John § 13

Look back to the passage, or recall in memory the lesson and the discourse of yesterday. He came into Samaria, where at first He had been preached by that woman with whom He had spoken great mysteries at Jacob's well. After they had seen and heard Him, the Samaritans believed on Him because of the woman's word, and believed more firmly because of His own word, even many more believed: thus it is written. After passing two days there (in which number of days is mystically indicated the number of the two precepts on which hang the whole law and the prophets, as you remember we intimated to you yesterday), He goes into Galilee, and comes to the city Cana of Galilee, where He made the water wine. And there, when He turned the water into wine, as John himself writes, His disciples believed on Him; but, of course, the house was full with a crowd of guests. So great a miracle was wrought, and yet only His disciples believed on Him.

(Tr. xvi. c. 3) There, we are told, His disciples believed on Him. Though the house was crowded with guests, the only persons who believed in consequence of this great miracle, were His disciples. He therefore visits the city again, in order to try a second time to convert them.

He is called a nobleman, (basilikos) either as being of the royal family, or as having some office of government.

"He came therefore again to Cana of Galilee:" namely, so that at least in this way they might believe: "where he made water wine," which was the beginning of his signs, through which he became known to his disciples: whence the Gloss: "Through this miracle few had believed, that is, the disciples"; above, chapter 2: "This beginning of signs Jesus performed in Cana of Galilee, and his disciples believed in him."

"And there was a certain royal official." Here is touched upon the deficiency of faith for believing. Just as in a certain way they honored, and in a certain way did not: so also in a certain way they believed, and in a certain way did not. And this is evident in this, that the royal official did not believe that he could heal his son unless present. "There was a certain royal official," so called from the smallness of his kingdom, "whose son was sick at Capharnaum," and thus in the Lord's absence.

Morally. Here it must be considered who the royal official is, who the royal official's son is, by what infirmity he is held, and at what hour he is healed. The king is said to be the higher part of reason, to which the whole kingdom of the soul is entrusted for judging: whence in the Psalm: "And now, O kings, understand." He is called a royal official on account of the smallness of his justice, when he rules the soul badly and childishly: Ecclesiastes 10: "Woe to the land whose king is a child, and whose princes eat in the morning!"

The son of this king is said to be the lower part of reason, which is of the same nature and is to be instructed by it: Ecclesiasticus 30: "He who teaches his son shall be praised."

This king's son is sick with fever, when reason follows concupiscence, which is like a hot and putrid fever: Ecclesiasticus 23: "A burning soul, like a blazing fire, will not be quenched until it devours something." This concupiscence, like a fever, disturbs a man, now with heat, now with cold: Isaiah 57: "The wicked are like a raging sea that cannot rest, and its waves cast up filth and mire."

He is set free at the seventh hour of the day. The day here can be called Christ, because he himself is the sun shining upon the earth: below, chapter 8: "I am the light of the world." The hours of this day are the various states of Christ, from the consideration of which the soul is freed from its various sicknesses.

The first hour is the incarnation, and this liberates from pride by illuminating unto humility, because he humbled himself in the incarnation: Philippians 2: "He emptied himself, taking the form of a servant."

The second is the nativity, and this liberates from avarice by illuminating toward poverty, because Christ was born poor, as is said in Luke 2: "She brought forth her firstborn Son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn."

The third is the circumcision, and this liberates from disobedience by illuminating toward obedience. For although Christ was not subject to the Law, nevertheless he subjected himself to the Law; whence that word of the Apostle in 1 Corinthians 9 is rightly said of him: "Though I was free from all, I made myself a servant of all."

The fourth is the manifestation, and this liberates from envy by illuminating toward the sharing of doctrine, because he then revealed knowledge of himself to the nations; Wisdom 7: "I rejoiced in all things, because this wisdom went before me, which I share without envy, and I do not hide her honor."

The fifth is the offering in the temple, and this liberates from ingratitude by illuminating toward prayer, since the Lord himself was then offered in the temple as a sign that through gratitude man ought to offer his whole self; Luke 2: "They brought the child Jesus to Jerusalem, to present him before the Lord."

The sixth is his baptism, and this liberates from uncleanness by illuminating toward newness of life, because Christ was washed in the river Jordan; Matthew 3: "Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan, to be baptized by him;" 1 Peter 3: "Baptism saves, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh."

The seventh is the temptation during the fast, and this liberates the ruler's son from fever by illuminating toward the mortification of the flesh, because Christ then mortified his flesh by his fasting; Matthew 4: "Jesus was led into the desert by the Spirit, to be tempted by the devil; and when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward he was hungry."

The eighth is the passion, and this liberates from wrath by illuminating toward patience, because Christ in suffering was most patient; 1 Peter 2: "Christ suffered for us, leaving you an example, that you might follow in the footsteps of him who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth."

The ninth is the descent into hell, and this liberates from hardness of heart by illuminating toward mercy, because the Lord had mercy on those who were in darkness and the shadow of death; Zechariah 9: "You also, by the blood of your covenant, have sent forth your prisoners from the pit." The greatest mercy is to give one's blood for captives.

The tenth is the repose in the sepulcher, and this liberates from the affliction of the world by illuminating toward peace, because Christ rested in the sepulcher; Psalm: "In peace, in the selfsame, I will sleep and I will rest;" and again: "In peace his dwelling place was made."

Eleventh, the resurrection, and this liberates from the oldness of life by illuminating toward newness of life, because then Christ was made a new man: Romans 6: "As Christ rose from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also should walk in newness of life."

Twelfth, the ascension, and this liberates from the love of earthly things by illuminating toward the desire for eternal things, to which Christ has preceded us: Colossians 3: "Seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God: mind the things that are above, not the things that are upon the earth."

Christ loveth to dwell among those that are well disposed, and to those who more readily advance unto the perception and knowledge of benefits done them, He poureth forth supplies of greater goods. He cometh then to work miracles in Cana, thinking it fit to confer an additional benefit on those therein, in that He had through His signs already wrought there, the idea previously implanted in their minds, that He could do all things.

The Evangelist reminds the hearer of the miracle to exalt the praise of the Samaritans. The men of Cana received Him by reason of the miracles which He had done in Jerusalem and in that place; but not so the Samaritans, they received Him through His teaching alone.

That He came then "to Cana," the Evangelist has said, but he has not added the cause why He came. Into Galilee He had come because of the envy of the Jews; but wherefore to Cana? At first He came, being invited to a marriage; but wherefore now? Methinks to confirm by His presence the faith which had been implanted by His miracle, and to draw them to Him the more by coming to them self-invited, by leaving His own country, and by preferring them.

This person certainly was of royal race, or possessed some dignity from his office, to which the title "noble" was attached. Some indeed think that this is the man mentioned by Matthew (Matt. viii. 5), but he is shown to be a different person, not only from his dignity, but also from his faith. That other, even when Christ was willing to go to him, entreats Him to tarry; this one, when He had made no such offer, draws Him to his house. The one saith, "I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come under my roof"; but this other even urges Him, saying, "Come down ere my son die." In that instance He came down from the mountain, and entered into Capernaum; but here, as He came from Samaria, and went not into Capernaum but into Cana, this person met Him. The servant of the other was possessed by the palsy, this one's son by a fever.

Some think that this was an officer of King Herod's; others, that he was one of Cæsar's household, then employed on some commission in Judæa. It is not said that He was a Jew.

His rank appears in the fact of his servants meeting him: And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, Thy son liveth.

There may be an allusion in the two journeys to the two advents of Christ in the soul, the first supplying a spiritual banquet of wine, the second taking away all remains of weakness and death.

The sentence is ambiguous. Taken one way, it means that Jesus after coming to Galilee, performed two miracles, of which that of healing the nobleman's son was the second: taken another, it means, that of the two miracles which Jesus performed in Galilee, the second was done after coming from Judæa into Galilee. The latter is the true and received meaning. Mystically, the two journeys of Christ into Galilee signify His two advents; (c. 56.). at the first of which He makes us His guest at supper, and gives us wine to drink; at the second, He raises up the nobleman's son who was at the point of death, i. e. the Jewish people, who, after the fulness of the Gentiles, attain themselves to salvation. For, as the great King of Kings is He, whom God hath seated upon His holy hill of Sion, so the lesser king is he, who saw his day, and was glad, i. e. Abrahame. And therefore his sick son is the Jewish people fallen from the true religion, and thrown into a fever in consequence by the fiery darts of the enemy. And we know that the saints of old, even when they had put off the covering of the flesh, made the people the object of their care: for we read in Maccabees, after the death of Jeremiah, This is Jeremias the prophet of the Lord, who prayeth much for the people. (2 Macc. 12) Abraham therefore prays to our Saviour to succour his diseased people. Again, the word of power, Thy son liveth, comes forth from Cana, i. e. the work of the Word, the healing of the nobleman's son, is done in Capernaum, i. e. the land of consolation. The nobleman's son signifies the class of believers who though diseased are yet not altogether destitute of fruits. The words, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe, are spoken of the Jewish people in general, or perhaps of the nobleman, i. e. Abraham himself, in a certain sense. For as John waited for a sign; on Whom thou shall see the Spirit descending; so too the Saints who died before the coming of Christ in the flesh, expected Him to manifest Himself by signs and wonders. And this nobleman too had servants as well as a son; which servants stand for the lower and weaker class of believers. Nor is it chance that the fever leaves the son at the seventh hour; for seven is the number of rest.

The Evangelist reminds us of the miracle at Cana, where water was turned into wine, first of all, in order to more clearly set forth the merit of the Samaritans. "The Galileans," he says, "received the Lord on account of the signs performed in Jerusalem and among them, but the Samaritans — on the sole testimony of a woman and on the teaching of the Lord Himself." Secondly, in order to show us that from the miracle at Cana the royal official also received a certain good, though not entirely worthy, understanding of Christ. He calls him "royal" either because he was of royal lineage, or because he held some dignity of authority bearing that title. Someone might say: "Is this royal official not one and the same as the centurion mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew (Matt. 8:5–15)? For he too was in Capernaum." I think that it is not the same person, but another. That one, when Christ wants to come, holds Him back, saying: "I am not worthy that You should come under my roof" (Matt. 8:8). But this one earnestly calls Jesus to his house. That one had a servant suffering from paralysis, that is, a slave, while this one had a son — with a fever. There the Lord came to Capernaum after descending from the mountain, but now He comes from Samaria, and not to Capernaum, but to Cana. In every respect that one is a centurion, and this one is a nobleman by rank.

The Evangelist reminds us of the miracle in order to express the praise due to the Samaritansd. For the Galileans in receiving Him were influenced as well by the miracle He had wrought with them, as by those they had seen at Jerusalem. The nobleman certainly believed in consequence of the miracle performed at Cana, though he did not yet understand Christ's full greatness; And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.

The little king stands for man generally; man not only deriving his soul from the King of the universe, but having Himself dominion over all things. His son, i. e. his mind, labours under a fever of evil passion and desires. He goes to Jesus and entreats Him to come down; i. e. to exercise the condescension of His pity, and pardon his sins, before it is too late. Our Lord answers; Go thy way, i. e. advance in holiness, and then thy son will live; but if thou stop short in thy course, thou wilt destroy the power of understanding and doing right.

Then he says, He therefore went to Cana in Galilee. According to Chrysostom, this is given as a conclusion from what went before; it is as though he were saying: Christ did not go to Capernaum because he was not held in honor there. But he was under an obligation to go to Cana in Galilee: for on the first occasion he had been invited to the wedding, and now he goes again without being invited. The two trips to Cana are mentioned by the Evangelist to show their hardness of heart: for at the first miracle of the wine, only his disciples believed in Christ; and at the second miracle, only the official and his household believed. On the other hand, the Samaritans believed on Christ's words alone.

In the mystical sense, the two visits to Cana signify the effect of God's words on our minds. First of all they cause delight, because they who hear the word "receive the word with joy" (Mt 13:20). This is signified in the miracle of the wine, which as the Psalm (103:15) says, "gladdens the heart of man." Secondly, the word of God heals: "It was neither a herb nor a poultice that healed them, but your word, O Lord, which heals all things" (Wis 16:12). And this is signified by the curing of the sick son.

Further, these two visits to Cana indicate the two comings of the Son of God. The first coming was in all gentleness to bring joy: "Rejoice and give praise, people of Zion, for he is great who is in your midst, the Holy One of Israel" (Is 12:6). So the angel said to the shepherds: "I bring you good news of great joy... this day a Savior has been born to you" (Lk 2:10). This is signified by the wine. His second coming into the world will be in majesty, when he will come to take away our weaknesses and our punishments, and to make us like his radiant body. And this is signified in the cure of the sick son.

Having told us the place of this miracle, the Evangelist now describes the miracle itself: telling us of the person who was ill; the one who interceded for him; and the one who healed him. The one who was ill was the son of the official; his father interceded for him; and it was Christ who was to heal him.

About the person who was ill, he first tells us of his status, a son of an official; secondly, where he was, at Capernaum; thirdly, his illness, a fever.

He says about the first, There happened to be a certain official, whose son lay sick. Now one can be called an official for a variety of reasons. For example, if one is in charge of a small territory. This is not its meaning here for at this time there was no king in Judea: "We have no king but Caesar" (below 19:15). One is also called an official, as Chrysostom says, because he is from a royal family; and this is also not its meaning here. In a third way, an official is some officer of a king or ruler; and this is its meaning here.

Some think, as Chrysostom reports, that this official is the same as the centurion mentioned by Matthew (8:5). This is not so, for they differ in four ways. First, because the illness was not the same in each. The centurion was concerned with a paralytic, "My servant is lying paralyzed at home" (Mt 8:6); while this official's son is suffering from a fever, yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. Secondly, those who are sick are not the same. In the first case, it was a servant, "my servant"; but now we have a son, as it says, whose son. Thirdly, what is requested is different. For when Christ wanted to go to the home of the centurion, the centurion discouraged him, and said: "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only say the word and my servant will be healed" (Mt 8:8). But this official asked Christ to come to his house, Lord, come down before my child dies. Fourthly, the places are different. For the first healing took place at Capernaum, while this one is at Cana in Galilee. So this official is not the same as the centurion, but was from the household of Herod the Tetrarch, or some kind of a herald, or an official of the Emperor.

In its allegorical sense, this official is Abraham or one of the fathers of the Old Testament, in so far as he adheres by faith to the king, that is, to Christ, about which we read, "I was made king by him over Zion" (Ps 2:6). Abraham adhered to him, for as is said below (8:56): "Abraham, your father, rejoiced that he might see my day." The son of this official is the Jewish people: "We are the descendants of Abraham, and we have never been slaves to any one" (below 8:33). But they are sick from evil pleasures and incorrect doctrines. They are sick at Capernaum, i.e., in the abundance of goods which caused them to leave their God, according to, "The beloved grew fat and rebellious... he deserted the God who made him, and left God his Savior" (Dt 32:15).

In the moral sense, in the kingdom of the soul, the king is reason itself: "The king, who sits on his throne of judgment" (Prv 20:8). But why is reason called the king? Because man's entire body is ruled by it: his affections are directed and informed by it, and the other powers of the soul follow it. But sometimes it is called an official, that is, when its knowledge is obscured, with the result that it follows inordinate passions and does not resist them: "They live with their foolish ideas, their understanding obscured by darkness" (Eph 4:17). Consequently, the son of this official, i.e., the affections, are sick, that is, they deviate from good and decline to what is evil. If reason were the king, that is, strong, its son would not be sick; but being only an official, its son is sick. This happens at Capernaum because a great many temporal goods are the cause of spiritual sickness: "This was the crime of your sister Sodom: richness, satiety in food, and idleness" (Ez 16:49).

So, we see, faith, like the other virtues, is formed gradually, and has its beginning, growth, and maturity. His faith had its beginning, when he asked for his son's recovery; its growth, when he believed our Lord's words, Thy son liveth; its maturity, after the announcement of the fact by his servants.

"When this man had heard that Jesus came from Judea into Galilee," because the fame of his coming had spread abroad: Mark 1: "His fame went forth immediately into all the region of Galilee"; "he went to him," out of devotion: Matthew 8: "A centurion came to him, beseeching him." "And he besought him to come down," through bodily presence: above, chapter 2: "He went down to Capharnaum, he and his Mother," etc. "And heal his son," through wondrous power: Luke 6: "Power went forth from him and healed all." "For he was beginning to die," through natural powerlessness: 4 Kings 20, it was said to Hezekiah: "You shall die and not live," according, namely, to lower causes. And because this royal official, although he was asking, did not yet firmly believe, therefore the Lord rebuked him for unbelief.

The nobleman cometh as to One able to heal, but he understandeth not yet that He is by Nature God: he calleth Him Lord, but giveth not at all the true dignity of Lordship. For he would have straightway fallen down and besought Him, not that he should by all means come to his house, and go down with him to the sick lad; but should rather with authority and God-befitting command drive away the sickness that fell on him. For what need for Him to be present to the sick, whom He could easily heal, even absent? how was it not utterly without understanding to suppose that He is superior to death, and in no wise to hold Him God Who is filled with God-befitting Power?

The courtier asks the Lord to come and heal his son, but the Lord rebukes him for believing not fully, but only in part. For the words "come down before my child dies" (John 4:49) reveal that his faith is weak. He does not believe that even in the event of his son's death, the Lord is powerful enough to raise him.

Now we see the person making his request (v 47). First, we have the incentive for making his request. Secondly, the request itself. Thirdly, the need for the request.

The incentive for making the request was the arrival of Christ. So he says, When he, the official, heard that Jesus had come to Galilee from Judea, he went to him. For as long as the coming of Christ was delayed, men's hope of being healed from their sins was that much fainter; but when it is reported that his coming is near, our hope of being healed rises, and then we go to him. For he came into this world to save sinners: "The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost" (Lk 19:22). Further, as Sirach says (18:23), we should prepare our soul by prayer, and we do this by going to God through our desires. And this is what the official did, as we read, he went to him. Amos (4:12) says, "Be prepared to meet your God, O Israel."

The request of the official was that Christ heal his son. So the Evangelist says that he begged him to come down, out of compassion: "O that you would rend the heavens, and come down" (Is 64:1), and heal his son. We, too, ought to ask to be healed from our sins: "Heal my soul, for I have sinned against you" (Ps 40:5). For no one of himself can return to the state of justice; rather, he has to be healed by God: "I cannot help myself" (Jb 6:13). The fathers of the Old Testament interceded for the people of Israel in the same way; for as we read of one: "He loves his brothers, because he prays much for the holy city and for the people of Israel, Jeremiah, the prophet of God" (2 Mc 15:14).

The need for this request was urgent, for the son was at the point of death. When a person is tempted, he is beginning to become sick; and as the temptation grows stronger and takes the upper hand, inclining him to consent, he is near death. But when he has consented, he is at the point of death and beginning to die. Finally, when he completes his sin, he dies; for as we read: "Sin, when it is completed, brings forth death" (Jas 1:15). The Psalm (33:22) says about this: "The death of sinners is the worst," because it begins here and continues into the future without end.

Here is touched upon the obtaining of the miracle, which, even though it did not come about on account of perfect faith, was nevertheless done on account of the father's insistence. Whence the royal official again asks: "Lord, come down before my son dies." Because he asked insistently, he obtained; Matthew 7: "Everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it shall be opened"; and Luke 11: "And if he will not give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needs" — namely, loaves.

Feeble indeed unto understanding is the nobleman, for he is a child in his petition for grace, and almost dotes without perceiving it. For by believing that Christ had power not only when present, but that He would surely avail even absent, he would have had a most worthy conception of Him. But now both thinking and acting most foolishly, he asks power befitting God, and does not think He accomplishes all things as God, nor yet that He will be superior to death, although beseeching Him to gain the advantage over him that had all but overcome; for the child was at the point of death.

But remember what he asked for, and you will clearly recognize that he wavered in faith. For he asked that the Lord would come down and heal his son. Therefore he was seeking the bodily presence of the Lord, who through the Spirit was absent nowhere. Thus he believed less in him whom he did not think able to give health unless he were present in body. For if he had believed perfectly, he would undoubtedly have known that there is no place where God is not. Therefore to a great extent he was lacking in faith, because he gave honor not to the divine majesty but to bodily presence. Thus he sought health for his son, and yet wavered in faith, because he believed that the one to whom he came was powerful enough to heal, and yet thought him absent from his dying son.

(Hom. in Evang. xxviii. 1) Remember what He asked for, and you will plainly see that he doubted. He asked Him to come down and see his son: The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down, ere my child die. His faith was deficient; in that he thought that our Lord could not save, except He were personally present.

Since the nobleman was unsteady in his thoughts and insisted that the Lord come to heal his son, the Savior shows him that He can heal him even from a distance, and says: "Go, your son lives." Thus, in one stroke He healed the son of his fever and the father of his unbelief. Know also that a miracle is one thing, and a sign is another. A miracle is that which is beyond nature, for example, to open the eyes of one born blind, to raise the dead; while a sign is that which is not outside of nature, for example, to heal the sick. Such a miracle the Lord performs even now upon everyone who comes to Him. Every person is, as it were, a royal man, not only because he is akin in soul to the King of all, but also because he himself has received royal authority over everything. It often turns out that someone's mind, like the son of a courtier, suffers from the fire of inappropriate pleasures and from lusts. If he goes to Jesus and asks Him to come, that is, to show the condescension of His love for mankind and to forgive him his sins, before he dies completely from the disease of lusts (for if God does not condescend to us but looks upon our iniquities and judges according to them, then "who shall stand?" (Ps. 130:3))—so then, if he goes to Christ, he will, as it is said (Matt. 7:7–8), find what he seeks and obtain health for his mind. However, notice that the Lord says to him: "Go, your son lives," that is, do not be immovable toward the good, but go and show unceasing movement toward the good. For in that case your son is alive. But if you cease your journey, then your mind will finally die, having received deadness from immovability toward the good.

Now we see the official's persistence, for he does not give up after the Lord's criticism, but insists, saying, Lord, come down before my child dies: "We should pray always, and not lose heart" (Lk 18:1). This shows an improvement in his faith in one respect, that is, in that he calls him "Lord." But there is not a total improvement, for he still thought that Christ had to be physically present to heal his son; so he asked Christ to come.

Here is touched upon the building up of faith, which came about from the knowledge of the power and the miracle, which he learned from the report of his servants. "And as he was now going down, his servants met him;" namely, having good news, they did not wait until he reached home. "They met him" hastening with joy, as servants to their lord: Matthew 25: "Behold, the bridegroom comes, go out to meet him." "And they reported to him that his son lived," that is, that he had been healed.

The one command of the Savior heals two souls. In the official, the Savior's command brings about unexpected faith even as it also rescues the child from bodily death. It is difficult to say which one is healed first. Both, I suppose, are healed simultaneously. The disease left at the command of the Savior. The official's servants meet him and tell him of the healing of the child. This shows at the same time the swiftness of the divine commands and how wisely Christ ordered all of this. They speedily confirmed the hope of their master, who was weak in faith.… When the official learned that the sick child's recovery coincided exactly with Jesus' command, he is saved with "his whole house." He attributes the power of the miracle to the Savior Christ, and he is brought to a firmer faith.

Seest thou how evident the miracle was? Not simply nor in a common way was the child freed from danger, but all at once, so that what took place was seen to be the consequence not of nature, but the working of Christ. For when he had reached the very gates of death, as his father showed by saying, "Come down ere my child die"; he was all at once freed from the disease. A fact which roused the servants also, for they perhaps came to meet their master, not only to bring him the good news, but also deeming that the coming of Jesus was now superfluous, (for they knew that their master was gone there,) and so they met him even in the way. The man released from his fear, thenceforth escaped into faith, being desirous to show that what had been done was the result of his journey, and thenceforth he is ambitious of appearing not to have exerted himself to no purpose; so he ascertained all things exactly, and "himself believed and his whole house." For the evidence was after this unquestionable. For they who had not been present nor had heard Christ speak nor known the time, when they had heard from their master that such and such was the time, had incontrovertible demonstration of His power. Wherefore they also believed.

What now are we taught by these things? Not to wait for miracles, nor to seek pledges of the Power of God. I see many persons even now become more pious, when during the sufferings of a child or the sickness of a wife they enjoy any comfort, yet they ought even if they obtain it not, to persist just the same in giving thanks, in glorifying God. Because it is the part of right-minded servants, and of those who feel such affection and love as they ought for their Master, not only when pardoned, but also when scourged, to run to Him. For these also are effects of the tender care of God; "Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth," it says, "every son whom He receiveth." (Heb. xii. 6.) When therefore a man serves Him only in the season of ease, he gives proofs of no great love, and loves not Christ purely.

His dignity appears in the fact that his servants have already come to meet him while he is going down, to tell him that his child lives, for "servants" are mentioned in the plural.

The servants, astonished by the sudden change in the illness, meet their master and tell him about his son's health. For he was freed from the fever not gradually or as if by chance, but suddenly. This matter was obviously not a consequence of nature, but an action of the power of Christ.

Next we see the servants bringing news of the healing. First, the news of the healing is given. Secondly, there is an inquiry about the time of the healing (v 52).

He says, While he was on his way down, from Cana of Galilee to his own home, his servants ran up to meet him—which shows that this official was wealthy and had many servants—with word that his son was going to live: and they did this because they thought that Christ was coming, and his presence was no longer necessary as the boy was already cured.

In the mystical sense, the servants of the official, i.e., of reason, are a man's works, because man is master of his own acts and of the affections of his sense powers, for they obey the command and direction of reason. Now these servants announce that the son of the official, that is, of reason, lives, when a man's good works shine out, and his lower powers obey reason, according to: "A man's dress, and laughter, and his walk, show what he is" (Sir 19:27).

Or it was the seventh hour, because all remission of sins is through the sevenfold Spirit; for the number seven divided into three and four, signifies the Holy Trinity, in the four seasons of the world, in the four elements.

The words of the suppliant, indeed, we have heard: we have not seen the heart of the doubter; but He who both heard the words and saw the heart has told us this. In short, the evangelist himself, by the testimony of his narrative, shows us that the man who desired the Lord to come to his house to heal his son, had not yet believed. For after he had been informed that his son was whole, and found that he had been made whole at that hour in which the Lord had said, "Go thy way, thy son liveth;" then he saith, "And himself believed, and all his house." Now, if the reason why he believed, and all his house, was that he was told that his son was whole, and found the hour they told him agreed with the hour of Christ's foretelling it, it follows that when he was making the request he did not yet believe. The Samaritans had waited for no sign, they believed simply His word; but His own fellow-citizens deserved to hear this said to them, "Except ye see signs and wonders, ye believe not;" and even there, notwithstanding so great a miracle was wrought, there did not believe but "himself and his house." At His discourse alone many of the Samaritans believed; at that miracle, in the place where it was wrought, only that house believed.

(Tr. xvi. c. 3) If he only believed when he was told that his son was well again, and had compared the hour according to his servant's account, with the hour predicted by Christ, he did not believe when he first made the petition.

"He therefore inquired the hour in which he had gotten better," so that through the hour he might recognize in his son the power of Christ. "And they said to him: Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him:" and from this he recognized the power of Christ.

He enquires of them the hour of the turn for the better of the sick child, to prove whether it coincides with the time of the grace. When he had learnt that thus it was, and no otherwise, he is saved with his whole house, attributing the power of the miracle to the Saviour Christ, and bringing to Him a firmer faith as a fruit of thank-offering for these things.

Having learned from the servants the hour in which the son got better, that is, when the son came into a better and healthy condition, the father completely believes in the Lord. For his previous faith was imperfect. Do not tell me that he would not have gone to Christ if he had not believed. For fathers, out of love for their children, usually turn to physicians not only skilled but also unskilled, not wishing to leave anything undone. So he came by faith, let us grant this too, but by a faith cold and imperfect, which one would not even call faith; and then, when he learned also of the hour, he believed completely.

Because this official did not yet believe either fully or soundly, he still wanted to know whether his son had been cured by chance or by the command of Christ. Accordingly, he asks about the time of the cure. He asked them, the servants, at what time his boy got better. And he found that his son was cured at exactly the same hour that our Lord said, Go, your son lives. And no wonder, because Christ is the Word, through whom heaven and earth were made: "He spoke and they were made; he commanded and they were created" (Ps 148:5).

And they, his servants, told him that yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. In the mystical sense, the seventh hour, when the boy is cured of his fever, signifies the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, through whom sins are forgiven, according to: "Receive the Holy Spirit; whose sins you forgive, are forgiven" (below 20:22), and through whom spiritual life is produced in the soul: "It is the Spirit that gives life" (below 6:64). Again, the seventh hour signifies the appropriate time for rest, for the Lord rested from all his work on the seventh day. This indicates that the spiritual life of man consists in spiritual rest or quiet, according to: "If you remain at rest, you will be saved" (Is 30:15). But of the evil we read: "The heart of the wicked is like the raging sea, which cannot rest" (Is 57:20).

(Tr. xvi. c. 3) The Samaritans believed on the strength of His words only: that whole house believed on the strength of the miracle which had been brought in it. The Evangelist adds, This is again the second miracle which Jesus did, when He was come out of Judaea into Galilee.

"This again is the second sign that Jesus performed: the second," namely with respect to the one that took place at the wedding: "when he had come from Judea into Galilee," so that, because they had not believed through the first, they might believe through the second: Exodus 4, the Lord said to Moses: "If they will not believe nor hearken to the voice of the first sign, they will believe the voice of the latter sign."

Consider, for instance, what the Evangelist in this place saith, "This is again the second miracle that Jesus did, when He was come out of Judaea into Galilee." Even the word "second" he has added not without cause, but to exalt yet more the praise of the Samaritans, by showing that even when a second miracle had been wrought, they who beheld it had not yet reached as high as those who had not seen one.

The saying is ambiguous. On the one hand it means something like this: In coming from Judea into Galilee Jesus has performed two signs. The second sign is the one concerning the royal official's son. On the other hand it could mean something like this: While there are two signs that Jesus performed in Galilee, he did the second after he came from Judea to Galilee. The latter is the meaning to be accepted as correct. For Jesus has not performed the first sign since he came from Judea into Galilee (the first sign changing of the water into wine), which occurred the day after Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, asked where Jesus was staying and remained with the Lord about the tenth hour of the day. For it is written, "On the following day he wished to depart into Galilee, and he found Philip."

Why does the evangelist say that this was the second miracle Jesus performed in Cana? In order to show what praise the Samaritans deserve; for although, he says, this was the second miracle, nevertheless the Galileans did not reach the height of those who had not seen a single sign and yet believed.

Finally, this miracle is linked with the previous one, This was the second sign Jesus had performed on returning from Judea to Galilee. We can understand this in two ways. In one way, that our Lord performed two miracles during this one trip from Judea to Galilee; but the first of these was not recorded, only the second. In the other way, we could say that Jesus worked two signs in Galilee at different times: the one of the wine, and this second one about the son of this official after he returned again to Galilee from Judea.

We also see from this that the Galileans were worse than the Samaritans. For the Samaritans expected no sign from the Lord, and many believed in his word alone; but as a result of this miracle, only this official and his whole household believed: for the Jews were converted to the faith little by little on account of their hardness, according to: "I have become as one who harvests in the summer time, like a gleaner at the vintage: not one cluster to eat, not one of the early figs I desire" (Mi 7:1).