In review of John 4:43-54 it says:
43 At the end of the two days, Jesus went on to Galilee. 44 He himself had said that a prophet is not honored in his own hometown. 45 Yet the Galileans welcomed him, for they had been in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration and had seen everything he did there.
46 As he traveled through Galilee, he came to Cana, where he had turned the water into wine. There was a government official in nearby Capernaum whose son was very sick. 47 When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged Jesus to come to Capernaum to heal his son, who was about to die.
48 Jesus asked, “Will you never believe in me unless you see miraculous signs and wonders?”
49 The official pleaded, “Lord, please come now before my little boy dies.”
50 Then Jesus told him, “Go back home. Your son will live!” And the man believed what Jesus said and started home.
51 While the man was on his way, some of his servants met him with the news that his son was alive and well. 52 He asked them when the boy had begun to get better, and they replied, “Yesterday afternoon at one o’clock his fever suddenly disappeared!” 53 Then the father realized that that was the very time Jesus had told him, “Your son will live.” And he and his entire household believed in Jesus. 54 This was the second miraculous sign Jesus did in Galilee after coming from Judea.
Today’s passage shows the popularity of Jesus. People had seen the wonderful things he had done and they welcomed him. In his travels he came across a government official whose son was very sick.
Jesus encounters this government official whose son is sick. The man asks Jesus to heal his son, and Jesus responds by asking, “Will you never believe in me unless you see miraculous signs and wonders?” Elsewhere in the Gospels, we hear of how the Pharisees and teachers of the law ask Jesus to show them a miraculous sign, they want him to remove all doubt from the question. But Jesus refers to them as “evil” and “faithless” because of it (Matthew 12:38-45).
What I’m learning is that Jesus came to re-establish a trusting, faithful relationship with God’s beloved children. But those who fold their arms and stamp their feet, demanding miraculous signs as a foundation for their trust, have missed something that is true of every relationship.
In a relationship if your love is based on performance and not a commitment to your beloved’s heart, then it is no love at all. It’s wrong to treat our relationship with God like a business transaction; if you do this, then I’ll do this, because God is interested in restoring intimacy of the deepest kind with us. Demanding that God perform for us to win our love is wrong; trusting him because we’ve “tasted and seen” his heart is right.
Today I consider if I have any of this un-trusting attitude in my life. As I reflect on this question, my first reaction may not be one who is demanding to see a miraculous sign, but I still have not trusted him with every aspect of my life to him. I believe I still have areas of my life that I am not letting him fully control and lead. I will think more on these areas and consider why.
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