THE HEALING STORIES

Moving from the first relationships outlined in the Gospel, we find the Cana cycle with its repetition of sign and Christ's emerging public ministry. The theology of the 'Cana to Cana' cycle plays an important part in the message of John's gospel. John places less emphasis on the miracle story per se to prevent the idea of Christ as a mere miracle work, a notion he suggests strongly was repugnant to Jesus himself. "It is on the meaning of the Johannine miracle that we must center our attention, and perhaps we can find a key to this in John's vocabulary. Although others (including the editor of the Gospel) refer to the Jesus' miracles as 'signs', Jesus himself consistently refers to them as 'works '."(21) Brown suggests that the Old Testament background for the notion refers to the work of God accomplished by creation and continuing throughout the salvation history. John specifically has Jesus sum up his ministry in 'work' terms:" "I glorified you on this earth by completeing the work you have given me to do'. Not only are Jesus's miracles works; His words are works too: ‘The words that, I say to you people are not spoken on my own; it is the Father, abiding in me, who performs the works’."(22)

If the notion of work is a direct reference to the miracles performed in the course of his public teaching ministry, the notion of faith is implied in the performance of the signs. In John's description of the healing / signs cycle, the faith of the one who wishes to be or is healed, is as important in the dialogue as the power of the healer. "In fact, several times Jesus attributes the salvation directly to the faith of the person healed. 'Your faith has healed you' (Luke 8:48, 17:19, 18:42) ".(23) The range of faith varies from complete trust and faith in Christ, to scepticism and later conversion. Jesus speaks harshly (Jn. 2:23-25; 4:48; 6:26) of the belief which comes in the more typically Johannine and less Synoptic cases, "where people come to believe in Jesus because of the signs."(24) "Evidently Jesus is not satisfied with having his miracles looked on as mere credential cards; He wants an understanding of what they reveal."(25)

On a psychological level, Jesus seems to seek the development of insight on the part of the healed. Faith implies acceptance, understanding and belief－a knowledge of who the healed 'really is' and who Jesus 'really is'. The growth of faith and insight moves through what Brown categorizes as the unsatisfactory stages in reaction to the signs: refusal to see the signs with any faith, such as Caiaphas; belief in the miracle-working power of Jesus alone, a magic-worker image which Jesus refuses to accept. The acceptable response is found in those who see what is meant by the signs and who are able to learn who Jesus is and what he will do, and thus completely believe in Him. The highest level of belief is found in those who believe without signs (Jn. 20:29).

In a counseling relationship similar levels of reaction are displayed. The growth of trust is often based on how much better the counselor can initially make the client feel－temporary relief of symptoms, which is often preceded by scepticism and disbelief. From the initial distrust, the healer in this case is able to concentrate on demonstrating his ability to be trustworthy. Those who are able after time to trust the counselor are enabled through trust to gain insight. The counselor is in a position gradually to introduce the client to areas of his behaviour or personality that are unknown to him, just as the client is gradually able to 'allow' the counselor to have access to more of the hidden self. Those who are able to understand and see themselves have developed insight and often the personal strength to change behaviour in a desired way. At the highest level of a counseling relationship the client will be able to accept the information of the counselor without having to 'test' the trust relationship continually.

Of course this is a very rough image of both Jesus' ministry and the counseling process, but the parallels in the 'healing stories' seem very clear. In each situation Jesus looks for a response from the 'one to be healed'.

The Cana cycle begins with the wedding at Cana, which shows a small scene in the relationship of Mary and Jesus. Although the scene has been interpreted as a denunciation of Mary, Brown argues that this is misleading. Instead Mary plays a definite and honored role in her association with the disciples, and her request initiates Jesus' public ministry of signs. His refusal directly to accede to her request makes it clear that he is not there to act on her behalf or the will of others but only to answer the will of his Father. Mary, on the other hand, shows her complete belief in her son by asking the impossible and even in rejection persisting in her acceptance of what Jesus is capable of doing. It is as if she is saying－Look, this is what this man my son is, nothing is closed to him. Other characters in the miracle cycle show similar persistence in the face of the initial rejection, and Jesus responds. By the end of the Cana sign we have been introduced to what John wants us to know: that at this wedding Jesus first reveals his glory and "his disciples believed in him."(26)

With that focus Jesus shows great insight in dealing with his mother: the sign is obliquely at his mother's request, and he honors her presence, a presence he knows will no be possible from that point on. It seems to be a natural breaking point in their relationship and yet by publicly including her in the scene and act of his first sign he also pays respect to her role in the preparation of his ministry.

The Nicodemus scene continues the healing cycle, and begins John's use of the dialogue as a form of learning. Questions on one level are answered on another. "The lactic of the Johannine dialogue is always for the answer to transpose the topic to a higher level; the questioner is on the level of the sensible, but he must be raised to the level of the spiritual."(27)

Jesus responds in the Nicodemus dialogue in such a way as to present a challenge to the man himself－a point of asking / challenging growth. Brown points out the answers of Christ were not that oblique; while Nicodemus might have had some confusion about the role of the Spirit, he should have been able to understand some of the material from his Old Testament background. A second point brought out implicitly with the dialogue was the inability of 'knowledge' to prove the correct response to Christ. Indeed in the parallel to the counseling progress, 'knowledge' can prove an obstacle to growth, what we freely 'acknowledge' about ourselves can be superficial and masking of what is the real state. Nicodemus hid behind his mask－the role of an educated man, refusing to allow his own lack of knowledge in an inner sense, and it was this role that Christ challenged. As long as the belief was with the conscious mind and not from the deep emotional level of the personality, it was not effective in change.

21)Brown, N.T.E., 180f.

22)Id, 181.

23)Id, 179.

24)Id, 183f.

25)Id, 184.

26)Brown, Jn., 103.

27)Id, 138.