Christ's Doctrine of Faith: A Study of "Believing" in John's Gospel (John 4:48-54)

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In John 4:48-54, we have the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first times the idea of “believing” occurs in John’s Gospel. The text reads: “Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe. The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my child die. 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. And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, Thy son liveth. Then enquired he of them the hour when he began to amend. And they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth: and himself believed, and his whole house. This is again the second miracle that Jesus did, when he was come out of Judaea into Galilee” (KJV). As usual, let’s consider the context of this passage and how “believe” and its cognates are used each time in this passage.

After two days, in which Jesus abode with many Samaritans who came to the belief and knowledge that He is the Christ, the Savior of the world, He leaves the Samaritans and goes into Galilee, because He testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country. When He arrives in Galilee, the Galileans receive Him, having seen all the things He did at Jerusalem at the feast since they also went to the feast. So, the Lord comes again into Cana of Galilee, where He turned the water into wine. And there is a nobleman with a sick son at Capernaum who, upon hearing of Jesus’s arrival at Galilee from Judaea, goes to Him and implores Him to come down and heal his fatally-sick son. Jesus tells him that unless they [the Galileans] [1] see signs and wonders, they will not BELIEVE. In response, the nobleman beseeches Him more to come down before his child dies. Christ answers His plea by telling him to go his way and that his son lives. The man BELIEVES the word Jesus had spoken to him and goes his way. On his way, the nobleman’s slaves [2] meet him and tell him that his son lives. The nobleman then asks them what hour when his son began to be healed, and they answer by telling him that the day before, at the seventh hour, the fever left his son. The father realizes that the seventh hour was the very hour in which Jesus told him that his son lives, and so the nobleman BELIEVED with his whole house. Our text here then concludes by telling us that this is the second miracle Jesus performed when He had come out of Judaea into Galilee. This is the context of our passage!

Now, let’s examine each of the three times the term “believe” and its cognates occur here! The first time is John 4:48, which says: “Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.” In other words, they will not take Christ at His Word (Acts 27:25) unless they see Him perform signs and wonders. The second time is John 4:50, which says: “Jesus saith unto him [the nobleman], Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way.” Here, the nobleman takes Jesus at His word (namely, His word that the nobleman’s son lives) and departs with that conviction. The third time is John 4:53, which says: “So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth: and himself believed, and his whole house.” In other words, after the fulfillment of Jesus’s word, the nobleman and his whole family receive Jesus as a result (cf. John 1:12). This is what we can learn about faith from John 4:48-54!

[1] https://biblehub.com/lexicon/john/4-48.htm [2] Strong’s Concordance New Testament Dictionary #1401