Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe

 

 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 hard 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 

 

 Our recent readings have included the story of the Samaritan woman, whom Jesus met at Jacob's well.  See readings from Thursday and Friday.   On Saturday, we read that at this point Christ's 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.  Jesus' own country is Galilee (see John 1:46; 2:1; 7:42, 52; 19:19).  This saying, that a prophet has no honor in his own country, is so central to the story of Christ that it appears in all four Gospels (see also Matthew 13:57; Mark 6:4; Luke 4:24).

 

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.  Galileans were present at Jerusalem during the Passover which Jesus has attended (the first of three Passover feasts reported in John's Gospel; see John 2:13-25).  At that feast, Jesus performed many signs.  While the Galileans received Christ having seen His signs, my study Bible cites St. John Chrysostom who gives greater credit to the Samaritans, as they accepted Christ based only on His words and teaching, without the 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 hard 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."  Again, we're given an important signal here in the Gospel about faith and miraculous signs (wonders).  My study Bible points out that Christ here is admonishing the people in general, as you is plural both times) and not only the nobleman.  It says that faith based on miraculous works alone is not sufficient for salvation.  This kind of incomplete faith quickly turns to scorn should 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.   My study Bible explains that this noblemans's concern is clearly for his child, although his faith in Christ is weak.  He does not understand that Christ is Lord over illness even from a distance.  Additionally, he doesn't know that Christ would have the people to heal even if his child were to die.  Finally, my study Bible says, he inquires about the timing of the healing, as he doesn't completely trust the Lord's authority.  Only after all of this is confirmed will he and his whole household believe.  So, as He heals the child from a distance, Jesus in fact heals not only the physical body of the child, but also the soul of his father.  

This again is the second sign Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.  This is the second sign of seven reported in John's Gospel.  My study Bible declares that having revealed He can see into the hearts of people from a distance (John 1:45-48), Jesus now demonstrates that He can heal from a distance.  Thereby He shows that His divine power does not know any earthly limits.  It also notes that there are certain similarities between this sign and the miracle reported in Matthew 8:5-13, there are several crucial differences, and thus it's clear they are two different encounters.  

Today's reading seems to take us onto the path of consideration of faith and signs.  How does one work without the other?  How is one complete in and of itself, and the other incomplete?  After Christ is seen by some of the disciples post-Resurrection, the disciple Thomas declares he will not believe without proof.  As Jesus makes an appearance to them when Thomas is present, He offers to Thomas to touch the wound in His side, and to witness the wounds in His hands, at which point Thomas declares, "My Lord and My God!"  Jesus tells him (and all of us), "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed" (see John 20:24-29).  This question of proofs obviously would remain important for the life of the Church to come, just as it is indeed important for us today.  Many people read the texts of the Bible with a deliberate skeptical eye, and beyond, discounting all possibility that the miracles or signs reported can be real.  But it is wise to be skeptical also of placing limits on God and what God can do, because there is so much that we simply don't know.  Modern theoretical physics postulates many dimensions to the universe, not all of them necessarily operate by the same physical rules we do.  Neither can we limit for certain the potentials of a Person like Christ, whose existence would transcend all of those possible dimensions.  But let us consider this connection between faith and proofs, and what substance or reason makes these signs so significant for Christ's mission to us.  Certainly they are not simply to convince people of His divinity.  Jesus makes it very clear that it is not His intention to draw faith through proofs of any kind.  Instead, these "signs" are just that -- like an icon is meant to do in Church, they point to something beyond themselves.  They teach us not only about Jesus, but about God the Father and the Spirit as well.  They teach us something that is essential to know in order to understand Christ:  that there are no limits to His divine power.  Wherever we find ourselves, whatever place we're in or circumstances with which we need to cope, Christ transcends all of them in His divinity, and He is there with us through faith and the power of God.  We have contrasted in today's reading the worldly thinking of the father (the nobleman), and his attempts to verify Christ's power together with the effect of this sign of healing on him and his whole household, and not simply the restoration of the child to physical health.  In this we are given a more complete understanding of Christ's mission in the world, the significance and effect of His signs, and how they prove useful even for us.  For while we may not experience what it is like to live with Christ physically present in human form, we can know what it is like to call upon and depend upon our faith for help to us.  As we go through our own lives, our own faith will also be tested, and we will find ourselves in circumstances where we need to trust to God to help us find the answers and correct response.  Outcomes are not guaranteed to be precisely what we would have preferred, but help is always there as we are led forward in ways meant to strengthen our faith and draw us closer in communion with God.  Let us consider what signs are for, the One to whom they point, and our own faith and its progress through our life.