Kingdom Incarnate Part 4
At Keys Vineyard Church, we are presenting a series called ‘Kingdom Incarnate,’ which we post here on Online Bible Institute.
We continue in our series ‘Kingdom Incarnate,’ which endeavors to teach us to ‘see’ and ‘know’ Jesus in the gospels. This week, we will examine John Chapter 4 and discuss the healing of the royal official’s son.
John 4:46–54 (NIV)
46 Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. 47 When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death. 48 “Unless you people see signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.” 49 The royal official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” 50 “Go,” Jesus replied, “your son will live.” The man took Jesus at his word and departed. 51 While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. 52 When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, “Yesterday, at one in the afternoon, the fever left him.” 53 Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he and his whole household believed. 54 This was the second sign Jesus performed after coming from Judea to Galilee.
In John 4:46-54, the royal official’s story shows how his faith grew from simply knowing about Jesus to personally trusting Him. The man was desperate for his son’s healing and came to Jesus because he had heard of His miracles. At first, his faith seemed based on what he thought Jesus needed to do—be physically present to heal his son. This kind of faith relied on what he could see or experience firsthand.
Jesus responded with a challenge, saying, “Unless you see signs and wonders, you will not believe” (John 4:48). These words pushed the man to go deeper in his trust. When he begged Jesus to come and heal his child, Jesus didn’t go with him. Instead, He simply said, “Go; your son will live.” This was an unusual response because most people expected healers to be present to perform a miracle.
What happened next was key: the man believed Jesus’ words and started the journey home. He acted without seeing proof, showing that his faith had shifted from relying on physical evidence to trusting Jesus’ promise. When he met his servants on the way and learned his son had been healed at the exact time Jesus spoke, his faith was complete—not just in Jesus’ power to heal but in His goodness and timing.
This story teaches us that true faith isn’t just believing that God exists or can do great things. Real faith means trusting Him with our lives, even when we don’t understand what’s happening or can’t see the outcome. Like the royal official, we are invited to trust Jesus at His word and act on it, even when we feel unsure or when the way forward is unclear.
This weekend at Keys Vineyard Church, we will discuss all this and more, so be sure to join us in person or online.
Steve Lawes is a pastor at Keys Vineyard Church and also the founder of the Online Bible Institute Network.
