Sign #2: The Official's Son
There is so much that is interesting about this second miraculous sign that John records for us.
Jesus is back in Galilee, having been in Jerusalem and traveling through Samaria along the way. John is clear: The Galileans are gathered around Jesus because they are looking for more miracles.
Then there's high drama: a royal official approaches Jesus with the plight of a son who is severely sick. For a moment we expect a repeat of Jairus' daughter - a desperate rush to the house and the possibility that Jesus may not get there in time.
The crowd press in - anticipating high drama. They're the rubber-neckers and the ghouls who feed on drama and tragedy. It's clear that they are frustrating Jesus at this point and He rebukes them: "Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders, you will never believe!"
The father of the sick boy is persistent: "Come before my child dies!"
At this point Jesus does something unexpected - He heals at a distance...
"You may go. Your son will live."
"You may go. Your son will live."
What a let-down for the paparazzi! No drama, no fireworks, a total and utter anti-climax!
But there was something about the way Jesus said it, because the father "took Jesus at His word and departed." What love and peace did the father see in Jesus' eyes? What authority and power did he sense in Jesus' voice? What comfort and reassurance did he encounter from Jesus' presence? I'm sure that moment was burned into his heart and soul for the rest of his life!
John records the detail that the paparazzi didn't see... on the way home the father gets the message that his son has been healed and that the time coincided with Jesus' pronouncement of healing.
I can only imagine that the father continued to follow Jesus. I imagine him catching up with John at some point and telling him the story: "Remember when my son was sick and Jesus said he would be healed? Well, let me tell you what happened."
What stories might we tell of how God healed us in unexpected and undramatic ways?
| When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, for they also had been there. Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death. "Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders," Jesus told him, "you will never believe." The royal official said, "Sir, come down before my child dies." Jesus replied, "You may go. Your son will live." The man took Jesus at his word and departed. While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, "The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour." Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, "Your son will live." So he and all his household believed. This was the second miraculous sign that Jesus performed, having come from Judea to Galilee. (John4:45-54) |
