John 4:48

‘Jesus therefore said to him, “Unless you (plural) see signs and wonders you will never believe”.'

It does not really matter whether Jesus saw the man as a Jew or a Galilean, or as a courtier and politician. What mattered was that He saw him as one of the wonder-seekers. Whereas the common people sought Him gladly, these rich city dwellers just wanted signs and wonders (John 2:23; John 3:2). Jesus was challenging the man's faith. It is of interest that Jesus' ministry was mainly carried on in the smaller towns and cities and that He avoided cities like Caesarea. He knew that His word would find no acceptance in the big cities which would be cosmopolitan and have little time for a Jewish prophet.

Jesus' reply shows how disappointed He was at the attitude that had been revealed in Jerusalem (John 2:23). He did not want it repeated here. There they had followed Him only in order to see signs and wonders. They had only believed when signs were given, and it had not been a reliable faith. There had been nothing deep about it. It had meant that His work was being ineffective.

In Judea the common people had flocked to hear His words. In Samaria there had been a mini-revival and men and women had genuinely sought God. But these rich city dwellers, like those in Jerusalem, would only want signs and wonders.

He linked this high official with Nicodemus (John 3:2) and with the authorities in Caesarea. ‘Unless you (plural) see signs and wonders you will not believe'. The inference is that the man has only come because he had heard of the sign at Cana. He is not a man of deep faith in God, he is another wonder-seeker, as are they all. Such people wanted to see signs and wonders, either because they were looking for someone who would do such things and by them bring about deliverance from the Romans, or because they were cynical, or because by them they hoped to win the people to join their particular group. Thus the generality of men wanted someone who could do spectacular things and who would back up their viewpoint. They were not seeking God. It was the signs and wonders that had brought Nicodemus to Him, and he had come by night. And now was this high official here for the same reason? Jesus had just come from a place where revival had broken out. He did not now want to pander to the signs and wonders brigade.

Jesus had not come to feed wonder-seekers. Nor had He come to build up a particular group. Nor indeed had He come to heal, although in His compassion He healed all who came to Him. He did not want simply to do another work which would pander to men's ideas. He was seeking those with genuine faith, given to them by the Father. The last thing He wanted was to feed expectations of lots of miracles. (He had not as yet done any healing miracles in Galilee that we know of). He was challenging this man as to where his real interests lay. Was he just similar to the others?

Alternately Jesus might have been looking at him with his background as an Herodian official. They regularly wanted to observe a miracle being done (Luke 23:8). It was exciting and something to talk about when the wine flowed. He did not want to be seen as supporting such behaviour, or to pander to it. Or to be seen as a supporter of Herod. The question was, how deep was this man's faith? What was he really here for? How great really was the need? How genuine was he? Once He knew that He met his need.