesus at His Word(John 4:50-53).

a. John 4:50 Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way.

b. John 4:51 As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering.

i. The man’s journey probably would have been between eighteen and twenty-two miles depending on the exact route and site of the Cana encounter.[2]

ii. The official may have begun the seventeen-mile trip from Cana to Capernaum immediately and stopped overnight on the way, perhaps at Magdala. The servants would probably not have gone out with the good news until the next day, when the boy was safely out of danger.[3]

c. John 4:52 So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.”

d. John 4:53 The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” And he himself believed, and all his household.

Video Testimony

Psalm 107:20 He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction.

Gk. Greek [1] James M. Hamilton Jr. and Brian J. Vickers, John–Acts, ed. Iain M. Duguid, James M. Hamilton Jr., and Jay Sklar, vol. IX, ESV Expository Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2019), 101. [2] Gerald L. Borchert, John 1–11, vol. 25A, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996), 221. [3] J. Ramsey Michaels, John, Understanding the Bible Commentary Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2011), 82.