Signs And Wonders At Capernaum

John 4:46- End  John1:14

Of all the places I have visited in the Holy Land, I think I love Capernaum best.

Because it’s haunted by the presence of Jesus.

There is a dreadful modern chapel built over the site which is believed to have been the home of Simon Peter’s Mother in Law. It looks like a massive flying saucer come in to land.

But beyond that is the site of the old synagogue and that is truly evocative.

There are only remains to be seen now  – but they truly speak of him.

The remains of the arches seem to echo with his words.

 For a moment there he is sitting on the steps in the baking hot sun drawing people to listen to him once again.

 Beyond an ancient pillar, is it He standing in the shadows, watching to catch the eye of a would be follower.

To stand alone in that place is to believe that he could be at your side within a moment.

I found it hard to pull myself away when the time came to get back on the coach.

Just a few minutes more, I wanted to say, I don’t want to leave Him behind.

I love the Holy Land deeply but am not sure of the motives that draw me.

It’s as if I expect to find Jesus there to make up for his absence elsewhere.

It’s as if I might think I could come back to these shores and say – well, now I’ve found him in Bethlehem, Nazareth and Jerusalem – you really must believe me when I share the Gospel message with you,

In our Gospel reading the crowds flocked to Capernaum to put matters beyond doubt.

They had heard about a man who had turned water into wine at Cana and they came hoping for a share in such magic.

 They had heard about strange goings on in Jerusalem and about the way the life of a disreputable woman at Samaria had been transformed.

Now here he was in their midst.

Jesus rebukes their well intentioned expectancy:

“Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe”

For he never set out to change people through the things he could do – only through the person He was.

There was a danger that signs and wonders were going to get in the way.

We must remember we’re reading from the Gospel of John here and that wonderful prologue we read every Christmas sets the tone for the Gospel which follows.

“The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us full of grace and truth”

Just dwelt. Simply was. Defined by being rather than doing.

The reality of Jesus Christ is not to be pinned to a series of events in his lifetime.

It is never a question of – because of that moment – I now  believe.

It is a sense of his indwelling within humanity – the weaving of the Word made flesh as a constant in daily living that we must search after.

The evidence is not restricted to a time or a place.

It is not the sign or the wonder that must convince us – but that to which the sign points.

“We have beheld his glory”

Seen. Felt. Touched. Known. – rather than simply – did.

The danger today is that we are like the crowd at Capernaum.

We come looking for a sign and are disappointed when we do not get it.

When we present the faith to the unchurched we often do so after the same style.

Jesus did that and then He did this and crowds flocked to Him.

But when I look around at the word suffering in so many ways and ask Jesus to do this or to do that – to make things better – he usually fails to act in the way I would wish.

He will not deliver the signs and wonders that I can believe in.

Instead it is a more elusive presence I have to come to terms with.

Like a haunting. Like a feeling – which gathers momentum when I turn to the scriptures – the stories point to the Word without restricting the Word.

And this gathers momentum when I receive the sacrament – his presence in bread and wine – elements so small and ordinary – points to his presence in all things.

Like a Spirit he swoops about the arches in Capernaum.

On the pavements there you can practically here his footsteps.

In the stillness on the ancient steps – there’s a whisper of the teacher’s voice.

So must he be found in this Holy Place though.

In the streets all around here and in the homes of every parishioner.

A living Word not restricted to signs and wonders in scripture – but an all abiding presence as Son of God – even here – even now.

RH 31.10.07