The Healing of the Official's Son

Sermon for Trinity 21 - John 4:46-54

November 9th, 2025

“Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.”

The miracles of Jesus during His earthly ministry show visibly what His Words declare. He heals the sick. He brings the dead to life. Where there is unbelief He creates faith. Jesus is the Word of God made flesh. He is the Word that God spoke in the beginning to create all things. He is the Word that calls into existence the things that do not exist. What Jesus speaks He does and what He does He speaks.

The miracle of the healing of the official’s son is about the Word of God and faith that clings to and trusts in that Word above all things. This official whose son was healed most likely works for the Roman government, serving as an officer for Herod. He’s an important well respected man. His son is dying, and he believes Jesus can heal him.

This is only the second miracle Jesus has performed since He was baptized in the Jordan. The first miracle was the changing of water into wine at the wedding in Cana.

This official has heard Jesus teaching and most likely witnessed or heard about the miracle at the wedding in Cana. This man has faith. He travels some 20 miles to get to Jesus. He believes Jesus has the power to heal and fix what’s broken. He doesn’t have perfect knowledge. No doubt he has gaps in his understanding of who Jesus is. He has just a spark of faith. But faith isn’t a matter of great intellectual knowledge. It’s not how many facts you know or how many Bible verses you can quote.

True faith trusts that Jesus is God in the flesh and the He alone delivers sinners from sin and death through His bloody Cross. Faith reaches out and holds onto that Truth above all things. Even when things are a bit muddy and we don’t see as clearly as we’d like. Faith sees through the mud and the muck and clings to the promise and believes what God has spoken. The object of true faith is God’s Word that delivers the Gospel - Jesus Christ crucified and risen which is the power of salvation.

In this official we see an example of that faith. Even if faith is weak, just a spark, it still delivers the goods. This man comes to Jesus with that faith, and he expects great things. And the Word he hears doesn’t disappoint. God’s Word always delivers what it promises.

But this man didn’t travel 20 miles with the hope of just receiving a word from Jesus. He wants Jesus to come back with him and perform a great miracle like changing water into wine. He wants to see it with his eyes.

Jesus replies: “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” Jesus rebukes the man for his request. Jesus has a better way.

The official brushes of the reply of Jesus and says; “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus doesn’t cater to his weakness to have things his way, He simply says: “Go; your son will live.” And the man believed the word that Jesus spoke. His son lived. This is great faith and the reason he is an example for us. Despite what the man wanted and thought he needed, in the end he simply believed what Jesus said. This is faith in God’s Word.

Faith saves not because faith is great in and of itself. Faith saves because of what faith clings to. The Word of God. The Word of God is the power of faith. That alone delivers salvation to us. It doesn’t give us what we want it gives us what we need.

Even if this man would have returned home and found that his son had died, the promise of Jesus was still true. His son lives. Because ultimately faith looks beyond the temporal and sees the eternal promise. Jesus said: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.” That the promise faith clings to.

True faith finds hope beyond today in what God promises. God’s Word never promises to heal all of our sicknesses and diseases. It doesn’t promise to give us fame and fortune. We aren’t promised an easy path or long years. We might be healed for a time. We might have a long, joyous and blessed life. We might not. God’s Word transcends this life. It delivers Jesus and His eternal promise. The Gospel of Jesus Christ crucified and risen is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.

In the end that’s what matters above and beyond what this mortal life can give or take from us. This man had faith that went to Jesus because he expected great things. He wasn’t disappointed. Jesus spoke. Jesus delivered the goods. The road the man walked was long and difficult. 20 miles one way over rough terrain. All he got when He made it to Jesus was His Word. He took that Word and began the journey home.

Along the way he probably had great doubts and moments of despair. But despite his weakness and the long journey, the Word he carried with him didn’t fail. The Word he held close and carried back home was able to dispel the darkness and bring things into existence that seemed impossible. Where there was once only death there was now life.

Great faith simply clings to what God has spoken. You have that faith. It’s the faith of all the saints who’ve gone before us. It’s the faith of Martin Luther. It’s the faith of your childhood pastor, or any Christian you look up to. It’s the faith of Abraham who numbered the stars. The faith of Noah who endured the flood, or Samson who fought off a thousand enemies with the jawbone of a donkey.

The faith of Moses who stood at the foot of the Red Sea as the enemy pursued. The faith of King David who killed the giant with a sling and a stone. The faith of Stephen who fell asleep in Jesus as the stones struck his body. The simple faith of the official who believed the Word of Jesus. That’s the faith you have.

We are not as strong as we would like to be. We trip and fall. We speak before we think. We doubt. Some days our sins consume us. We have moments of great frustration and even anger towards God because life doesn’t make sense and we are scared and it’s just not fair. We want clarity today. We want assurance of good things tomorrow. We want to know if there is life at the end of the road when make it home.

Like this official we listen to what God has spoken and we believe. We would like to see miracles with our own eyes. Water turned into wine. The dead rise from the casket. We are convinced it would make us stronger, but it wouldn’t. God’s Word is enough. Read it, study it, meditate on it. Be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven. Believe it.

You are baptized into Jesus. His death and resurrection are yours, that is salvation. Come to the rail. This is not an empty ritual. You can’t see the body that hung on the cross or the blood that flowed but it’s here.

You can travel to the Holy Land if you wish. But you won’t find a miracle greater than what you find on a Sunday morning in the Divine Service. God’s Word is spoken. It delivers the goods. It is enough.

At the end of this journey home we will find life. We travel not with faith in our faith but faith in the Word of God that’s been spoken to us. We hold it close. We meditate on it. We abide it. It is the most precious treasure on earth. It is Jesus. He is the Word of God made flesh. He is the Truth and in Him is life.

When the world, your sin and your flesh attack and you begin to doubt and fear, remember this man and his dying son and simply listen to what God has spoken and believe it. Thanks be to Jesus. In Jesus name. Amen.