Miracles Fast and Slow

In John 4, the royal official's son wasn’t fully healed yet. He only began to get better.

Photo by Chris Lawton on Unsplash

I want to write a quick note on the two miraculous stories that I preached about in the last two weeks. The first one was the turning of water into wine in John 2; the second is the healing of the royal official's son in John 4.

In the turning of water into wine, the miracle happened very quickly between the filling of the large water pots (John 2:7) and the serving of the water to the guests' glasses. In the healing of the royal official's son (John 4:46-54), John went to great lengths to inform us that it happened over a relatively longer period of time.

Here's the gist of the story: as the royal official was going home, his servants met him along the way and reported that his son was "recovering" (v.51, ESV). The father asked when he "began to get better." They said it happened 'yesterday at the seventh hour.' Did you notice that? He wasn’t fully healed. He was only recovering. He only began to get better.

The reason why I make a big deal out of the time element is two-fold. First, because John obviously wants us to notice the time. And two, because putting these two miracles in Cana side by side actually teaches us something important about miracles: some miracles happen in an instant; others take time.

The next time you pray and nothing happens right away, don't lose heart.