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

 

Christ the True Vine, 16th century; Byzantine and Christian Museum, Athens, Greece

 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 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 the second part of the story of the Samaritan woman.  See Wednesday's reading for the first part, in which Jesus spoke to her alone at Jacob's Well.   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.  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 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. The statement that a prophet has no honor in his own country is found in all four Gospels (see also Matthew 13:57; Mark 6:4; Luke 4:24).  Christ's own country is Galilee (John 1:46; 2:1; 7:42, 52; 19:19).   There were Galileans present at Jerusalem during the Passover (John 2:13-25), when Jesus performed many signs.  My study Bible adds that while the Galileans received Christ having seen His signs, St. John Chrysostom gives greater credit to the Samaritans (see yesterday's reading, above) for accepting 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 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 says that here Christ is admonishing the people in general (you in this last verse is plural both times) and not simply the nobleman.  Faith which is based solely on miraculous works is insufficient for salvation; for this kind of incomplete 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.  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, though his faith in Christ is weak.  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 the child were to die.  In the end, he inquires about the timing of the healing, still not completely trusting the Lord's authority.  Only after all is confirmed do he and his whole household believe.  So, therefore, according to my study Bible, as He heals the child from a distance, Jesus is healing not just the body of the child, but the soul of the nobleman.  As the text says, this is the second sign of seven reported in St. John's Gospel.  Jesus has already revealed that He can see into the hearts of people from a distance in chapter 1 (John 1:45-48), the Lord now demonstrates He can heal from a distance, showing His divine power knows no earthly limits, my study Bible says.  While there are certain similarities between this sign and the miracle recorded in Matthew 8:5-13, there are many crucial differences, it notes; these are clearly two different encounters.  

 

 

In today's reading, Jesus says, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe."  This is an indication of what kind of faith Jesus is looking for -- and clearly, what He's not looking for.   But the father is persistent.  He says, "Sir, come down before my child dies!"  Jesus always seems to reward persistence, for it is a hallmark of many of His encounters.  We have only to look at the story of the Samaritan woman (St. Photini) which we have read over the course of the past two readings (Wednesday and Thursday, above).  In the earlier part of her encounter (Wednesday's reading), she is persistent in that she keeps asking Jesus questions every time He speaks, and intrigues her with something else He says.  She doesn't go away, she asks for this "living water" which He said He could give her.  Moreover, when He tells her that He knows she's had five husbands and that the man she now lives with isn't her husband, she doesn't respond with embarrassment or with a lie or with denial.  She accepts the truth; she even goes and tells the rest of the townspeople, "He told me all that I ever did!"  Her persistence, in addition to her straightforward character, wins the day.  He reveals to her, of all people, that He is the Christ.  The same can be said for the story of the Syro-Phoenician woman.  Perhaps it is not simply a coincidence that these are two foreign women, but her story is similar in that sense of both persistence and humility.  This story is found at Mark 7:24-30.  She comes to Jesus begging for a healing for her demon-possessed daughter.  And perhaps "begging" is the right word to use, for Jesus then compares her to a little puppy begging under the table, telling her it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs.  This He said indicating that the children are the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 15:24), to whom He was sent.  But this doesn't deter her; in fact Jesus is drawing out her faith. She tells Him, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children’s crumbs."  Her persistence, her wit, and her humility in accepting the Jews as "the children" succeeds in persuading Jesus, who tells her, "For this saying go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter."  We can compare these examples of persistence to the father in today's story.  Jesus speaks about people seeking signs and wonders, sounding exasperated and chastising.  But that doesn't deter this father; he wants a healing for his son.  He hurriedly pleads with Jesus, "Sir, come down before my child dies!"  Let's note that he's a nobleman, but he calls Jesus, who has no title, "Sir."  It's another indication of both persistence and humility, like the women in the two examples we've just named.  Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your son lives."  The man himself later asks what time his son was healed, and found it was at the same time Jesus spoke these words, and so, he and his whole household come to faith.  As in the two stories to which we compare this one, the nobleman's faith grows and includes his community.  In fact, Christ's healing from a distance, and not coming to his home, has the effect of more fully drawing out the nobleman's faith.  But we learn, also, the patristic understanding that both humility and persistence are keys to our own expansion and growth of faith.  The nobleman's incomplete faith becomes more full.  Moreover, there is symbolism in the seventh hour, as seven is the number meaning completeness.  Perhaps we can look at this story, including the checking of the time of healing, and find that what we learn is that Jesus is true to His word.  And this is, indeed, important above all, that we have a faithful and true Lord, as confirmed in the Revelation given to St. John, the author of our Gospel (see Revelation 3:14; 19:11; 21:5; 22:6).  If we are truly His followers, we also will be faithful and true to Him, as well.