Your son lives

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

Today's passage teaches us about the second miracle of John's gospel. The first was the changing of water into wine at the wedding in Cana. Since then, John's gospel has taught us about Jesus' "living water" which he described to the Samaritan woman at the well (see the readings from Thursday, Friday and Saturday).

We begin with the saying, "A prophet has no honor in his own country." This is repeated in every gospel. By "his own country," my study bible points out, the Evangelist is referring to Galilee, the region where Jesus is from. But all go to Jerusalem for the Passover, and as was reported earlier in the gospel (just prior to Jesus' teaching to Nicodemus), many Galileans believed because of the signs they saw Jesus perform at the Passover festival. But, we recall, faith because of signs is not enough for Jesus to entrust himself to people. God does not come by proofs but rather through a living relationship in spirit and in truth. We recall Nathanael's question, "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" and his need to meet Jesus for himself, and also the faith of the Samaritans who believed because they encountered Jesus face to face for themselves. Relationship is different from shallow wonder at signs. John's gospel always teaches us to dig deeper than the surface. Salvation - Jesus' messianic vocation - is of a different substance.

So, we are again in Cana, the setting of that first miracle, the changing of water to wine at the wedding. This is also Nathanael's hometown. My study bible notes that Jesus demonstrated his "sight" from afar when he told Nathanael he had seen him under the fig tree, and knew all about him. Here, it points out, Jesus' demonstrates his vision as a healer from afar. He not only "knows" but also heals the unseen. But first, he admonishes the Galileans, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe."

But the father is persistent, as was the Samaritan woman at the well. He wants what he knows Jesus has to give. And through the love of his son, and through his need, he pleads with Jesus through encounter. There is something deeper going on here. Just as at the wedding, Jesus' word - his very thought - as Logos, is enough to restore the health of the child. The nobleman has faith in this word, "Your son lives." The connection has been made. As he is on his way, his servants meet him and tell him, "Your son lives." The nobleman, seeking for himself to know the power of the presence of Jesus in which he has put his faith, asks what time the child was healed. The seventh hour is about 1:00 pm. This is the time, the Evangelist tells us, that Jesus said the words, "Your son lives." By noting this phrase three times, John is clearly telling us that it is the "word" of Jesus that creates this restorative presence, this abundance of gifts of creative power of the Logos ("Word"). My study bible notes, "The very word of the One who is the resurrection and the life gives life as well." Through this second miracle, Jesus has once again revealed himself and his divine nature.

In our earlier commentaries in the two weeks after Christmas, we noted the signs and wonders from God through Spirit that were manifest in the stories of Jesus' birth and young life. But beginning with the first miracle, at the wedding in Cana, something completely different was happening. It was the presence, the word, of Jesus that manifest creative power, life in abundance to us. In this second miracle, we note the same thing, as well as the similarities to the story of Nathanael (also from Cana) and of the faith of the Samaritans we read about in yesterday's reading. It is Jesus' presence with which we make a connection for healing and restoration. The child was restored to health and to his father, the wedding feast restored to its complete joy through the abundance of the good wine manifest from water, the living water restored not only the Samaritan woman but also all of her people to right relationship with God. Healing, abundance, and restoration are all ties through this Presence, through this Word. Faith happens through a deeper substance than awe and wonder at signs and reports of signs. It is clearly a relationship we're after. Given the power and presence of the Word, it is the relatedness that is in itself our restoration and healing. How do you engage this relationship for yourself, as did Nathanael, the Samaritans, and the nobleman in our story? How do you seek this presence in spirit and in truth for yourself?