John 4:43-54
I imagine the community of John piecing this gospel together. Collecting their stories or fragments of stories, years after the other three gospels arrived, wanting to offer their own voice, tell their own story of Jesus.
“Okay…” they might have asked, “after the disciples who does Jesus meet next?”
The characters emerge, and a narrative begins to take shape. It’s remarkable who comes out of the woodwork in this gospel. After meeting a group of impetuous young men who will become the disciples, we meet Mary. She’s telling her son Jesus the wedding host is out of wine and since he didn’t bring a gift, the least he could do is save them all from a boring party. Then there’s Nicodemus the Pharisee, looking for Jesus, sneaking around town in the dark, and ends up having the kind of deep conversation that tends to only happen at night. After that, we get to meet a Samaritan woman, who Jesus asks for a drink of water but it’s her thirst that’s quenched in ways she never imagined.
And today, we meet this “royal official.” That term could mean a few different things, but most scholars think this is a man who worked for King Herod. In what capacity? We don’t really know. Maybe he was in Accounting. Or HR. Or Marketing. Or IT. Maybe he was just another cog in the wheel of the machine they liked to call the Pax Romana, held tenuously in place by his regional boss. The story seems to indicate he had a nice house, well-kept lawn, a 401k, and some interns on speed-dial at his beck and call. So, truth be told, he didn’t have to come to Jesus. This official could have sent someone. He didn’t have to make the twenty-mile trek from Capernaum to Cana to plead with some itinerant rabbi about his dying son. But he did.
I like how the community of John included this story. Right up front too. Not mixed in there between the healing of the blind man and the raising of Lazarus. I wonder if they were up to something. Because learning to love a religious aristocrat like Nicodemus is one thing, as is learning to love a feisty Samaritan woman. But loving the man who kisses the ring of the one who keeps your wallets, tables, and bellies empty is quite another thing.
It seems those who created this gospel intuited if we’re going to be in beloved community together, we need to tell the stories of how Jesus showed compassion to those everyone else thought least deserved it. There are people in my life who are difficult to love. On my worst days I can even think there are people in my life un-deserving of love. Which is why I need stories like this one. I need to see Jesus heal the son of one of Herod’s lackeys. Sending him down the road to bring belief to his entire household and quite possibly anyone he meets along the way.
Meditation by the Reverend Jared Houze
Rector, St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Amarillo
Diocese of Northwest Texas