Homily 35 — John 4, verses 40 to 53

“So when the Samaritans came to him, they begged him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his own word, and they said to the woman, ‘Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we have heard him ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Christ, the Savior of the world.’ After the two days he left there and went into Galilee.” [a]

Nothing is worse than envy and malice; nothing does more harm than empty glory. It usually spoils ten thousand good things. That is how the Jews, who were ahead of the Samaritans in knowledge and had always been familiar with the prophets, were shown up as their inferiors, and for this very reason. The Samaritans believed even on the woman’s testimony, and without seeing any sign they came out and begged Christ to stay with them. But the Jews, after they had seen his wonders, not only failed to keep him among them; they even drove him away and tried every means to throw him out of their country, although his very coming had been for their sake. The Jews expelled him; these people even begged him to stay with them.

Tell me, then: was it not more fitting for him to receive those who asked and begged him, than to wait on those who plotted against him and pushed him away, while refusing himself to those who loved him and wanted to keep him? Surely that would not have been worthy of his tender care. So he accepted them and stayed with them two days. They wanted to keep him among them for good — the evangelist shows this by saying that “they begged him to stay with them” — but he did not allow it. He stayed with them only two days, and in that time many more believed in him. Yet it was not likely that these people would believe, since they had seen no sign and felt hostile toward the Jews. Still, because they judged his words sincerely, this did not stand in their way. They formed a conviction that rose above everything that hindered them, and they vied with one another to honor him all the more. For the evangelist says, “They said to the woman, ‘Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we have heard him ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Christ, the Savior of the world.’” The pupils outstripped their teacher.

They had every right to condemn the Jews, both by believing in him and by receiving him. The Jews, for whose sake he had arranged the whole plan, were forever trying to stone him; but these people drew him to themselves when he did not even intend to come to them. The Jews, even with signs, remained uncorrected; these, without signs, showed great faith in him and gloried in this very thing, that they believed without them, while the others never stopped asking for signs and putting him to the test. That is how much an honest soul is needed everywhere. If truth takes hold of such a soul, she easily masters it; and if she does not master it, that is not from any weakness in the truth, but from the soul’s own lack of honesty. The sun is the same. When it meets clear eyes, it easily gives them light; if it does not, the fault lies in their weakness, not in any weakness of the sun.

So listen to what these people say: “We know that this is truly the Christ, the Savior of the world.” Do you see how they understood at once that he would draw the world to himself, that he had come to set right the salvation of all of us, that he did not mean to confine his care to the Jews but to sow his word everywhere? The Jews did not do this; seeking to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to the righteousness of God. But these confess that all deserve punishment, declaring with the apostle that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being counted righteous freely by his grace” (Romans 3, verses 23 and 24). For by saying that he was “the Savior of the world,” they showed that the world was lost, and that he was not simply a savior, but one of the very mightiest. Many had come to “save” — prophets and angels alike — but this one, they say, is the true Savior, who gives the true salvation, not the kind that lasts only for a time. This came from pure faith.

And they are admirable on every count: because they believed; because they believed without signs — and Christ calls such people “blessed,” saying, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20, verse 29) — and because they believed sincerely. They had heard the woman say doubtfully, “Is this not the Christ?” Yet they did not say, “We suspect so too,” or, “We think so,” but, “We know”; and not merely “We know,” but, “We know that this is truly the Savior of the world.” They acknowledged Christ not as one among many, but as the Savior indeed. And yet whom had they seen saved? They had only heard his words, and still they spoke just as they would have spoken if they had seen many great wonders.

Then why do the evangelists not tell us these words of his, and how wonderfully he spoke? So that you may learn that they pass over many important things, and yet have shown us the whole of it by the outcome. For he persuaded an entire people and a whole city by his words. It is when the hearers are not persuaded that the writers are obliged to record what was said, so that no one, because of the hearers’ dullness, should pass judgment against the one who spoke to them.

“After the two days he left there and went into Galilee.” [b]

Verse 44: “For Jesus himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.”

Why is this added? Because he did not go to Capernaum, but into Galilee, and from there to Cana. So that you would not ask why he did not stay with his own people but stayed with the Samaritans, the evangelist gives the reason: they paid no attention to him. That is why he did not go there, so that their condemnation would not be the greater. For I take it that in this place he calls Capernaum “his own country.” To see that he received no honor there, listen to him saying, “And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to hell” (Matthew 11, verse 23). He calls it “his own country” because it was there that he set out the message of the plan of salvation, and there above all that he dwelt on it.

“What, then?” someone says. “Don’t we see many people admired among their own kin?” In the first place, judgments like that must not be formed from rare cases. And again, if some have been honored among their own people, they would have been honored far more in a strange country, for familiarity usually makes people easy to despise.

Verse 45: “So when he came into Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all the things he did in Jerusalem at the feast, for they too had gone to the feast.” [d]

Do you see that these men who were so badly spoken of are the very ones found coming to him most? For one said, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1, verse 46), and another, “Search and see: no prophet arises out of Galilee” (John 7, verse 52). They said these things to insult him, because most people supposed he was from Nazareth. They also taunted him with being a Samaritan: “You are a Samaritan,” one said, “and have a demon” (John 8, verse 48). Yet look: both Samaritans and Galileans believe, to the shame of the Jews. And the Samaritans are found better than the Galileans, for the first received him through the woman’s words, the second only when they had seen the miracles he did.

Verse 46: “So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee, where he had made the water wine.”

The evangelist reminds the hearer of the miracle to heighten the praise of the Samaritans. The people of Cana received him because of the miracles he had done in Jerusalem and in that very place. Not so the Samaritans: they received him through his teaching alone.

The evangelist has said that he came “to Cana,” but he has not added why he came. He had come into Galilee because of the envy of the Jews; but why to Cana? The first time, he came because he was invited to a wedding; but why now? I think it was to strengthen by his presence the faith that his miracle had planted, and to draw them to himself all the more by coming to them uninvited, leaving his own country and preferring them. [e]

“And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.”

Verse 47: “When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to him and begged him to come down and heal his son.”

This man was certainly either of royal descent, or held some rank from his office that carried the title “noble.” Some think he is the man Matthew mentions (Matthew 8, verse 5), but he is shown to be a different person, not only by his rank but also by his faith. The other man, even when Christ was willing to go to him, begs him to stay where he is; this one, when Christ had made no such offer, tries to draw him to his house. The one says, “I am not worthy to have you come under my roof”; this other even presses him, saying, “Come down before my son dies.” In that case Christ had come down from the mountain and entered Capernaum; but here, as he came from Samaria and went not into Capernaum but into Cana, this man met him. The other man’s servant was gripped by paralysis; this man’s son by a fever.

“And he came and begged him to heal his son, for he was at the point of death.” What does Christ say? [g]

Verse 48: “Unless you see signs and wonders, you will not believe.”

Yet his very coming and begging was a mark of faith. Besides, the evangelist bears witness to him later on, declaring that when Jesus said, “Go, your son lives,” he believed his word and went. What, then, does Christ mean by what he says here? Either he uses the words to commend the Samaritans, because they believed without signs, or to touch Capernaum, which was thought to be his own city, and which this man came from. Moreover, another man in Luke, who says, “Lord, I believe,” added, “Help my unbelief.” So even if this nobleman believed too, he did not believe fully or soundly. That is clear from his asking “at what hour the fever left him,” since he wanted to know whether it had left of its own accord or at Christ’s command. So when he learned that it was “yesterday at the seventh hour,” then “he himself believed, and his whole household.” Do you see that he believed when his servants spoke, not when Christ spoke?

That is why Christ rebukes the frame of mind in which the man had come to him and spoken as he did — and in this way he drew him on toward faith all the more — because before the miracle he had not believed firmly. That he came and begged was nothing remarkable. In their great affection, parents usually turn not only to doctors they trust, but also consult those they do not trust, wanting to leave nothing at all untried. Indeed, that he came without any firm conviction is clear from this: he went to see Christ only when Christ had come into Galilee. If he had firmly believed in him, he would not have hesitated to go into Judea when his child was at the point of death. And if he was afraid, that cannot be excused either.

Notice how his very words show the man’s weakness. After Christ had rebuked his frame of mind, he ought to have formed some great idea of him, even if he had not before. Yet listen to how he still crawls along the ground.

Verse 49: “Sir,” he says, “come down before my child dies.”

As though Christ could not raise him after death! As though he did not know what state the child was in! This is why Christ rebukes him and touches his conscience: to show that his miracles were done chiefly for the sake of the soul. For here he heals the father, sick in mind, no less than the son, to persuade us to pay attention to him not because of his miracles but because of his teaching. For miracles are not for the faithful, but for unbelievers and the coarser sort.

At the time, because of his distress, the nobleman paid little attention to the words, or only to those that concerned his son. But afterward he would remember what had been said and draw the greatest benefit from it. And that is just what happened.

But why is it that in the centurion’s case Christ offered of his own accord to come, while here, though invited, he does not go? Because there faith had been made complete, and so he offered to go, so that we might learn how right-minded that man was. But here the nobleman was still incomplete. He kept pressing him, saying, “Come down,” and did not yet clearly know that Christ could heal even when absent. So Christ shows that this too was possible for him, so that this man might gain, through Jesus not going, the knowledge the centurion had on his own. So when he says, “Unless you see signs and wonders, you will not believe,” his meaning is: “You do not yet have the right faith. You still regard me as you would a prophet.” So, to reveal himself, and to show that the man ought to have believed even without miracles, he said what he also said to Philip: “Do you believe that the Father is in me and I in the Father? Or if not, believe me for the sake of the works themselves” (John 14, verses 10 and 11).

Verses 51 to 53: “As he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, ‘Your son lives.’ So he asked them the hour when he began to get better. And they said to him, ‘Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.’ So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus had said to him, ‘Your son lives’; and he himself believed, and his whole household.”

Do you see how plain the miracle was? The child was not freed from danger simply, or in an ordinary way, but all at once, so that what happened was seen to be not the result of nature but the work of Christ. For when he had reached the very gates of death, as his father showed by saying, “Come down before my child dies,” he was freed from the disease all at once. This stirred the servants as well. Perhaps they came to meet their master not only to bring him the good news, but also because they thought Jesus’ coming was now unnecessary — for they knew their master had gone to him — and so they met him on the road.

Freed from his fear, the man from then on took refuge in faith. He wanted to show that what had been done was the result of his journey, and from then on he was eager not to seem to have taken the trouble for nothing. So he found out every detail exactly, and “he himself believed, and his whole household.” After this the evidence was beyond question. Those who had not been there, had not heard Christ speak, and did not know the time, once they heard from their master that it was such and such an hour, had undeniable proof of his power. That is why they believed as well.

What, then, do these things teach us? Not to wait for miracles, and not to look for pledges of God’s power. I see many people even now become more devout when, in a child’s suffering or a wife’s illness, they get some relief. Yet even if they do not get it, they ought to go on just the same, giving thanks and glorifying God. For it is the mark of right-minded servants, who have the affection and love they ought to have for their Master, to run to him not only when he spares them but also when he whips them. These too are the work of God’s tender care: “Whom the Lord loves he disciplines,” it says, “and he whips every son whom he receives” (Hebrews 12, verse 6). [i]

So when someone serves him only in times of ease, he shows no great love, and he does not love Christ purely. But why do I speak of health, or great wealth, or poverty, or disease? Even if you should hear of the fiery pit, or any other dreadful thing, not even then must you stop speaking well of your Master. You must suffer and do everything out of your love for him. This is the mark of right-minded servants and of a steadfast soul. Whoever has that frame of mind will easily bear the present, will gain the good things to come, and will have great confidence before God. May we all gain this, by the grace and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, be glory, now and always, and forever and ever. Amen.