Coming off a two day revival in Samaria, Jesus arrived in Galilee. It is interesting, that John reveals that the Galileans had heard all that Jesus had done in Jerusalem at the Passover feast and they “welcomed him.” Remember at the Passover feast Jesus had driven everyone from the Temple as well done many miraculous signs that John did not elaborate upon other than to say that they prompted people to believe in Jesus. Did they welcome him because of the miraculous signs? Or did they resonate with Jesus as he reeled against the establishment that sought to distance the people from God’s presence by moving their attention to rules that governed every facet of their lives? For me, the most interesting part is that they had not seen the stuff done in Samaria nor did they hear about it. How would they have felt about it? Would they have welcomed Jesus if they knew that he reached out to despised and hated Samaritans? After all, these were the marginalized and poor Jewish people. He came to save them.
John says that Jesus finally stopped to visit in Cana where he heals a royal official’s son. The story is bookmarked between the identification of the town, Cana in Galilee, and a reminder that this was Jesus second miraculous sign. I believe that John was trying to link the first miraculous sign, the changing of water into wine, with this second miraculous sign. When we begin to examine them together we continue to see unfolding of the nature of God’s kingdom. The changing of the water into wine was done primarily for the disciples. It demonstrated the nature of the coming of God’s kingdom that was new, abundant, extravagant and transformative. But this second miraculous sign reminds the reader that the outpouring of God’s kingdom was for all who sought out Jesus Christ and not just his closest friends.
This encounter also illustrates another facet of the nature of God and God’s kingdom. The official in the story was coming to Jesus out of a basic need. While the Scripture does not say it, I would imagine that the official had already exhausted the conventional means of healing. He went to the pharmacy and tried all the over the counter meds and home remedies. Then he probably consulted the local doctor, but when none of those things worked he turned to Jesus in desperation. But with his encounter with Jesus he came away this something else – faith in Jesus Christ. As his basic needs were met he came to encounter the life-giving love of God.
The miraculous sign points beyond Jesus as a miracle worker to the very nature of Jesus Christ – the life-giving Word that has come and dwells among us. The Kingdom of God burst through unexpectedly in the midst of our basic needs of life when we seek out Jesus Christ.
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