John 4:46-54.

After the narrative of the woman at the well comes the encounter of Jesus and the official who desires for his child to be healed. I found a lot more in the dialogue between Jesus and the official than I first thought, with the aid of Matthew Henry.

"When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. So Jesus said to him, "Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe." The official said to him, "Sir, come down before my child dies." Jesus said to him, "God; your son will live."" (John 4:47-50)

Henry makes the great observation that it appears like the official is presuming that Jesus must come down in person for the child to be healed. We should pray, petition God, but not presume to tell God how the end goal should be achieved. Reminds me a lot of the hymn "I Asked the Lord," where prayer for grace and faith almost "drew me to despair" because the way God answers such prayer is to allow the powers of hell to assail the heart--not something we naturally want.

Jesus rebukes the official. He does not believe unless he sees miracles, much like Thomas. Instead of thinking about what this says about his heart, he is consumed with concern for his child. Henry again observes that the same happens in our daily lives; we are consumed with fixing problems instead of being attuned to the attitudes of our hearts, which has more eternal consequences.

Finally, the official assumes that Jesus must heal the child before he dies, as if Jesus is unable to raise the child from the dead. Much like the first observation, he presumes to know or expect to dictate how God will work out His will--how "for our good" translates into our experiences. He also limits the ability of Almighty God. I see this easily in being doubtful that God can save non-Christian friends who are far down the path of destruction.

Thank God that though we fail in all these things, Christ died for us. He died for that sin. Now we have no condemnation in Christ.

General Updates:

• Jammed to some Hillsong this morning. Not a fan necessarily of all their lyrics or their Australian church ministry, but was nostalgic. Was reading Isaiah 6 of Isaiah's vision of God in the temple, with the train of His robes filling the temple, which reminded me of Hillsong's song "Glory." Go figure.
• Sweet time with Jonathan and Shannon Leeman last night. They were gracious to have Claire and I over for dinner--awesome shrimp linguine and white chocolate moose with cranberry sauce for dessert. Was wonderful watching them take care of Hannah and Emma.
• Bookstall volunteer ice cream social this afternoon at the Reju's--I hope they have coffee flavor.
• Justin's birthday party tonight at the batcave: sick! Fawaz is hopefully coming, pray that he wouldn't feel uncomfortable and that he will be see Christ in the way we interact with one another.

Reading Update:

• Almost done with Trellis and the Vine and just picked up Jonathan Edwards' Charity and its Fruits, which I've been trying to get to all summer.
• I'm beginning to contemplate what books to bring to Jordan...I'm only going to bring a handful of books, so I need to choose wisely.