After Jesus meets the woman of Sychar at the well, He heads back toward Galilee to start His ministry there.

Luke 4:14

14 And Jesus returned to Galilee (through Samaria, stopping at Sychar) in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through all the surrounding district.

So He’s heading for His hometown of Nazareth from Capernaum and must go through Cana to get there. Along the way, someone stops Him. This person had been running after Him for about 25 miles, and caught up to Him here.

John 4:46-53

46 Therefore He came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine. And there was a royal official whose son was sick at Capernaum.

47 When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and was imploring Him to come down and heal his son; for he was at the point of death.

He’s pleading in desperation for his sick son. But there’s a problem – it is God the Father’s will for Jesus to go to Nazareth. Therefore, Jesus is unable to go back to Capernaum with this official. But.. does the Lord need to return to Capernaum to heal this young man? NO!

48 So Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe."

49 The royal official said to Him, "Sir (this word is KURIOS, translated most other places as LORD!), come down before my child dies."

50 Jesus said to him, "Go; your son lives." …(So Jesus exercises His omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence without anyone seeing it or knowing it!)

Now the official does two things:

50 …The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started off.

He believed what the Lord said, and did what He commanded! The Lord spoke, and he believed and acted. What do you do when the Lord speaks to you today? Imagine this man – he has no proof that his son is okay! But still he trusts the Lord, and goes on with what He had told him to do.

51 As he was now going down, (it’s 25 miles back to Capernaum, and he wasn’t driving!) his slaves met him, saying that his son was living.

52 So he inquired of them the hour when he began to get better. Then they said to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him."

His slaves were so excited that the son had recovered, they ran to tell their master. What a surprise; he was healed at exactly the time that the Lord made the statement!

53 So the father knew that it was at that hour in which Jesus said to him, "Your son lives"; and he himself believed and his whole household.

The man had already believed in verse 50! But now he knows that the Lord Himself fulfilled his request from Cana. Now the father has learned something new about Jesus Christ. Every time you learn something new about Him, your faith grows stronger. This is what happened with this official. Of course, the official tells his entire household what happened, and they all believe!

What do you think when you make your requests of God, through Jesus Christ? What did He say about it?

John 14:13

13 "Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

Jesus said to us that He will do what we ask in His name. Does He need to be here to answer the prayer? Did He need to be in Capernaum to heal the boy? NO!

Our response should be the same as this official’s. When you make a request of Him, have faith that He will accomplish it, and get on with what He has told you to do!