John 4:46-54

John 4:46-47  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.

All we know about this man is he was a royal official, who lived in Capernaum, about 20 miles from Cana and he was a loving father, desperately worried about his son. And when he heard Jesus, who had been performing miracles in Jerusalem, was in Cana, he traveled there as his last hope.

John 4: 48 – 50 48 “Unless you people see signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.”
49 The royal official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.”
50 “Go,” Jesus replied, “your son will live.”

The man took Jesus at his word and departed.

Jesus wasn’t just speaking to this man when he said “unless you people see signs and wonders, you will never believe.” He was talking to all the unbelievers who only came to Him to see a miracle.
The father grasped that Jesus hadn’t refused to help, but was maybe encouraging him to take a step in faith. He repeated his request. And here’s the faith – Jesus told him his son would be cured and He wasn’t even going there. So, it wasn’t a case of “seeing is believing” – the man had to believe Him and head home to his son. Which he did. Faith always involves an action – you believe God’s promise enough to act on it.

The man was so confidant in Jesus, he didn’t return home until the next day!

John 4: 51-54 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, “Yesterday, at one in the afternoon, the fever left him.”
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 his whole household believed.
54 This was the second sign Jesus performed after coming from Judea to Galilee.
So the whole household believed because of his faith. The father became part of Christ’s work. Park of God’s will.

Even as God the Father sent His Son Jesus into the world, He sends Christians into the world. If you are God’s child through faith in Christ, He has prepared work for you to do. To complete God-given work, to fulfill His purpose for your life, to triumph in the Holy Spirit’s power – this is a joy like no other. It is the joy of sowing, reaping and, by faith, seeing the harvest. Present joys fade into insignificance, but all you do for Christ belongs to eternity. He notices the least thing done for Him and welcomes all His children to share His eternal happiness.

God doesn’t call every believer to preach, but He does give all believers the privilege of sharing their faith. This is part of the “good-works” He has tailor-made especially for you. Like the Samaritan woman, to witness effectively, you must draw on the power of an authentic personal experience of Jesus. She didn’t know much, but she knew Jesus!

Sometimes we pray to God for help and we don’t see any results. Maybe He is answering us like Jesus did the royal official, “I will not answer your prayer as you expect and in your way. I will answer it my way, but you must cooperate with me in obedient faith.”

And the miracle came after the act of faith. After we believe we see!