Devotional for Week of February 6th, 2022

Text: John 4: 43-54

43 When 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). 45 When 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.

46 Then 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. 47 When 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. 48 Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you[g] see signs and wonders you will not believe.” 49 The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my little boy dies.” 50 Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started on his way. 51 As he was going down, his slaves met him and told him that his child was alive. 52 So 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.” 53 The 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. 54 Now this was the second sign that Jesus did after coming from Judea to Galilee.

Reflection

The man took Jesus at his word and departed. If it only it was that simple for us. If only we would put our hope and trust in Jesus Christ. This is hard for us, because it is not rational. And more frightening - it may not mean that we get what we are asking for. In this case, the man’s son was healed. In other cases, it may mean that we do not get the physically healing we desire. We may be healed emotionally, relationally, or spiritually instead.

What if we began to see our prayers for healing to Christ, as acts of trust. Acts of faith. Trusting that God will act. I told the Bible Study group this past week that I stumbled upon something interesting on the internet. It was labeled, a story about faith, and told of a town that had a major drought. The towns people decided to gather together to pray for rain. But as they came together, only one little boy brought an umbrella with him. In other words, only one little boy thought that their prayers would be answered.

Sometimes we pray to God for healing because we’ve run out of options other places. Prayers become a last resort. And other times we pray because its what we think we should do. But how often to we pray because we believe that God will answer our requests? Believe that God will move in a mighty way? Believe that God will heal?

 The people of Cana knew Jesus performed miracles, it was the place where he turned water into wine. Yet, Jesus asked if that was really all they wanted. Just wanted a sign or a wonder so that they could believe? We are just like the people in Cana who beg for signs and wonders because we heard Christ did them before, now we want one of our own. Though we quickly forget the ways that Christ has healed us in the past when we are faced with a new crisis. A new test of faith.

 

Reflection Questions:

Tell of a time when you took Jesus at his word. What was that experience like for you?

In what ways are you longing for healing and wholeness?

What sort of power does Jesus offer versus the power of the empire? 

How is life about more than healing? What else does Jesus offer the man?

How is belief a matter of the heart for you?

How are belief and trust connected in your life?

What does it mean to you that Jesus is the ‘giver of life’?

Prayer:

Lord, we come before you in an act of hope and trust as we pray. We believe that you act. And we also believe that your will will be done. We come to this time of prayer, trusting you with the same faith as that little boy with the umbrella and the royal official crying out for his son. May you move in a mighty way, even if it is not always the way we expect. Shape us to be a people of faith, belief, and trust, we pray. Amen.