Thoughts for the Day

Then Jesus came again to Cana in Galilee where he had changed the water into wine. Now there was a royal official whose son lay ill in Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. Then Jesus said to him, ‘Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.’ The official said to him, ‘Sir, come down before my little boy dies.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go; your son will live.’ The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started on his way. As he was going down, his slaves met him and told him that his child was alive. So he asked them the hour when he began to recover, and they said to him, ‘Yesterday at one in the afternoon the fever left him.’ The father realized that this was the hour when Jesus had said to him, ‘Your son will live.’ So he himself believed, along with his whole household. Now this was the second sign that Jesus did after coming from Judea to Galilee.

(Church in Wales Lectionary, New Revised Standard version)

Thoughts

You will remember that John in his Gospel calls the miracles that Jesus' performs as 'signs'. These signs are a pointer that Jesus is the Messiah, but even more they are to be a pointer to God's work in the world. Jesus has made Capernaum his home and a royal official comes to ask him to cure his dying son. It is likely the man is an officer at the court of Herod Antipas. The name 'Herod' was a family name and there are a number of King Herods. Antipas was the son of Herod the Great (whom we know from Matthew's story of the Wise Men who came to Jesus' birth), but on Herod the Great's death his kingdom was divided into four, and Antipas became ruler of Galilee Perea. Antipas was the Herod who married Herodias the wife of his half-brother and who was to kill John the Baptist.

In this story, Jesus seems to be rather harsh to the nobleman about his faith that he can cure the boy, but we should remember that he is also rebuking his listeners who have come to see his miracles, as though he were a magician. They have no faith, but just come for the show, as it were. Jesus wants these signs to lead to faith in God, and so he pushes the nobleman, testing him, and causing him to rely on Jesus' word alone that his son will live..

Today this also tests us to ask whether we rely on God performing miracles before we will have faith in Him? Or have we enough faith to allow God to do what is best for us and for other?

Lord God,
when we look to You for miracles,
help us to realise that you have put
us in the world
as stewards of Your bounty,
to work towards creating peace
and justice for all people.
We are part of the solution!
So may we have faith therefore,
in You and Your plans for us,
and for our world,
whatever the outcome.
Amen.