In John 4, a royal official travels from Capernaum up to Cana in Galilee to find Jesus. Back home in Capernaum, his son is dying with a fever, and he wants Jesus to come back with him to heal his son.
“Sir, come down before my child dies.”
— John 4: 49
But “come down” is a bit confusing. If you look at a map, Cana is in southern Galilee and Capernaum is in northern Galilee, more than 15 miles away.
Looking at a map, you’d be tempted to say, “come up to Capernaum” unless you knew the geography.
Cana is on the south central plateau almost 1,000 feet above sea level. Capernaum is on the northwest coast of the Sea of Galilee, 700 feet below sea level.
So, the royal official literally walked up over 15 miles and climbing 1,700 feet to see Jesus, and wanted Jesus to literally walk with him back down to Capernaum.
Apparently, he’d heard the stories of Jesus’ miracles and now needs one to save his son. But he, like many, believed there are limits to Jesus’ power.
Jesus alters the story with five words:
“Go, your son will live!”
— John 4: 50
And without moving an inch, Jesus spoke and more than 15 miles down the road in Capernaum the son was healed.
For centuries, classical physicists struggled to explain how the Sun could pull on the Earth across 93 million miles of empty space. Then Albert Einstein and James Clerk Maxwell showed that physical objects aren't just isolated dots in the sky. They create gravitational and electromagnetic fields that reach out across space.
Now, when you make a cellphone call, your voice is converted into an invisible electromagnetic signal. In an instant, it travels through space, hits a cell tower or satellite miles away, and reproduces Jesus demonstrated the Kingdom of God functions like an infinite electromagnetic power field. His word is never limited by geographical coordinates.
He didn't need to touch the boy physically because his spoken word is the ultimate force in creation. In Genesis, he spoke a word and there was light, land, water, plants, animals, and finally humans made in his image.
Now, in John 4, Jesus speaks and a boy is healed more than 15 miles away. The official went home, and his servants met him with the good news about his son.
“When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said, ‘Yesterday, at one in the afternoon, the fever left him.’” — John 4: 52-53
Then the father realized this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.”
So, he and his whole household believed.
Charles “Buddy” Whatley is a retired United Methodist pastor serving Dawson Street Methodist Church in Thomasville, Ga. With wife, Mary Ella, they are missionaries to the Navajo Reservation.
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