John 4:46 So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering. So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” And he himself believed, and all his household. This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee.
Signs and wonders can lead a person towards belief in God, and can validate a heavenly messenger – but they can also have no effect on a person. Signs and wonders from God are obviously good things, but they should not form the foundation of our faith. We should not depend on them to prove God to us. In themselves, signs and wonders cannot change the heart; Israel saw incredible signs at Mount Sinai and even heard the very voice of God, yet a short time later they worshipped a gold calf. We can see true faith in this official. He did not seek a sign to believe. He believed in Jesus’s word. “Go, your son will live”. The father begged at mercy’s door for the life of his son and believed what Jesus told him. The man said, “Come and save my son”. It is as if the father believed Jesus could heal his son if his son was in the presence of Jesus’s touch. Jesus pointed out to this man that there was a serious issue with his faith. I am sure the father did not expect to hear a rebuke, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” But, after this, the father believed his son was healed at the moment Jesus said, “Go, your son lives”. He had faith to trust in the healing. This belief in healing at the word of Jesus grew. It grew from, “my son will be healed because Jesus said so”, to “Jesus is the Messiah, Christ, Son of God.” When our belief in Jesus Christ awakens our hearts, minds, and souls, we are transformed deep within. If only we would continue to grow in faith then we might say like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, “our God can save us, but even if He doesn’t, we will not bow down and worship your idol.” When our faith grows we come to a place where we have faith to believe but allow the purpose and plans of God to dictate the outcome without hindering our faith.
