He and his whole household came to believe

Is 65,17-21; Ps 29; Jn 4,43-54
1 APRIL

Today, the passage offered to our meditation reveals to us two essential truths. The first tells us that faith in Christ Jesus is not born immediately, as soon as the word is announced. We know what happened in Nazareth the day when Jesus in the synagogue had solemnly proclaimed the fulfilment of the prophecy of Isaiah in his person. They had led him to the edge of the mountain to throw him down, but without succeeding in their intent. Jesus leaves Nazareth, goes elsewhere and begins to perform signs and wonders. Jesus goes also to Jerusalem for the feast. Many of his fellow citizens are present. They see the signs made by Him and open themselves to the faith. This openness of the heart must prompt us, indeed convince us, that there is no immediate correspondence between the announcement of the Word and faith. Time cannot be ousted from the process of the birth of faith in a heart, in which the Word has been sown. Whoever proclaims the Word, besides being persevering and faithful in his mission, must always give the necessary signs so that true faith may arise in the hearts. Jesus performed portentous signs to testify that He was from the Father. We are not asked for portentous signs, but to always work with knowledge, science, wisdom, fortitude, counsel, piety and the fear of the Lord that are in us the fruit of the Holy Spirit, if the Word dwells in our heart and we lend every obedience to it. When the sower walks in the Word, obeying it, according to the motion of the Holy Spirit, for his Word many hearts will always come to faith. If it is not today, it will be tomorrow. Faith will rise.

After the two days, he left there for Galilee. For Jesus himself testified that a prophet has no honour in his native place. When he came into Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, since they had seen all he had done in Jerusalem at the feast; for they themselves had gone to the feast. Then he returned to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. Now there was a royal official whose son was ill in Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, who was near death. Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.” The royal official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus said to him, “You may go; your son will live.” The man believed what Jesus said to him and left. While he was on his way back, his slaves met him and told him that his boy would live. He asked them when he began to recover. They told him, “The fever left him yesterday, about one in the afternoon.” The father realized that just at that time Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live,” and he and his whole household came to believe.  (Now) this was the second sign Jesus did when he came to Galilee from Judea.

A king official asks Jesus to heal his son. This man does not follow Jesus. He does not believe in his Word. He sees Jesus as a great miracle worker and knocks at his heart. If Jesus had been in the condition of the king’s official, would he not have gone knocking to have his son’s recovery? But first Jesus reminds that faith must be founded on the Word and the Word carries within itself the signs of its credibility. It is enough to take only one Word of the Gospel and we can see that the signs of its truth are in itself. Having given the principle of the truth of the Word, Jesus says to his father: “Go, your son lives”. I do not need to come. One of my commands is enough. The roles are reversed here. The centurion tells Jesus that there is no need for him to go to his home. It is sufficient that He says one word and His servant will be healed. But now Jesus puts to the test the official’s faith. He believes and heads towards home. His servants meet him to tell him that his son was perfectly healed. He asked for the hour of healing and there was full correspondence with the time that Jesus had told him. “Go, your son lives”. Now the official and his whole family believe in Jesus, not as operators of wonders and signs, but as a true sent by God to bring his true Word to earth along with all the other gifts of grace, truth and eternal life. True faith is in the Person of Christ, according to the eternal truth established by Him from the Father. Never must the truth of the person be separated from the right faith.

Mother of God, Angels and Saints, help us to rediscover the true faith in Christ Jesus.