while he was on his way...

Most of us associate John 4 as the chapter which tells of Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well.

But there is another encounter later in the chapter that is interesting, too...

John 4

43 At the end of the two days, Jesus went on to Galilee.

44 He himself had said that a prophet is not honored in his own hometown.

45 Yet the Galileans welcomed him, for they had been in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration and had seen everything he did there.

  46 As he traveled through Galilee, he came to Cana, where he had turned the water into wine.

There was a government official in nearby Capernaum whose son was very sick.

47 When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged Jesus to come to Capernaum to heal his son, who was about to die.
  

48 Jesus asked, "Will you never believe in me unless you see miraculous signs and wonders?"

  49 The official pleaded, "Lord, please come now before my little boy dies."

  50 Then Jesus told him, "Go back home. Your son will live!"

And the man believed what Jesus said and started home.

  51 While the man was on his way, some of his servants met him with the news that his son was alive and well.

52 He asked them when the boy had begun to get better, and they replied, "Yesterday afternoon at one o'clock his fever suddenly disappeared!"

53 Then the father realized that that was the very time Jesus had told him, "Your son will live."

And he and his entire household believed in Jesus.

54 This was the second miraculous sign Jesus did in Galilee after coming from Judea.

What strikes me is that when Jesus told the man to go home, that his son would be well, he just believed Jesus, & headed for home.

It wasn't until the next day that the man encountered his servants with the news that his son was okay.

Can you imagine what went through the man's mind from the time he left Jesus until his servants caught up with him?

Sometimes it seems that Jesus puts us in the same situation...

We ask for something (usually miraculous).

And we have an assurance that He's going to some how take care of it.

But it isn't until we have started moving toward it that we see that a miracle truly has happened.

In other words, sometimes we are called upon to walk toward something, in blind faith, believing that God's gonna take care of things.

And it isn't until we have progressed along the way toward it that we get an indication that it's been taken care of.

Is that interpretation of that story a bit of a stretch?

Maybe so, maybe not.

If it speaks to you, as it speaks to me, then I guess it isn't a stretch.

Think about it today...