John 4:43-54 : After the two days he went out from there and went into Galilee. For Jesus himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country. So when he came into Galilee, the Galileans received him, having seen all the things that he did in Jerusalem at the feast, for they also went to the feast. Jesus came therefore again to Cana of Galilee, where he made the water into wine. There was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to him, and begged him that he would come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. Jesus therefore said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders, you will in no way believe.” The nobleman said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus said to him, “Go your way. Your son lives.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way. As he was now going down, his servants met him and reported, saying “Your child lives!” So he inquired of them the hour when he began to get better. They said therefore to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour, the fever left him.” So the father knew that it was at that hour in which Jesus said to him, “Your son lives.” He believed, as did his whole house. This is again the second sign that Jesus did, having come out of Judea into Galilee.

After spending time with the Samaritans, they continued their journey back to Galilee. John mentions that Jesus said that a prophet has no honor in his own town. I am assuming that John is saying this because Jesus didn’t return to Nazareth but ended up in Cana. After looking at the map, I see that they weren’t very far apart. That would explain why John might have a desire to explain why Jesus didn’t stop at home. It mentions here that people did recognize him as the one they saw in Jerusalem at Passover. Perhaps it was the scene in the temple where He drove out the animals and marketers that was still fresh in their memories.

Now Cana was the place where Jesus made wine out of water and it would seem that news got out. If I were a servant, I wouldn’t have kept that miracle to myself either. That might explain why the nobleman from Capernaum looked-up Jesus when his son was sick.

John records Jesus as saying: “Unless you see signs and wonders, you will in no way believe.” This almost strikes me as harsh at first. As I think about it, I realize that the reason it would strike me that way, is because I often don’t look at things in this world as I should. The more critical thing than life is that we believe. If we die in our unbelief we will go to Hell, so believing is more critical than staying alive. Jesus realized that healing this man’s son could help him and others to take the bigger step of believing. Signs and wonders are really not necessary in order to believe, but Jesus realized that these people wouldn’t believe without them. This might have been a let-down having come from the Samaritan city.

Now, Capernaum was quite a distance from Cana according to my map. This man was asking for Jesus to pick-up and go over to heal his son. This is one of the many instances where Jesus said “No” and “Yes.” By His actions, He said, “No, I won’t come to Capernaum.” By his power He said, “Yes, I will heal your son.”

I can really relate to this. Many times in my life, I have been asked to join ministries and do good works in very specific ways. I have said “No” to many of these specific things, but “Yes” to the work but in a different more specific way to what God had put into my heart. God calls us each individually to do the work He has planned out for us specifically. We need to do what God calls us to do, not what others think is right.

This man took Jesus at his word and his actions proved it. He turned and went home. If He didn’t believe, He would have tried harder to get Jesus to come, but he believed and left. At that moment, his son was healed. When we believe in Jesus, we are healed instantly inside too. We may have a journey to take before we realize the extent of what has happened, but sooner or later it is revealed.