After the two days he left for Galilee. (Now Jesus himself had pointed out that prophets have no honor in their own country.) When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, for they also had been there. Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death. “Unless you people see signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.” The royal official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” “Go,” Jesus replied, “your son will live.” The man took Jesus at his word and departed. While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, “Yesterday, at one in the afternoon, the fever left him.” Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he and his whole household believed. This was the second sign Jesus performed after coming from Judea to Galilee.

—John 4:43-54 (TNIV)

Here we have another poignant story of Jesus’ compassion and healing power, signs that led people to believe. Notice that he takes the Galileans to task for demanding a sign as a condition for their belief in him. It seems that things haven’t changed much from Jesus’ day to ours. We still demand signs from Jesus in a variety of ways. For example, have you ever been angry at Christ for not answering your prayers exactly as you asked him (or for not answering them at all)? If you have, you too are demanding a sign from Jesus as a condition for having a relationship with him. Most of us do not react well when someone puts conditions on our relationship with them so why would we expect Jesus to be any different?

What about you? Do you demand a sign from Jesus before you will put your whole hope and trust in him? Or are you willing to be humble and acknowledge that he is Lord and you are not? Those who are able to do the latter have never been disappointed in the results.