Seeking Signs and Wonders

Now there was a royal official whose son was ill in Capernaum.  When he heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, who was near death.  Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.” The royal official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus said to him, “You may go; your son will live.” The man believed what Jesus said to him and left.  John 4:46-50

As I look outside my window on this beautiful sunny day in the South, I see the glory of God everywhere.  It is imprinted on the trees, the grass, the birds, the clouds in the sky.  I take a deep breath and soak it in.  I see it in the ingenuity of the buildings around me that man created.  God is good.  But so often, we choose not to see this, and not to believe it.  What we choose, determines our path.  We can choose to see God’s goodness and live in the positive way He would like for us, or we can ignore it, selfishly plodding along, negativity surrounding us.

There are those of us who will never believe unless they see signs and wonders with their own eyes.  It makes me think of the above verse.  I think Jesus was sad. “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.” A strange thing to say to a man who has a sick child.  But it is as if Jesus is aching for us to be His friend, and see His Father everywhere, rather than looking about for signs and wonders.  Fr. John Riccardo explains it well here.

Jesus wants us to be intimate with Him.  Look at the Glory of Creation.  Do you need a sign to tell you of God’s love when the intricacy of a blade of grass breathes His name?  There is another verse in the Bible that had baffled me for a time.  It is known as one of the shortest verses in the bible;

“And Jesus wept.” John 11:45 

Found later in the Gospel of John, it is the story of Lazarus’ death.  Jesus delayed coming to him before He died, arriving only after His passing.  Just as with the sick child above, whom Jesus healed, Jesus uses the passing of Lazarus to show the Glory of God.  But before He does, he weeps.  Why would Jesus weep?  He can raise Lazarus.  Why such a passionate human response to his death when He knew He could raise Lazarus?  Jesus wept because sin is what brought us death.  He knows the pain of Lazurus’ sisters.  Jesus knows the full human condition.  The original sin that separated us from God and the sin we commit that continues to do so.

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” Romans 6:23.

How many times has Jesus wept over my sin?  Jesus weeps for us all the time.  He asks us to KNOW Him as Fr. Riccardo says.  So many don’t know Him.  They choose not to know Him.

If you allow Him into your life and really have a personal relationship with Him, the need for signs and wonders dissipates.  You can see and feel Him everywhere.  Receiving the Sacraments and praying regularly really makes you know Him.  That personal relationship permeates your being.  That is what I strive for.  That is what the Saints achieved.  So on this beautiful day the Lord created, take a look outside yourself, allow God to touch your heart and go out and spread His love to others.