Struggles of the Heart

So Jesus said to him, "Unless you see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe." (John 4:48)

Who was this man that Jesus spoke these words to? It says only that he was a royal official and that he came from Capernaum. I am not sure of the potential implications of the use of this word royal here. In our times to say that a person is royalty would often imply that they are biologically related to a king or queen. But with the title of official it could also easily mean someone appointed as part of the political government by the king and not necessarily related to him.

Either way, this person was clearly identified with the political government in some way. That meant that he exercised authority and power over at least some of the people in his region and in those days that likely meant collaboration with the Roman occupying government forces that were extremely suppressive and often even brutal in their use of force against the rebellious nation of the Jews. Anyone even remotely connected with such an oppressive government was generally hated intensely by the average Jew. That introduces an interesting dynamic into this story as this whole thing took place in Galilee, quite clearly a region filled with many Jews who hated the government. It is also thought that the Jews in Galilee were viewed as lower class Jews by the aristocratic socialites located in Judea.

Although the Jewish leadership was deeply resentful of the Roman occupying forces, many of them were also somewhat in collusion with them themselves, although they did not want the common people to believe it. They knew that the only way they could stay in power and maintain control over the Jewish nation themselves was by permission and tacit cooperation with the king appointed over them by Rome. Herod was the king at that time and he was one of the most corrupt and wicked men ever to govern that has ever lived. He thought nothing of killing anyone, even his own closest relatives and his favorite wife if he had any inkling that they might be even thinking ill of him. His only desire was for absolute power and control over other people and his craft and cunning to maintain his position in the larger kingdom of Rome knew no bounds.

However, given that the Jewish leadership had to exist under such a tyrant, the Jewish leaders knew that they had to be extremely careful to not cross him for obvious reasons. Herod at one point had executed the whole ruling body of the Sanhedrin – equivalent to our congress – and he massacred them simply because he considered them a threat to his control. Thus the people currently in power as Jewish leaders were all largely submissive to Herod's domination but at the same time shared his thirst for power in their own hearts. They were just as desirous of maintaining ruthless control over others nearly as much as Herod but just did not have the resources to surpass his demonic ability to stay one step ahead of them.

This was a world in which authority and power were the main focus by all those wanting to be in control. Force and fear were the means of achieving and maintaining that power and the Jewish leaders generally related to Jesus throughout His ministry as an emerging threat to their status and position among the people. Thus, the events that are referred back to in this story that unfolded in Jerusalem at the feast was in the minds of the people an affront to the legitimacy of the power of the leaders. The main issue at stake as most people saw it was the issue of authority and who was authorized by who to do what. This was very clear in the question put to Jesus quite defiantly by the leaders after Jesus had run them out of the temple at that time:

The Jews then said to Him, "What sign do You show us as your authority for doing these things?" (John 2:18)

It is obvious in their question that in their minds they directly linked authority with external exhibitions of power. In the case of Jesus who was viewed as potentially the Messiah by many people, they felt that He must prove His validity by demonstrations of supernatural power before people should be expected to believe such an outlandish claim. How much has changed at all even today? Are we not still driven to thirst for supernatural demonstrations of power instead of basing our belief on the Word of God alone?

Now we see here in this story the emergence of a man who found himself caught up in all of this scene involving power and control, intrigue and violence that dominated the political world of that day. This man is identified as a royal official and as such likely could not separate himself from all the corruption that permeated every area of government. But at the same time he found himself in a personal crisis within his own family as his son was about to die from some sickness and the only hope he could see anywhere were in the rumors that this radical young man who had stirred up such a controversy in Jerusalem not long before was not far from his home and possibly had powers beyond what anyone had seen before.

This royal official was now caught between two worlds in a very real sense. His public office compelled him to relate to others in ways of the world and with the spirit of selfishness and force that alienated him from most of the common people. Yet as a father who cared deeply about his own son (unlike Herod the king who had already murdered some of his own sons and who was quite possibly this man's employer) this father was realizing that no amount of political force or clout could begin to save his son from imminent death. He found himself being trapped between two diametrically opposed realities and he hardly knew which way to turn.

What he had to do however was to take a risk as far as his job was concerned if he was to do anything realistic to save his son's life. But even this was an unknown because he may not have personally seen Jesus perform miracles; it is not even recorded in this narrative that Jesus had performed any such miracles as this yet. To come and ask Jesus to heal his son was a risk in itself in a number of ways so this man's heart was filled with many conflicting emotions competing for domination almost like the political world around him. Life in Palestine in those days was a constant competition for power and revenge and control and internally this man was feeling the same way as his emerging faith and practical realities competed to control of his heart.

In this state of mind he chose to make the trip to Cana not far from his home as a last ditch effort to find out for himself if there really was any truth to the rumors he had heard about this most unusual man. He most likely had heard about Jesus' escapades in Jerusalem not long before, scaring the corrupt priests and scandalous leaders and greedy merchants out of the temple in a most surprising manner and arousing their jealousy and anger in the process. Many people did not know what to think about this young upstart, but one thing was starting to become clear to many – this man was gaining power in a way very different than anyone had ever done before. He was gaining influence over the people without stooping to force and fear and intimidation which was totally unheard of and even absurd in the world in which they lived. This concept seemed absolutely bizarre to anyone wanting to gain more authority in those days and even yet today. But still it was obviously happening in the case of Jesus and this created a whole new mysterious dimension around the reputation of this young man who people claimed was indeed the Messiah.

As he made the walk to Cana this man's thoughts were consumed with fear, with grief, with trepidation, with questions. He could think of nothing else. All he could see in his mind was his son lying at home about to die and yet his reasoning also tortured him with questions about the sanity of what he was attempting to do. What would this encounter do to his reputation? How might it affect his career? What if this whole thing was just a hoax and he would only make a fool of himself for asking such a brazen request of a simply peasant man, a carpenter? Why did he even think Jesus would do this for him – if indeed He really had that kind of power. If he did believe Jesus could work such a miracle would that mean he would have to accept the rumors that this was the real Messiah? After all, this Man did not fit hardly any expectations that anyone had of the great Messiah who was supposed to come and deliver Israel from the Romans. And here this official was part of that system that the Jews wanted overthrown. So how was that all supposed to fit together?

I need to continue this story tomorrow.