“The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started on his way.”

In today’s appointed Gospel for the daily prayer of the Church, we hear from St. John about a man who trusted in Jesus’ words to him: 

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.  (Jn. 4: 46-54).

“The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started on his way.”  The royal official encountered the Word made flesh, and he believed the word that was spoken to him.  I am immediately drawn to this man’s act of faith; however, on further reflection, I am struck by what happens when we encounter the Word made flesh, Jesus, and what he has to say to us.  Jesus makes us a part of his story.  He comes into the life of the royal official at a time of fear and anxiety, a time when his son is one the verge of death.  The man encounters the Word of God and healing flows, not only for his little boy, but for the official as his anxiety and fears depart, and for his entire family, who have a son and brother restored to them.  And so, the man, his son, and his entire family, believed the word that Jesus spoke to them and they started on their way to life.

Let us pray:  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.

CALENDAR REMINDERS

17 January 2013: Seaside Seniors at St. Augustine.

21 January 2013: MLK Day at St. Vincent’s House: Noon day prayers and celebration.

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List, especially Lee Runion and Randy Furlong.

Your servant in Christ,

The Rev. Chester J. Makowski+

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas 77550