TThhaatt DDeessppeerraattee RRooyyaall OOffffiicciiaall Rediscovering John 4:43-54 through the Lens of Context

We have forgotten that we read the as foreigners, as visitors who have traveled not only to a new geography, but to a new century. We are literary tourists who are deeply in need of a guide. – Gary Burge1

Introduction With Scripture, the past is often the prologue for the present encounter. At the end of John 4, returns to Cana and heals the son of a royal official from Capernaum. John refers to this particular miracle as Jesus’ second sign; the first sign being the miracle of turning water into wine at a wedding feast in that same town (John 2). Why does John choose to designate this particular royal official miracle as his second sign after alluding to other miracles that occurred between these two Cana miracles? That question is the focus of this month’s contextual Reflection. Here’s how John describes this intriguing encounter:

Now after the two days (in Samaria), Jesus departed from there and went to Galilee. For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country. So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they also had gone to the feast.

Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him at once and begged him to come and heal his little boy who was on the brink of death. “Unless you people see attesting miracles and miracles that excite wonder,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.” The royal official said, “Sir, come down at once before my child dies.” “You can go home,” Jesus said, “your son will live.” The man took Jesus at his word and departed. He was well on his way home when his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. When he inquired as to the time when his son began to mend, they said to him, “Yesterday, at one in the afternoon, the fever left him.” Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” That clinched it. So he and his whole household became believers that Jesus is the Messiah. This was the second attesting miracle Jesus performed after coming from Judea to Galilee. John 4:46-54 (a composite of several translations).

Where Are We? A good first question to ask of any passage is: Where are we? John 4 ends with Jesus back in Cana which is located on the E/W running Ptolemais-Taricheae (Magdala) road. This lovely town rests on the north central slope of the Beth Netofa valley between the Sea of Galilee and the Mediterranean coast.2

Capernaum is also part of this story. It is a city of roughly 5,000 people located in the NW corner of the Sea of Galilee, approximately ten miles north of Tiberias and acts as the base of Jesus’ Galilean ministry. That proximity is important to this encounter since resides in Tiberias, ruling over the Galilean and Perean Districts. Herod Antipas is the one who arrested3 and later beheaded4 . Scripture tells us that the Baptist had confronted Antipas over the sin of marrying his step-brother’s (Phillip) wife, .5 If you are Jesus, you might want to shield yourself from this couple as best as you can. As part of this proximity backdrop, remember that Antipas is the only person about whom Jesus ever made a derogatory remark – that cunning fox.6

Geologically speaking, the Sea of Galilee sits in a recessed bowl 700 feet below sea level. As a result, leaving Capernaum one has to go UP to travel to Cana, which is why the Royal Official implores Jesus to go DOWN to his home in Capernaum. In constructing his narrative this way, John lets us know he understands Galilean geography.

What’s Happened Before? The second question to ask of any text is: What happened before that bears on this passage? As mentioned before, Jesus performed His first sign (miracle) of turning water into wine at a wedding feast in Cana. Important to that first sign is that

 Marriage feasts were intended to be joyous occasions and in the Hebrew worldview wine was the personification of joy. The Old Testament speaks to wine being the symbol of joy; e.g., Judges 9:13, Psalm 104:15 and Isaiah 55:1.  With the capacity of the water purification vessels given to us by John– each holding from twenty to thirty gallons – Jesus created the equivalent of 800 (750 ml) bottles of fine wine for use in the latter stages of this wedding feast! John gives us this detail so we will appreciate the enormity of the amount of fine wine that Jesus created. When the joy of heaven invades your life, that joy is intended to flood your soul so that your cup continually overflows.  John wants us to know that as a result of experiencing this first miracle (sign), these new disciples believed in Him. Being very familiar with the Old Testament understanding that “the joy of the final days is an abundance of wine” (Amos 9:13-14, Hosea 14:7, Jeremiah 31:12),7 the disciples likely would have understood this as a sign of the advent of the Messianic age.

What Cultural Clues Shape This Encounter? The next question to ask of any passage is: What contextual clues are important for discerning the fuller meaning of this passage? Consider:

 The word was indeed spreading in the Galilee District regarding the (onsite) healing and exorcism miracles that Jesus was performing. In first-century Jewish worldview, this would have likely established Jesus as yet another in a long line of miracle-working, Pharisee rabbis from the Galilee. These rabbis were called the Hasidim (or Chasidim) – “the righteous ones” – and they were well known for 1) their pious, prayer-warrior nature and 2) doing things for the benefit of the community, e.g. laying on of hands for healing.8 However, as wonderful as those traits might be, that is certainly not the same thing as THE Messiah. Therefore, could it be reasonable to assume that the healing paradigm of this royal official is that this Rabbi Yeshua could (only) perform onsite healing miracles?  If you are a royal official in Capernaum, you are Herod Antipas’ representative. Thus you need to be careful in how you relate to or interact with this controversial new Rabbi Yeshua. You have probably heard that Antipas, and particularly Herodias, do not feel kindly toward John the Baptist, who is not only a relative of this Yeshua, but also seems to be a collaborator with him having recently immersed (“ordained”) him into his ministry.9 Thus, caution needs to be taken in identifying too closely with another potential political threat to Antipas. And what if this Yeshua would (likewise) confront Antipas and Herodias regarding their adulterous marriage? Nothing good could come of that! Thus, getting too close to this miracle-working rabbi could be detrimental to my career development!

Desperate People Do Desperate Things Ever been close to a situation where a child was at death’s door? Parents of such a child will do anything and seek out anything that might make a life-sustaining difference. I have no doubt this royal official (and his wife) were similarly desperate. How many tears of anguish had they already shed as they watched life slowly slip away from their little boy? How much dread had already invaded their souls? How many physicians have already tried to make a difference, but to no avail?

A Risky Move One day this royal official gets word (maybe he or someone from his office overheard people talking in the Capernaum marketplace) that this Rabbi Yeshua is back in the Galilee District up in Cana. Could this rabbi make a difference in his son’s life? Might he be worth a try? (Praise God for people who talk about Jesus in the marketplace in ways that not only allow others to overhear, but causes them to want to seek Jesus out!)

Lots of Time to Wonder As a rule of thumb, a good day’s journey (on fairly level ground) in first-century Israel was considered to be 16-18 miles per day.10 Thus, it appears from Galilean geography that it may well have taken this Royal Official one and a half days to cover the 22-25 miles up to Cana from Capernaum. Plenty of time to worry about his son’s deteriorating condition and to wonder: Is he even still alive? Plenty of time to second- guess: Am I doing the right thing, or am I making a career-ending fool out of myself? Will this Jesus even grant me an audience? What will those in my Capernaum office think? Questions, doubts, and fears. Finally he arrives in Cana, seeks Jesus out and begs Him to intervene in the illness of his son.

A Challenging Rebuke Jesus’ initial response to this imploring royal official is unless you people see attesting miracles and miracles that excite wonder…you will never believe. Given the plural nature of this you people statement, commentators have speculated on just how much of the rebuke was aimed at the Galilean crowd versus this royal official. John makes reference in the text to what those Galileans saw Jesus do at festival in Jerusalem. Given that backdrop, it would seem that Jesus’ rebuke is much more of a general rebuke of those in His Cana audience than one specifically aimed at this desperate royal official. Regardless of where we put the emphasis, Jesus’ rebuke certainly doesn’t deter this royal official. He immediately responds with Sir, come down at once before my child dies. To which Jesus responds, “You can go home…your son will live.

This royal official took a BIG social and political risk in publically seeking out Jesus. Was he convinced that Jesus was the long-awaited Jewish Messiah? I doubt it. It would seem he saw Jesus as a healer who could make a difference in his son’s life. He was like many others − the leper (Luke 5), the friends of the paralytic (Luke 5), the woman with the issue of blood (Luke 8) – who came to Jesus not because they (fully) understood Jesus as the long- anticipated Messiah, but because they had heard (and maybe seen) enough to believe that He could make a difference in their lives. And that was enough to draw these desperate seekers to Jesus, which seems to be just fine with Him. Jesus’ consistent invitation is, come to Me all you who are burdened and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28). As part of that, Jesus also seems to be saying, “I know you don’t understand all that I am, what I am about, and why I have come, but that’s okay for now. We can work on the bigger picture later. Right now, I just want you to come.” (And that’s part of why I would suggest Jesus’ you people rebuke is much more aimed at the viewing crowd than this desperate royal official).

Revisiting Jesus’ Rebuke It’s important to take a closer look at Jesus’ challenging rebuke. Note the sequence of the two phrases that comprise it: 1) Unless you people see attesting miracles and miracles that excite wonder…2) you will never believe (emphasis added). When it comes to Him and His Kingdom (two important distinctions), note the progression that Jesus is rebuking: first see, then believe. One of the clichés of our culture is seeing is believing, a phrase that affirms not accepting what another person says unless I can see/experience it for myself. At one level that would seem like a practical trait we should willingly affirm. And yet this “realistic” perspective is exactly what Jesus is rebuking. The spiritual eyes of faith are often at odds with the pragmatic, earthly eyes of this world. In Jesus’ new community, this earthly see-first-believe-second sequence gets reversed. First you believe then you get spiritual eyes so you can see things differently and have a greater capacity for courage and boldness to take Jesus at His Word. Isn’t that a great phrase?! Let’s take a closer look at it.

Taking Jesus at His Word In response to Jesus’ words, You can go home…your son will live, John tells us that the man took Jesus at His word and departed. Resident in that phrase is the willingness to let go of all the explicit and implicit paradigms (traditional ways of thinking) that we bring to Jesus. Coming to his encounter with Jesus, this royal official’s paradigm was that Jesus might well be capable of healing, but he has to be onsite to do it. In telling the royal official you can go home…your son will live, Jesus is forcing this royal official to change/expand his thinking for not only what Jesus can do, but for how and when He does it. This royal official’s initial view of Jesus just wasn’t big enough! I think each one of us can relate to that restrictive way of thinking. We so easily seem to be able to place limits on what we think Jesus can do, as well as when and how He does it!

Are we really willing to take Jesus at His word today hook, line and sinker, as the old fishing phrase goes. Or do we pick and choose which words of Jesus we will submit to, embrace and then live out in an uncompromising way? Do we prefer (default to) a selective approach in taking Jesus at His word so that our social, cultural, church and “religious” paradigms don’t need to be (often radically) remade?

There is a relatively new book out called Radical: Taking Back your Faith from the American Dream (Richard Platt) which challenges the Christian community: Will we take Jesus at His word, totally and completely, or will we not? This royal official had that choice and he chose to take Jesus at His word and departed for home.

Meanwhile Back in Capernaum At 1:00 PM one afternoon in this royal official’s Capernaum home, the dying little boy’s fever broke and a few hours later he was definitely improving. This royal official’s wife reacted to the encouraging turn of events by telling some servants to quickly go and find her husband to tell him this good news. Might she have said to those servants, “Find my husband and tell him that our son is now getting better? See if you can stop him from seeking out this Rabbi Yeshua before he jeopardizes his career and future.”

Heading Home Meanwhile, walking back (down) to Capernaum, what might this royal official’s thoughts have been? From the text, we know he believed his son would be cured. But why would he believe that? Because Jesus was a good prognosticator? Because Jesus was a lucky guesser? Or maybe because he felt this Rabbi Yeshua would literally intervene and cure his son? He is well on his way home (I would guess somewhere on the Plain of Magdala) when he sees a few men approaching him on the path. As they get closer, he recognizes his servants. One of them runs to him and blurts out that his son is now getting better. Immediately this royal official asks as to the time when his son began to mend. They said to him, “Yesterday, at one in the afternoon, the fever left him.” Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” That clinched it.

Now this royal official knows with certainty that this Jesus is more than just a prognosticator. He had made more than a fortuitous guess. He had actually intervened with the power of His Presence and Word to heal the official’s son long distance way! Truly, He has to be the long awaited Messiah! He must be the Son of God! And as a result, he and his whole household became believers that Jesus is the Messiah.

Why Does John Choose this Encounter as His “Second Sign? The answer to this question appears to be in contrasting these first two signs. At the wedding feast, we have the consummate expression of joy and celebration with the birth of a new marriage relationship. In the second sign we are at the other end of the human spectrum dealing with disease, desperation, dread and death. What spans these first two signs is Jesus, the Perfect God/man for all human needs, all emotional seasons, and for all of life’s circumstances – the triumphs as well as the tragedies. That is a motif that John establishes early on in his .

In both of these first two signs, people believed (enough) in Jesus to start their journey of faith. And a journey it is. (Remember another father who brought his demon-possessed son to Jesus and exclaimed after Jesus exorcised that spirit, Lord I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief.11) In the space of just twenty-four hours, this royal official has already experienced some of this same faith-journey reality.

Was Jesus Politically Astute? We might pose this question as a riddle: What do the centurion (Luke 7), this royal official, and Jarius, the head of the synagogue (Luke 8) have in common? Answer: All three are very important people who live in Capernaum. Why is that significant? Because in bringing back to life the only child of Jarius, and in healing the son of the royal official and the servant of the Roman centurion, Jesus acquired the loyalty (social reciprocity is mandatory in this culture) of these three important Capernaum leaders. These three influential Capernaumites will now be beholden to Jesus (in His debt, so to speak) resulting in protecting Him rather than reporting back to Antipas what He is doing and saying.12 Thus, performing these three particular miracles was both politically astute as well as very strategic for Jesus. Might we say that Jesus acted in ways that were as shrewd as snakes and innocent as doves13 to intentionally protect His embryonic ministry?

I know it is fashionable in some circles to say that Jesus was apolitical in His message and in His actions. But given this contextual backdrop, I’m not sure I concur with that. Looking at these three miracles from the geographical proximity of Tiberias (and Antipas/Herodias) to Capernaum, it seems that Jesus was politically astute in targeting those Capernaum religious, military and governmental leaders who would be instrumental in protecting His ministry, and thus politically shielding Him from that sly fox just ten miles south.

Some Things to Ponder

 How is your report card doing these days in taking Jesus at His Word? Do you pick and choose which of Jesus’ words you will submit to, or do you enthusiastically embrace them all? Do you set aside those commands/teachings which seem too radical and thus too disruptive to your comfort zones? Why?  Are you being overheard in the marketplace talking about Jesus in intriguing ways that will not only cause people to stop and listen, but to then seek Him out?  Are you mostly a see-first-then-believe kind of person? Or a believe first and then spiritually see kind of person? What might that suggest about your way of “viewing” everything?  Is your view of God big enough? Can He truly do far more abundantly than anything you might ever think or imagine (Ephesians 3:19)? Or do you tend to limit God by putting Him in a/your box?  Isn’t it fascinating what Jesus did with a very serious illness of a child? Makes you wonder if this child had never become seriously ill, whether this royal official would have ever sought Jesus out?  How much spiritual risk are you willing to take to be publically identified with Jesus in the eyes of your (political, organizational and “religious”) peers?  What do you make of Jesus’ political astuteness? What implications might that have for us (and you)?  Which of your paradigms (ways of thinking) do you think God’s Spirit still needs to radically remake so you can truly fall in love with, and then enthusiastically embrace His Kingdom and His ways?  Faith is a journey; something we grow/mature into. Where are you on the journey? Like that Mark 9:24 father, where does your “unbelief” still exist?  Where is God’s Spirit nudging you right now as you ponder this encounter?

© Doug Greenwold 2011

Notes and Sources

1 Gary M. Burge, Jesus, the Middle Eastern Storyteller (Zondervan: Grand Rapids, MI, 2010) 11. 2 Anson F. Rainey and R. Steven Nutley, Carta’s New Century Handbook and Atlas of the Bible (Carta: Jerusalem, 2007) 227. 3 Matthew 4:12 4 Mark 6:16 and Luke :19-20 5 Mark 6:18 6 Luke 13:32 7 Raymond E. Brown, The Gospel According to John I-X11, The Anchor Bible (Doubleday, Garden City, NY, 1966), 105. 8 Prof. Hannah Safri, Hebrew University, Evening Lecture on “The Oral Tradition and First Century Judaism,” The Jerusalem Center for Biblical Studies, March 1988. 9 Luke 3:21 10 Dr. James C. Martin, The Jerusalem Center for Biblical Studies, March 1988. 11 Mark 9:24 12 I am indebted to Dr. Randall Smith of Christian Travel Study Programs for this insight. 13 Matthew 10:16