This incident completes a cycle in John's Gospel. Jesus performed His first sign in Cana (2:1), and now He returned and did another miracle there (v. 46). There is even a second reference to Capernaum (2:12; 4:46). John's account of Jesus' first miracle in Cana (2:11) ended with a reference to the weak faith of the Jews that rested only on miracles (2:23-25). His account of Jesus' second miracle in Cana (4:54) opens with a similar reference (4:45, 48). In short, this section seems to be an inclusioframed by two miracles in Cana with two conversations occurring between them. Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus is typical of the reception that the Jews gave Him, but His conversation with the Samaritan woman shows the reception that non-Jews more typically gave Him. We see these two attitudes toward Jesus not only in the Gospel accounts of His ministry but also in Acts. The center section that the structure highlights is essentially an exposition of Jesus' mission (3:16-36).
AJesus' first sign in Cana 2:1-11
BA reference to Capernaum, Jesus' headquarters 2:12
CHostility toward Jesus in Jerusalem 2:13-25
DNicodemus' response to Jesus 3:1-15
EThe importance of Jesus' mission 3:16-36
D'The Samaritan woman's response to Jesus 4:1-38
C'Acceptance of Jesus in Samaria 4:39-42
B'A reference to Galilee, Jesus' major ministry arena 4:43-45
A'Jesus' second sign in Cana 4:46-54
This pericope (4:46-54) constitutes the closing incident in John's account of Jesus' early public ministry (chs. 2-4). It shows Him returning to Cana where He performed another significant miracle. John evidently included it to show that Jesus' demonstration of His authority resulted in some Jews believing on Him.
"Both the miracles performed at Cana . . . are thus shown to have been prompted by trust. Mary trusted her Son to do something to relieve the embarrassment of their host at the wedding. The father of the sick boy was equally confident that he could rely on Jesus' help. Both miracles are also shown to have resulted in a personal surrender to Jesus which is full Christian faith. His disciples believed on himafter the water had been turned into wine; the father and the rest of his household believedas the result of the healing of the boy: and in both cases the verb in the original is an inceptive aorist they put their faith in Him'."202
4:46 John's reference to Cana and the first miracle seems intended to remind the reader of that event and to suggest the completion of a cycle. John did not reveal the reason Jesus returned there. The royal official (Gr. basilikos) was by his title a man who served a king. This was probably Herod Antipas in view of where he lived. Antipas was not an official king, but the people popularly regarded him as one (cf. Mark 6:14). The official was probably Jewish (v. 48). Jesus also healed the servant of a Gentile centurion in Capernaum (Matt. 8:5-13; Luke 7:2-10), but that was a different individual and a different incident. An important feature of this sign was the distance between Jesus' location, in Cana, and where the official's son lay ill, in Capernaum.
4:47 The official appealed to Jesus to make the approximately 13 mile trip from Cana to Capernaum to heal his son. He obviously believed that Jesus could heal people, but there is no indication that initially he believed that Jesus was more than a healer. He must have felt desperate to have sought Jesus from such a distance. Jesus' first sign came in response to a mother's request (2:1-5), but this second one came in response to a father's request.
"The nobleman believed that Jesus could heal his son, but he made two mistakes in his thinking: that Jesus had to go to Capernaum to save the lad, and that if the boy died meanwhile, it was too late."203
4:48 The official was responding as most of the Galileans did. Jesus used the plural "you"indicating that this man's unbelief was typical of most of his countrymen. Jesus' mention of "signs"(Gr. semeia) pointed to the significance of His miracles. This is the only place in John's Gospel where "wonders"occurs. This word (Gr. terata) stresses the wonder or awe that miracles produce in those who witness them. Jesus' use of the word suggests that the people wanted to see miracles just so they could marvel at them.
Jesus implied that the man did not believe in Him. He did, of course, believe that Jesus could heal His son, but he had not yet come to believe in Him as His Savior. Jesus viewed that level of belief as the significant one. The official may well have thought, What do you mean I do not believe on you? The man probably felt rebuked by Jesus' comment, but Jesus' aim was to bring him to deeper faith in Himself.
4:49 The officer showed little interest in the reasons people did or did not believe in Jesus since his little boy (Gr. paidion) lay at death's door. He desperately appealed again for Jesus to come to Capernaum quickly.
4:50 Jesus did not do what the father asked, but He gave him a promise instead: his son would live. The official seized the promise and departed for home alone demonstrating that he did not just want to see a miracle. If he had refused to go home without Jesus, he would have been disbelieving Jesus' word. He chose not to insist on receiving evidence and exercised faith without tangible proof. Thus he believed in Jesus in a deeper sense than he had at first.
4:51-53 His servants met him on his way back to Capernaum with good news. Jesus had made His promise about 1:00 p.m. the day before the official met his servants. When he met them, he learned that his son's condition had improved significantly, not just begun to improve as he had expected, when Jesus gave His promise. His recovery was no accident. This resulted in his believing in Jesus to an even deeper level, though he may not have understood that He was the Son of God. The members of his household believed in Jesus too (cf. 2:11; Acts 10:2; 11:14; 16:15, 31; 18:8). He learned that Jesus' word is powerful to save even at a distance. His faith grew from "crisis faith"(v. 47), to "confident faith"(v. 50), to "confirmed faith"(v. 53), to "contagious faith"(v. 53).204
4:54 John interestingly identified this miracle as the second sign that Jesus did even though He did other miracles in both Galilee and Judea after He changed the water to wine (cf. 2:23; 3:2). Moreover this is the second of several miracles that John labelled in his Gospel as signs, but he numbered only the first two. All of this evidence points to his regarding the first and second signs as similar and related to each other. The structure of this part of John's narrative, as I have sought to explain it above, accounts for his view of this second sign.
John explained further that Jesus performed this sign after He had come out of Judea into Galilee. This appears to be another geographical notice designed to help the reader follow Jesus' movements. It also suggests a contrast between the unbelief that marked Judea and the faith that was more prominent in Galilee.
This miracle, as the first one that John described, had a limited audience. Only the family and household servants of the official knew of it at first. This was typical of Jesus' ministry. While Jesus performed many public miracles, and huge crowds followed Him because they witnessed them, they had the desired impact on relatively few individuals (cf. 1:11-12).
John recorded many witnesses to Jesus' identity in his record of Jesus' early ministry (chs. 2-4). The first sign testified to His creative power to change the quality of things.205His cleansing of the temple showed His authority over the institutions of Judaism. Nicodemus testified to Jesus having come from God and His role as an authoritative teacher. John the Baptist bore witness to Jesus' identity as the Messiah. The Samaritan woman implied that Jesus was omniscient. Many other Samaritans acknowledged Jesus as the Savior of the world. The official whose son Jesus healed from afar came to recognize Him as the healer whose word can overcome the problem of distance as well as disease.206The first sign in John's Gospel shows Jesus' power over time, and the second sign shows His power over space. John the Apostle also called Him the Son of God, the giver of eternal life, and the One from heaven. This section of the book, therefore, makes an important contribution to the advance of John's argument and the fulfillment of his purpose (20:30-31).
