53 So the father knew that _it was_ at the same[157] hour, in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth: and himself believed,[158] and his whole house. [157] Ps. 107:20. [158] Acts 16:34; 18:8. 54 This _is_ again the second miracle _that_ Jesus did, when he was come out of Judæa into Galilee. =50-54. He went his way.= The course of the nobleman was not that of one deficient in faith. On the contrary, he did not wait to see signs or wonders; he believed the simple word. That he did not hasten is evident from the next verse. Christ spoke the word of healing at the seventh hour, _i. e._, one in the afternoon. The father could have reached home that same night; but it was not until the next day that his servants, coming to relieve his fears, met him on the road. Faith neither worries nor hurries.--=Thy son is living.= He was so sick before the father left home, that the mere announcement that he was living demonstrated that he was recovering. The case was one in which life could not last long if a change for the better did not take place.--=Himself believed.= Believed what? He had believed before, when he came to Jesus, or he would not have come; and again when he went away, or he would not have been satisfied at the mere word of Jesus. But he before simply believed _about_ Jesus, _e. g._, that he was a prophet, possessing certain healing powers, the extent of which he had not measured. Now he believed _on_ Jesus; without as yet comprehending the Saviour’s mission or character, he yet had faith in him; that kind of faith which was ready to accept him as all that he claimed, whatever that might be. To _believe_, used absolutely, as here, always indicates not believing a doctrine about Christ, but personal belief in and allegiance to him. This miracle is certainly not the same with the healing of the centurion’s servant, recorded in Matt. 8:5-13, with which it has been sometimes confounded, but with which it really has little in common. One is wrought at Capernaum, the other at Cana; one at the petition of a nobleman, an officer of the court, the other at the request of a centurion; one probably for a Jew, the other certainly for a Roman; one in behalf of a son, the other in behalf of a servant; one for a petitioner who entreats Christ to come to his house, the other for one who deprecates his doing so; one affording an illustration of the largest faith in a heathen, the other of the development of faith from a small beginning in an Israelite. The resemblances are superficial; the differences are radical. Accepting the narrative as true, it is one of the many which utterly refute the rationalistic explanation of miracles offered by such writers as Schenkel. This cure could not have been due to any natural means, as the inspiration of hope, or the infusion of nervous power by personal contact, or the like, for the sick man did not see Jesus nor even know when the father saw him.