<p>4:53 <i>The father knew that that was the hour when Jesus had said to him: Your son lives. And so he and his household believed</i>- As noted on :50, the man's initial belief had not been strong; but now it became stronger. Or it could be that he had set himself the condition to the effect that if his son was really healed, then he would believe; and that condition was met. Christ saw that man's low level of faith, and took him where he was, with the result that he soon rose up to a higher level. The Lord must have reflected on the wide differences between the various levels of faith and commitment He encountered. Jairus besought Him to lay His hands on his daughter (Mk. 5:23); whilst the Centurion's attitude was &quot;say the word only&quot; (Lk. 7:6). His faith was undoubtedly on a higher level (Lk. 7:9), but still the Lord accepted the lower level of Jairus and worked with it. He was manifesting His Father in this. Reflect how Daniel refused to eat the food sent to him from the King of Babylon; but God arranged for this very thing to be sent to Jehoiachin as a sign of His recognition of his repentance (Jer. 52:34) God saw that Jehoiachin wasn't on Daniel's level, and yet He worked with him.</p><p>The idea of whole households &quot;believing&quot; is common in the New Testament; the early church was largely a network of household churches.</p>