When he enquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, “The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour.”
“got better” (NIV) or “began to amend” (KJV) when compared with “left” show that the father expected the fever to gradually leave but instead it had left totally at once. He got more than he expected from Jesus and so do we.
The boy was healed completely and the father’s faith was increased astronomically. When Jesus touches someone, He accomplishes what He wants to accomplish completely and fully, though it does not always happen at once.
This healing is an illustration for us today, too. Jesus is not physically present on earth and yet if we ask Him, He will send His word and accomplish that which we ask (Psalms 147:15).
Psalms 147:15 He sends his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly.
“yesterday at the seventh hour” would be about 1 p.m. If the father and the servants had each started out shortly after 1 p.m. they would have met that afternoon, but they didn’t meet until the next day (which may be some time after sundown). This indicates the level of belief the father had in the words of Jesus. He who had been so concerned for the welfare of his son was so satisfied in his mind that his son was now healed that he did not hurry home that afternoon, but instead rested himself and probably his horse, took refreshment, and may have even spent the night in Cana before returning to Capernaum. The servants probably did not leave until they were sure that the son had permanently recovered. What a change in the man’s faith!