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.”
We might suppose that Jesus was in short temper when he responded to the royal official; and then, realizing his mistake, granted a healing to the desperate petitioner. I am not scholar enough to endorse or dispute that interpretation. But that reading misses the point: his mercy is generous and immediate toward those who put their faith in him.
We encounter most directly in the Fourth Gospel Jesus’s demand that we believe in him. If we ask questions, as “the Jews” do in the text, we should accept the reasonable answers he gives us. But if our response begins in their skepticism, we can neither understand his answers nor believe in him. He will remain a confusing and threatening mystery to us.
Saint John Henry Newman admitted that, as an Anglican, he was skeptical of the Roman Catholic doctrine of Transubstantiation – that water and wine become the Body and Blood of Jesus. Nor had he given it much thought until, upon becoming a Roman Catholic, he accepted, embraced, and worshiped the Real Presence of Jesus in every church and chapel he passed! His eyes were opened, and he thanked God for the revelation.
As we have passed Laetare Sunday, we now enter the season more deeply. If we feel harassed by the skeptical, pseudo-scientific culture in which we live, we cling more tightly to the assurances of our faith. The Spirit of God insists that we trust in Him.
Today we begin a series of readings from the Gospel of Saint John which will carry us into the post-Easter season. This story of a royal official's blind faith sets the tone. He accepts Jesus’s reply as the Word of God and returns home to learn his son will live. Notice the careful phrase:
“The father realized that just at that time Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live,” and he and his whole household came to believe.”
Saint John does not say the boy is recovering, or out of the woods. He “will live” because the Lord has come to give us life. He is our Life.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.