Jesus Heals an Official’s Son

Friday, December 27, 2013        Jesus Heals an Official’s Son

John  4: 43-54

When Jesus was back in Cana, John says Jesus performed the second miraculous sign. Jesus’ own commentary was that many people were more interested in his signs than they were in going where the signs were pointing them. When I was in Israel, as we were boarding our tour bus in Caesarea to continue our journey to Jerusalem, I noticed some in our group taking photos of the road sign pointing to Jerusalem. If they would have been satisfied with their photo of the road sign, and never journeyed on to Jerusalem, they would have been like the people in Galilee responding to Jesus’ signs.

But the government official from Capernaum was not like that; he was more like the Samaritan woman. He clearly believed Jesus was the only hope for his child: “The official pleaded, “Lord, please come now before my little boy dies” (John 4:49). Like the Samaritan woman, he chose to believe what Jesus told him. When he returned home and found his son well, his choice to believe Jesus turned into saving faith for him and his entire family: “And he and his entire household believed in Jesus (John 4:53b).

John’s commentary reminds us that the miracles of Jesus have a specific purpose. Jesus’ signs are given so that “you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name” (John 20:31). This gift of life is how Jesus defined his own mission: “I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of” (John 10:10b The Message). Have you found your life in Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God?

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.