He didn’t even get to see the replay!
This is being written on a Saturday with College football on in the background. My teams have already played: OU got beat by Texas (AGAIN!! DRATS!!) and the Hawkeyes won big against Wisconsin (GO HAWKS). So with this last entry on the “Official’s Son,” I think it is fitting to use the following analogy. Have you ever been in the other room when the big play happened? Then on top of that, when you finally get back to the TV the replays have already been shown and they’re moving onto the next down/play/swing/whatever? I am sure that has happened to all of us. Let’s go ahead and read our text one more time and finish this thing up.
John 4:43 After the two days he left for Galilee. 44 (Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.) 45 When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, for they also had been there.
46 Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. 47 When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death.
48 "Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders," Jesus told him, "you will never believe."
49 The royal official said, "Sir, come down before my child dies."
50 Jesus replied, "You may go. Your son will live."
The man took Jesus at his word and departed. 51 While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. 52 When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, "The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour."
53 Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, "Your son will live." So he and all his household believed.
54 This was the second miraculous sign that Jesus performed, having come from Judea to Galilee.
In the last entry I pointed out how Jesus said right to the officials face “Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders …you will never believe." We know that the dad (the awesome example of being a true father) stood in there and fought for his son. Jesus followed up by saying “You may go, your son will live.” That’s when the dad took Jesus at his word and departed. Since we just read the whole story again I won’t continue with the “play by play” but do you realize the father never saw his son being healed? Sure he saw the end result (his healthy son) but he never saw the processes; he never saw the big play. Going back to the game analogy we want our team to win but what we love more is to watch them win it. The end result is what we want but the play by play is what we desire. Not only did this dad not get to see the big play he didn’t get to see the replay either. He made it back to the “TV” too late--more like a day late. Now think about what Jesus said to his face “Unless you people see…you will never believe” [emphasis mine]. WOW! This guy/dad/awesome example of fatherhood really did “Walk (all day & night) by faith not by sight” [ref 2 Cor 5:7]. Well, he had to keep his eyes open to walk back home, but still he never saw the healing take place. What brings tears to my eyes is what verse 53 says: “Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, ‘Your son will live.’ So he and his household believed.” His whole household believed!! Now we have no real idea how big his household was. He was a “Royal Official” so we know his income was up there. We know he had at least 2 servants because of what John 4:51 says: “While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news… [emphasis mine]”. We know he had a son so that is at least 4 in the household. I am not sure what the average family size was for the area the Official was from, but I’ve heard 5 was the going rate for the number kids in a Jewish family at that time. You have to count the mother in there somewhere. I am going to take a guess and say the number in his household was 10. That’s just a guess, but no matter how many were in the household, they all believed on Jesus. Think about this: the reason why the whole household believed was not because of the son’s healing but because the father’s faith. The whole household, except the dad, saw the son get suddenly well, but it was only when the father returned that the whole household believed. What an awesome example of faith. Heb 11:1 famously states: “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” We don’t need to see it; we just need to believe it. Going back to the my first entry on this subject, the healing and the whole household believing is all a result of this man taking Jesus at His word. John 1:1 states “In the beginning was the Word”. Let the Word be the beginning of your faith. The results will be more then what you could imagine or think.
I’m excited to start on the next recorded healing that Jesus did. It’s crazy!! I’m even more excited about “seeing” how strong our faith will grow. I want testimonies!!
Stay blessed y’all, it’s your choice.
jimmy
The Official’s Son Pt. 2 of 3
Do you really want this?!?!
The more I meditate on this passage the more I am getting out of it. I’ve really yet to dig deep into the Greek for stuff, this is all surface substance. I love the word of God. It truly is “. . .living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” ~ Hebrew 4:12.
Here is our text again:
John 4:43 After the two days he left for Galilee. 44 (Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.) 45 When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, for they also had been there.
46 Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. 47 When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death.
48 "Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders," Jesus told him, "you will never believe."
49 The royal official said, "Sir, come down before my child dies."
50 Jesus replied, "You may go. Your son will live."
The man took Jesus at his word and departed. 51 While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. 52 When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, "The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour."
53 Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, "Your son will live." So he and all his household believed.
54 This was the second miraculous sign that Jesus performed, having come from Judea to Galilee.
Was Jesus stretching this guy? Was Jesus really asking, “Do you really want this?” I know that sounds crazy but many times we go into prayer with a wish instead of with faith. Our prayers sound more like “God, I wish you would take this from me” instead of “I know this is possible”. James 5:16b says “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” That’s the King James Version. The NIV left out the “Effectual fervent” part of that script. Here’s the Amplified “The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working].” Let’s see how this “Official’s” prayer for his son was “earnest (heartfelt, continued)”. Going back to John 4:46, The “Royal Official” (remember that title) heard that Jesus was in Galilee so he took off to meet Jesus. In verse 45 we see a bit of a crowd forming around Him for good reason; Jesus put on a awesome show. Set yourself on fire and people will watch you burn. They’d seen what He did in Jerusalem at Passover. Furthermore, Jesus is returning to the water/wine miraculous sign location. Now in the mix of all of this the “Royal Official” came walking up begging for his son’s deliverance. Jesus said something that blows me away. John 4:48 records "Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders," Jesus told him, "you will never believe." This was loud enough for the crowd to hear, but Jesus said it right to the “Royal Official’s” face! “Royal Official” = Title. This guy was important. This guy had clout. This guy didn’t have to take this from some revolutionary—especially in front of the crowd. I’m sure the crowd was well aware of this guy’s title. Instead of being offended the “Royal Official” put down his “title” and simply said (vs. 49) “Sir, come down before my child dies”. He stayed in there fighting for his son. This is vaguely similar to the Canaanite Woman story; both she and the “Royal Official” stayed in there fighting for their children. As I meditated on this passage I think I got what Jesus was really doing. He was stretching them from beyond wishful thinking into a mindset of determination; an unwavering belief that, not only could Jesus heal their children, but that Jesus would heal their children. We know that in both stories the children were healed, but do we believe the same in will happen in our own lives? Do we want to fight for our healing, our health, or do we just wish it would happen? Do we put our prayer request on our prayer chain lists more for coping reasons or because we actually believe in the power of prayer? Think on these things.
By doing this study I am not trying to get or present some new type of formula for receiving our healing. I believe we will see a similar trait in all the recorded healings of the Gospels—that trait being Just take Jesus at His Word (John 4:50). The whole point of this study is to just build faith. Romans 10:17 states “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
A Father’s fight!
As a man/dad I find this story refreshing. It’s cool to see that the first recorded healing was a father fighting for his kid’s life. Usually men get a bad rap when it comes to this part of parenting. Let’s face it women, you all usually get most of the glory in parental battles and with good reason. You’re natural fighters for your children. For 9 months you fight in pregnancy. We men are pretty cool with the whole conception and cheering you on until due day, but the birthing process is more of a battle than any man wants to take on. So you women start off parenting with a fight; it comes naturally to you. What I love in this story is that the Holy Spirit shows, through the example of the “Royal Official”, how we as men can and should battle for our families. In my next entry I’ll cover the end result of this awesome father’s battle!
Stay blessed y’all, it’s your choice.
jimmy
The more I meditate on this passage the more I am getting out of it. I’ve really yet to dig deep into the Greek for stuff, this is all surface substance. I love the word of God. It truly is “. . .living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” ~ Hebrew 4:12.
Here is our text again:
John 4:43 After the two days he left for Galilee. 44 (Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.) 45 When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, for they also had been there.
46 Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. 47 When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death.
48 "Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders," Jesus told him, "you will never believe."
49 The royal official said, "Sir, come down before my child dies."
50 Jesus replied, "You may go. Your son will live."
The man took Jesus at his word and departed. 51 While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. 52 When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, "The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour."
53 Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, "Your son will live." So he and all his household believed.
54 This was the second miraculous sign that Jesus performed, having come from Judea to Galilee.
Was Jesus stretching this guy? Was Jesus really asking, “Do you really want this?” I know that sounds crazy but many times we go into prayer with a wish instead of with faith. Our prayers sound more like “God, I wish you would take this from me” instead of “I know this is possible”. James 5:16b says “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” That’s the King James Version. The NIV left out the “Effectual fervent” part of that script. Here’s the Amplified “The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working].” Let’s see how this “Official’s” prayer for his son was “earnest (heartfelt, continued)”. Going back to John 4:46, The “Royal Official” (remember that title) heard that Jesus was in Galilee so he took off to meet Jesus. In verse 45 we see a bit of a crowd forming around Him for good reason; Jesus put on a awesome show. Set yourself on fire and people will watch you burn. They’d seen what He did in Jerusalem at Passover. Furthermore, Jesus is returning to the water/wine miraculous sign location. Now in the mix of all of this the “Royal Official” came walking up begging for his son’s deliverance. Jesus said something that blows me away. John 4:48 records "Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders," Jesus told him, "you will never believe." This was loud enough for the crowd to hear, but Jesus said it right to the “Royal Official’s” face! “Royal Official” = Title. This guy was important. This guy had clout. This guy didn’t have to take this from some revolutionary—especially in front of the crowd. I’m sure the crowd was well aware of this guy’s title. Instead of being offended the “Royal Official” put down his “title” and simply said (vs. 49) “Sir, come down before my child dies”. He stayed in there fighting for his son. This is vaguely similar to the Canaanite Woman story; both she and the “Royal Official” stayed in there fighting for their children. As I meditated on this passage I think I got what Jesus was really doing. He was stretching them from beyond wishful thinking into a mindset of determination; an unwavering belief that, not only could Jesus heal their children, but that Jesus would heal their children. We know that in both stories the children were healed, but do we believe the same in will happen in our own lives? Do we want to fight for our healing, our health, or do we just wish it would happen? Do we put our prayer request on our prayer chain lists more for coping reasons or because we actually believe in the power of prayer? Think on these things.
By doing this study I am not trying to get or present some new type of formula for receiving our healing. I believe we will see a similar trait in all the recorded healings of the Gospels—that trait being Just take Jesus at His Word (John 4:50). The whole point of this study is to just build faith. Romans 10:17 states “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
A Father’s fight!
As a man/dad I find this story refreshing. It’s cool to see that the first recorded healing was a father fighting for his kid’s life. Usually men get a bad rap when it comes to this part of parenting. Let’s face it women, you all usually get most of the glory in parental battles and with good reason. You’re natural fighters for your children. For 9 months you fight in pregnancy. We men are pretty cool with the whole conception and cheering you on until due day, but the birthing process is more of a battle than any man wants to take on. So you women start off parenting with a fight; it comes naturally to you. What I love in this story is that the Holy Spirit shows, through the example of the “Royal Official”, how we as men can and should battle for our families. In my next entry I’ll cover the end result of this awesome father’s battle!
Stay blessed y’all, it’s your choice.
jimmy
The Official’s Son Pt. 1 of 3
The Official’s Son Pt. 1
At His Word!
I’m starting a study on the healings that Jesus performed in the Gospels and I’m doing them in chronological order. The reason for this is to just build faith. I’m personally not facing any health dilemma. I’m really doing quite well. . .well I could stand to lose 10lbs but I’m way better off than I was 6yrs ago. I just think we all could use a better understanding of healing and who better to learn it from than the great healer Himself, Christ Jesus.
The first recorded healing that Jesus did was the healing of the Official’s son. Even though it is found in John chapter 4, it is the first chronological healing recorded (and the second miraculous sign with the first being the water/wine sign). I don’t believe, however, that it is the first healing that Jesus did because of what John 3:23 says: “Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name.” What better “miraculous signs” are there then healing people? I guess that is open for interpretation. Also, remember what John said at the end of his book: John 21:25 “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.” The “Official’s son” is the first recorded healing in the gospels for good reason. There are a few things we can learn about faith in this story. For this blog entry I am only going to bring out one of the points and I think it’s a pretty important one—the one that sticks out to me the most. Here’s the story straight from John himself.
John 4:43After the two days he left for Galilee. 44(Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.) 45When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, for they also had been there.
46Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. 47When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death.
48"Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders," Jesus told him, "you will never believe."
49The royal official said, "Sir, come down before my child dies."
50Jesus replied, "You may go. Your son will live."
The man took Jesus at his word and departed. 51While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. 52When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, "The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour."
53Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, "Your son will live." So he and all his household believed.
54This was the second miraculous sign that Jesus performed, having come from Judea to Galilee.
I used the NIV here because of how it translated verse 50. The Message puts verse 50 this way: “The man believed the bare word Jesus spoke and headed home.” That’s alright. Look at the Amplified: “And the man put his trust in what Jesus said and started home.” I like that. The trusty KJV states: “And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way.” There are many more translations but those are the main ones I bounce around in. I still like the way the NIV put it. I’m not sure why, maybe it’s because it sounds like something I would say. Above you can read the results of the man taking Jesus at his word. There are several more points to healing faith here and I’ll cover them in following entries. I see persistence here, also walking by faith and not by sight, but what is so striking are the 7 words found in verse 50: “The man took Jesus at his word”. Taking Jesus at His word is so KEY to our victory in faith. With all the health scares going around today from the lack of insurance, to swine flu, to flu season, blah, blah, and more blah, it’s time for us who call on Christ’s name to start taking Jesus at his word. Maybe you don’t have a sick son at home but why wait for that to start taking Jesus at his word? My wife, who is running spiritual laps around me right now, started doing something so simple but so huge. She is refusing headaches. You read that right, refusing them. If she feels one coming on she just denies it in the name of Jesus and goes on her way. Later she will remember that she refused the pain and rejoice, she never got the full blown headache. Give it a shot, start simple and work up from there. If we all do this then pretty soon we’ll stop giving hospitals so much business, well except for having babies. Maybe at that time America would really have a health insurance problem because there would no longer be a need for it. If there is no supply of sickness then there is no demand for health insurance. We can knock out the “supply” by “His Word” and in turn bring down the “demand.” Sounds impossible? John G. Lakes wouldn’t think so. Because of his “healing rooms” Spokane, Washington was labeled “the healthiest city in the world”. That was in only a short 5 year span of 1915-20. Imagine what we can do if we all walk in that kind of faith! So today start with little things like headaches and colds and take Jesus at his word. Before you know it your house will be labeled “the healthiest house in the world”.
Stay blessed y’all, it’s your choice.
jimmy
At His Word!
I’m starting a study on the healings that Jesus performed in the Gospels and I’m doing them in chronological order. The reason for this is to just build faith. I’m personally not facing any health dilemma. I’m really doing quite well. . .well I could stand to lose 10lbs but I’m way better off than I was 6yrs ago. I just think we all could use a better understanding of healing and who better to learn it from than the great healer Himself, Christ Jesus.
The first recorded healing that Jesus did was the healing of the Official’s son. Even though it is found in John chapter 4, it is the first chronological healing recorded (and the second miraculous sign with the first being the water/wine sign). I don’t believe, however, that it is the first healing that Jesus did because of what John 3:23 says: “Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name.” What better “miraculous signs” are there then healing people? I guess that is open for interpretation. Also, remember what John said at the end of his book: John 21:25 “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.” The “Official’s son” is the first recorded healing in the gospels for good reason. There are a few things we can learn about faith in this story. For this blog entry I am only going to bring out one of the points and I think it’s a pretty important one—the one that sticks out to me the most. Here’s the story straight from John himself.
John 4:43After the two days he left for Galilee. 44(Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.) 45When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, for they also had been there.
46Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. 47When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death.
48"Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders," Jesus told him, "you will never believe."
49The royal official said, "Sir, come down before my child dies."
50Jesus replied, "You may go. Your son will live."
The man took Jesus at his word and departed. 51While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. 52When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, "The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour."
53Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, "Your son will live." So he and all his household believed.
54This was the second miraculous sign that Jesus performed, having come from Judea to Galilee.
I used the NIV here because of how it translated verse 50. The Message puts verse 50 this way: “The man believed the bare word Jesus spoke and headed home.” That’s alright. Look at the Amplified: “And the man put his trust in what Jesus said and started home.” I like that. The trusty KJV states: “And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way.” There are many more translations but those are the main ones I bounce around in. I still like the way the NIV put it. I’m not sure why, maybe it’s because it sounds like something I would say. Above you can read the results of the man taking Jesus at his word. There are several more points to healing faith here and I’ll cover them in following entries. I see persistence here, also walking by faith and not by sight, but what is so striking are the 7 words found in verse 50: “The man took Jesus at his word”. Taking Jesus at His word is so KEY to our victory in faith. With all the health scares going around today from the lack of insurance, to swine flu, to flu season, blah, blah, and more blah, it’s time for us who call on Christ’s name to start taking Jesus at his word. Maybe you don’t have a sick son at home but why wait for that to start taking Jesus at his word? My wife, who is running spiritual laps around me right now, started doing something so simple but so huge. She is refusing headaches. You read that right, refusing them. If she feels one coming on she just denies it in the name of Jesus and goes on her way. Later she will remember that she refused the pain and rejoice, she never got the full blown headache. Give it a shot, start simple and work up from there. If we all do this then pretty soon we’ll stop giving hospitals so much business, well except for having babies. Maybe at that time America would really have a health insurance problem because there would no longer be a need for it. If there is no supply of sickness then there is no demand for health insurance. We can knock out the “supply” by “His Word” and in turn bring down the “demand.” Sounds impossible? John G. Lakes wouldn’t think so. Because of his “healing rooms” Spokane, Washington was labeled “the healthiest city in the world”. That was in only a short 5 year span of 1915-20. Imagine what we can do if we all walk in that kind of faith! So today start with little things like headaches and colds and take Jesus at his word. Before you know it your house will be labeled “the healthiest house in the world”.
Stay blessed y’all, it’s your choice.
jimmy
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