Word to the Wise
Monday, March 15, 2010 - Monday in the Fourth Week of Lent
[Isaiah 65:17-21 and John 4:43-54]Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe." The royal official said to him, "Sir, come down before my child dies." Jesus said to him, "You may go; your son will live." The man believed what Jesus said to him and left.
In the Gospel of John, the focus is rarely on the "sign" that is worked but on the one who works it! The royal official seems to realize this when he believes what Jesus says to him and stops insisting that Jesus come in person. It is this act of faith that results in the sign of healing. The point of the drama (and all these encounters in John are like small dramas) is that Jesus has life-giving power which can only come from God. This power may act both when a person is a believer or even when no sign of faith is shown, as in a further incident in John at the Pool of Siloam (John 5:1-18). I am always humbled and inspired by the tremendous faith I encounter in people at the various parishes where I preach. They are able to place everything in God's providential hands. It's not as if they don't worry, but the worry is about human weakness and not about God being weak! They don't insist on controlling life by demanding that God act in a particular way. The royal official came with the idea that Jesus would come in person. It is the change in his belief that brings about Jesus' response. I think I'd like to meet that royal official and talk to him. AMEN