The second Sign... part 3...

Now we're in Cana, and we see a member of the established leadership kneeling before Christ (symbolically, if not literally) to ask for His grace and mercy and blessing.  We see a father who has traveled a long journey from his sick child to do this... and his child is, undoubtedly, growing more ill during the journey.  And then the Sign comes...

"'Go,' Jesus told him, 'your son will live.'  The man believed what Jesus said to him and departed."

John 4:50

... but the man didn't actually see the Sign when it happened, per se.  You see, Christ is standing some twenty miles from the sick child in question, so when he tells the father that all will be well, the father has only one recorded response: he believed Jesus.  It is in this way that there are actually two Signs here, but I'll get to the second one in a moment. 

For starters, we need to compare this slightly to the water to wine.  All Christ said about the water was to pour it in the jars, then take some out and have the chief servant taste it.  It was wine, and it was amazing.  However, it needs to be pointed out again that He did not waving of hands or mystical incantation or any other such thing.  He just thought it, and then spoke it, and it was so. 

The same is true of this boy, even over twenty miles away.  If you recall, Jesus saw Nathanael under the fig tree before calling him into service, and Jesus is the Word that created and spoke on all things.  He is eternal, immortal, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, and immutable.  He sees all of time in a single frame, and He judges us with righteous purpose and perfect love... all of us, in all of time, because He is not confined by time or space or anything else.  So He thought the wellness of the boy, and then He spoke it, and it was so.  Distance has no bearing on Christ, friend, and that is something that you and I must always strive to keep on the forefront of our thought and prayer life.

So the father goes, and is met halfway by a servant who tells him that at the exact moment Jesus spoke the wellness of the boy, the child was instantly cured.  There was no delay - and there was no incompleteness - and there was no failure in that moment.  Jesus spoke... and it was so. 

The second Sign in this (almost a sub-topic that I believe to be quite important) comes from the father of the boy.  We don't know who he was or what his position or title were, but we do know that he had enough faith to travel to see Jesus and ask for the wellness of his son.  We know that he was successful in that approach, and he did ask this of the Christ.  We know that Jesus said to him that the boy would live.  But the most important part of this is that the dad said nothing in response, but took the command given to him and BELIEVED Jesus!

I've said it before, and I know I'll say it again, that there is a massive difference between believing IN Jesus and simply BELIEVING Jesus.  This man sought out a Sign, and was given one, but what if he had doubted?  Would the story be the same?  Clearly, Jesus knew that he would accept and believe, but that leads me to think that possibly this man and this issue were selected by Christ so that the people around would be able to see a man with instant and unfaltering belief.  Jesus just told him to go home, because all would be well (paraphrased), and the man accepted this Sign and instruction without hesitation... and all those around him saw this exchange, and then certainly learned that the Sign was performed.  In this way, God was glorified, and He is still receiving praises for this Sign to this day!

Pray thankfully today for those moments when you arte clearly instructed to move in a specific direction.  Pray even harder for the conviction to follow the command given to you, no matter the circumstance, so that you can be a light to others, just as this man was.  The joy that had to be in Capernaum over this Sign was probably quite intense, and all of it pointed to Christ.  We should do the same.

God bless you all!!!