EXPLORE IT! - John 4:43-54

After staying in Samaria, Jesus then travels back to Galilee where the people welcome him.

He goes to Cana, the same place where he turned the water to wine at a wedding, and there he meets a royal official who asks him to heal his sick son.

And Jesus seems annoyed because people only seem to believe in him if he performs miracles.

Nevertheless, Jesus says the boy will be healed.

And The official goes back home to find his boy well again.

It is unclear if this is the same event that takes place in Luke 7:1-10 and Matthew 8:5-13. In those Gospels, Jesus heals in a very similar fashion the servant of a Centurion. Despite the extreme similarities of these stories, there are enough key differences that most scholars believe that these were actually two separate events. Jesus didn’t heal people just one time after all. He did so throughout his ministry.

According to John, this is Jesus' second miracle (after the Marriage in Cana). It is also the second of seven miracles that John documents for us in his Gospel.

John’s Gospel was most likely written for the Johannine community living in Asia Minor. One of the main headquarters of the church at the time this Gospel was written was in the city of Pergamum. And this Gospel has been custom made for those living in Asia Minor at this time. Jesus’ story is laid out in such a way as to show Jesus’ superiority over the various local pagan gods.

In both this story as well as the next story where Jesus heals the crippled man at the pool, we see that Jesus has the power and authority to heal people and to make them whole again. The Greeks had a god who healed – the god Asclepius. But John is showing his Greek audience – and us as well – that Jesus is not inferior to gods like Asclepius. Jesus can heal people too, and he does a much better job of it! John is proving to us that Jesus is superior to all other gods.