Today’s Gospel is the story of the “second sign Jesus did when he came to Galilee from Judea.” Jesus heals the son of a royal official in the town of Capernaum. In John’s Gospel signs are healings or miracles that Jesus performs. The Evangelist seems to have an ambivalent attitude to signs. When the royal official first makes his request for healing Jesus replies: “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.” While miracles or signs can lead to faith, they are only the first step. The Evangelist does not want us to get too caught up in the “wow factor” of the sign or miracle. Jesus also reveals his authority and divinity when he washes the feet of his disciples (John 13:1-20) and when he is “lifted up” on the cross. The Evangelist wants us to move from the level of miracle or sign faith to a deeper faith in Jesus as the true revelation of the Father:
“No one has ever seen God. The only Son, God, who is at the Father’s side, has revealed him.” (John 1:18)
“Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” (John 14:9)
Jesus performs seven signs in John’s Gospel. The first sign is changing water into wine at the wedding feast in Cana (John 2:1-11). The Evangelist tells us the result of this sign: “Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs in Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him.” This first sign revealed something of his divinity (“glory”) and called his disciples to “begin to believe.” This is only the beginning of the disciples’ faith journey. In today’s Gospel we have the second sign. The disciples’ faith journey continues as they begin to discover that Jesus has the power to heal. Jesus performs 5 other signs: the healing of a crippled, the feeding of 5,000, the crossing of the sea, the healing of a man born blind, and the raising of Lazarus. These seven signs call us to “come and see” Jesus, to encounter him and come to a deeper understand of God’s revelation in Jesus, the Word made flesh. The greatest and most challenging sign is the sign of the cross. When Jesus is “lifted-up” on the cross he has fulfilled the work of his Father and declares: “‘It is finished.’ And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit.” (John 19:30). Jesus has now finished the mission that his Father has sent him into the world to accomplish:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3:16-17).
Each day we encounter signs of God’s love and healing power that call us to a deeper faith. Let us continue on our faith journey.
Image: “The sign of the cross” by tombothetominator is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.