The two stories, the Official’s Son from John 4:46-54, and the Centurion’s servant from Luke 7:1-10 are so similar that some scholars believe them to be each a different telling of the same story. For me, the problem is that in the story of the Centurion the Centurion is commended for his faith where in the story of the Official’s Son the Official is condemned for a failure to believe. It would seem contradictory that in one telling Jesus would rebuke and in another, Jesus would commend. So let’s dig a little deeper and see what we can find.
The Government Official
In John’s Gospel we discover a government official from Capernaum, the same Capernaum where we find the Centurion in Luke. This official, when he heard that Jesus had left Judea and returned to Galilee, went to Jesus to ask Him to heal his son who was at the point of death. Jesus’ response to the Official was, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe (Joh 4:48).” There is the condemnation. Hadn’t both the Centurion and the Official sought Jesus’ help based on His reputation for miraculous healing? Jesus’ response to the Centurion was, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith (Luk 7:9).” Quite different, what gives?
The Official had made the twenty-five-mile journey between Capernaum and Cana and notice his desperation in his, “…repeated and persistent pleas. Desperate faith drove him to Jesus and also drove him to his knees (Gangel 2000, 83).” In the Gospel of Luke, we read of the Centurion that he, “had a servant who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant. And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly… (Luk 7:2-4).” Was the Official any less desperate than the Centurion? Not only did the Centurion not make a twenty-five-mile journey but he sent Jewish elders in his stead. If the difference is in the desperation, it could be argued the Official was more desperate in his trek and personal appearance.
Cana
I suspect that Jesus may not have been condemning the Officials faith. Now stay with me, and then double check my work, but when Jesus speaks to the official, “unless you see signs and wonders…(Joh 4:48, ESV)” he uses the plural form of, εἴδω (ĕidō) translated “you see” or “you people see (Strong 1890, 25).” The NIV best captures the meaning in this case “unless you people see signs and wonders…(Joh 4:48, NIV)” Jesus was talking to the crowd surrounding the Official.
If this is the case, then we must understand who the crowd is. Both Josephus and the Gospel of John indicate that Cana was prominent and well known (Thomassen 2016, 75). Nathanael, one of Jesus’ disciples, came from Cana (Joh 21:2) and when Philip identified Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah to Nathanael, Nathanael responded, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth (Joh 1:46)?” According to John’s Gospel, Jesus’ first Miracle, the changing of the water to wine, was also performed in Cana (Joh 2:1). However, the context implies an audience bigger than Cana. Even the Official had come from outside of Cana and when Jesus had returned from Samaria Jerusalem it was the Galileans who welcomed him (John 4:45).
The Galileans
The Galileans spoken to here would have been Jewish Galileans. “Archaeological evidence speaks to a migration of Jewish people into Galilee during the reign of Alexander Jannaeus (103–74 BC) (Barry, et al. 2016).” Alexander Jannaeus was a part of the Hasmonean family that lead a revolt against the Seleucid Empire (167-160 B.C.) and ruled over Israel as an Israeli nation until 63 B.C (Barry, et al. 2016). Patriotic Jews flocked to Galilee under the protection of the Hasmonean family and in the hope of the Hasmonean national ambition.
This migration would have continued even into Herod the Great’s rule. “Evidence from this period also shows a sudden decrease in imported pottery, and a simultaneous increase in the production of pottery from local Galilean workshops… This might indicate that Jews rejected pottery from Gentiles, instead acquiring it from other Jews, due to concerns about ritual purity or for ideological reasons (Barry, et al. 2016).” Herod the Great, and his family, sided with Rome for power and ultimately the region fell under indirect Roman control. However, nationalistic aspirations and hopes, especially in the Galilean regions had not lessoned.
What all this means is that the Jewish Galileans have been steeped in a Jewish nationalism that colored how they understood the Messiah. “The sign [of the Messiah] for which the vast majority awaited was national deliverance, independence from Rome… And they reserved the right to define precisely what those words meant (Scott 1995, 322).” Unless they, the Galileans, saw this specific sign or wonder they would not believe Jesus to be the promised Messiah of the Old Testament.
The Samarians
Wow, what a striking difference between the Galileans and the Samarians. The Galileans, “had neither a love of the truth, nor simplicity of heart; and would not believe anything from heaven (Clarke 1810-1826, 545)” that did not conform with their own desires. Compare the Samarian woman who after encountering Jesus, “…went away into town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” They [the Samarians] went out of the town and were coming to him (Joh 4:28-30).” The truth was that Jesus was the Messiah, the Christ, and had come to set them free from oppression but the Galilean’s understanding of who the Messiah was to be would keep them from seeing that truth. Thus, Jesus rebukes the Galileans.
Later Jesus would rebuke the scribes and Pharisees as they asked for the same sign. “Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, ‘Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.’ But he answered them, ‘An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah (Mat 12:38-39).’” Jesus’ ministry was very much about signs and wonders. However, He would not show them the sign and wonders that they were looking for because His ministry was so much bigger than they were willing perceive.
Today
Today, we have to be careful not to make the same mistake as the Galileans, the scribes, and the Pharisees. They all had much to gain from a Messiah who would usher in a Jewish nation as a world power. Wealth and prestige matched only by King David, Solomon, and maybe Alexander the Great. All the signs pointed to Jesus as their Messiah except the one they wanted. How many of us have said, “Jesus I will believe in you if only you would heal my mother, remove my cancer, protect my brother, etc., etc…” The truth is that Jesus is our Messiah even if He does not do the things we ask, those things we want. The truth is that even if Jesus does not do these things there are enough signs and wonders, and reasons for us to believe that He is our Messiah. Enough that the King of Kings can hold us accountable for failing to recognize and accept our Messiah.
The truth is that “the men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here (Mat 12:41-42).” That something greater is Jesus and the same condemnation can apply to us and our generation. Don’t wait! Accept and get to know your savior today.
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Barry, John D., et al., . The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016.
Clarke, Adam. Adam Clarke’s Commentary On The Bible. Public Domain, 1810-1826.
Gangel, Kenneth O. Holman New Testament Commentary. Vol. 4. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000.
Scott, J. Julius. Jewish Backgrounds Of The New Testament. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 1995.
Strong, James. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance. Abingdon Press, 1890.
Thomassen, Emily J. “Jesus’ Ministry at Cana in Galilee.” In Lexham Geographic Commentary on the Gospels, edited by Barry J. Beitzel, & Kristopher A. Lyle. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016.