When the two days were over, he went from that place to Galilee (for Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in the prophet’s own country). When he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, since they had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the festival; for they too had gone to the festival. Then he came again to Cana in Galilee where he had changed the water into wine. Now there was a royal official whose son lay ill in Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my little boy dies.” Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started on his way. As he was going down, his slaves met him and told him that his child was alive. So he asked them the hour when he began to recover, and they said to him, “Yesterday at one in the afternoon the fever left him.” The father realized that this was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he himself believed, along with his whole household. Now this was the second sign that Jesus did after coming from Judea to Galilee. A few days ago (see Lost Parents: https://youtu.be/woNqUm2jmLQ) I spoke about how children are lost because parents are lost. I concluded the reflection by saying: “If we find our way, the children will find their way too.” I had a few parents ask me how they could make this happen. They wanted to fix their mistakes and make things right for their children. Well, we get a lot of hope from today’s story! A royal official’s son is very ill. He is at the point of death. In desperation, the official goes to Lord Jesus and begs him to come and heal his son. “Sir, come down before my little boy dies,” he pleads. Jesus says to the man, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started on his way. And, right enough, the boy LIVED. The word is used with deliberation. There are three important things elements in this story. One, the man has faith that Jesus could heal his son and save him from death. We need to have faith that Jesus can heal our children and save them from another kind of death, even it they seem to be at a point of no return. Years later, Paul would tell a jailor: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved —you and your household” (Acts 16:31). Two, the man went to Jesus and begged him to come and heal his son. Similarly, we need to go to Jesus and appeal to him to intervene in the lives of our children. This is through prayer, and should, preferably, be the prayer of both parents. Our Lord said, “Truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven” (Matthew 18:19). Three, the man believed what Jesus said and went away confident his prayer had already been answered. When we pray for our children, let us believe that God will anwer our prayers for them, and stop worrying. As our Lord said at another time, “I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours” (Mark 11:24). So, let us approach Jesus in faith with our spouse and believe that he won’t allow our children to perish.
