揭去历史虚无主义的面纱——关于历史虚无主义的对话

Question

In John 4:46-47, a nobleman goes to Jesus in Galilee and begs Him to heal his son who is near death (NKJV):

So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.

When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.

What prompted him to do this? There were no healings earlier. The first miracle in the area was turning the water to wine in a wedding feast. His healing ministry hadn't really started yet.

Update/Resolved: Yet there were miracles earlier. They were noted briefly in John 2:23, just in time for Nicodemus to mention them and the nobleman to hear of them.

Answer 1

The question is based on an argument from silence that is probably not valid. In John 2, after the wedding in Cana, we see Jesus going to Jerusalem for the Passover and cleansing the temple for the first time, and verse 22 tells us:

2:22 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did.

In the next chapter, Nicodemus comes to Jesus secretly and says:

3:2 [...] we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.

Now we don't know what specifically these miracles are, or if any of them are among the miracles recorded in other Gospels, but the vast majority of Jesus' recorded miracles were healings. So the assumption in the question is probably unjustified. Although there are no specific healings recorded before this point, Jesus most likely was already known as a healer, but at a minimum we can say with certainty that He had a reputation as a miracle worker, and if you believe that "no man can do these miracles unless God is with him", asking for a healing is hardly a stretch.

Answer 2

We are presented with a father in desperation with a dying son. If the doctors can't help, what does one even do? As a father, this would likely push him to seek any possible help, even from an unmet teacher with a growing reputation for miraculous power.

What do we know happened leading up to this?

• The water-to-wine miracle (John 2:1-11).
• Baptizing more disciples than John the Baptist in Judea (John 4:1-3).
• The Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:4-42).

These instances alone show that Jesus had plenty of opportunities for news of him to spread.

However, the initial question assumes that because no specific healing was recorded in Galilee before the nobleman's request, none had occurred anywhere. Under this assumption the nobleman's request would be without precedent. John 2:23 and 3:2 which are chronologically before the nobleman's request, invalidate this assumption. Jesus was already known as a miracle worker.

John presents the chronology like this:

??????Jerusalem miracles (2:23)
??????Nicodemus’s visit (3:1–21)
??????Journey through Samaria (4:1–42)
??????Return to Cana plus the nobleman’s request (4:43–47).

Thus, the nobleman likely did have knowledge of Jesus’ miraculous works (including healings) from His ministry in Judea/Jerusalem.

Answer 3

These are the healing that may have occurred between the first and second signs recorded in the Gospel of John:

Location	Event	Matthew	Mark	Luke	John
Cana	Water made wine	--	--	--	2:1-12
Galilee	Healing a leper	8:1-4	1:40-45	5:12-16	--
Capernaum	Healing Centurion's servant	8:5-13	--	7:1-10	--
Capernaum	Driven out demons on Sabbath	--	1:21-28	4:31-37	--
Capernaum	Healing Peter's mother-in-law	8:14-15	1:29-31	4:38-39	--
Capernaum	Healing a multitude	8:16-17	1:32-34	4:40-41	--
Capernaum	Healing a paralyzed man on sleeping mat	9:1-8	2:1-12	5:17-26	--
Galilee	Healing a man with a shriveled hand on Sabbath	12:9-14	3:1-6	6:6-11	--
Galilee	Healing a multitudes	12:15-21	3:7-12	6:17-19	--
Nazareth	Jesus' rejection by Nazarene	13:53-58	6:1-6	4:16-30	4:43-45
Cana	Healing a nobleman's son	--	--	--	4:46-54

As the table indicates, before the nobleman approached Jesus, He had already performed two major healings for large crowds. His reputation, which began with individual healings, quickly spread throughout the surrounding regions. This growing fame drew the attention of the nobleman, who came seeking healing for his son.

The event in Nazareth functions as a chronological anchor across the four Gospels. The healing of the nobleman's son took place after Jesus returned from Jerusalem and passing through Nazareth, where all four Gospels record His rejection. This moment thus marks a pivotal timestamp, suggesting that the events described prior to it had likely already occurred.

Answer 4

What prompted a nobleman in Capernaum to ask Jesus to heal his son?

Note Luke 4:37 (NWT):

So the news about him kept spreading into every corner of the surrounding country.

And because of this the nobleman went to seek out Jesus:

The story of the healing of the nobleman's son, found in John 4:46-54, recounts Jesus healing a nobleman's dying son from a distance. A royal official from Capernaum, whose son was seriously ill, traveled to Cana to seek Jesus' help to heal his dying son because he believed that Jesus could perform miracles, specifically healing his son who was at the point of death. He had heard of Jesus' recent arrival in Cana and traveled there, despite the distance, to plead with Jesus to come to Capernaum and heal his son,the nobleman's desperation stemmed from the severity of his son's illness, which was described as being "close to death" and out of desperation this nobleman hurried to Jesus whom he recognized that he was the only person and hope that his son would be healed. Just think and this showed his faith - the nobleman travelled a distance of about 20 miles) to find Jesus. No doubt the man had heard of Jesus other miracles and that is why he sought out Jesus and this Nobleman knew that Jesus would be able to heal his son

Answer 5

It is not necessary to resort to a harmony of the gospels to explain this. I noticed a little known verse that sheds light on it:

John 2:23

23 Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name.

In John's gospel, this happens right after Jesus overturns the money-changers temple. Thus, the author implies that many people witnessed Jesus performing miracles (called signs here) in Jerusalem during Passover. Many of these would have returned to the home towns to spread the word in time for the nobleman of Capernaum to hear of them.