Today we are going to take a look at Jesus’ second miracle in Cana. Do you know what it is? We are in John 5:43-54. Jesus has spent a couple of days with the Samaritans. The Samaritan woman. And then he stayed with them for two days. And before that Jesus was in Jerusalem for the Passover. And now he is returning to Galilee. He has come back home.
I am reading from the New International Version.
The Healing [1:02]
After the two days he left for Galilee. (Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.) When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, for they also had been there.
Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water to 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 and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death.
“Unless you people see signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.”
The royal official said, “Sir come down before my child dies.”
“Go,” Jesus replied, “your son will live.”
The man took Jesus at his word and departed. While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, “Yesterday, at one in the afternoon, the fever left him.”
Then the father realized that τhis was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him “Your son will live.” So he and his whole household believed. This was the second sign Jesus performed after coming from Judea to Galilee. (NIV, John 4:43-54)
While Jesus had been away from Galilee for the Passover, he had become very popular among the Galileans. Now that he has returned to Galilee, he is welcomed because they had seen everything he had done. (John 2:23, 4:45)
Galileans were there when Jesus purified the temple. And they saw the miracles which he did. You remember that Nicodemus came to Jesus and said, “We know you are teacher from God because of the signs which are you doing.” (John 3:2) Nicodemus comes because of the signs. And now the Galileans are welcoming Jesus back because they had seen the miracles which he had performed. (John 4:45)
The Royal Official [4:23]
And so, quite naturally, just as we would expect, someone comes to Jesus and wants him to use his miracle performing power. He has a need. He is some kind of a royal official. His son is sick in Capernaum, but he has come to Jesus in Cana.
Who was this royal official? Well, we don’t really know. But we do have some clues. Who was in charge of Galilee? When King Herod died, his son Antipas became the ruler over Galilee. Antipas was not a Jew. His father, king Herod, was an Edomite. And his mother was Malthace, a Samaritan. So Antipas is the ruler over Galilee and the royal official who comes to Jesus is an official who serves Antipas.
Now, two people come to mind. Two possibilities. One is Chuza. Chuza was the manager of Antipas’ household. And his wife was one of the women who later in his ministry followed Jesus around and supported his ministry. (Luke 8:3)
A second possible person is Menaen in Acts 13:1. In Acts he is a Christian who was brought up with Antipas. Was he the royal official? Was the royal official Chuza? Was he Menaen? We don’t really know. But these are two possibilities.
He believed. [6:41]
Well, you remember the first time Jesus came from Judea to Galilee after he was tempted, he went to Cana and performed his first miracle. Now Jesus is returning from Judea to Galilee for the second time. And now he will perform another miracle in Cana. The first miracle during the joy of a wedding feast. And this one during a man’s grief over his dying son in Capernaum, a city thirteen miles away from Cana.
Oh, we know that Jesus healed his son. But this man does not really have faith in Jesus. “Unless you people see signs and wonders you will never believe.” (NIV, John 5:48).
So, Jesus spoke the word to heal his son in Capernaum. Thirteen miles away. And his son son was healed at that very moment.
So, that is a good story. And it ends with this: So he and his household believed. (NIV, John 4:53) After the miracle, he believed. And his family believed. Good outcome.
Samaritan Contrast [8:29]
What really strikes me about this is the shocking contrast. The Samaritans, which we talked about in the previous episode. Just before coming to Cana, Jesus spent two days with the Samaritans, whom the Jews despised. And the Samaritans despised the Jews.
During Jesus’ encounter with the woman at the well, and during the two days that he spent with the Samaritans, many believed in him. They did not come to believe in Jesus because he had performed miracles. He did not do any miracles in Samaria. And they did not see the miracles he had done in Jerusalem during the Passover, because the Samaritans had their own Passover. They did not go to Jerusalem.
The Samaritans first believed in Jesus because the woman at the well told them that Jesus had told her things about her life that he could not have known. About her five marriages and the man she was living with now. “You’ve had five husbands, and the man you are living with now is not your husband.” (NIV, John 4:18)
And so they brought Jesus to their village, where he stayed for two days. The Samaritans said to the woman: “We no longer believe because of what you said. Now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.” (NIV, John 4:42).
And the verb is imperfect tense. Again and again they said to her: “We don’t believe because of what you said. We believe because of what we have heard for ourselves.They kept saying, “We know that this man really is the Savior of the world.” (NIV, John 4:42).
No miracles. No healing of the blind and deaf. No raising the dead. We believe because we have heard him. The Savior of the world.
Not just the Savior of the Jews. The Savior of the world. That is an astonishing statement coming from Samaritans after a two day talk with Jesus.
And now, and now, Jesus is in Cana. Back among his own people. These are Jews. “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will never believe.” (NIV, John 4:48)
Jesus heals his son. And the royal official believes. Some Samaritans listen to Jesus. And because of what he said, they declare that he is the Savior of the world.
That You May Believe [12:43]
That raises a very important question. What was wrong with people coming to believe in Jesus because of his miracles? What was wrong with that? We have classes on Christian evidences, and over and over we are told that the miracles Jesus performed prove that he is the Messiah. The Son of God.
In John Jesus is in the temple and in a dispute with the Jews. (John 10:24-25)
“Tell us. Are you the Messiah? How long will you keep us in suspense?”
“I did tell you and you did not believe me. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me.” (NIV, John 10:24, 25)
Jesus had told them over and over that he was the Messiah. I am the Good Shepherd. I am the light of the world. And the bread from heaven.
“You accuse me because I said I said I am God’s Son. Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father. But if I do them...believe the works.” (NIV, John 10:38)
That would be healing the blind and lepers. Raising the dead. The miracles.
How can Jesus chastise the Jews: “Unless you see miracles you will never believe.” And then say to believe in him because of the miracles he did?
And another example. When John was in prison he sent his disciples to Jesus to ask if he was the Coming One? Or, should we look for someone else? And Jesus sent this answer: Yes. Well, sort of. He gave an indirect answer which means yes.
Tell John the blind receive sight. The lame walk. Lepers are cleansed. The deaf hear. The dead are raised. (Matt. 11:4) These were all miraculous works of Jesus.
So, what is the problem with people believing because of the miracles? Why does Jesus say: “You people will never believe unless you see signs and wonders!” (NIV, John 4:48)
Wonder Seekers [16:20]
This seems to be the problem. Jesus can never do enough miracles for the Jews to believe.
They always want another miracle. Show us another miracle! And another.
The Samaritans believed without seeing any miracles.
But the Jews can never see enough.
Did you notice that Jesus said, “You people can never see enough signs and wonders. (NIV, John 4:48, emphasis mine). This is the only place in the Gospel of John where a sign, that is a miracle, is also called a wonder.
Miracles create wonder. Amazement. Wow! Awesome. And it may be that Jesus is rebuking the Jews because they only want to see another miracle so they can be spellbound. Wow! Did you see that?
I sometimes see these magic tricks performed on videos. They show up on Facebook. And some of them absolutely twist my mind trying to understand how it is done. I’m not saying that Jesus did tricks. No. But some magic tricks are so incredible that you just want to see it again. And again. Wow! And some of that is probably going on with Jesus. People just want to see him do a miracle because it is so amazing when lepers are healed, the blind see, and the dead are raised.
Back to the Samaritans. The Samaritans get a lot of bad press. But think about this. The first person Jesus revealed himself to as the Messiah was a Samaritan. “I who speak to you am he.” (NIV, John 4:26)
And the Samaritans, at least these Samaritans in this village, believed in him because of his teaching, not because of any miracles which he did. They kept telling the woman, “Now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”
But the Galileans failed to believe even though they had seen Jesus do miracles in Jerusalem.
He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. (NIV, John 1:11)
Rick Walker
Vinekeeper Bible Podcast
Sophia church of Christ
Georgetown, Guyana
