John 4:46

Jesus also visits Cana in Galilee, the place where we turned water into wine.  A certain official of the king comes to town during his stay.  His son is very sick in the neighboring city of Capernaum (about 20 miles away). John 4:46 EFP

How interesting that Jesus returns to Cana, the site of his first miracle, only to be confronted with another opportunity to meet a need.  We are left to wonder if Jesus did any miracles in the days preceding his arrival in Cana.  There must have been an underlying expectation for him to “perform” some sort of feat, since many of the people who welcomed him back to his homeland had seen him do some amazing things in Jerusalem.

Knowing Jesus’ resistance to “performing” for anyone, perhaps he simply moves on to a city that brings back good memories of simpler times before the weight of being the Chosen One fell upon him like a lead yoke.  He is in the midst of defining his ministry with pressures mounting from all sides.  On the one side he is pushed to assert himself to the Romans.  On the other side he is pressed to be more compliant to the will of the religious authorities.  Perform!  Back off!  Who are you?  Even his siblings think him crazy!  Perhaps he returns to Cana in order to visit ground zero, and to be reminded of the reason he answered the call to cross the great divide and enter the human experience.

But even as he leaves behind his Galilean gawkers, for all we know, groaning in disappointment at his unwillingness to show off, he makes his way to an encounter pre-arranged by His Father.  This is no common man.  He is a royal official, although we do not know for whom he works.  All we know is that he journeys the 20 miles between the cities to be in Cana at the same time as Jesus.  How does he know Jesus is going to be there?  Who knows; anyone could have told him.  Jesus was on a lot of people’s lips in Palestine those days.  The curious masses did not need him however.  He was not auditioning.  He was seeking for the lost sheep of Israel…and beyond.