Twenty-First Sunday after Trinity, Sunday, October 20th, 2013
Fr. Todd Bragg
St. Margaret Anglican Church
Indianapolis, Indiana
"Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe." (St. John 4:46ff)
Now, in today's Gospel passage coming to us from St. John we hear Our Blessed Lord being approached by the Nobleman who was seeking a cure for his son. St. John reminds us that the Nobleman was aware of Our Blessed Saviour and was certainly aware of the miracles that Our Lord had performed because St. John states that the Nobleman "besought Him that He would come down and heal his son." (St. John 4:47) Our Lord responded to his request in what seems to be a very sharp tone: "Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe." (v. 48) Despite this response, the Nobleman again requested that Our Blessed Saviour heal his son, to which Our Lord responded to his request by healing his son.
Now, obviously, Our Blessed Saviour was not opposed to healing this man's son. There are numerous examples of healing throughout each of the Gospels. Thus, we can only perceive that Our Lord was not irritated by the request to heal the Nobleman's son, but rather He was trying to make the point that we should have faith in God and not to depend on "signs and wonders." If only we have faith in God, we will be filled with all that we need.
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not see." (Hebrews 11:1) And further on, we read: "But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that dilligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6) God will reward our faithfulness in Him. Faith comes not from seeing with our eyes, but rather faith comes from believing through our heart. Our mind tells us one thing, but our heart tells us another. This is why Our Lord was such a mystery to the Jews of His day, because they could not understand what they were seeing with their eyes and hearing with their ears.
"For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness." (I Corinthians 1:22) This is why even up to the end of Christ's time here on earth, even as He was hanging from the Cross, the Jews demanded a sign from Him in order for them to believe: "Likewise the chief priests mocking him: Come down from the Cross and we will believe Him." (St. Matthew 27:41) The Chief Priests, along with all of those who were witness to Jesus, had plenty of opportunity to see for themselves the signs and wonders that He performed. But for all that they were witness to, they still chose not to believe in Him.
But there were examples of people, whose faithfulness impressed Our Lord:
1) The Nobleman in today's Gospel. He sought our Lord's healing for his son and as soon as he heard the word, he turned and went home, sure of Our Lord's promise that his son would be well again.
2) The Centurion in St. Matthew 8:8-9: "For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me . . . Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed."
3) And also the example of the Canaanite woman who desired that Our Lord would heal her daughter in St. Matthew 15:22-28. Despite the fact that Our Lord at first "answered her not a word;" next, He stated that He was "not sent but unto the Lost Sheep of the House of Israel;" and then stated to her that "it is not meet to take the children's bread and cast it to the dogs." Despite all of these objections, the woman was still persistent in her faithfulness and Our Lord, obviously impressed with her responded: "O Woman, great is thy faith; be it unto thee even as thou wilt."
For us, we have to remember that faith consists of: trust, persistence and stead-fastness. We need to trust in God; we need to be persistent in our trust in Him; and we need to be steadfast, sure that God will be with us no matter what, sure of the knowledge that God will supply us with what we need, but not necessarily what we want.
Now, in today's Gospel passage coming to us from St. John we hear Our Blessed Lord being approached by the Nobleman who was seeking a cure for his son. St. John reminds us that the Nobleman was aware of Our Blessed Saviour and was certainly aware of the miracles that Our Lord had performed because St. John states that the Nobleman "besought Him that He would come down and heal his son." (St. John 4:47) Our Lord responded to his request in what seems to be a very sharp tone: "Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe." (v. 48) Despite this response, the Nobleman again requested that Our Blessed Saviour heal his son, to which Our Lord responded to his request by healing his son.
Now, obviously, Our Blessed Saviour was not opposed to healing this man's son. There are numerous examples of healing throughout each of the Gospels. Thus, we can only perceive that Our Lord was not irritated by the request to heal the Nobleman's son, but rather He was trying to make the point that we should have faith in God and not to depend on "signs and wonders." If only we have faith in God, we will be filled with all that we need.
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not see." (Hebrews 11:1) And further on, we read: "But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that dilligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6) God will reward our faithfulness in Him. Faith comes not from seeing with our eyes, but rather faith comes from believing through our heart. Our mind tells us one thing, but our heart tells us another. This is why Our Lord was such a mystery to the Jews of His day, because they could not understand what they were seeing with their eyes and hearing with their ears.
"For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness." (I Corinthians 1:22) This is why even up to the end of Christ's time here on earth, even as He was hanging from the Cross, the Jews demanded a sign from Him in order for them to believe: "Likewise the chief priests mocking him: Come down from the Cross and we will believe Him." (St. Matthew 27:41) The Chief Priests, along with all of those who were witness to Jesus, had plenty of opportunity to see for themselves the signs and wonders that He performed. But for all that they were witness to, they still chose not to believe in Him.
But there were examples of people, whose faithfulness impressed Our Lord:
1) The Nobleman in today's Gospel. He sought our Lord's healing for his son and as soon as he heard the word, he turned and went home, sure of Our Lord's promise that his son would be well again.
2) The Centurion in St. Matthew 8:8-9: "For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me . . . Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed."
3) And also the example of the Canaanite woman who desired that Our Lord would heal her daughter in St. Matthew 15:22-28. Despite the fact that Our Lord at first "answered her not a word;" next, He stated that He was "not sent but unto the Lost Sheep of the House of Israel;" and then stated to her that "it is not meet to take the children's bread and cast it to the dogs." Despite all of these objections, the woman was still persistent in her faithfulness and Our Lord, obviously impressed with her responded: "O Woman, great is thy faith; be it unto thee even as thou wilt."
For us, we have to remember that faith consists of: trust, persistence and stead-fastness. We need to trust in God; we need to be persistent in our trust in Him; and we need to be steadfast, sure that God will be with us no matter what, sure of the knowledge that God will supply us with what we need, but not necessarily what we want.
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