John 4:43-54

This is a late update, on account of I had stuff to do this evening, to wit: introducing some people to the film Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, a Christmas classic delivering the unprecedented spectacle of Santa Claus single-handedly thwarting a Martian robot that's obviously a guy in a cardboard costume. This, of course, has but little to do with the Gospels, especially as the means used by Claus to conquer the Martians are materialism and areligious seasonal cheer.

Be that as it may, Jesus and His disciples were in Samaria when we left them last installment. But that is about to change.

3After the two days he left for Galilee. 44(Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.) 45When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, for they also had been there.

This is interesting to me. After some four hundred years of the Bible being readily available in English, "a prophet hath no honour in his own country" has been firmly embedded in our language. And it is a true saying. The evidence of it may be seen in Jesus' own story, later on. More generally it holds true elsewhere. I have seen with my own eyes the proof of it in Cross Plains, Texas, home of the great Robert E. Howard (all due respect to Project Pride, who've done great things), but that is a matter for another time and probably another blog.

However, it says here that on arrival in Galilee Jesus was welcomed, by folks who were impressed by his various feats in Jerusalem.

A few minutes bopping from translation to translation on BibleGateway.com shews that most translations either have a full stop between "without honor in his own land" and "when he arrived in Galilee" breaking it into two separate thoughts, or else bridge the two sentences with either "yet" or "so." "A prophet is without honor in his own land, so the Galileans..." "A prophet is without honor in his own land, yet the Galileans..."

The one I like is the Message, which paraphrases it thusly:

43-45After the two days he left for Galilee. Now, Jesus knew well from experience that a prophet is not respected in the place where he grew up. So when he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, but only because they were impressed with what he had done in Jerusalem during the Passover Feast, not that they really had a clue about who he was or what he was up to.

There's actually quite a bit I like about this version. For starters, it bridges the two thoughts (prophets are without honor, Galileans welcomed) in a logical way. Jesus was welcomed because He could do impressive tricks. Second, I really like the phrase "what he was up to," which implies a certain sneakiness, or a hidden agenda. Finally, it makes the attitude of the Galileans explicit: they thought Jesus was impressive, but they certainly would not be happy if they knew what He was really all about.

Dare I say, how many of us today are the same way?

46Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. 47When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death.

48"Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders," Jesus told him, "you will never believe."

49The royal official said, "Sir, come down before my child dies."

Here's how I read this: Jesus is riding a wave of popularity just at present on account of He can work wonders. Right there in Cana He had turned water into enough wine to intoxicate pretty much everyone in town. In Jerusalem, as these folks had either seen with their own eyes, or heard from people who saw with their own eyes, or maybe heard from people who heard about it, Jesus did far more than that. But all that, in the end, is unimportant. Jesus didn't want them to look at His miracles, He wanted them to believe what He taught. As I take it, His initial stern response is to get rid of anyone looking for more supernatural parlor tricks.

The man's answer shows he's not one of those. He's not there to see signs and wonders.

He just wants his son to live.

50Jesus replied, "You may go. Your son will live."
The man took Jesus at his word and departed.

Here's proof of it. The man took Jesus at His word and departed.

Took Him at His word.

And departed.

Consider, an' thou wilt, the kind of faith this nobleman had. No questions. No hesitation. No need to see Jesus draw mystic sigils in the dust or scribe letters of fire in the air or speak the hidden names of Hashem and in general work the kind of magical mojo that might be expected from someone bringing a sick boy back from the edge of death. Jesus doesn't even slick his hair into a giant pompadour, grab the kid's head and shove him forcefully backwards while intoning "in-a the name of almighty GOD-a!" Jesus says the thing's done, and that's good enough. Here's a man who is not after a miracle. He's after a healing.

51While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. 52When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, "The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour."

53Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, "Your son will live." So he and all his household believed.

54This was the second miraculous sign that Jesus performed, having come from Judea to Galilee.