In Capernaum there was a certain royal official whose son was sick. When he heard that Jesus was coming from Judea to Galilee, he went out to meet him and asked Jesus if he would come and heal his son, for his son was about to die. Jesus said to him, “Unless you see miraculous signs and wonders, you won’t believe.” The royal official said to him, “Lord, come before my son dies.” Jesus replied, “Go home. Your son lives.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and set out for his home.
John 4:46-50 CEB
This man comes to you, Jesus, on the road to Capernaum. The sun says it’s past noon. His son is sick, near death. Desperate, he asks for your help. You respond with a complaint. You’re annoyed, tired of people wanting signs and wonders. Demands, demands, all the time. But the man is desperate because a son he loves is dying. You missed that detail, his desperation. After your whining vanished in the air, was there a long awkward silence? Did you regret saying it? I have regretted saying the wrong thing. Did your face flush red with embarrassment when you saw his eyes fill with tears? He is desperate. He pleads with you once again — he must ask again! — and at last you tell him his son will live. It’s like when the Syrophonecian woman came to you, desperate for her daughter, and you brought out a book of riddles and played word games with her. I am asking, Jesus, because at times your compassion is strangely absent.
Interesting thoughts on Jesus … I think you are using human wisdom and not divine wisdom here.
After all, the man had to suffer a little and wait a few moments to receive 2 things:
1) The gift of belief in Jesus
2) Healing of his son
Suffering is a path to God for many …. divine wisdom at its most elegant.
People ask: “Why does God let bad things happen?”
Bad things happen sometimes to give people the perspective they need on life – here, in both cases you mention, the person received a gift of understanding, wisdom, and belief in Jesus.
What it shows me is that salvation doesn’t come for free … you must have faith and also perform works.
Suffering is a path to God … if everything were wonderful without him, then we as humans would have no need of him …
I hope this helps
Thanks for your thoughts, Eric. I am using what wisdom I have, although I am daily asking God for more of it.
I doubt that anyone must suffer in order to achieve some purpose. In his healing activity throughout the Gospels, Jesus shows me that God seeks to remove suffering, not inflict it. But strangely, in the two cases mentioned in this post, Jesus appears reluctant to help. This has long puzzled me.
I agree that suffering can be a path to God. (Or not, depending on how we use it.) Suffering purifies hearts and makes us realize how dependent we are on others and on God. I doubt that God allows suffering in order to teach us lessons. I cannot imagine a loving human parent allowing a child to suffer pain in order to learn a certain lesson, much less our divine parent. The relation between God and suffering is one of those enigmas I cannot solve.
The Bible does not answer the ‘why’ questions of suffering. The Bible only helps us with the ‘how should I respond’ question of suffering. This man in the Gospel shows me that I should bring suffering of those I love to God, asking for his help, and I should be persistent even when God seems strangely remote and reluctant.
I think sometimes our focus is so much on the Divine aspect of Jesus that we always have to find some kind of explanation to explain away some of the very human things in his life. They somehow just don’t fit this divine being who really doesn’t feel the human situation, which can sometimes mean just getting tired of people. It’s also a puzzle for me but it offers hope because he felt it too. Thanks for the words.
That’s a good way of looking at it, Don. Maybe Jesus was tired of people, like anyone would be with a lot of demands on them. I have always appreciated the human touches of Jesus in the Gospels, like when it says that Jesus sighed. Thank you, Jesus, for sighing, just as we do. Peace to you today.
Your faith is being tested, Chris. Jesus’ ministry, as given to us in the gospels, is about faith and timing. The official and the Syrophoenician woman were gentiles, remember. He made an exception for them. There is so much for which we must wait in faith, and so much which will remain a mystery.
Yes, Jesus was God, but we believe he was fully human too. He knew what was going on inside the petitioner.
‘There is so much for which we must wait in faith, and so much which will remain a mystery.’ This is very true.
I wish the test were in a different form than someone I care about hurting and in danger. Sigh.
..”the two cases mentioned in this post, Jesus appears reluctant to help. This has long puzzled me.”…..was He reluctant to help?….maybe Jesus was reluctant of being *used* again…has this scenario ever happened to anyone else but me:..I have a crisis that sends me to the feet of Jesus..I get rescued,and for awhile afterwards i stay close to God but then gradually i begin to drift..away..futher and further..as im no longer “in need” so to speak..then one day i have another ‘crisis’ and back i go to God..which makes me something of a “user” of God in the narcissistic sense and this must greive God on some level i think..but at the same time i believe Eric’s point is valid aswell..suffering creates the ultimate path to God in instances where nothing else did…. …
God wants lovers, not users. Maybe that’s why God designed things so all of our needs are not met. We must learn to live with unfulfilled desires. In spite of the pain, suffering and destruction we see, we still reach out for God in love.
To everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven.
The imminent loss of a loved one – as dear as a sister – is awakening in you the remembrance of historic grief and pain, possibly still waiting to be excised and healed.
Do not be afraid, Chris. God’s plan is inscrutable to us, and remember – many people care about you and will support you practically and in prayer.
Thanks. That means a lot. I arrived at church this afternoon and heard news that was like a kick in the stomach. This is going to be a rough road. It already is.
..”The imminent loss…..is awakening in you the remembrance of historic grief and pain, possibly still waiting to be excised and healed”………..absolutely Flawless insight..