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Now after the two days He departed from there and went to Galilee. For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country. So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they also had gone to the feast.
So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. Then Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe." The nobleman said to Him, "Sir, come down before my child dies!" Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your son lives." So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way. And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, "Your son lives!" Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better. And they said to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him." So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, "Your son lives." And he himself believed, and his whole household. This again is the second sign Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.
- John 4:43-54
Yesterday, we read that while Jesus was speaking with the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well, His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman; yet no one said, "What do You seek?" or, "Why are You talking with her?" The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, "Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" Then they went out of the city and came to Him. In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, "Rabbi, eat." But He said to them, "I have food to eat of which you do not know." Therefore the disciples said to one another, "Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?" Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. Do you not say, 'There are still four months and then comes the harvest'? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this the saying is true: 'One sows and another reaps.' I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored, and you have entered into their labors." And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, "He told me all that I ever did." So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. And many more believed because of His own word. Then they said to the woman, "Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world."
Now after the two days He departed from there and went to Galilee. For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country. So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they also had gone to the feast. Jesus' "own country" is Galilee. My study bible suggests that Galileans were present at the Passover in Jerusalem, when He performed many signs (2:13-2:25). It says, "While the Galileans received Christ having seen His signs, St. John Chrysostom gives greater credit to the Samaritans for accepting Christ based on words alone without the accompanying signs (see also 20:29)."
So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. Then Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe." My study bible suggests that here Christ is admonishing the people in general -- the you in this last statement is plural both times. So, it's not merely the noblemen He's addressing. A note says, "Faith based on miraculous works alone is insufficient for salvation; this kind of incomplete faith quickly turns to scorn should the miracles cease (19:15)."
The nobleman said to Him, "Sir, come down before my child dies!" Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your son lives." So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way. And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, "Your son lives!" Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better. And they said to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him." So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, "Your son lives." And he himself believed, and his whole household. A note says, "The nobleman's concern is clearly for his child, though his faith in Christ is weak. He does not understand that Christ is Lord over illness even from a distance, nor does he grasp that Jesus would have the power to heal even if the child were to die. Finally, he inquires about the timing of the healing (verse 52), still not completely trusting the Lord's authority. Only after all is confirmed do he and his whole household believe (verse 53). Thus in healing the child from a distance, Jesus heals not only the body of the child, but the soul of the nobleman."
This again is the second sign Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into Galilee. My study bible comments: "This is the second sign reported in John's Gospel. Having revealed He can see into the hearts of people from a distance (1:45-48), the Lord now demonstrates He can heal from a distance, showing His divine power knows no earthly limits. While there are certain similarities between this sign and the miracle recorded in Matthew 8:5-13, there are many crucial differences; these are clearly two different encounters."
In healing from a distance, Christ demonstrates something we've noticed in commentaries in the readings we've just been through -- with the woman at the well in Samaria. Worship doesn't happen at one place only; in other words, it's not tied to a place. "God is Spirit," Jesus said, "and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth." By demonstrating this healing from a distance, Jesus teaches us something else about God as Spirit, in the nature of Spirit and how our faith works. Prayer is intercession. Our faith is not limited by distances -- not by time distances, and not by spatial distances. We believe in a great cloud of witnesses. Intercessory ability doesn't seem to be limited by any kind of condition of time and space; we call on saints to pray for us just as we pray for one another. So Christ's example of encouraging faith in the father in today's reading sets us in a particular place to teach us about the lack of "conventional" limitations when considering what prayer is and how Spirit works in us, with us, and in our lives, through all things. Jesus teaches us about intercession, a kind of spiritual form of "intervention" that can happen anywhere, anyplace, anytime. It doesn't really matter who or what or why or where the prayer comes, we can all be intercessors. Today is the day that churches around the world celebrate the Assumption or Dormition of Mary, Mother of God. Denominations vary in doctrine and in practice, but the tradition of the entire Church from its earliest history tells us of the veneration of Mary, particularly as refuge for prayer, the great intercessor of all intercessors. Her archetypal appearance in the Gospels in this role was given us by John, in Jesus' first of seven signs in his Gospel, at the wedding at Cana. The Marian apparitions around the world, in many forms, in many cultures, in many ways across time and space in the history of our faith, tell us of this great Intercessor, who helps to pray for us and serves as one who is ready when we need help to pray, a person who knew tremendous pain and yet never lost faith in her Son. Early Christian history is filled with stories of her relationship as "mother" to all the disciples, as she is also Mother to so many who follow. May we be blessed by such strength and such faith, even when we are faced with terrible sorrows for the love of the One we all call the Son. She's the one whose words began the teaching for all of us, "Whatever He says to you, do it."
