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Now after 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 not 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
In Thursday's reading last week, we read about Jesus encountering a Samaritan woman at Jacob's well. His conversation with her led her to ask of Him, "Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw." Friday, we read that Jesus taught her, "The hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." The woman said to Him, "I know that Messiah is coming" (who is called Christ). "When He comes, He will tell us all things." Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He." On Saturday, we read that at this point 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. Meanwhile, 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, others have 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 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. My study bible says that "Jesus' statement concerning the prophet without honor is reported in all four Gospels. His own country refers to Galilee . . . Galileans were present in Jerusalem during the Passover, when He won many devotees because of the signs He performed. Because they gave Him only this minimal honor based upon their wonder at His signs, and not true glory based upon belief in His messianic vocation, He knew not to rust Himself to them." (See John 2:23-25.)
So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine. My study bible points out that Cana is the hometown of Nathanael, who believed in Jesus when he realized that Jesus knew him from afar (see How do You know me?). Here, the remarkable miracle is healing from a distance.
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 says, "Once again, recognizing humanity's need for signs and wonders, Jesus manifests His power to reveal Himself as God. The Lord admonishes the Galileans (in the person of his official), a people whose faith depends on 'signs and wonders' (Deut. 4:34; Is. 8:18; Jer. 32:20). Faith based upon the miraculous alone is inadequate, but not unacceptable (see 14:11; 20:29-31). The Galileans, however, according to this account lack authentic faith."
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 not 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." A note tells us that the official (a Herodian, one who served King Herod Antipas) approaches Jesus out of a desperate need to heal his son. Jesus, however, gives no assurances, just the command to go -- and the word that his child lives. That the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him expresses the idea that this was enough for him to have faith, and therefore a true belief. The seventh hour correspondence to about 1:00 P.M.
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. My study bible points out that this makes three times it's reported, your son lives. "The very word of the One who is the resurrection and the life (11:25) gives life as well."
Another unlikely source for faith comes through this official of the Herodian court. Jesus has revealed Himself and the workings of God in the world now through a wealthy Pharisee and member of the Sanhedrin (Nicodemus), a Samaritan woman (see readings of Thursday, Friday and Saturday), and finally this nobleman. The themes here touch upon faith -- most notably in today's particular story, but also in the "hidden" ways that we need to ask ourselves about. Why these people? Jesus' ministry, looked at in this way, seems to suggest that faith itself is a tremendous mystery, something we can't predict and that works entirely at odds with what our supposedly rational assumptions would suggest. Is faith really just a product of some extraordinary kind of proof? No, it's not -- any more than the Gospel is telling us that people who are already doctrinally prepared are the only ones who can experience faith. No, on the contrary, we have a Pharisee being taught about baptism in the Spirit (who has a very hard time grasping what Jesus calls this "earthly" thing), and a Samaritan woman to whom Jesus directly and openly reveals His messianic identity (when conventions of the time would dictate that He neither speak to any woman in public, or any Samaritan). And now, this noble official of Herod's court (the same Herod who will imprison John the Baptist and have him beheaded) becomes not only the catalyst for the third miracle in John's Gospel, but also the one who shows a tremendous faith not borne of "outcomes" but merely in the word -- in the command -- of Christ. He becomes the example that defies Jesus' exasperated statement, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe." This Gospel continually warns us against our own assumptions. Faith, it seems to imply, demands that we hold no preconditions! Not only is God Spirit (as Jesus taught to the Samaritan woman) and is seeking those who will worship in spirit and in truth, but the workings of faith also seem to blow like the wind: going where we don't know and can't predict. We can just tell where it's been. This Gospel gives us unlikely characters through whom we learn our faith, and about our faith. That the phrase "your son lives" appears three times in today's reading is essential for us to understand. God is life, Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. And life, real life, the Gospel seems to say, comes from a place that is so far beyond what we can contain in a set of our own expectations that we really must have better ways of perceiving it than our conventional ways of thinking. Life itself is so packed with potentials and possibilities, so dense with things beyond our expectations and understanding, that it takes much more depth to perceive than anything we can categorize on our "normal" terms. This faith that blows through this Gospel and defines for us the revelation of God contained in all of its stories and illustrations is something Jesus tells us goes far beyond "signs and wonders." It is the power of a word. It doesn't need a presence that is defined by space (nor apparently by time). It is life bigger and stronger than anything we understand about life. And it's connected to a place in us that can grasp it, grow in it, walk with it. It is the way, the truth, and the life, and each one of us is capable of receiving it. "Your son lives" becomes the power of life itself, the difference between a life which offers us a limited sense of who we are, and one which opens the doors to what we can't predict, and what can't be defined by immediate circumstances, appearances, expectations. Where do you find life in abundance?
