Monday in the Fourth Week of Lent, March 11, 2024

John 4, 43-54

At that time Jesus left [Samaria] for Galilee. For Jesus himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his native place. When he came into Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, since they had seen all he had done in Jerusalem at the feast; for they themselves had gone to the feast.  Then he returned to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. Now there was a royal official whose son was ill in Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, who was near death. Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.” The royal official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus said to him, “You may go; your son will live.” The man believed what Jesus said to him and left. While the man was on his way back, his slaves met him and told him that his boy would live. He asked them when he began to recover. They told him, “The fever left him yesterday, about one in the afternoon.” The father realized that just at that time Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live,” and he and his whole household came to believe. Now this was the second sign Jesus did when he came to Galilee from Judea.

St. John’s account of this healing sounds very similar to an account of healing given in Matthew 8, 5-13.  Both involve an official, a young boy, Capernaum, and a cure from a distance.  Differences are found in that the official here is called “royal”, and in Matthew he is a centurion.  The young boy is said here to be the man’s son, but on Matthew his servant.  The encounter, as John tells it, occurs between Jesus and the official in Cana, while Matthew makes it plain that it took place in Capernaum.  In John, Jesus does not go with the man, but according to Matthew he announces that he will go with him.  

Now, the differences may be reconciled.  A Roman centurion could be described as “royal” inasmuch as he worked for the Empire as a leader of the occupying forces.  The Greek word which Matthew uses for the child means both a young boy and a servant boy.  If we understand it to mean the former, then there is no difficulty in seeing it to mean the man’s son, and certainly a man would travel from Capernaum to Cana to save his son’s life.  Matthew does record that Jesus returned to Capernaum, as John does.  But John records that Jesus was coming back from Jerusalem and Matthew that Jesus was returning from the Sermon on the Mount in Galilee.  However, Matthew is not especially concerned with chronology until his description of the Passion and Death of our Lord.  Rather, he is most interested in grouping the words and deeds of Jesus according to themes.  John, on the other hand, is very much taken up by the need for strict accuracy.  His chronology shows every sign of a strong one.  Therefore, we can see the Lord returning to Capernaum from Jerusalem, and then going out to Cana where the royal official, the centurion, goes to meet him.  John does not mention that Jesus said he would go to the man’s house because he is primarily interested in the miracle itself.  Matthew, though, wants to highlight the faith that even the Gentile centurion possessed in Jesus, surpassing that of the Jews at that time.

St. John calls this action of the Lord’s a “sign”, alongside other signs such as that which he performed at the Wedding at Cana.  If the sign at the wedding in that town indicated that the time of grace had arrived, this second sign shows that the grace is offered not only to the Jews but to the Gentiles too.  For us, we see the Lord pouring himself out in service to all those who call upon him, from his Mother to the leader of a hated enemy of his people.  We should avail ourselves of the grace he offers us now while there is still time.