“Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.” John 4:48.
John A has a disconcerting habit of throwing little thoughts into seemingly odd spots. Take this parenthesis statement after Jesus leaves Sychar: (Now Jesus Himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.) He’s headed back to Galilee where He knows people. They welcome Him and He feels at home. So why would John A say something like this when nothing untoward happens to prove his point?
Galileans didn’t actually respond like the Samaritans. The latter declared Him the “Savior of the world;” the former welcomed Him as one of them–famous and probably celebrated for His courage but none-the-less a common man among common men. They patted Him on the back and cheered His boldness but never even thought of Him as more.
Then John A goes immediately into Jesus’ second miracle after coming home from Judea.
A royal official from Capernaum around Cana (where He turned water into wine) came to beg Him to come down to heal his son who was very close to death. Jesus did what many think is fairly rude, He got philosophical on the man, “Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders, you will never believe.” Now why did Jesus have to say that to man grieving and full of fear for his son? Was He using the man’s desparation just to make a spiritual point, to draw out a great spiritual lesson for everyone to go “Oooo” and “Ahhh” over? ‘Cuz if He was, that was uncool!
No. Jesus never tortured people about being sick, yet He always troubleshot things and the motives people brought to Him. I would suggest the man really did believe Jesus could do it. His problem wasn’t one of belief but of wanting the sensational. He wanted Jesus to come down to his house and pray some ostentatious prayer, wave His hands and pronounce ominously over the sick boy to make him well. John A doesn’t say whether the man was a Jew or not but he does say the man happened to be a royal official. Most likely the man was Roman or Greek in origin if he held a place of importance in the community. So what can we deduce from this?
He, if he was a gentile (of the nations not Hebrew), would expect a powerful miracle worker to do what his heathen priests and magicians did, incantations, spells and calling on the gods to obey them. When Jesus said the part about signs and wonders, the man probably started as if he had been asleep. All he really wanted was for his son to be well again. Yet he knew his own motivation had been to have Jesus come and put on a show. He was an important man after all.
Jesus’ answer and subsequent declaration must have disappointed him a bit but it was a enough to start him on his way home. The only miracle would be his son’s healing–no fireworks, nor any fancy words or spells or anything to draw attention to the miracle except the boy would be inexplicably well again.
I like this next part so I’m gonna’ write it out:
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.
The man took Jesus at His word. Jesus would heal his son but it had to be without expectations and also without fanfair. I’ve noticed something about Christ that sets Him apart from everyone: He never draws attention to Himself in order to gain fame, glory or reputation. Everything He did was for the person He was reaching out to or for the lesson He wanted to impart. Philippians 2 says Jesus didn’t think being God something to be grasped–mainly because He is already God–but made Himself of no account and took on the form of a servant. Jesus worked quietly and selflessly to change people’s lives for the better.
He didn’t need the fanfair and hoopla that follows some now days because His self-image was intact and not for sale. Jesus knew that a miracle need not be something extravagant to work. If He had created everything that exists by the word of His mouth, this child could be healed without Him lifting a finger to make it so. All He had to do was speak it and it was so.
So what is John A’s point? I think he wants us to learn to imitate Christ in that our lives and mirculous dealings must be tempered with quietness and refusing to seek the spotlight. Some times we think we need or derserve recognition for our good deeds whereas Jesus did what was necessary and never thought twice about it making Him something important.
Faith healers, waiting for signs, wonders and what ever else takes our mind off of what’s most vital: Being a miracle rather than worrying about impressing others with performance.
I am a miracle. Daily I am changing in heart and actions to resemble my Master. My failures are inconsequential by comparison because I am growing beyond them. The Holy Spirit nudges my heart and sometimes tugs me by the nose to set me on the path I’m supposed to walk. That path is easy to understand if we just follow John A’s instruction in his first letter (what we call 1John): Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did.
This verdict makes it a mandate for us to read His story in order to find out what and how He did things. Once we understand how Jesus lived we find out His first will for our lives is to be like Him in heart, thought and deed. Miracle seekers and those who love reasoning rather than a changed heart use both to keep God at a distance. A person given over to the heart of Jesus seeks to glorify his or her Master not themselves. We don’t constantly declare, “God is going to do a new thing!” or “Watch me work a miracle in Jesus name…” for our very lives testify to the miraculous power within us. Sensationalism goes out the window so that the natural order of God’s moving can take place.
Let’s learn the lesson of Jesus’ mission where His first miracles avoided theatrics or a circus freak atmosphere. Instead we forget ourselves and the showboat attitudes the world tends to emphasize for the sake of building up the name of God in every way possible, and avoiding the spotlight wherever possible in order that God may get the glory and not us.
Tags: belief, Faith, healing, acceptance, walking by faith, signs, asking for signs, faithfulness, miracles, proof, signs and wonders, faithful, quiet service
