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.
Comment: This official seems to in great anguish tell Jesus about his dying son. Jesus says something which sounds a bit like ‘You just want to see another miracle.’ There seems no expression of concern. The official pleads using the honoured term ‘Sir’ for Jesus to come. Jesus sounds a bit like ‘Be gone, he’ll be okay’. Was Jesus testing the father? As if He was saying ‘do you really believe me?’ Maybe this was the stimulus the father needed, but he went away believing! He records the time of Jesus speaking and when his servant rushes up with the news of his son’s healing he checks that the times matched. This was no accident – his trust was well placed, Jesus was able.
I don’t see this as Jesus acting badly but in a way that draws out the best in people. The word ‘and’ at the beginning of the penultimate sentence (And he himself believed, and all his household) suggests that there was a different quality to the ‘belief’ which made him initially come and the ‘belief’ which says that he and his household believed.
Prayer: I would have a childlike trust in You, but a deep and very convinced one, Father.
As I read it! 