Growing In Godliness Blog
“Jesus and the Nobleman’s Son in Cana”
Categories: Author: Paul Earnhart, Faith, Jesus, TrustingJesus and the Nobleman’s Son in Cana
By Paul Earnhart
As Jesus went about preaching in Galilee, he came to Cana where he had made the water into wine. That was the only previous miracle Jesus had wrought in Galilee, but it had left its impression on the people there. (See John 4:46-54)
A nobleman, who lived several miles away in Capernaum, had a son who was at the point of death. He came to Jesus, begging Him to come and heal his son. Jesus did not immediately perform the miracle. Miracles were secondary to teaching. Their purpose was to encourage belief. Jesus gently chided the man for requesting a sign. Jesus said, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe.” (John 4:47). But when the man persisted, Jesus said, “Go your way, your son lives.”
The man had enough faith to leave the presence of Jesus to make the journey back to Capernaum. And he found that Jesus had indeed healed the boy, even from a distance, for the fever left the boy at the very time when Jesus had spoken the words.
There are several levels of faith revealed in this story: First, the man had faith enough to come to Jesus to ask for the healing. Then his faith increased to the point that he was willing to return to Capernaum in the belief that Jesus had healed the boy. Finally, we are told that after the miracle, the man himself believed and his whole house (John 4:53).
If Jesus felt that this man should believe without a miracle, how much more should we! We have the account of numerous miracles that Jesus and the apostles did. John said, “These are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that believing you might have life through His name.” (John 20:31). We can believe today through the study of the scriptures. And just as the faith of this man grew as he saw the works of Jesus, ours can grow as we read about them in God’s word. So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17).
