PRAYER

As our prayer rises before You, O God, so may Your mercy come down upon us to cleanse our hearts and set us free to sing Your praise now and forever. Amen

READING

John 4: 43-54

⁴³ At the end of the two days, Jesus went on to Galilee. ⁴⁴ He himself had said that a prophet is not honored in his own hometown. ⁴⁵ Yet the Galileans welcomed him, for they had been in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration and had seen everything he did there.

⁴⁶ As he traveled through Galilee, he came to Cana, where he had turned the water into wine. There was a government official in nearby Capernaum whose son was very sick. ⁴⁷ When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged Jesus to come to Capernaum to heal his son, who was about to die.

⁴⁸ Jesus asked, “Will you never believe in me unless you see miraculous signs and wonders?”

⁴⁹ The official pleaded, “Lord, please come now before my little boy dies.”

⁵⁰ Then Jesus told him, “Go back home. Your son will live!” And the man believed what Jesus said and started home.

⁵¹ While the man was on his way, some of his servants met him with the news that his son was alive and well. ⁵² He asked them when the boy had begun to get better, and they replied, “Yesterday afternoon at one o’clock his fever suddenly disappeared!” ⁵³ Then the father realized that that was the very time Jesus had told him, “Your son will live.” And he and his entire household believed in Jesus. ⁵⁴ This was the second miraculous sign Jesus did in Galilee after coming from Judea.

REFLECTION

Do we follow God because of what He can do for us or do we follow God because of what we can do for Him? Jesus often attracted crowds because of the signs and miracles He was doing. Granted, "signs and miracles" were characteristics of the Messiah as prophesized in the old testament. Jesus did them to show He was the Messiah, however, it was better for people to believe Jesus was the Christ based on His word. When the government official came to Jesus asking for his son's healing, Jesus replied to him and to the crowd, "Will you never believe in me unless you see miraculous signs and wonders?" (verse 48). And then, Jesus does something miraculous that transcends time and space. He heals a boy living around 15km away. The words of Jesus have the power of healing, given to Him by God. Perhaps the government official came to Jesus because he wanted a miracle, or maybe he believed Jesus was the Messiah. I think his belief was solidified once he got home and saw his son, healthy and healed. It says his entire household believed in Jesus; they all came to know that Jesus was the Messiah, Son of God.

Do you ask God for signs and miracles? I think this helps to deepen our faith when we believe God can do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine. Its is helpful to ask God to give us eyes to see and ears to hear God at work, otherwise, we may miss it. Prayer brings intimacy into our relationship with God. It is good to try and focus on the process of prayer, not always the outcome. Although we want God to take action and to see miraculous results from our prayers, it is sometimes the act of praying that brings us the peace we look for.

LENT CHECK IN

Consider going on an intentional nature walk where you closely look at nature for signs of God the Creator.

Try using a finger labyrinth. If you don't have one you can print one (or enlarge the graphic and use on your phone)