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Daily Devotion: John 4:49-50

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John 4:49-50    "The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my child die.  (50)  Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way."

After Jesus left Samaria, He went to Jerusalem, back to Galilee, and now He is in Cana once again. As He was walking along, a nobleman approached him. This man was apparently a part of the king's court. He had some authority in the office of which he served. He told Jesus that his son was about to die and asked Jesus to come heal him. We are told that he had heard of the other miracles that Jesus had done and came with great hope that Jesus would follow him to his house. Instead, Jesus looked at him and said, "Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe." The man urged Jesus even more diligently. This is when Jesus said, "Go thy way; thy son liveth."

The nobleman believed the words of Jesus and started back home. As he was walking back to his house He met his servants coming to him. They said to him, "Thy son liveth!" He asked them what time did he begin to get better? They told him the hour and he knew it was the exact time that Jesus had spoken the words, "Go thy way; thy son liveth."  He believed on the Lord Jesus and all his household because of this great miracle that Jesus performed.

I stop to think about what has taken place to this point. Jesus had said to the man, "Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe." We are told the man turned and started back home. Apparently it was a long walk back home because it was the next day when the servants met him with the good news. I wonder what was going through the man's mind as he walked all that way before meeting the servants. Was Jesus correct when he said you need to see signs and wonders before you will believe? We know He was. When was the man's faith sealed? Was it not when he "saw" that his son was better? Yes, he had left Jesus with a hope that his son would be okay. But we are told specifically that when it was confirmed the son began to get better at the same hour that Jesus spoke, both he and his household believed.

For this man, in this instance, things turned out the way he had requested them to happen. But what about those times when things do not occur in the manner we ask? Is Jesus more worthy to be believed when things go our way than if things do not turn out the way we want? My thought this morning is that our Lord is worthy of our confidence and our trust at all times. Even when things are different than we asked, we can know of a surety that the Lord is working on our behalf to ultimately draw us closer to Him. Ultimately, this man made his request, left it in Jesus' hands, believed the Lord would do what was right, and started back home. I think of the beautiful hymn, "Take your burdens to the Lord and leave it there." With Jesus, we are truly in good hands!

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