Walking in Faith: Healing Stories in John's Gospel

Join hosts Rolf Jacobson, Kathryn Schifferdecker, and Karoline Lewis as they explore two powerful healing narratives from the Gospel of John. In this episode, they examine Jesus healing the royal official's son (John 4:46-54) and the man ill for 38 years (John 5:1-18), uncovering what these signs reveal about faith, obedience, and life in relationship with Jesus.

Key Insights:

* The importance of following Jesus' word even before seeing results

* How translation choices affect our understanding (Greek present tense: "your son lives" vs. "will live")

* Why Jesus sometimes seems uncompassionate before healing

* The pattern in John's Gospel: sign → dialogue → discourse

* Living in the "not yet" of faith while walking toward promise

* How signs point beyond themselves to Jesus' identity and the abundance of relationship

Rolf offers personal reflections on what it means to believe Jesus' word while walking through uncertainty, comparing the official's journey home to experiences of waiting through medical crises. Karoline, as a Johannine scholar, explains why Jesus challenges the crowd's focus on signs and wonders (verse 48), connecting this healing to the Nicodemus encounter and forward to later chapters.

The episode traces Jesus' movement between Galilee and Jerusalem throughout John's Gospel, noting how these healing stories bookend different geographical locations—Cana in Galilee and Jerusalem—while developing consistent themes about belief, obedience, and the life Jesus offers.

Perfect for:

* Pastors preparing sermons for February 8, 2026 (Narrative Lectionary)

* Bible study leaders exploring John's Gospel

* Anyone wrestling with what it means to believe before seeing

* Seminary students and ministry leaders seeking scholarly insights on

* Johannine healing narratives