by Pastor Rich Carlson

After Jesus returned to Galilee from Samaria, He was approached by a high-ranking official. But despite his rank, this man came to Jesus as a pleading father. His son lay sick at home, nearing death. It was this desperate father’s mission that Jesus should accompany him home, in order to heal his boy.

While the Israelite nation was skeptical of Jesus’ power and mission, this particular man didn’t fit in with the crowd. He didn’t have to witness the miracle to believe. When Jesus lamented, “Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders…you will never believe,” the official demonstrated relentless faith (verse 48).

“Sir,” the man appealed to Jesus, “come down before my child dies” (verse 49).

In other words, the man respectfully told Jesus, “I don’t care what you think of our overall lack of faith without a miracle—I need a miracle. Please don’t let my son die!” He was trying to show Jesus that he believed even before he saw the miracle.

Verse 50 tells Jesus’ simple, yet wonderful, response: “Jesus replied, ‘You may go. Your son will live.’”
The same verse goes on to say that “the man took Jesus at his word and departed” (emphasis added).

What a statement of faith. Think of what would happen if we took Jesus at His word. The worried father found out. He was still on his way home when “his servants met him with the news that his boy was living” (verse 50).

Rich Carlson is campus chaplain at Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska. “God Is Faithful” is adapted from the email devotionals he writes regularly for the Union College family. Rich enjoys filling his life with God, his family, and especially his five grandchildren.