John 4:43-54
43 After the two days he left for Galilee. 44 (Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.) 45 When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, for they also had been there.
46 Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. 47 When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death.
48 “Unless you people see signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.”
49 The royal official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.”
50 “Go,” Jesus replied, “your son will live.”
The man took Jesus at his word and departed. 51 While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. 52 When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, “Yesterday, at one in the afternoon, the fever left him.”
53 Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he and his whole household believed.
54 This was the second sign Jesus performed after coming from Judea to Galilee. [1]
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Jesus states that the people around Him won’t believe unless they see signs and wonders. And sure enough, He performs a sign for the official, and he and his household come to believe.
The signs and wonders that Jesus performed provided great blessing for certain people. He provided wine for a wedding reception. He healed an official’s son. Later on, He will provide bread for a hungry crowd, restore the sight of a blind man, and raise a dead man from the grave. The people flocked to Him when He did such things. Why, then, does Jesus frequently express frustration when people ask for more signs and wonders?
The problem is that they were just looking to the blessing itself and its short-term benefit, rather than lifting their vision to the meaning of the sign, what it said about Him, and the ultimate meaning of His life, death and resurrection. All of the signs in the Gospel of John point to the New Creation that He was bringing. Beginning with the wedding at Cana, Jesus was pointing to the ultimate wedding celebration at the resurrection, at which there would be no disease, no blindness, no hunger, and no death. The point of the signs and wonders is to lead them to a faith in Him as the One who will bring New Creation and Restoration to a fallen world. This is a much bigger vision than a healing and a loaf of bread, as much of a blessing as those are.
In other words, He wanted them to look beyond the gifts to the Giver and the ultimate gift He was brining.
Jesus calls us similarly in the prayer He has taught us to pray. He calls us to draw our attention to the Giver (His name, kingdom and will), before praying for His gifts (daily bread, forgiveness, guidance and protection).
Lord, I prayer you for your gifts. I pray that the blessings in my life would lead me to a greater devotion and faith in You, the Giver of all good gifts. I pray that I will receive them as signs and previews of the gift of Resurrection and New Creation.
What is the Word leading you to pray about today?
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[1] The New International Version. (2011). (Jn 4:43–54). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
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