UNDAILY Episode 82
After the two days he left for Galilee. (Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.) When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, 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 signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “You will never believe.” The royal official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” “Go,” Jesus replied, “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, “Yesterday, at one in the afternoon, the fever left him.” Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So, he and his whole household believed. This was the second sign Jesus performed after coming from Judea to Galilee.
JOHN 4, 43-54 (NIV)
The story of John about the royal official from Capernaum offers a fascinating narrative that encourages us to reflect on our faith, hope, and expectations. In this story, as Jesus returns to Galilee, He can perform another spectacular miracle. After all, those who saw Him in Jerusalem came to believe. But now, it's not about a display of power that turns water into wine, because what appears to be a plea for a miraculous healing, in essence, transforms into a lesson about faith that doesn't need signs to exist.
Jesus asks and wants to stimulate our thinking: - "Do you also belong to those who cannot trust me without miracles and signs?" This very sentence prompts reflection on the nature of our faith. Is our trust in God dependent on physical proofs of His action? Is our faith conditional, based on what we can see, touch, feel? Does our faith weaken when we ask for a lottery win and it doesn't come through?
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