John 4:43–54

4:43–46 On the Third Day in Cana, Again. John now marks another transition with information about time, place, and people involved (vv. 43–46). Having related that Jesus stayed with the Samaritans two days (v. 40), John now states, “After the two days he departed for Galilee” (v. 43). This means that what takes place in this episode—the healing of a beloved son who was at the point of death—happens on a third day.

Verse 44 explains why Jesus now goes to Galilee: “For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.” Jesus has been identified as “of Nazareth” (1:45–46; cf. 7:27, 52), so the hometown in view is neither Bethlehem nor Jerusalem but Nazareth in Galilee. Why would the statement “a prophet has no honor in his own hometown” (4:44) be given as the explanation for this trip to Galilee? This move is in keeping with what we see from Jesus in the Gospel of John:

• He left for Galilee after his baptism by John and John’s testimony to him (1:43).
• He left for Galilee once the Pharisees had heard of his growing influence (4:1–3).
• He disappears into the crowd after the healing of the man at the pool of Bethesda (5:13).
• He withdraws when a crowd intends to make him king (6:15).
• He went to the Feast of Booths privately (7:10).
• He hid himself and avoided stoning (8:59).
• He is not to be found after healing the man born blind (9:12).
• He cannot be arrested (7:45–46; 10:39).
• The disciples think Jesus walks into certain death (11:16).
• Jesus does not move in the open (11:54–57).
• Again he hides (12:36).

None of this hiding happened because Jesus was afraid. Rather, Jesus hid because he had an appointed “hour” that was coming, and he sought to avoid conflict and unnecessary controversy before that hour had come. Nor, obviously, is Jesus seeking the easy way. Prophets are not honored in their hometowns. Jesus will go to his hometown nonetheless. Jesus did not seek to maximize his exposure. He did not seek the enthusiastic throngs. Jesus went where he would not be honored. In doing so he embraced the role of the servant: “He was despised and rejected by men, . . . and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not” (Isa. 53:3).

As briefly noted in the overview above, there are several points of contact between John 4:43–54 and John 2. In 4:45 we read of the Galileans’ receiving Jesus, with John adding that they had seen what Jesus did at the feast. This recalls 2:23–25, where those who saw the signs believed in Jesus, but he did not entrust himself to them. The connection between 4:45 and 2:23–25 colors the reception Jesus receives in Galilee. By reminding his audience of 2:23–25, John implies that the Galileans welcoming Jesus are not the kind of people to whom Jesus entrusts himself. This impression is immediately confirmed by the interaction between Jesus and the royal official in 4:46–48.

Verse 46 reports, “So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine,” overtly referencing 2:1–12. John likely points this out to draw attention to how the interaction between Jesus and the official is uncannily similar to the episode of turning water into wine. As there,

• a need is communicated to Jesus (4:47; cf. 2:3),
• but he initially rebuffs the petitioner (4:48; cf. 2:4).
• When the petitioner responds in faith (4:49; cf. 2:5),
• Jesus gives a command that is obeyed (4:50; cf. 2:7–8),
• at which point the need is met (4:51–52; cf. 2:9–10).
• These are then identified as the first and second signs, in response to which people believe in Jesus (4:53–54; cf. 2:11).

John continues in 4:46, “And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill.” 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. Luke 8:3 reports that Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s household manager, was among the women who provided for Jesus. Chuza is the type of man who would be referred to with this term rendered “official.”

John has juxtaposed accounts in which Jesus interacts with very different people. He begins with Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews (John 3:1), then, after the Baptist testifies to Jesus (3:25–36), Jesus interacts with the Samaritan woman (4:7) and now with this royal official (4:46). All kinds of people need Jesus. The religious establishment needs Jesus: Nicodemus went to Jesus because he saw signs and knew God had to be with Jesus (3:2). Society’s outcasts need Jesus: the Samaritan woman was convinced of the identity of Jesus because of his ability to address her sin (4:18–19, 29, 39). And those powerful in the eyes of the world need Jesus: this official comes to Jesus because his son is “at the point of death” (v. 47).

4:47–54 Healing of a Son. The royal official hears that Jesus has arrived in Galilee from Judea, and in verse 47 he makes two requests of Jesus. He wants him to (1) come down from Cana to Capernaum, and (2) heal his son, who is at the point of death. As we consider how Jesus replies to these requests (v. 48), it is important to note that he does so in the plural (cf. ESV mg.). That is, Jesus responds here not to the official alone but to all those who have “welcomed him” in Galilee (v. 45). Jesus’ reply is similar to his reply to his mother when she told him of the need for wine: “Unless you [people] see signs and wonders you will not believe” (v. 48; cf. 2:4). From this we can see that Jesus has no intention of doing an act that will merely win him attention or gather a crowd.

Consider how different this is from so many who are ready to do almost anything to be famous and make money. When we see famous men degrading themselves, we should ask whether they believe their dignity to be worth no more than the money they stand to make or the attention they stand to receive. Jesus will not make such bargains. Jesus knows what his mission is, and he can tell who is on board with the mission and who is merely wowed by a wonder-worker.

The words of Jesus bring out the desperation of the royal official, who responds, “Sir, come down before my child dies” (4:49). This request allows Jesus to bring the royal official to a moment of decision. This is one of those times when Jesus gives a command that can be obeyed only if the person hearing the command trusts Jesus absolutely. We see another such command when Jesus tells the rich young ruler to go sell all he has, give to the poor, and return to follow Jesus. By refusing to obey the command, the rich young ruler shows he trusts his money more than Jesus (Mark 10:17–22). This royal official in John 4:50 is given a similar command when Jesus answers him: “Go; your son will live.”

The royal official’s begging of Jesus shows his despair. Proud and powerful people do not naturally humble themselves to ask help from homeless, uneducated wonder-workers. This royal official has likely exhausted his options with doctors, respectable religious figures, and other possible solutions. He probably comes to Jesus as his last hope. That last hope has now dismissed him with the promise that his son will live. If he leaves to return home without Jesus, there is probably not enough time to seek help from anyone else. If he does not believe Jesus can speak the word and the healing come to pass, he will be inclined to stay and plead with Jesus to come to his son. He can depart in peace only if he believes Jesus can say the word and make his son well.

This father clearly loves his son. He has shown more regard for the life of his son than for the dignity of his office or for the safety of his reputation. He so loves his son that he would rather be savaged by his elite friends than forsake the opportunity to get help from Jesus. As a result, “The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way” (v. 50). He did not know how the situation would play out, but, “As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering. 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’” (vv. 51–52).

Consider the situation of this royal official: he had a deep need that he took to Jesus. Jesus spoke an authoritative word to him. Though the man had no evidence that the word Jesus had spoken would prove true, he trusted Jesus, believed him, and did what he said to do. Once he began to obey, the man received proof that what Jesus said was so. As a result, his obedience and faith had implications beyond his own life or that of his son: “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” (v. 53). We are twice told that the man believed, but there is no redundancy here. Those things that convinced us are those that continue to do so. Those things that we keep on believing are things we grow in knowledge about, a growth in knowledge that does not overturn but rather confirms our faith.

This reference to “all his household” believing with him likely refers to his son, wife, and servants who met him on the way (v. 51). All these people are exposed to the greatness, the lovingkindness, the trustworthiness of Jesus, and they all become convinced and believe.

Verse 54 joins with verse 46 to point back to 2:1–12. The turning of water to wine in 2:1–12, referenced in 4:46, was numbered in 2:11 as “the first of his signs.” Now the healing of the official’s son is numbered as “the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee” (4:54).