This Was Now the Second Sign

Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.”  The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way.  John 4:50 

John 4:43–54 – That You May Believe
24th Sunday in Ordinary Time  – November 3, 2024 (am)    

Back when I was playing baseball, one of the most challenging things to do was to learn to hit a curveball. Not only did you need to see and pick up on the rotation of the ball, that which makes it curve, but then you had to fight the instinct to back away from the ball, fearing it was going to hit you—when you first see a good curveball that’s likely to cross home plate in the strike zone, it looks like it’s coming right at your face. But then you see the rotation of the ball and you realize it’s going to start moving down and away from you. So, if you can keep from backing away, and actually start stepping into your normal swing, then delay by an instant the usual movement of your hands as you start your swing, your eyes will actually adjust to the curve of the ball such that your hands will track with it and, given enough practice, you can actually begin to hit it pretty squarely.

Why am I telling you that this morning? Because there are some passages in Scripture that can make us feel like we’re swinging at a curveball—like we initially see indicators that its meaning is right in our face, right before our eyes. Then, as we keep working with it, we begin to see the meaning move in a bit different direction than we initially perceived. We need to learn how to handle such passages. And I believe we have one of them before us today.

When we first read this text, it can remind us of the centurion in Capernaum whose servant needed healing (Mat.8:5-13; Luk.7:1-10). But there are several differences. That was a servant, not a son. There’s no evidence this official was a Gentile. And Jesus’ response is quite different here than there. But the reminder of that encounter can cause us to miss the rotation of the ball here, the movement of this passage. Despite this son being healed, this passage is actually rather negative, right from the start and all the way through. It’s a curve ball. Let’s see how.

We will take this passage as a unit, without an outline.

43 After the two days Jesus remained in Samaria in response to their request (40) and due to the rich Kingdom harvest He’d reaped there—just look at their confession: 42 [The townspeople] said to the woman, “It’s no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we’ve heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world. —he departed for Galilee (cf. 3). 44 (For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.) Jesus says this elsewhere (Mat.13:57; Mar.6:4; Luk.4:24). And it’s actually not something we’d be surprised to hear as He heads back into Galilee. 45 So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. Here’s where we first pick up rotation on this curveball of a passage. About ten different solutions … have been proposed (Carson 1991 235-6) to explain the tension here between Jesus’ testimony (44) and John’s (45a). But if we’ll just (1) assume that v.44 is indeed setting us up for what follows, (2) see hometown as referring to Jesus’ homeland (Galilee) in contrast to the land He just left (Samaria), and (3) factor in what we’ve begun to see of John’s intentional use of irony, then (4) keep reading, I believe we’ll begin to see the curve of this account. 45 So when [Jesus] 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. They’d seen the signs that he was doing in Jerusalem at the Passover feast (2:23), so they were welcoming him back to Galilee. We should already be picking up the rotation of their interest. In short, they weren’t seeing Jesus as the Savior of the world (42) nearly so much as the Worker of signs and wonders (48). They weren’t honoring Him as Messiah; they were pursuing Him as the potential Solution to their wants and needs, to satisfy their curiosity, or their thirst for a thrill. Given several connections John makes here to c.2, these were almost certainly among the 2:23 … many who believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. 24 But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people. This rotation is beginning to move the ball.

46 So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine (pressing to make sure we’re remembering c.2). And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. This town, plus the fact that this man was also an official, is what makes us think of that other story about the Centurion (Mat.8:5-13; Luk.7:1-10). But this word official means royal; it could [be] either a person of royal descent or a person who served the king in some 419 official capacity, here likely Herod (Mounce 418-9). But in any case, this isn’t a Roman military officer. So, I really believe these are two different accounts (Carson 1001 233-4). 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. We can surely understand his request, and his boldness. 48 So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” And here’s where we clearly see the ball of interpretation breaking; Jesus answers this official quite differently than He answered the Centurion, the man of whom He said: Mat.8:10 … Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. 49 [This] official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies,” showing no interest in Jesus personally, or even any evidence that he knew Who Jesus was. He was concerned only for his son, using a new word here, a more affectionate term (Mounce 419, παιδίον [49] v. υἱός [47]). 50 Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live,” a good translation, and a pretty terse response—compassionate toward the need, and especially so seeing that Jesus didn’t engage with this man on any spiritual level at all—and the clearest indicator that John didn’t include this as a warm and positive encounter despite the outcome. The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. Here’s where the ball will hit us in the face if we haven’t picked up on the rotation. This one caught me earlier this week! If we forget how John used believe back in 2:23, and that he does that sometimes, referring to false belief, we may hear him reporting that this man believed in Jesus even before seeing a miracle, when in fact all he’s saying is that this man believed what Jesus just said to him such that he felt like it was safe to disengage regarding the healing of his son. 51 As he was going down, heading home, 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 then he himself believed, and all his household. This surely sounds positive. And surely the context here makes this much closer to saving belief than we saw back in v.50. But we’ll only miss John’s meaning if we miss the curve of this account. Almost certainly he wants us to read this as an example, a case-in-point of what he described in c.2. He’s labored to keep c.2 in our minds: 2:23 … many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. 24 But Jesus… did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people. Now for the final recall of c.2: 54 This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee (cf. 2:11), John’s second and final numbering of his signs that Jesus is the Christ and that, by believing in Him, [we] may have life in his name (20:31).

And what a sign it is, if we’ve understood him correctly! It’s not just a sign that Jesus has authority over life and death and illness and health. It’s not just a sign that Jesus has authority over time and space such that He can speak health and healing from great distances. It’s not just a narrative that shows us something of what it’s like to engage and interact with the Savior of the world (42), regardless of whether we know Who He is. It’s a reminder, yet again—a warning even—that seeing is not believing, nor is it even a reliable foundation for belief. In fact, later on, after His resurrection, Jesus will say to Thomas: 20:29 … Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. The signs and wonders Jesus performed are surely an indicator of Who He is and a foretaste of life in His Kingdom. But being amazed by His miracles is not the same thing as trusting in His teaching and receiving with repentance and faith the saving work He’ll accomplish on the cross. We simply cannot settle for being impressed by Jesus. We need to receive Him as Savior (42) and Lord and Christ and King (12:13).

Conclusion

That’s our takeaway today. We’re suppose to begin recognizing the how we can respond to Jesus wrongly just as we can respond rightly. And it’s really important for us to know the difference. What we’re seeing here is the beginning of the very opposition in Israel that will end up sending Jesus to the cross. And we’re supposed to see how easy it would be for us to respond in the same way and so miss out on the whole purpose of John’s Gospel. While once again Jesus is presented here as the one who gives life, the dark colours that surround this healing, projected forward by the account of the Samaritan woman (4:1-42) and by the proverb that opens [this scene] (44), [anticipate] the rising polarization in Israel, the multiplying [hatred] that ultimately drives toward the cross. [Jesus] may have been popular in Samaria, but he [pressed] on to his own [homeland], where public sentiment will finally take him to Calvary. That is his mission: to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (Carson 1991 237).

So, don’t miss this sign, as almost certainly this man did to whom it was first given.

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Resources

Arnold, Clinton E., gen. ed. 2002. Zondervan Illustrated Bible Background Commentary. Vol. 2, John, Acts. John, by Andreas J. Köstenberger, 2-196. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

Barclay, William. 1975. The Daily Study Bible Series. The Gospel of John, Revised Edition. Louisville: Westminster John Knox.

Beale, G. K., & D. A. Carson, eds. 2007. Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament. John, by Andreas J. Köstenberger, 415-512. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic.

Bruce, F. F. 1983. The Gospel of John. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

         , Gordon D. Fee, & Ned B. Stonehouse, gen. eds. 1995. The New International Commentary on the New Testament. The Gospel According to John, Revised Edition, by Leon Morris. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

Calvin, John. 1553. Commentary on the Gospel According to John, trans. by, William Pringle. Logos.

Carson, D. A., gen. ed. 1991. The Pillar New Testament Commentary. The Gospel According to John, by D. A. Carson. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

         , R. T. France, J. A. Motyer, & G. J. Wenham, eds. 1994. New Bible Commentary 21st Century Edition. John, by Donald Guthrie, 1021-1065. Leicester, Eng.: InterVarsity.

Clendenen, Ray E., gen. ed. 1996. The New American Commentary. Vol. 25, John, by Gerald L. Borchert. Nashville: Broadman & Holman.

Dever, Mark. 2005. The Message of the New Testament. Ch. 4, The Message of John: Jesus, the Son of God, 101-122. Wheaton: Crossway.

Grudem, Wayne, ed. 2008. ESV Study Bible. Study notes on John, 2015-2072, by Andreas J. Köstenberger. Wheaton: Crossway.

Longman III, Tremper, & David E. Garland, eds. 2007. Revised Expositor’s Bible Commentary. Vol. 10, Luke-Acts. John, by Robert H. Mounce, 357-661. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

Martin, Ralph P., & Lynn Allan Losie, NT eds. 1999. Word Biblical Commentary. Vol. 36, John, Second Edition, by George R. Beasley-Murray. Dallas: Word.

Morris, Leon, gen. ed. 2003. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries. Vol. 4, John, by Colin G. Kruse. Downers Grove: InterVarsity.

Osborne, Grant, ed. 1993. Life Application Bible Commentary. John, by Bruce B. Barton, Philip W. Comfort, David R. Veerman, & Neil Wilson. Wheaton: Tyndale.

Tasker, R. V. G. 2000. Tyndale New Testament Commentary. Vol. 4, John. Leicester, Eng.: InterVarsity.

Tenney, Merrill C. 1976. John: The Gospel of Belief. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

NEXT SUNDAY: Now That Day Was the Sabbath, John 5:1–17