Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary John 4:52

"So he inquired of them the hour when he began to amend. They said therefore unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him." — John 4:52 (ASV)

People are amazed by coincidences, but generally they do not attribute them to the direct activity of God. As the official went home, a miraculous report greeted him “while he was still on the way.” There is an interesting progression in the description of the boy’s condition. First the news came that “his boy was living.” But more than that, the man was curious to know “the time when his son got better.” Finally, he was told, “The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour.” 53–54 When the father considered the details of his meeting with Jesus and the good news concerning his son’s recovery, he was convinced that more than coincidence was at work. The timing was miraculous, and the boy’s recovery was more than circumstantial. “So he and all his household believed.” The notation in v.54 should probably be read in the light of John’s footnote in v.44. The convincing character of the two signs recorded here and the forceful demonstration of God’s response to faith afforded by the second provided cogent illustrations for the main theme of belief.