The man struggled to make his way through the crowd. Elbow to elbow, toe to toe; a large number of people had turned out as that mysterious man made his way back into town.
The man stood and stretched as much as he could, but could not see over the people.
I must speak to this man, he thought.
His mind raced back to the stories he heard about the miracle involving the water being turned into wine at the big wedding. An unexplained phenomenon? Workings of a prophet? He did not know for sure. But he was out of options …
As crazy as it may sound, this could be the last chance to save his son. He squared his shoulders and continued to march ahead, determined to see this man … this Jesus.
***
Meanwhile, many years earlier, an entire nation was feeling the same disparity. They had lost their homeland, their culture, their way of life. Scattered among the rest of the world, they were discriminated against, forbidden to worship in their own way. They struggled not to lose their faith in the God of Abraham. But year after year brought little hope of a better life.
How great it must have felt to hear words of hope from the prophet, Isaiah.
Lo, I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; The things of the past shall not be remembered or come to mind. Instead, there shall always be rejoicing and happiness in what I create; For I create Jerusalem to be a joy and its people to be a delight; I will rejoice in Jerusalem and exult in my people.
Something – or someone – was coming.
***
Finally, the man had reached the front of the mob and found himself close enough to Jesus to speak.
Come, heal my son.
At first Jesus appears to rebuke him for demanding a sign, a miracle, in order to believe.
But the man is persistent. Jesus, he begs, come with me to heal my son.
Jesus said to him, “You may go; your son will live.”
The Gospel tells us that the man believed instantly and then left. But it’s interesting that when he is greeted with the news that his son has indeed begun to recover, he wants to know what time the recovery began.
Yes, he may have believed in Jesus, but he still had a wee bit of doubt. Maybe his son’s illness had simply run its course. Maybe Jesus was not needed after all.
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.
Doesn’t this sound familiar?
Don’t we all carry little seeds of doubt within us? A nation of Thomas’s?
God can bless us with so many things, but when we hear of something truly miraculous, don’t we all try to seek some other explanation?
Why is it so difficult to believe?
***
Jesus heals with a simple word.
Today’s reading is one of several “signs” in the Gospel of John, which consist of a gradual unveiling of who Christ truly is … the Word of God.
But the revelation of God to his people began much earlier with Abraham, Moses and the prophets. In our first reading, we can see God attempting to heal a nation with his word, as delivered through the prophet.
Two different stories, two different miracles … but the same Word.
This Lent, we are challenged to hear God’s Word … whether it’s at Mass, during Eucharistic Adoration or at Confession. We are challenged to deepen our faith and remove those seeds of doubt.
We need to open our ears to hear, open our minds to understand, open our eyes to see and open our hearts to embrace the one Word that can heal a troubled soul.
