Presumption and Persistence

Gospel: Jn 4:43-54
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031124.cfm

Jesus was completely human and completely God. He was human as we are human. He experienced joy and sadness, frustration and peace. As a person, he did not know everything. He gave up on his omniscience to be human. With his lack of omniscience, he made presumptions. Like us, he struggled with being misunderstood. He was bothered by the fact that he wasn’t welcomed in his hometown.

Jesus got frustrated that his message wasn’t enough; it took miracles for people to believe in his message.  For most people, Jesus’s gospel required the proof of miracles. People needed to experience the supernatural for the message to resonate. For Jesus, the message superseded the miracle. For the people, it was the other way around.

In today’s gospel, Jesus made presumptions about the royal official. He thought the man was looking for a miracle to believe, but the man was not. He was not concerned with the divinity of Jesus, he was concerned for the well-being of his son. His love for his son meant more to him than the need for divine proof. He persisted with Jesus. He saw past Jesus’s presumptive statement to show his care for his son. Seeing this love, Jesus healed the man’s son.

When we experience love, we do the same. We persist. We go beyond expectation and we fight. Love gives the drive to go the extra distance. It gives us faith and hope. When we look at the life of Jesus, we can see how God has that love for us. God became human to fight for us, to give us hope, and to lead us to salvation from our suffering.

Love transforms us. Love heals us. Love saves us.