John 4:43-54
43When the two days were over, he went from that place to Galilee 44(for Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in the prophet’s own country). 45When he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, since they had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the festival; for they too had gone to the festival.
46Then he came again to Cana in Galilee where he had changed the water into wine. Now there was a royal official whose son lay ill in Capernaum. 47When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. 48Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” 49The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my little boy dies.” 50Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started on his way. 51As he was going down, his slaves met him and told him that his child was alive. 52So he asked them the hour when he began to recover, and they said to him, “Yesterday at one in the afternoon the fever left him.” 53The father realized that this was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he himself believed, along with his whole household. 54Now this was the second sign that Jesus did after coming from Judea to Galilee.
Prayer:
God, I wonder what it was like to to have been at the festival, to see all that Jesus had done in Galilee. What was it like to personally witness the miracle of water being transformed into the complexity of wine? I wonder how word traveled, as news tends to do, to the ears of of the royal official. Royal official he may be, but in that moment, he was pleading as a father who was desperate for his son’s healing. I wonder if his voice quivered or if tears streamed down his face as he vulnerably begged Jesus to come. What was it like for Jesus to hear this man ask for healing on behalf of his little boy? What was it like for this high official to ask a miracle of a Rabbi? I wonder what invitations we might have… what might we want or need to ask of You, voice quaking, tears streaming? Loving God who knows and offers the love of both Father and Mother, what might we be vulnerable enough to ask of You? Help us to trust you enough to ask.
Written by Dr. Tiffanie Wilson, Hope House UTC, University of Tennessee Chattanooga