Trust Grows Through Trusting

Devotional Reflection, Thursday, December 30, 2021

The First Sunday of Christmastide

The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th.D.

Key phrases for reflection from today’s reading:

49The official said to him, ‘Sir, come down before my little boy dies.’ 50Jesus said to him, ‘Go; your son will live.’ The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started on his way.

Daily Office Lectionary Readings (BCP, 941)

AM Psalm 20, 21:1-7(8-14); PM Psalm 23, 27

1 Kings 17:17-24, 3 John 1-15, John 4:46-54

Morning Prayer, Rite 2, page 75, Book of Common Prayer

Evening Prayer, Rite 2, page 115, Book of Common Prayer

Compline (Night Prayer), Page 127, Book of Common Prayer

Daily Office Gospel Reading, John 4:46-54

4:46Then 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. 47When 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. 48Then Jesus said to him, ‘Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.’ 49The official said to him, ‘Sir, come down before my little boy dies.’ 50Jesus said to him, ‘Go; your son will live.’ The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started on his way. 51As he was going down, his slaves met him and told him that his child was alive. 52So 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.’ 53The 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. 54Now this was the second sign that Jesus did after coming from Judea to Galilee.

David's Reflections

The German poet Hölderlin, in “Patmos” wrote:

Most kind is; but no one by himself

Can grasp God.

But where danger threatens

That which saves from it also grows. *

The father in today’s reading was in the place where danger threatened. His son faced death in the grip of an unnamed sickness. This father certainly had not grasped God, but the danger prompted him to reach out to Jesus.

John weaves the first half of his portrait of Jesus around a series of miracles (John 1-12) that he presents as parables of Jesus' identity. He calls them "signs." The first sign, the turning of water into wine, presents Jesus as the one who fulfills the hope of Judaism for cleansing and forgiveness.

This second sign presents us with radical faith from someone outside the Jewish faith, almost as if John were stressing his faith as over against the unbelief of Jesus' own people. Earlier in John 4, Samaritans had come to faith in Jesus. Now, a non-Jewish nobleman believes.

The man's faith has a radical element in that he believes Jesus can heal his little boy from a distance, without coming into direct physical contact with him. His initial request met with something of a rebuff from Jesus, an accusation that he required a sign in order to believe. But, the desperate father persisted. Jesus responded to that persistence by telling the man that his son would live, and the man believed that word so strongly that he began the return trip based on nothing but faith in Jesus' word. Servants met him on the way and informed him that the boy had begun to recover at the same hour that Jesus had said he would live.

The father believed again, or perhaps we are to understand that his faith grew in response to the sign. He believed without having seen, and when he did see he believed even more fully.

Although Jesus is not now physically present, he continues to do the same works of healing, salvation, and transformation that he began in Judea and Galilee. However, we must trust in his presence and power with no visual evidence, as did this father. Such faith unleashes the powerful, saving presence of Jesus, and when we see evidence of that saving presence our faith will grow even stronger and bolder.

What persistent prayer comes from your soul today? Like this father, persist in the face of initial silence. Believe, trust, risk. That is the message in this sign. Jesus' power to act is not lessened by his physical absence. Our risky and persistent faith releases his presence and power into our lives and into the lives of those around us.

John Tietjen once wrote, "With faith we are so convinced of the reality of God's eternal world promised to us in Christ that we act on that reality in our lives and so make it real in the here and now." + This father, reaching out from the place where danger threatened, found encouragement in Jesus’ word to stake all on the invisible world and a spoken promise of Jesus. Salvation came from that same place of danger through the healing love of Jesus. May those same promises so move us into that unseen world that we are convinced into bold faith.

* Friedrich Hölderlin, "Patmos," in Selected Poems and Fragments, trans. Michael Hamburger, ed. Jeremy Adler, preface and intro, Michael Hamburger (New York: Penguin, 1998), p. 243.

+ John H. Tietjen, "Hebrews 11:8-12," Interpretation 42 (Oct 88):406-407

The Collect of the Day, First Sunday after Christmas

Almighty God, you have poured upon us the new light of your incarnate Word: Grant that this light, enkindled in our hearts, may shine forth in our lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (BCP 212)

A Collect for Grace

Lord God, almighty and everlasting Father, you have brought us in safety to this new day: Preserve us with your mighty power, that we may not fall into sin, nor be overcome by adversity; and in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 100)

A Collect for Early Evening

Grant us, Lord, the lamp of charity which never fails, that it may burn in us and shed its light on those around us, and that by its brightness we may have a vision of that holy City, where dwells the true and never-failing Light, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 110)

A Collect for Mission

Merciful God, creator of all the peoples of the earth and lover of souls: Have compassion on all who do not know you as you are revealed in your Son Jesus Christ; let your Gospel be preached with grace and power to those who have not heard it; turn the hearts of those who resist it; and bring home to your fold those who have gone astray; that there may be one flock under one shepherd, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 280)