Jn 4:43–54
When the two days were over, Jesus left for Galilee. Jesus himself said that no prophet is recognized in his own country. Yet the Galileans welcomed him when he arrived, because of all the things which he had done in Jerusalem during the Festival, and which they had seen. For they, too, had gone to the feast.
Jesus went back to Cana of Galilee, where he had changed the water into wine. At Capernaum there was an official, whose son was ill, and when he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and asked him to come and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.
Jesus said,
Unless you see signs and wonders, you will not believe!” The official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” And Jesus replied, “Go, your son lives!
The man had faith in the word that Jesus spoke to him, and went his way. As he was approaching his house, his servants met him, and gave him the good news,
Your son has recovered!
So he asked them at what hour the child began to recover, and they said to him,
The fever left him yesterday, at about one o’clock in the afternoon.
And the father realized that that was the time when Jesus had told him,
Your son lives!
And he became a believer, he and all his family.
Jesus performed this second miraculous sign when he returned from Judea to Galilee.
REFLECTION
The account of the healing of the official’s son confronts us with the question of what faith is. We are presented with two contrasting characters: the Galileans who welcomed Jesus because of the miracles he had performed, and a desperate father worried for his dying son. The Galileans were not interested in Jesus but only in his miracles, while the desperate father who did not show initial interest in the person of Jesus, trusted in the authority of Jesus’ word. This was a teachable moment for Jesus about true faith as he realized that the despised and the rejected believed in him more than his own people who either opposed him or refused to be interested in him beyond mere fascination for miracles. The story doesn’t teach that if we show persistence we’ll get what we want. The official, despite his position of authority could not compel Jesus to come with him but chose to trust in Jesus’ words. The story teaches us that if we trust in Jesus and believe in his word, he will take care of us as he did the official and his son. Life’s difficulties are meant to challenge us to grow in faith.
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