Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe

 Now after the two days He departed from there and went to Galilee.  For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.  So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they also had gone to the feast.

So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine.  And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.  When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.  Then Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe."  The nobleman said to Him, "Sir, come down before my child dies!"  Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your son lives."  So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.  And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, "Your son lives!"  Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better.  And they said to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him."  So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, "Your son lives."  And he himself believed, and his whole household.  This again is the second sign Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.

- John 4:43-54

 Yesterday, we read the continuation of Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well.  At this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman; yet no one said, "What do you seek?" or, "Why are You talking with her?"  The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, "Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did.  Could this be the Christ?"  Then they went out of the city and came to Him.  In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, "Rabbi, eat."  But He said to them, "I have food to eat of which you do not know."  Therefore the disciples said to one another, "Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?"  Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.  Do you not say, 'There are still four months and then comes the harvest'?  Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!  And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.  For in this the saying is true:  'One sows and another reaps.'  I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors."  And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, "He told me all that I ever did."  So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days.  And many more believed because of His own word.  Then they said to the woman, "Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world."

 Now after the two days He departed from there and went to Galilee.  For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.  So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they also had gone to the feast.  Jesus' testimony that a prophet has no honor in his own country is found in all four Gospels (see also Matthew 13:57, Mark 6:4, Luke 4:24).

So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine.  And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.  When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.  Then Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe."   We are back again in Cana of Galilee, where Jesus' first sign of seven in John's Gospel took place at the wedding.  Jesus complains to the people in general ("you" in Jesus' sentence here is plural both times) that faith based on miracles or wonders alone isn't true salvation.  My study bible says that this kind of incomplete faith quickly turns to scorn should the miracles cease (19:15).

The nobleman said to Him, "Sir, come down before my child dies!"  Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your son lives."  So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.  And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, "Your son lives!"  Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better.  And they said to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him."  So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, "Your son lives."  And he himself believed, and his whole household.  This again is the second sign Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.   This second sign in the Gospel of John teaches that Jesus not only sees into the hearts of people from a distance (see His first meeting with Nathanael), but also that He can heal from a distance.  My study bible tells us that this shows Christ's power has no earthly limits.  The nobleman's concern is primarily for his child, but his faith in Christ is weak -- he believes Christ needs to be physically present to heal the child.  Furthermore, Christ has power even over death.  The nobleman eventually asks about the timing of the healing.  When all is confirmed, then he and his whole household believe.  My study bible says that in healing the child from a distance, Jesus heals not only the physical body of the child, but also the soul of the nobleman.

It's interesting to note my study bible's emphasis on the progress of faith within the nobleman.  He's desperate to save his child.  But somehow he puts his faith in Christ to do so, although his faith is "limited," as my study bible says.  He doesn't really have the full confidence that Christ's true power warrants.  Jesus lectures everybody as the man pleads, that "unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe."   This is how we get our first hint that woven through these actions is the story of faith and how it grows -- that it is a kind of a journey.  The man goes through his own process of growing trust and faith, and validation, to find that Jesus healed his son from a distance, and with a word given to him ("Your son lives").  Eventually, it is the whole household -- all the people involved here, including the servants who reported to him and participated in this process -- who believe.  The details are so important, because they illuminate great truths for all of Jesus' followers.  We don't really know where our search for faith is going to take us.  We don't even know how that search gets started.  Clearly this man's beginning was in seeking help to heal his son.  He put his hope in Christ for that reason, and it was Christ who called it out, disparaging in some sense that faith only comes through signs and wonders with "you people."   And yet, the man is on a road.  It is his persistence with Christ that moves him further along in faith.  This isn't the first time (witness the story of the Samaritan woman at the well) nor the last time that will happen!  The struggle with God for faith is a real and important factor in what determines who we are and how we grow.  (We can also see something of that in the story of Jesus' first meeting with Nathanael.)   There's something more in this story that is important and clearly central to our understanding of faith.  Faith is a search for truth.  It's not just a search for belief, and it's not just motivated by a desire to believe in 'something.'  At its heart, faith has to be about finding -- in a deep and sincere seeking -- that which we can put our trust into.  It's about finding truth; that is, finding what is truly real.  Truth and trust (the Greek root of "faith") are inseparable in this search.  We are built with a need to worship.  We are either going to find that root of truth in which to trust, or we will find other things we 'idolize.'   But the goal here is finding the love and trust, after all, in the Person who is Truth.  That is, the place in which we can rest with certainty that we are on the right road.  This is the true place in which we, in return, are loved and cared for properly; it is the place in which we will not be led astray from what is truly best for us.  As my study bible puts it in speaking of the soul of the nobleman, it's the place were we're fully healed.  We're truly in the fullness of 'home' and 'household' in this place.  In getting there, we may also bring many of those around ourselves with us through our relationship with them.  This works through the power of prayer, which goes as deep as the word Christ gives within us.  Do not be discouraged in the journey of faith.  The Gospels teach us that it is all of a process.  It is the love of truth that gets us there, in the word of the Logos Himself that teaches where we put our trust.  Let us be glad for the struggle in which we're invited to earnestly engage.  There is never a need to apologize for that honest search.