Seeing Is Not Believing

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. - Jn 4:43-54

Today's gospel can be seen as one with a mixed message. Jesus heals the royal official's son, but not before saying "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe." Does Jesus really want someone who only believes what they see? Well as we later see after the resurrection, Jesus had to deal with these kinds of people even amongst his apostles (Thomas), so it would seem that Jesus is at least open to these kind of people.

So what makes him say it at this point then to the royal official? One possible reason: Exhaustion. Jesus is just starting his 3 year mission, and already it is getting crazy. First was the baptism and then the 40 days in the desert, followed by the temptation by the Devil, then the calling of the apostles, the miracle at Cana, being run out of his hometown of Nazareth, and now everyone wants to see this miracle man. Just thinking about doing all of this stuff makes one tired! So Jesus is probably just getting tired/adjusted to all the attention, especially from those seeking instant gratification to all their problems/desires. He wants to help those that really need it and have faith, but all these people will get faith once their dreams have come true.

Now the official does not waste a moment to reflect on Jesus' rebuke. Instead he just continues to ask for the intercession on his child's behalf. Jesus tells the man his son will be fine and before the man can even see for himself, his servants reveal that his son has made it out alright. The official had now become a true believer since he took Jesus at his word and did not need to see his son to actually believe his servants' report.

How often do we trust in the Lord, or anyone for that matter, at face value? We are so quick to doubt others that we almost have to "see to believe" in fear that we could possibly get hurt or cheated if we have full faith in those around us. We need to learn to trust others with all of heart and all of our mind. Yes, sometimes people might try to take advantage of us, but that is a risk that we must take if we really want to develop true faith in the Lord.