This short passage leaves me with several questions.
An official asks Jesus to heal his son, who is dying.
Verse 48: “Unless you people see signs and wonders,”
Jesus told him, “you will never believe.”
This seems harsh to me. The man is afraid his son will die.
Surely he would seek help from any source he thinks might possibly help him.
Again, I think Jesus is doing more than one thing here. He
has returned to his home, and people are interested in him, not because he is
one of them, but because they have seen him do miracles.
On Jesus’s human side, it’s reasonable that this would upset
him. Also, I don’t know how exactly, but I believe he’s using this as a
teaching example, to bring people to a better understanding of God.
He does show compassion to the man and heals his son.
Verse 50: “’Go,’ Jesus replied, ‘your son will live.’ The
man took Jesus at his word and departed.”
The man took Jesus at his word. What a wonderful example of
faith that is. And the results?
Verse 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.”
Not only did the official believe in Jesus, but his whole
household.
I think that might mean his servants as well as his family.
Did they just believe because he did, and that’s how families worked back then?
Or was he so convincing, and the miracle so convincing, that they personally
had faith in Jesus?
Does it matter? The impression is that the belief was solid.
I thank God for the questions and truths his word always
brings to me.
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