The Desire to Predict Jesus
Maybe we should desire something else.
The notion that Jesus came for the poor, unknown, and lost is strong within the gospels. Jesus makes it clear that he cares for individuals others would not care as much about. And yet, we have stories like today’s in which Jesus heals the son of someone who would be well-known - a certain royal official. John’s language seems specific (certain), but even so, he does not name the official.
It seems that in the end, Jesus is not particular about life placement nearly as much as need. Further, Jesus can heal in any way he chooses. We don’t know that he even met this young child he healed. It’s interesting because the most critical healing in the gospel of John is the raising of Lazarus (we’ll see it much later). Just like this healing we’ll read today, Jesus hears of the illness while nowhere near the individual. So Jesus could have healed Lazarus remotely, but he didn’t.
Often, we very much want to figure out Jesus and pin him down in the specifics. We prefer easily discernible patterns and formulas. But these are not so readily available as we might want (he says, Unless you see miraculous signs and wonders, you won’t believe). So we pray, we hope, we live according to his love. But we do not control him.
This is a good time to be reminded that there are seven specific miraculous signs in John prior to the resurrection. This is the second.
John 4:43-54
After two days Jesus left for Galilee. (Jesus himself had testified that prophets have no honor in their own country.) When he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him because they had seen all the things he had done in Jerusalem during the festival, for they also had been at the festival.
He returned to Cana in Galilee where he had turned the water into wine. In Capernaum there was a certain royal official whose son was sick. When he heard that Jesus was coming from Judea to Galilee, he went out to meet him and asked Jesus if he would come and heal his son, for his son was about to die. Jesus said to him, “Unless you see miraculous signs and wonders, you won’t believe.”
The royal official said to him, “Lord, come before my son dies.”
Jesus replied, “Go home. Your son lives.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and set out for his home.
While he was on his way, his servants were already coming to meet him. They said, “Your son lives!” So he asked them at what time his son had started to get better. And they said, “The fever left him yesterday at about one o’clock in the afternoon.” Then the father realized that this was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son lives.” And he and his entire household believed in Jesus. This was the second miraculous sign Jesus did while going from Judea to Galilee.
Prayer
God,
I know I can’t control Jesus. And honestly, I don’t really want to. Sometimes it just would be easier if he was more predictable. But I suppose ease is not your primary offer to us.
So help me, God: Help me to live into the goodness of Jesus. Help me to just rest in who he is and not just what he does for me. Indeed, help me erase that distinction.
By your spirit & in Christ,
Amen.