Devotional:

“43 After the two days he departed for Galilee. 44 (For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.) 45 So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast. 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. 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. 48 So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” 49 The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” 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. 51 As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering. 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.” 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. 54 This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee.” — John 4:43-54A lot happens between the wedding in Cana in John 2, and this passage. Shortly after leaving the wedding, Jesus went to the temple in Jerusalem at Passover and saw the people treating it as a place for bartering and trade and got very angry. And while in Jerusalem, Jesus met with the Pharisee Nicodemus secretly, in the middle of the night, to explain salvation to him. Then in John 4, Jesus met the Samaritan woman at the well, explaining that He was the living water, and she believed.

Jesus had traveled many miles to Jerusalem and Samaria and had now returned to Galilee, where He grew up. But, in verse 44, John makes it a point to say, “For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his hometown.” But that is His home, probably where His mother lives and they are His people. So, He goes there anyway even if they won’t take Him seriously or accept who He is. Jesus didn’t avoid the places that rejected Him or made Him feel uncomfortable.

The passage says that the people in Galilee welcomed Jesus, but Jesus knew they were not seeking Him with their hearts. They were merely mesmerized by His miracles. They were enjoying the show and the spotlight was on Him! I imagine it was like a carnival coming to town, something new and exciting. But the level of excitement stopped there. They weren’t seeing Him for who He really was. So, Jesus says in verse 48: “Unless you see signs and wonders, you will not believe.” Jesus wasn’t saying this to the official whose son was dying. He was stating this to the entire crowd around Him. And then after Jesus said that, the official asked again in verse 49, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” He was pleading with Jesus even after Jesus called the crowd out about seeking signs and wonders instead of truly believing. Jesus knew at that moment, this man really believed. And in verse 50, He said “Go; your son will live.”

The official truly believed. And his faith in Jesus was strong enough to leave Jesus, knowing He had healed his son. He did not need to physically see Jesus do the miracle because he had faith that Jesus’s words were true, and that was enough for him.

Not only did this miracle make the official believe, but his entire household witnessed the boy being healed at the exact time Jesus said the words. They did not know what happened until after the father returned, because they weren’t there to hear the conversation between Jesus and the father. This official had a testimony to share now, just like the woman at the well a few days before and just like the people at the wedding before that.

Jesus shows this man compassion, mercy and grace by healing his son. He could have walked away angry and frustrated at the people, His own people who only came out to watch the show. But He didn’t. He gave this man a gift because of his faith.

This was a bold and dangerous situation for Jesus and the official. This guy was probably some political figure or maybe even a Centurion. Either way, working for the government somehow tied him and his loyalty to King Herod, which meant any interaction with Jesus was a big no-no.

Jesus will meet us right where we are, whether sign-seeking, going after a feeling or not believing at all. He doesn’t run from the places that don’t accept Him; He runs to them. Sometimes I think about that when my tendency is to run from something difficult. It wasn’t easy for Jesus to stroll into Galilee knowing His people, His hometown, didn’t take Him seriously. I imagine that was much harder for Him than going to places like Samaria, where they didn’t know who He was at all.

This world is broken, and we will always face challenges in this life. If you haven’t, be thankful. But brace yourself, because the Enemy is an equal-opportunity player who will use something very valuable to try to turn your heart away from Jesus. Kid pain, parent pain, friends, family, and even the church will let you down. It isn’t easy being human. Jesus gets it! Even though He was fully God, He was fully human and faced many of those same hurts and pains. But Jesus ran toward the difficult things, not away from them. This official ran to Jesus, risking a lot because his faith was enough to believe Jesus would take care of his son.

In Matthew 17:20 Jesus says: “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”

The moment you stop running away from Jesus and turn and run toward Him could be the healing Jesus has had waiting for you.

God help us not to miss the opportunity You are putting right in front of us. You chose to heal a boy without even touching or seeing him, probably miles away. We know You can do that and even more miraculous things for us. Jesus, would you show us the miracle on the other side of our obedience? Give us faith so we can see what You have waiting for us, great and mighty things that we cannot even imagine. Amen