April 17 - Signs and Wonders

April 17 – Signs and Wonders

When the two days were over, he went from that place to Galilee (for Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in the prophet’s own country). 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.

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. 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. Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my little boy dies.” Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started on his way. As he was going down, his slaves met him and told him that his child was alive. 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.” 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. Now this was the second sign that Jesus did after coming from Judea to Galilee. (John 4:43-54)

In yesterday’s reading, we saw that the Samaritans had to see Jesus so that they could believe.  Today we find that there are plenty of people that need some kind of sign so that they will believe.  Jesus wanted more from these people, but He knew what was required to help their unbelief … signs and wonders.

We seem to want the same things to happen for us, don’t we!  We want to see the big miracles and signs and wonders.  We want to experience the glory of the Lord in all His supernatural self.  The funny thing is, when we do get a chance to see a miracle, we want more.  We aren’t satisfied with one.  We forget it as quickly as it happens and the next time we fret over a bad situation or a tough problem, we beg for something miraculous to happen again so that our faith is comforted.

Now, while l could easily make us feel guilty about that, the point of this story is that Jesus understood our need for signs and wonders.  He might not have liked it – the story kind of implies that, but doesn’t really say it.  However … He gets it.  More than we ourselves understand, Jesus knows our desperate need for assurance. 

When a child comes to us begging for attention with a scraped knee or a bruised forehead, the last thing we would do is say, “You know it will get better on its own – just give it time,” and then turn aside to something else.  No, we stop and tend to the problem, offering assurances and love.

We treat our friends and family better than we expect God to treat us!  When they need assurance of our love and affection, we’re glad to give it to them and feel awful if we haven’t seen their need.  Why would God not want to offer that some level of love and affection to us, with assurance of His grace and mercy.

Signs and wonders may not always accompany His love for us, but don’t ever shy away from asking for His attention.  He wants to pour out His love and blessings on us as part of the relationship He has with us.