So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, "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 

 

Yesterday we read that while Jesus was still speaking with the Samaritan woman, 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; 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 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.  This saying, that a prophet has no honor in his own country, is so significant that it appears in all four Gospels (see also Matthew 13:57, Mark 6:4, Luke 4:24).   Naturally, there had been Galileans present at Jerusalem during Christ's first Passover of His ministry (John 2:13-25).  Jesus had performed many signs there.  While the Galileans received Christ having seen the signs, my study bible says that St. John Chrysostom gives greater credit to the Samaritans, who accepted Christ based on words alone without the same accompanying signs (see also John 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."  Here, Christ admonishes the people in general (you is plural both times), and not simply the nobleman.  My study bible comments that faith which is based on miraculous works only is insufficient for salvation.  This kind of incomplete faith turns quickly to scorn if the miracles cease (John 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.  This again is the second sign Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.  My study bible comments that the nobleman's concern is clearly for his child, although his faith in Christ is weak.  He doesn't understand that Christ is Lord over illness even from a distance.  Also, he doesn't understand that Jesus would have the power to heal even if his child were to die.  In the end, he inquires about the timing of the healing, still not entirely trusting in Christ's authority.   But only after all is confirmed do he and his whole household believe.  Therefore, in healing the child from a distance, Christ heals not only the body of the child, but also the soul of the nobleman.  As the text tells us, this is the second sign which is reported in John's Gospel.  The first occurred at the wedding at Cana (see this reading).  My study bible says that, having revealed He can see into the hearts of people from a distance (in the calling of Nathanael; see John 1:45-48), Christ now demonstrates that He can also heal from a distance.  This shows that His divine power has no earthly limits.  It adds that while there are some similarities between this sign and the miracle recorded in Matthew 8:5-13, there are also many crucial differences.  These are therefore clearly two different encounters.

Christ's healing the nobleman's son from a distance displays at first glance a kind of confidence in the workings of His divine power that we rarely encounter in other things.  That is because this confidence is also a kind of knowing that comes from divine awareness, which also knows no boundaries.  So, essentially, we have both the effectiveness of Christ's healing power, and also His knowledge and awareness being displayed without "earthly" boundaries we would normally expect for any kind of healing procedure or for the awareness of something that has taken place.  My study bible emphasizes that in the context of John's Gospel, these are "signs" which reveal Christ's divinity, His "glory" as John might put it : "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth" - John 1:14.  But, while it affirms qualities that belong to the divine which are on display in Jesus, there is something additional we can say about these capacities both to know and to heal at a distance that Jesus expresses.  These are qualities associated with the divine in which we invest and with which we seek to commune and petition in prayer.  Effectively, God's presence with us from a distance transcends the space and time boundaries of this world.  As boundaries they are rendered non-existent within the prerogatives and qualities of God.  That is, God can be with us, God can know what is going on with us, God can "see" us, God can heal us.  We do not have to be in the presence of God, beholding God with our own intelligible senses as human beings or earthly means of awareness to call God to ourselves, and to have God present to us.  Since it is healing which is on display in today's reading, let us understand that healing can take place on many levels through prayer, whether it be emotional, physical, spiritual or otherwise.  Healing takes place within relationships as well, even to help us be at peace with the choices others have made with regard to our relationships with them.  Moreover, God's healing activity takes place to restore God's relationship with us.  So when we observe this marvelous healing activity at a distance in today's reading, let us also come to terms with the idea that even when we can't come to God, God can come to us under any and all circumstances.  In this context, it is helpful to understand the name of the Holy Spirit that Jesus gives in John's Gospel, in John 14:16, 26.   In the Greek, He calls the Spirit "Paraclete"  (Παράκλητος).  This name is often translated as Comforter, or Helper.  But the literal meaning of the word comes from Para-  which means "from close-beside" and kaleo which means to "make a call."  It means "One who comes when called" and is especially used to indicate an Advocate, such as one who comes to help in a court or legal proceeding, one who can plead another's cause, an intercessor, one who comes to help.  But for our purposes today, let us consider God the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Trinity, as One who does the work of coming to our assistance, of helping us with intercession and prayer.  The personification of the Holy Spirit in the name "Paraklete" which is given by Jesus is one that exemplifies for us this divine quality of not needing to be physically present to help and to heal in all kinds of senses of these words.   Let us understand the power of prayers, and how they are related to the divine qualities of Christ on display in this second sign given in the Gospels.