Word to the Wise
Monday, March 28, 2022 - 4th Week of Lent - Mon
[Isa 65:17-21 and John 4:43-54]Jesus said to him [the royal official], "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. While the man was on his way back, his slaves met him and told him that his boy would live. He asked them when the boy began to recover. They told him, "The fever left him yesterday, about one in the afternoon." The father realized that just at that time Jesus had said to him, "You son will live," and he and his whole household came to believe." [John]
The gospel scripture for each day of this week will come from the Gospel According to John! I admit that I am particularly fond of this gospel because of its dramatic qualities. Each encounter with Jesus could be presented as a play or mini-drama, and each encounter points to Jesus and the faith that comes from the encounter. The story in today's gospel is an example. It may seem familiar to us insofar as the gospels according to Matthew and Luke report a similar incident. But in those two gospels, the emphasis is on a comparison of the faith of a Gentile centurion with the rejection of Jesus by his fellow Jews. In John, the emphasis is on Jesus and his life-saving word. "The man believed what Jesus said to him and left."
Each encounter shows a process of "coming to believe." The man simply believed what Jesus said to him. It is only when he is told that his son's fever had been healed that "he and his whole household "came to believe" in Jesus! It is faith in Jesus and not in "signs and wonders" that makes the difference. Jesus' word is life-giving, even from a distance. We are reminded of the line in the Prologue to this gospel, "And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory..."
As we draw nearer to the end of Lent and the end of Jesus' journey to Jerusalem, the Gospel According to John invites us to focus our attention less on our Lenten observances and more on the person of Jesus and on our own encounter with him. How do we "come to believe" in him? What is it about Jesus that touches us in such a way that it is worth our very life? AMEN