A reading from the prophet Isaiah (65:17-21)
Thus says the Lord:
‘Look, I am going to create new heavens and a new earth,
the past will not be remembered
and will no more come to mind.
Rather be joyful, be glad for ever at what I am creating;
for see, I am creating Jerusalem to be joy
and my people to be gladness.
I shall rejoice in Jerusalem
and take delight in my people.
The sound of weeping shall not be heard there, nor the sound of a shriek.
No child shall there be who lives but a few days,
nor an ancient who does not live the full span of life:
for to die at one hundred will be youthful,
the sinner’s death at one hundred, a curse.
They will build houses and live in them,
plant vineyards and eat their fruit.’
This reading from the final chapters of the book of Isaiah looks forward to ‘new heavens and a new earth’ with a threefold use of the word ‘create’ (bara’). These words of a post-exilic prophet anticipate a new creation, new gifts of God. They are full of joy and delight. The city of God will be rebuilt, not only the historical city, but the definitive place of God among us. Cries of pain will be no more. Children will grow to maturity. The old will expect to live beyond one hundred years. The building of houses and the growing of vines speak of the idyllic environment to come. Such is God’s response to Jerusalem’s cries for help.
Psalm 30 (29) The psalm speaks of the same transformation from weeping to dancing. God raises up his people, both now and for ever.
A reading from the holy gospel according to John (4:43-54)
When the two days were over, Jesus left there for Galilee, for Jesus himself had borne witness that a prophet is not honoured in his own country. On his arrival the Galileans received him well, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem during the festival, for they too had attended the festival.
He came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had changed the water into wine. And there was a royal official whose son was ill at Capernaum; hearing that Jesus had come from Judaea to Galilee, he went and asked him to come down and cure his son, as he was at the point of death. Jesus said to him, ‘Unless you see signs and portents you will not believe!’ The official said to him, ‘Sir, come down before my child dies.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go, your son is living.’ The man believed what Jesus had said and went on his way; and while he was still on the way his slaves met him with the news that his boy was alive. He asked them when the boy had begun to recover. They replied, ‘Yesterday in the early afternoon the fever left him.’ The father realised that this was the time when Jesus had said, ‘Your son is living’; and he and all his household believed.
This was the second sign that Jesus did, having come from Judaea to Galilee.
After spending two days in a Samaritan town, Jesus travels on to Galilee and is well received. This second ‘sign’ of Jesus in the Fourth Gospel concerns the son of a ‘royal official’ with strong faith in the healing power of Jesus. Being in the royal service, presumably therefore associated with Herod Antipas, the official may be Jew or Gentile. Whatever his background he is a person who is open to faith, and is not put off by Jesus’ initial rebuttal: ‘Unless you see signs and portents you will not believe!’ The official insists that Jesus should come to heal his son, but nevertheless believes the word of Jesus: ‘your son is living.’ Jesus heals even from a distance, and the official brings his whole family to faith. Their traumatic experience bound them together in hope, and now binds them in faith and love too.
Do we appreciate the faith of people of different origins and beliefs?
For those desperate for the health and safety of their children, we pray.