The Background — Two Days with the Gentiles
The early verses of the 4th chapter of John record how the Lord, traveling through Judea to Galilee, paused at the site of Jacob’s well, near Samaria. He was weary, and while the disciples departed to purchase food, he rested at the well. There he met a woman of Samaria, who had come to “draw water.” She was surprised that he, a Jew, should ask a favor of her, a woman of Samaria. He did more than that, however, he offered her the “water of life”, and so impressed her by His discourse that she was convinced that He was the Christ. Armed with this knowledge, the woman hastened back to Samaria, and proclaimed the astounding news to men of the city that she had met the long-expected Christ. They now made a pilgrimage to the well of Jacob to listen to Christ, and to become similarly impressed. Convinced that Jesus was the Messiah, they prevailed upon Him to visit their city and expound the Scriptures to its inhabitants. They pleaded with Him to remain for a time with them. So:
“. . . . He abode there two days. And many more believed because of his own word” (verses 40, 41).
“Now after two days he departed thence, and went into Galilee” (verse 43).
Thus for two days Jesus withdrew Himself from the Jews, and the Gospel was preached to the Gentiles. Afterwards He again manifested Himself to the Jews, and healed the ruler’s son. As part of “the sign”, those two days represent the period of time during which the true identity of the Lord is hidden from the Jews, but is preached to the Gentiles. Peter taught “that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years” (2nd Peter 3:8). Hosea prophetically declared, “After two days will he revive us (i.e. Israel) : in the third day he will raise us up and, we shall live in his sight” (Hosea 6:2). Christ will return to revive Israel after the flesh; to raise the nation from their bed of sickness and death upon which it today rests. He illustrated this by a remarkable miracle that He performed when he returned from Samaria to His people. He returned to a nation that was sick unto death, but which could have been healed if it had but accepted Him in faith.
The Samaritans Contrasted with the Galilaeans—John 4:45
Two significant and contrasting statements are made in this 4th chapter of John. The first records the statements of the Samaritans after listening to Jesus (verses 41, 42); the second reports the attitude of the Jews (verse 48). On hearing Jesus for themselves, the men of Samaria declared to the women:
“Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world” (verse 42).
But of the Jews in Galilee it is said:
“. . . . The Galilaeans received Him, having seen all the things that he did at Jerusalem at the feast . . .” (verse 45).
The former believed because of His word; the latter received Him because of His miracles. Christ commented upon this, praising the Samaritans for their belief, but reproving the Jews because they required visible evidence before accepting Him. The attitude of the Samaritans had its just reward, for it was to Samaria that the Gospel message was first taken, when persecution drove some from Jerusalem to different parts.
Acts 8:5,6 states:
“Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them. And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake . . .”
The things Philip spoke to the Samaritans must have recalled the teaching they had heard from the lips of the Lord.
“Come, heal my son!” (See John 4:47)
Jesus went from Samaria to Cana of Galilee, where He had performed the first “sign”. There He was met by a certain nobleman, or ruler (see verse 46 mg.), whose son was desperately ill. Acknowledging the power of Jesus, he urgently besought Him that He would come down and heal his son. In the sign, this nobleman represented the leaders of the nation. As Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, stated, “We know that thou art a teacher come from God” (John 3:2). These Jewish leaders also recognized that “their son” (the nation), was desperately sick, and in need of help. Many of them thought that Christ could assist them at that time. But they wanted Christ to do what this nobleman pleaded with Him to do.
“Come down,” he said, “and heal my son” (John 4:47).
Physically, Capernaum is about fourteen miles in a continuous descent from where Christ was at the time, so that literally the nobleman’s request was in accordance with the situation of the two places. But he asked Christ to do literally what others wanted him to do spiritually. The Jews wanted Christ to “come down” to their level, and assist in healing the nation. The temptation of Christ in Matthew 4:8-11 was on that basis; later when they tried to make him king by force, it constituted an attempt to make him “come down” to their level (John 6:15). This Christ refused to do. Instead He reproved the nobleman, not accusing him of being completely destitute of faith, but declaring that he did not have faith enough.
“Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe”, he declared (John 4:48).
The nobleman had come to the Lord because of what he had seen and heard (verse 45). Apart from that, he was like the rulers of the nation, he had little confidence in Christ (John 12:37; 1st Corinthians 1:22; Matthew 12:38). Christ’s words in reply indicate that they were not directly to the nobleman only, but to him as typical of his class. The “ye” in Christ’s statemen is in the plural number, and signifies “Ye Jews”. He was speaking not merely of the nobleman, but of the nation and its leaders as a whole.
“Your son will live!” (See John 4:50)
The nobleman’s urgency was such, however, that he did not stop to reason with the Lord:
“Sir”, he pleaded, “come down ere my child die” (verse 49).
He thought the personal presence of Christ was absolutely imperative for healing to take place. He could not appreciate the fact that Christ could heal from a distance. But now the Lord replied
“Go thy way, thy son liveth” (verse 50).
There was something in the tone and demeanor of Christ that created confidence in the man. He looked at the Lord and believed. He came to understand the healing power of the Word alone, and with renewed hope he turned his footsteps homeward. Thus Christ taught a powerful lesson by refusing to “come down” with the ruler. To have done so would have confirmed him in his lack of faith. As far as the “sign” is concerned, it would have illustrated that it is necessary for Christ to “come down” to the level of the Jews in order to save the nation.
The Significant time of Healing
Two appeals were thus made to Christ to save the nobleman’s son, and on the second appeal the man believed and obeyed the instructions of Christ. How true this is also of the nation of Israel. The nation made an appeal to Christ 1,900 years ago (John 6:15), to “come down” to its level. The time is coming when, again, it will make an appeal to the Lord (Matthew 23:29), and this time it will believe, and will be healed. In short, as the nobleman learned, as Israel will yet learn, as all mankind will ultimately come to learn, it must be God’s way, or not at all. So the man returned home. He was met by servants, joyfully coming to meet him, with the heartening news that recovery had taken place. He inquired what time this had occurred, and received the answer:
“Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him!” (See John 4:52).
“The seventh hour”. Immediately our minds go to the millennium. It will be then that the “fever” will leave Israel, and the nation will be healed. There will be wholesale conversions, for Paul declared: “And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob” (Romans 11:26). This is also represented in the sign, for we read that the nobleman believed, “and his whole house” (John 4:53).
The Meaning of the Sign
This miracle was thus also a parable. It indicated that the nation was sick unto death, and Christ alone had the power to cure. But the nation refused to go to Christ. It wanted Christ to “come down” to its level. So in this sign, Christ revealed that at His second coming, the healing words will be spoken, and the sick son of the nobleman will rise from the bed of death (cp. Ezekiel 37). It also has an application to spiritual Israel. For, like natural Israel, Gentiles must acknowledge the state of spiritual death in which they live, and from which only the healing power of Christ’s words can save them (Ephesians 2: 1,2). And this He does while still a long way off.
Thus, as far as Israel after the flesh is concerned, this second sign showed that Christ alone has the power to raise the nation from its bed of death. And as far as Israel after the spirit is concerned, the sign shows that the words of Christ can provide us with new life: “. . . The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). These words properly understood and applied will renew us with spiritual vigor and life.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One