INTRODUCTION

The first two miracles in the Gospel of John form a literary inclusio around the beginning chapters of the Gospel, commonly known as the “Cana Cycle” (2:1–4:54),¹ because of their common geographical and thematic settings. Geographically, both miracles take place in Cana of Galilee and thus form a literary bracket around these three chapters.² Thematically, both miracles develop the theme of the new life that is available in Christ to all who would believe on His Person. Whereas Jesus demonstrates His authority as the divine Messiah to grant new life by changing water into wine in the first miracle, He illustrates the same truth through restoring the official’s son from the brink of death in the second miracle.³ Before discussing the second sign-miracle of Jesus, however, it is imperative that its attendant contexts (3:1-4:42) be developed. These include Jesus’ personal interview with Nicodemus in chapter 3 and His personal encounter with the Samaritan woman in chapter 4.

THE SETTING

Having declared Jesus as the promised Messiah by the testimonies of John the Baptist and the disciples in chapter 1,⁴ the Fourth Evangelist demonstrates that as the Messiah He is capable of replacing the old system of Judaism with the new wine of His kingdom (2:1-11). And, as the divine Messiah, He offers eternal life to all who would believe on His Person. Jesus then demonstrated the significance of the first sign-miracle by cleansing the temple in Jerusalem, an authoritative act reserved for the Messiah at His second advent (2:12-22). He performed these signs at the beginning days of His ministry in order to reveal His messianic identity, as the One who will one day establish His promised kingdom. However, as the Messiah He offers new life to all who would believe on Him.

Then in chapter 3, the Evangelist reveals how one can partake of the new life that is in Christ through Jesus’ personal interview with Nicodemus. Nicodemus is introduced as “a man of the Pharisees.” As a “man” he seems to represent the many Jews in Jerusalem who believed in Jesus because they saw the signs he was doing (2:23-25; cf. 3:2).⁵ Nicodemus is also described as a member of the “Jewish ruling council,” the Sanhedrin, a ruling body of elders among the Jews.⁶ Culpepper suggests correctly that the figure of Nicodemus also stands to represent the Pharisees, for whom the law and oral traditions marked the way of entrance into God’s kingdom.⁷ In short, he was a perfect candidate for entering God’s kingdom,⁸ if the conditions for entrance were measured by “human righteousness.” However, Jesus makes it clear that he stood outside the kingdom.⁹

The condition for entering the Messiah’s kingdom or eternal life according to Jesus is spiritual rebirth or a birth from above.¹⁰ Laney combines the two ideas and insightfully suggests the phrase, “born again from above.”¹¹ It is clear from Nicodemus’s response, however, that he could not comprehend Jesus’ statement beyond the natural realm. Thus, Jesus rebukingly explains to Nicodemus that the concept of spiritual rebirth is derived from the Hebrew Scriptures and that he should have been familiar with it. Jesus explains that to be “born again/from above” is to be born of water and the Spirit.¹² Laney correctly observes that he is probably referring to the New Covenant promises of regeneration and the forgiveness of sins through faith in Christ and His sacrificial death for sins (3:16-17; cf. 1 Cor 11:25; Heb 7:22; 8:6-13; 10:15-22).¹³ In short, then, the requirement for entering the Messiah’s kingdom is spiritual rebirth from above by means of one’s faith in Jesus’ sacrificial provision. As Koester perceptively concludes, “Being born from above means coming to faith in Jesus, who came from above.”¹⁴ Thus, even Nicodemus, a man who possessed impeccable and impressive religious credentials, could enter the Messiah’s kingdom and partake of the eternal life only if he placed his trust in the divine provision of Christ’s sacrificial death for the forgiveness of sins.

If the Evangelist reveals how one can partake of the new life that Christ offers through Jesus’ personal interview with Nicodemus in chapter 3, then he reveals who can enter into that life through His personal encounter with the Samaritan woman in chapter 4. The literary connection between these two chapters is made obvious through the sharp contrast between the two characters, Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman.¹⁵ If Nicodemus was a “prime” candidate for entrance into the Messiah’s kingdom, humanly speaking, then the Samaritan woman was the “least likely” of candidates for His kingdom. Culpepper correctly observes that she lacked all of Nicodemus’s advantages.¹⁶ Thus, the great barrier that Jesus crossed in reaching out to the Samaritan woman is highlighted by the Evangelist’s parenthetical statement in verse 9: “For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.”¹⁷

The setting of the story that takes place at the Jacob’s well and the subject of water provide much insight into the significance of Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman and the gift He was offering her. While Jesus was offering her “living water”¹⁸ as the gift of eternal life, the woman, like Nicodemus, could not comprehend His offer beyond the natural realm.¹⁹ It is obvious that Jesus was building on the Scriptural metaphor of water (cf. Ps 36:9; Isa 55:1) to refer to the new life that He offers: “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (4:13-14).²⁰ Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well is probably intended to be a reminder of the patriarchal blessings that took place by a well.²¹ As such, Jesus was revealing His own Person as the promised Messiah of the Hebrew Scriptures who fulfills the patriarchal promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob long ago. When the woman expresses her expectation for the coming Messiah, Jesus responds with the revelatory words, “I who speak to you am he” (v. 26). By using the expression “I am,” Jesus was intentionally identifying Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

The motifs of the water and the well in this story also anticipate the eschatological hope expressed by the Hebrew prophets. For instance, the prophet Isaiah, in envisioning the eschatological days, declares: “With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation” (12:3). He then continues his prophetic exultation with these significant words: “In that day you will say: ‘Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted” (12:4). The prophets certainly envisoned the last days as a time when the Messiah will not only fulfill His promises to the nation Israel but also as a time when the Gentile nations will also be blessed by Him (cf. Gen 12:1-3). And, the conclusion of the Samaritan woman pericope certainly foreshadows in the present age the truth that will be be fulfilled in the eschatological age (4:39-42). The story concludes with the Samaritans believing in the Messiah by faith in recognizing Jesus as “the Savior of the world” (v. 42). In short, the Messiah is not only the King of Israel, He is also the Savior of the world.

To conclude, the story of the Samaritan woman reveals that although she was outside of the Jewish community, not to mention her sinful life-style, by placing her faith in Jesus as the promised Messiah, her sins were washed away and she gained an entrance into the kingdom. This obviously stands in contrast to Nicodemus who, inspite of being within the Jewish community apparently did not walk away from his encounter with Jesus with a newly found life like the Samaritan woman.²² These two pericopes reveal, then, that one can only receive eternal life and enter into the Messiah’s kingdom by believing in Jesus, regardless of one’s religious or ethnic background.

THE SIGN

The miracle narrative begins with transitional verses that shift the scene from Samaria to Galilee (4:43-45).²³ Having ministered in Samaria for two days (v. 43; cf. 4:40), Jesus now returned to the place where He performed His first miracle. These verses also introduce the conclusion of the “Cana Cycle” (2:1–4:54) by bringing Jesus back to the same place where the theme of signs was introduced (2:11).²⁴ By designating the miracle as a “second sign” (δεύτερον σημεῖον), the Evangelist is probably indicating the literary inclusio that brackets these three chapters with the two Cana stories. The second miracle indicates a literary unit not only by its common geographical setting with the first miracle, it also advances the theme that has been highlighted throughout this section, namely, that Jesus is the One who gives life.[^25] Both miracles develop the theme of the new life that is available in Christ to all who would believe on His Person. Whereas Jesus demonstrates His authority as the divine Messiah to grant new life by changing water into wine in the first miracle, He illustrates the same truth through restoring the official’s son from the brink of death in the second miracle.

The miracle story begins with a description of a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum (v. 46).²⁵ Capernaum was a city located approximately eighteen miles northeast of Cana on the shore of Kenneret (the Sea of Galilee), and according to Laney, it was an important tax collection station on the international highway (the Via Maris).²⁶ Apparently, there was stationed a certain royal official, who was probably in the service of Herod Antipas, who ruled Galilee from Herod’s capital at Tiberias, possibly in the service of Rome.²⁷ Borchert explains the possible background of the official: “Most scholarly opinion leans in favor of the man’s having been in the service of Herod Antipas, a subordinate ruler (for the Romans) or tetrarch in charge of Galilee and Perea, the man who divorced his Nabatean wife and married Herodias (the divorced wife of Philip, Herod’s half-brother; cf. Matt 14:1-12). This official may have been a military officer, but since he was from Capernaum (a town on the Sea of Galilee near the border of another tetrarchy), the official could have been involved in other duties such as revenue collection.”²⁸

Although the ethnic identity of the royal official is subject to debate without an explicit statement, Mead insists he is a Gentile officer in the service of Herod Antipas.²⁹ The contextual evidence seems to support this conclusion.³⁰ The verse immediately preceding the account of this miracle may provide a clue to his Gentile identity. At the closing of the Samaritan woman account in chapter 4, the Samaritans who came to faith as a result of the woman’s testimony about Jesus declared: “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world” (v. 42, emphasis added). This verse seems to be a literary hinge to what follows, namely, the salvation of the Gentile household of the royal official (vv. 43-54).

The official’s son lay sick in Capernaum, and was close to death (ἤμελλεν ἀποθνήσκειν). Culpepper accurately observes, “Death is the problem, not a particular illness.”³¹ This is evident by the fact that the narrative repeatedly emphasizes that the son “lives” (vv. 50, 51, 53) as a result of the miracle. When this man heard that Jesus had come to Galilee, he went to Jesus and “begged” (ἠρώτα) him to come and heal his son (v. 47).³² His faith becomes evident, because when Jesus granted his request, “he took Jesus at his word” (ἐπίστευσεν ὁ ἄνθρωπος τῷ λόγῳ ὃν εἶπεν αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς) and departed (v. 50). And, his faith in Jesus’ word was confirmed when his servants met him on the road of his return and informed him of the exact hour his son was healed. (vv. 51-52). When the man realized that his son was healed the exact time Jesus spoke the words of healing, he and his whole household believed (ἐπίστευσεν) (v. 53).

THE SIGNIFICANCE

On the most obvious level, the miracle reveals that Jesus has the power to save from death even at a great distance. Jesus’ word has the power to work miracles even though He Himself is far removed from the actual place.³³ Sloan explains the significance of Jesus’ healing the official’s son at a distance.

While Jesus does not believe his presence is required–that is, that the miracle must be “seen”–the nobleman pleads with him to “come down before my child dies.” The nobleman assumes that healing can occur only with Jesus’ presence. Thus, while we hear in 4:50 that the man “believed” the word that Jesus spoke to him–healing at a distance evidently requires more faith than healing associated with presence–and therefore started off toward his own home, we are told again in 4:53 that it is also upon later hearing that the hour of his son’s healing corresponded to the hour of Jesus’ statement (“your son lives”) that he “believed.” The demand for physical presence, overcome by faith, has nonetheless its (sublimated) counterpart in the synchronizing of word and deed. As is customary in the Gospel of John, belief has different meanings, and in this case it seems clear that “belief” of 4:53 is corroborated and/or intensified by the nobleman’s subsequent experience of learning of the temporal correspondence between the words of healing, spoken at a distance, and the act of healing. The believing of 4:53 is thus related not only to the amazing fact of healing, but the even more astounding fact of healing “from a distance.” That is, the healing was unseen–it was done by Jesus, but in the absence of Jesus.³⁴

The emphasis of this miracle, then, is the authority of the Messiah’s word, and it is similar to the first miracle in that regard. Even in the first miracle of Jesus turning water into wine, it was the Messiah’s spoken word that caused the miracle to occur. Thus, both miracles confirm the claims of the Prologue (1:1-18) that Jesus is the Λόγος of God. In short, Jesus, as the divine Messiah, has the power and authority to command life to be.

The miracle also reveals a deeper Christological significance. There are aspects of this sign that reveal His Person as the promised Messiah. In healing the royal official’s son from the brink of death, Jesus demonstrates yet another important aspect of the Messiah’s role as predicted by the Old Testament prophets, namely, His authority to bring healing and deliverance from the cruel fate of death (cf. Isa 25:8; 35:5-6; 53:4; 61:1). As Carson explains, “The one who transformed water into wine, eclipsing the old rites of purification and announcing the dawning joy of the messianic banquet, is the one who continues his messianic work, whether he is rightly trusted or not, by bringing healing and snatching life back from the brink of death.”³⁵ It is significant that both sickness and death will be absent in the future messianic kingdom. The apostle John also envisioned such a blissful time in his Apocalypse: “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Rev 21:4). Therefore, as Laney concludes correctly, “In Jesus’ healing of the official’s son He was giving a foretaste of kingdom glory.”³⁶ In short, then, by revealing His Person as the Messiah who will overcome death, Jesus was illustrating that He has the authority to grant eternal life even now to those who would believe.

The significant relationship between the theme of life and believing is therefore also one of the emphases of this miracle. Borchert correctly observes, “The Johannine theme of life and death is encapsulated in these two brief but powerful statements (“Go! Your son will live”). As indicated earlier, the man obeyed the word of Jesus without seeing the sign.³⁷ As Blum concludes, “Jesus’ word has power to work, and people are simply to believe His word.”³⁸ In short, the Evangelist demonstrates in this miracle a theme that he has developed throughout the beginning chapters of the Gospel, that is, Jesus, as the divine Messiah has the authority to give life. And, believing in Jesus and His Word results in the eternal life that only He could give.

This miracle also reveals yet another aspect of the Messiah’s kingdom. If the ethnic identity of the royal official and his son is Gentile, as argued above, this sign emphasizes the universality of the eschatological kingdom of the Messiah (Isa 2:2-3; 42:6; Zech 8:23). The prophets of old have envisioned the days of the Messiah when the Gentiles nations will join Israel in the worship of the King. And, this miracle shows that the blessings of the Messiah’s redemptive work extends not only to the Jews, but to the Samaritans and Gentile nations as well (cf. Gen 12:3). Thus, Jesus is not only the promised Messiah of the Hebrew Scriptures, He is also the Savior of the world.

The literary pattern of highlighting Jesus’ encounter with a Jew (Nicodemus), a Samaritan (the Samaritan woman), and a Gentile (the royal official), brings to remembrance Jesus’ command to His disciples to be His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).³⁹ It is conceivable that the apostle John had his Lord’s command in mind in designing his Gospel this way.⁴⁰ It is ironic, however, in comparing the responses of the three individuals whom Jesus encountered in these chapters, that the only one who walked away from his encounter with Jesus without receiving eternal life was the Jewish teacher of the law. Whereas the other two who were initially outside the covenant community put their faith in the Messiah and thus received life eternal, Nicodemus could not abandon his works-based system of religious Judaism.

CONCLUSION

The Evangelist’s “purpose statement” of the Fourth Gospel explicitly states that his selected sign-miracles are intended to reveal Jesus as the promised Messiah and the unique Son of God, and those who believe in Him are promised life eternal (cf. 20:30-31). Thus, all of the sign-miracles in the Gospel of John reveal Jesus’ Person as the divine Messiah who grants life to those who would believe. But, this theme of Jesus as the life-giving Messiah is particularly central in the first four chapters of the Gospel. The first chapter of the Fourth Gospel, consisting of the Prologue (1:1-18) and the Testimonium (1:19-51), plays a significant role within the book by introducing the key concepts and themes that will be developed later in the Gospel. The Prologue and the Testimonium introduce Jesus as the divine Messiah who grants eternal life to those who would believe in Him, which He will provide by His redemptive and sacrificial death on the cross as the Passover Lamb. By introducing Jesus as the divine Messiah who grants life to all who would believe, the Evangelist provides a foretaste of the kind of revelations to come in the seven sign-miracles and their attendant contexts in the form of narratives and discourses.

The first two sign-miracles are recorded in the section of the Gospel commonly referred to as the “Cana Cycle” (2:1–4:54). The two Cana sign-miracles frame these three chapters as a literary unit with their common geographical and thematic settings. They both take place in Cana of Galilee, and they both develop the theme of newness of life that Jesus provides as the divine Messiah. The first sign-miracle (2:1-11), as the “beginning of signs” (ἀρχὴν τῶν σημείων), stands as a representative sign for the rest of the miracles to follow. The first miracle of Jesus turning water into wine at the wedding in Cana authenticated His Person as the promised Messiah and the divine Son of God. And, as a representative sign the Evangelist states that Jesus revealed His glory (δόξαν) through this miracle (2:11), which will be true of all of the miracles. The second miracle of Jesus healing the royal official’s son (4:43-54) brings the “Cana Cycle” to a close with Jesus performing his second miracle in Cana of Galilee. Whereas Jesus demonstrates His authority as the divine Messiah to grant new life by changing water into wine in the first miracle, this sign-miracle demonstrates the importance of believing in Jesus and obeying His word. It is believing in Jesus as the promised Messiah and the divine Son of God that results in the deliverance from the realm of death into the life from above, or eternal life.

Stephen S. Kim (Th.M., Ph.D., Dallas Theological Seminary)

Pastor of Living Word Fellowship in Nashville, TN. He taught for twelve years at Multnomah Biblical Seminary in Portland, OR, as Professor of Bible.

[^25]” Culpepper, The Gospel and Letters of John, 144. Culpepper demonstrates that the theme of Jesus as the Giver of life is developed in all the pericopes of the Cana Cycle: the Prologue (1:1-18); the wedding at Cana (2:1-12); the cleansing of the Jerusalem Temple (2:13-25); the conversation with Nicodemus (3:1-21); John the Baptist’s testimony and Jesus’ following discourse (3:22-36); the Samaritan woman (4:1-42); and the official’s son (4:43-54).

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