John 4:46 Commentary and Bible Study

This nobleman was not from Cana, but had travelled to Cana from Capernaum to find Jesus. He is not to be confused with the man of Luke 7 who was a rich centurion stationed at Capernaum whose servant was sick unto death. These are two entirely different people, that other event came later. He is described in the original as a little prince. It is customary to assume that he was an official of King Herod, tetrarch of the region, but he may actually have been a minor royal for all we know, because the term really does mean that. Generally he is regarded merely as a nobleman, a ruler, but a very important man at Capernaum. But he knows about Christ; it is his business to be in the know.This man’s son was sick to the point of death. He had some measure of faith. ‘There is a healer, and he has gone from Judea to Galilee. And I hear he has gone to Cana, and I need him because my son is dying.’ The Greek indicates quite a youngish son – my boy, my lad, is dying. And so he went on this journey of 15 miles plus to Cana, probably mounted on a horse, with servants.Now he believed Jesus of Nazareth was his only hope; only he could heal the boy. But he did not have a very high opinion of Jesus; he did not think he was God, or so it seems. He did not go as far as thinking he was Messiah. He just believed that he was an amazing prophet of some sort, but certainly an effective healer. He knew that Jesus had stirred things up in Jerusalem; this ruler had probably been there, and may have witnessed some of the miracles.