In the Gospel of John, Jesus performs seven signs which give hints about who he is and the needs he’s addressing. Note that they’re not called “miracles,” but “signs.” Beyond being extraordinary acts, they’re also messages to us about Jesus, and we’ll visit a different sign each Wednesday in Lent. This week, we’ll take a look at…

Jesus Heals the Faithful Official’s Son (John 4:46-54)

For Jesus’s second sign, he returns to Cana, where the Galileans welcome him. As Jesus is teaching —and, frankly, berating his audience a little—, he’s approached by a royal official from the neighboring city of Capernaum. Jesus has just called out his listeners on their need for signs and miracles rather than simply taking him at his word, and here comes a walking example of deeper faith.

While there’s some geographical vagueness here (i.e. whether the official himself lives in Capernaum or only his son), Capernaum is roughly 16.5 miles away from Cana. Even if the official has the luxury of a donkey or a chariot, that’s still a significant trek for this time period. This man is making a 33-mile roundtrip journey on the hope that Jesus may be able to help.

The nature of the miracle at first seems underwhelming too. The official invites Jesus to come down to Capernaum to perform a healing, and Jesus replies with a simple “Go, your son will live.” No waving of hands or calling on the heavens or anything dramatic— Jesus gives a simple instruction, and the son lives.

Now, look, I’ve worked with a lot of parents of sick kids over these last few years, and I’ve noticed some patterns:

1) Most parents (sadly, not all, but most) would do anything for their children. At our hospital, I routinely have to encourage parents in taking care of themselves because they are so devoted to helping their kids. During long hospital stays, many parents will ignore basic needs like eating and sleeping to be by their children’s sides. In some extreme cases, I’ve even seen exhausted parents develop a sort of delirium (often dubbed “ICU psychosis”) from the conditions they endure to care for their children. More than once, I have practically made parents go outside and take a few breaths of fresh air just to give their minds and hearts a break. Having seen this level of devotion more times than I can count, it’s not hard to imagine a parent of a sick child traveling any distance to get help, no matter how slight the chance, and speaking of…

2) Desperate parents will jump at any sliver of hope. No matter how dire the circumstance, if there is even a ghost of a chance, parents of sick kids will find it. Sadly, this means many fall prey to scammers (unproven alternative treatments, toxic preachers who promise miracles, etc.), but it also means these parents become experts in their children’s illnesses. They learn what tests to ask for, what signs to watch for, and what questions to ask of other caregivers. Especially though, they become finely attuned to their children’s needs and pick up on things other caregivers may miss. While they may become more vulnerable to manipulation (and, sadly, I have seen that many times), these parents also put in the work to learn about every possible option to help their children.

I imagine the official in this story wielding this sort of determination and desperation as he travels to another city to seek out a man who may be able to heal his son, and Jesus rewards his faith. The gospel of John preserves his story so that we might model this sort of faith as well. As with the other signs in John, this one reveals something about Jesus; he sees and appreciates the faith of others, and he will meet us in our most desperate moments. I wish every parent could hear those words from Jesus (“Go, your child will live.”), but I know the world doesn’t work like that. Still, Jesus finds us in our pain, our confusion, and our desperation. He joins us there to bring renewal and peace and even joy. In this account, it’s not just the son who experiences healing; the official too is healed, at last experiencing the comfort of Christ after his family’s journey with illness.

We’ll look at a sign from the gospel of John every Wednesday in Lent. Next week, John 5 shows us a healing of a different sort— an ignored and overlooked man who has waited 38 years for his miracle…