Lent 2023: John 4:43-54
- The Bookery
- Feb 27, 2023
- 2 min read
A Galilean Welcome
43 After two days he left there for Galilee. 44 (Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.) 45 When they entered Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him because they had seen everything he did in Jerusalem during the festival. For they also had gone to the festival.
The Second Sign: Healing an Official’s Son
46 He went again to Cana of Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. There was a certain royal official whose son was ill at Capernaum. 47 When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea into Galilee, he went to him and pleaded with him to come down and heal his son, since he was about to die.
48 Jesus told him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.”
49 “Sir,” the official said to him, “come down before my boy dies.”
50 “Go,” Jesus told him, “your son will live.” The man believed what[a] Jesus said to him and departed.
51 While he was still going down, his servants met him saying that his boy was alive. 52 He asked them at what time he got better. “Yesterday at one in the afternoon[b] the fever left him,” they answered. 53 The father realized this was the very hour at which Jesus had told him, “Your son will live.” So he himself believed, along with his whole household.
54 Now this was also the second sign Jesus performed after he came from Judea to Galilee.
Read & Journal
Read John 4:43-54 in your Bible. Consider these prompts as you meditate on what you’ve read.
What does this miracle teach you about Jesus’ character? His purpose?
This government official lived in Capernaum, yet he found Jesus in Cana, a distance of about 20 miles. What does that tell you about the man’s level of fear or desperation?
Consider verses 47 and 49. The government official’s request is that Jesus come to Capernaum and heal his son. How does Jesus respond in verse 50?
The government official seemingly believed that Jesus had the power to heal his son, but thought that it had to happen in a certain way. When have you put Jesus in a similar box, or acted like there were limitations to His ability or authority?
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