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

 

 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 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, following Christ's encounter 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 in 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.  Christ's own country is Galilee (see John 1:46; 2:1; 7:42, 52; 19:19).   This statement, that a prophet has no honor in his own country, is so significant to the story of Jesus that it is found 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.  My study Bible says that Galileans were present at Jerusalem during the Passover (John 2:13-25), when Jesus performed many signs.  As the Galileans received Christ after having seen His signs, greater credit is given to the Samaritans by St. John Chrysostom, my study Bible says.  This is because they accepted Christ based on words alone, 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 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 comments that here Christ is admonishing the people in general (in the Greek, you in this verse is plural both times), and not simply the nobleman.  It says that faith which is based only on miraculous works is not sufficient for salvation.  Such an incomplete type of faith quickly turns 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.  While this nobleman's concern is clearly for his child, it's also apparent that his faith in Christ is weak.  My study Bible suggests that he does not understand that Christ is Lord over illness even from a distance, and neither does he grasp that Jesus would have the power to heal even if his child were to die.  In the end, however, he inquires about the timing of the healing, as he still doesn't completely trust the Lord's authority.  It's only after everything is confirmed that he and his whole household believe.  So, my study Bible concludes, in healing the child from a distance, Jesus heals not only the body of the child, but also the soul of the nobleman. 

 This again is the second sign Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.   This is the second of seven signs reported in John's Gospel.  My study Bible comments that, having revealed that 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.  This reveals that Christ's divine power knows no earthly limits.  While there are similarities between this sign and the miracle recorded in Matthew 8:5-13, there are many crucial differences as well; these are two different encounters. 

 

Jesus' signs reveal the presence of the Kingdom, God extraordinarily present.  In the first sign Jesus turned the water to wine (John 2:1-12).  My study Bible referred above to Jesus' insight into the heart of Nathanael from a distance in John 1:45-48, revealing His divine quality as "heart-knower" (Acts 1:24, 15:8).  This is to compare the quality in today's reading that Christ can also heal at a distance.  Christ's quality of knowing is obviously more expanded than that, as He also knew enough from a distance to tell the nobleman, "Go your way; your son lives."  This kind of knowing that is not bound by distance (nor, obviously by physical sight or any other physical senses) is a part of the divine characteristics of Jesus Christ.  There will be five more signs in this Gospel revealing that identity.  It's interesting to think that these qualities or revelations of "signs and wonders" aren't merely done for the people who ask for them or receive them.  They are also done for the disciples, who will learn, through time spent with Christ and the increasing revelations they're given through His ministry, what He is all about.  These actions of Christ will reveal to the disciples, and, of course, to we who read and hear about them all these centuries later, just what Jesus is about, what the Son does, and even what is in His heart.  For we learn through these signs also that God is love, that Christ acts from compassion, and not simply a use of power to convince any of us about His identity.  This distinction is overwhelmingly important, because we need to understand "what manner of spirit we are of," as Jesus said to John and James Zebedee (Luke 9:55).  For our Lord does not use His divine power in any sense in which a worldly ruler or person of power would use it.  He does not use it to impress.  He does not use His power to prove Himself to anyone.  And, in fact, He will be repeatedly challenged to show that power -- to show some extraordinary sign -- in order to prove to the religious authorities that He is truly the One whom He says He is. He does not use His power in order to coerce or manipulate.  In point of fact, Christ will not use that power even to save His own human life when He is under threat of death at the Sanhedrin or in front of Pilate the governor of Judea.  (See also Matthew 26:53, giving us His words at the time He is placed under arrest in the garden of Gethsemane.)  Jesus does not use power to make an impression nor for any kind of "worldly" reason, except to reveal Himself in the right time and place for those who will be faithful.  And this is the reason why He does not do miracles on demand, or as proofs of His identity, nor even responds to scoffers who challenge Him in the ways in which they would desire Him to.  He acts out of a mission from the Father, to reveal the Father to human beings who are capable of grasping and receiving faith, He acts out of love, and mostly to reveal to us how much we are loved.  So much so, that we are offered eternal life with Him (John 3:16).  Perhaps we would be wise to consider our own motivations for the things we do.  Do we have a kind of mission?  If we were assigned such by Christ, what would it be?  He has commanded us, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:16).  He will teach in John's Gospel, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent" (John 6:29).  Perhaps a greater motive for the things we do in life is to seek Christ's way; that is, to please God.  If we are confident in who we are, we needn't prove anything to the world, but seek the praise of God more than the "praise of men" (John 12:43).  Let us consider the ways He teaches us how to live by His own example in the use of His power, and in His signs.