John 4:43-54

After the two days he departed for Galilee. (For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.) So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast.
So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering. So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” And he himself believed, and all his household. This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee.

John 4:43-54

To wrap it up, we see Jesus staying there for two more days and then leaving.  When he leaves, he goes to Galilee.  There is a mention by Jesus that "a prophet has no honor in his own hometown".  Isn't Jesus' hometown Galilee?  No, his hometown is Nazareth.  So, instead of going there he is going to Galilee where is he welcomed quite warmly.  These people have seen what Jesus did at the feast, so they know a bit of what he's capable of.

We now meet a man who has a son who is very sick.  This man comes to ask Jesus to heal his son.  Jesus does not immediately heal his son, but instead says "Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe."  The man still urges Jesus and Jesus says "Go; your son will live."  At this the man believes what Jesus has said and went on his way.  Don't just write this off and think about this for a second.  If you were simply told that the boy is healed, would you believe it?  I'll bet that in his mind he had figured that Jesus would physically come to his son and heal him.  He had already an idea of how this would play out.  Instead, Jesus merely says the word and this man is to believe.  What do you think would've happened if the man continued to urge Jesus to come?  Would this not be a sign of his disbelief?  Belief is not just believing what you would expect to happen but also what you do not expect to happen.  You must believe Jesus himself.  You must believe what he says and what he does.  This man believed Jesus and I think that was quite amazing.

It is actually quite interesting that Jesus even speaks to signs and wonders.  Some may expect these signs and wonders and without them some may not believe.  However, this man believes simply at Jesus' words.  This man believes without signs and wonders.  I would argue that signs and wonders could even mean what this many was expecting.  This many was expecting Jesus to come down to his son in order to heal him.  If you step back and think about that, isn't that odd?  Do you think that Jesus would physically need to be there in order for the son to be healed?  Is physical distance a problem for Jesus?  No, we need to take him at his word.  We need to believe his word which is found by reading his word (the bible).

In any case, the man believes and goes on his way.  He finds out that his son was healed the same hour that Jesus said that his son would live.  At this, not only does the man beleive but also his household.  This little story ends by saying "This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee."

If you look closely, the story actually twice tells us that this man believed.  The first time is at Jesus' own words and the second time was when he realized that his son was healed the same hour that Jesus had said it would happen.  I wonder why this is mentioned twice.  Are both instances different?  Does that mean that he believed, then ceased to believe, then again believed?  Perhaps the difference is in how these two are described.

In the first instance of belief, the man is described as believing "the word that Jesus spoke to him".  However, in the second instance, it just says that "he himself believed, and all his household".  NLT describes the second instance of belief in this way: "And he and his entire household believed in Jesus".  AMP puts it this way: "and he and his entire household believed and confidently trusted [in Him as Savior]".  It seems as though the first instance was merely a belief in what Jesus had said.  However, when it is proven to be true, he actually believes in Jesus and who he truly is.  Perhaps this story proceeds the story of the Samaritan Woman because of this.  Just as the Samaritan Woman comes to believe in Jesus for who he is, this official comes to believe in Jesus for who he truly is.