Single lesson
Jesus Heals an Official's Son
John 4:43–54
Jesus returns to Galilee, and an official comes to him with a desperate request about his dying son. Children can trace the order of the account, notice the choices people make, and see what happens after Jesus speaks.
Before you teach
After two days, Jesus goes into Galilee. The passage includes Jesus’ statement that a prophet has no honour in his own country, and it also says the Galileans received him because they had seen what he did in Jerusalem at the feast. Jesus comes again to Cana, where he had made the water into wine. This account ends by saying, ‘This is again the second sign that Jesus did, having come out of Judea into Galilee.’
Students will be able to retell John 4:43–54 in order and explain that the father believed Jesus’ word first, then later recognised the healing time, and his whole house also believed.
Welcome: Listen for places, words and outcomes
5 minShow the place names in the passage: Galilee, Cana and Capernaum. Explain that an official has a very sick son. Ask children to listen for where Jesus goes, what the father asks Jesus to do, what Jesus says, and who believes by the end of the account.
John 4:43, John 4:46, John 4:53
Read and explain: Jesus arrives in Galilee
7 minRead verses 43–49 aloud. Point out that Jesus goes into Galilee, and the passage includes his statement, ‘a prophet has no honor in his own country’. The Galileans receive him because they had seen what he did in Jerusalem. In Cana, an official begs Jesus to come down and heal his son, who is at the point of death.
John 4:43, John 4:44, John 4:45, John 4:46, John 4:47, John 4:49
Discuss: What choices do we see in order?
6 minHelp children name the choices in sequence. The official hears that Jesus has come and goes to him. Jesus says, ‘Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will in no way believe.’ Then Jesus tells the man, ‘Go your way. Your son lives.’ The man believes Jesus’ word and goes his way.
John 4:47, John 4:48, John 4:50
Make and respond: Story sequence cards
8 minGive children six blank cards to draw key moments: Jesus goes into Galilee, the people receive him, the official begs for help, Jesus says ‘Your son lives’, the man goes on his way believing Jesus’ word, and the servants report the child lives. Add one final spoken summary: the father learns the time matched Jesus’ word, and he and his whole house believed.
John 4:43, John 4:45, John 4:47, John 4:50, John 4:51, John 4:52, John 4:53
Closing: What happened after Jesus spoke?
4 minRead verses 50–54 again. First, the father believed Jesus’ word and went his way. Then the servants reported the child lived. The father learned the hour the fever left and recognised it matched Jesus’ word. He believed, and his whole house did too. The passage calls this again the second sign.
John 4:50, John 4:51, John 4:52, John 4:53, John 4:54
Questions to explore
What did the official ask Jesus to do, and why was he so urgent?
Look at the father’s request for Jesus to come down and heal his son, and the statement that the child was at the point of death.
John 4:47, John 4:49
What did the man do straight after Jesus said, ‘Your son lives’?
Answer from the exact order in the verse: first what he believed, then what he did next.
John 4:50
What did the father learn from the servants, and what was the result for his household?
Notice the report that the child lived, the hour the fever left, and the verse that says he believed, as did his whole house.
John 4:51, John 4:52, John 4:53
Make, think or respond
Sequence Cards: ‘Your Son Lives’
What you’ll need
- Blank paper or card
- Pencils or crayons
- Scissors
- Bible
Try it together
- Cut paper into six cards.
- Children draw one key event from the passage on each card.
- Read the story again and place the cards in the correct order.
- Ask children to retell the account, making sure they say that the father believed Jesus’ word before the servants met him.
- Finish with a class summary that the father later recognised the matching hour and that his whole house also believed.
This activity helps children follow the order of John 4:43–54 and notice both the father’s first response to Jesus’ word and the later outcome for his household.
Adapt for your group
- For younger children, use three main cards only: the request, Jesus’ word, and the servants’ report, then add the household belief as a spoken class ending from John 4:53.
- For older or confident readers, ask them to label each card with exact words from the passage such as ‘Your son lives’, ‘the seventh hour’, and ‘his whole house’.
An optional closing prayer
‘Lord Jesus, thank you for this account. Please help us listen carefully to your word and understand what this passage shows about believing you.’
Read the Bible passage World English Bible Classic
John 4
43 After the two days he went out from there and went into Galilee.
44 For Jesus himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.
45 So when he came into Galilee, the Galileans received him, having seen all the things that he did in Jerusalem at the feast, for they also went to the feast.
46 Jesus came therefore again to Cana of Galilee, where he made the water into wine. There was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.
47 When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to him and begged him that he would come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.
48 Jesus therefore said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will in no way believe.”
49 The nobleman said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.”
50 Jesus said to him, “Go your way. Your son lives.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.
51 As he was going down, his servants met him and reported, saying “Your child lives!”
52 So he inquired of them the hour when he began to get better. They said therefore to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour, the fever left him.”
53 So the father knew that it was at that hour in which Jesus said to him, “Your son lives.” He believed, as did his whole house.
54 This is again the second sign that Jesus did, having come out of Judea into Galilee.
World English Bible Classic. Public domain.